Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!samsung!crackers!m2c!wpi.WPI.EDU!hikita.wpi.edu!shari From: mmirza@grumpy.eng.ohio-state.edu (Muhammad Mirza) Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam Subject: Message of Islam (part 6) Keywords: Islam, Belief in the Hearafter (Message of Islam part 6) Message-ID: <1990Dec18.161750.18872@wpi.WPI.EDU> Date: 18 Dec 90 16:17:50 GMT Sender: news@wpi.WPI.EDU (News) Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute Lines: 107 Approved: shari@wpi.wpi.edu Originator: shari@hikita.wpi.edu Nntp-Posting-Host: hikita.wpi.edu THE BELIEF IN THE HEREAFTER (AKHIRA) The third fundamental creed of Islam is belief in the hereafter (AKHIRA). Denial of the hereafter is the denial of Islam even though one may have belief in ALLAH, in the Prophet (pbuh), and in the Quran. In its detailed form, this belief is composed of the following essential elements: (i) Man has not been unleashed on the earth as an irresponsible savage. He is accountable to ALLAH for his actions. Today's life is only a test and an examination. At the end we will all be called upon to render a complete account of our acts of commision and ommision to ALLAH. (ii) The time for accountability is fixed by ALLAH. The tenure alloted to mankind, on this earth, shall terminate on the doomsday, when the present order will be annihilated and replaced bny another. The whole human race will rise once again in the new world. (iii) That will be the time when they will appear before ALLAH Almighty, and every one will face the consequences of his personal acts in his individual capacity. (iv) The jundgement will rest not on ALLAH's own knowledge alone. The requirements of the due process of justice will be fully observed. A complete record of the actions of every individual, without the slightest alternation, will be put in the open Court, and evidence, of different categories, will be presented to prove what was done by man in private or in public, and the motives which inspired his conduct. (v) There will be no undue intercession. Neither bribery, nore advocacy against the truth will be tolerated. No one will be able to shift his burden to another. Even the closest relations, friends, leaders, religious guides, or self-styled deities, will not be able to offer any help to anyone--man will stand by himself--helpless and alone and render his account, and await the pronouncement of the judgement which shall be in the power of ALLAH alone. (vi) The judgement will rest on one question: Did man conduct himself, in submission to ALLAH, in strict conformity with the truth revealed to the Prophets, and with the conviction that he will be held responsible for his conduct in life on the Day of Judgement? If the answer is in the affirmative, the reward will be Paradise, and if in the negative, Hell will be the punishment. Belief in the hereafter divides people into three distinct categories. First, there are those who do not believe in the hereafter and regard life on this earth as the only life. Naturally, they judge good and evil by the results which manifest themselves in this world. If an action produces beneficial results it is good, and if it brings about harmful results it is evil. Quite often the same action is regarded as good when the results are good, adn bad when its results are bad. Second, those people who do not deny the hereafter, but who depend on the intercession or atonement of some one to absolve them of their sins. Among them there are some, who regard themselves as ALLAH's chosen people, who will receive only nominal punishment however grave their sins. This deprives them of the moral advantage which they could have derived from their belief in the hereafter. As a result they have also become very much like the people who deny the hereafter. Third, are those people who believe in the hereafter in the form in which Islam presents it. They do not delude themselves that they have any special relationship with ALLAH, or that anyone can intercede on their behalf. They know that they alone are responsible for their actions. For them the belief in the hereafter becomes a great moral force. A person who has the conviction that he is fully accountable for all his actions finds a permanent guard, stationed within himself, who cautions him and admonished him whenever he deviates from the right path. There may be no court to summon him, no policeman to apprehend him, no witnesses to accuse him, and no public opinion to press him, but guard within him is ever in alert, ready to seize him whenever he transgresses. The conciousness of this inner presence makes man fear ALLAH even when he is all by himself. He discharges his duties honestly, and refrains from doing anything which is prohibited. Should he succumb to temptation, and violate the law of ALLAH, he is ever ready to offer sincere regrets, and to enter into a firm contract with the future that he will not repeat the mistake. There can be no greater instrumentof moral reformation nor any better method to help man to develop a sound and stable character. It is the hereafter which helps men, under all circumstances, to conform to ALLAH's scheme of permanent values. It is for this reason that Islam attaches great importance to the belief in the hereafter, and without it even the belief in ALLAH and the Prophet (pbuh) is not sufficient for man's guidance. (to be continued ......) Muhammad Javed Mirza -- Me The Ohio State University Electrical Engineering Dept. Room 204 Dreese Labs