Belief in The Hereafter: Part 8

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF BELIEF IN THE HEREAFTER FOR THE SOCIETY AND INDIVIDUALS? (Part 2)

What belief in the Hereafter, in the Day of Judgment when everyone is going to be punished or rewarded, and in the eternal life earns individuals and society:

After belief in Allah, organising life and providing peace for the whole society depends on belief in life after death.

The life of a person who does not believe that he is going to be called to account for what he has done cannot be thought to be straightforward. On the other hand, one who keeps in mind that he is going to be called by Allah in the otherworld to account for every step he takes, one whose each behaviour is an expression of an account, one who treats his each word, each listening and each inclination in his heart with sensitivity of accounting to Allah will have a highly organised life.

“In whatever business thou mayest be, and whatever portion thou mayest be reciting from the Qur’an,- and whatever deed ye (mankind) may be doing,- We are witnesses thereof when ye are deeply engrossed therein. Nor is hidden from thy Lord (so much as) the weight of an atom on the earth or in heaven. And not the least and not the greatest of these things but are recorded in a clear record.” (Yunus, 10:61)

That is to say; all behaviours and actions are being recorded by angels. Everything we do, big or small, hidden or obvious, anything that we consider small but considered big by Allah or anything we consider big but considered small by Allah, are recorded. Observers watch and record all we do and Allah who is “DAYYAN” (the One who judges people based on their deeds) is present everywhere, waiting for the Day of Judgment.

A life that is led with this spirit and consciousness becomes straightforward; a society that consists of individuals who live with this spirit and consciousness becomes peaceful and a family having this spirit and consciousness turns their home into a garden of Paradise.

Yes, there is only one way through which humankind can quit their craziness; it is belief in the resurrection after death and reckoning. And it is only the belief in resurrection that can stop the craziness of youth, and that can light up the flames of happiness in the vulnerable hearts of children.

Everyone, from young ones to old ones, from women to men and from just ones to unjust ones, needs to believe in the resurrection as they need water they drink and air they breathe in.

Drinking this sherbet called belief in the resurrection means also drinking peace slowly. For this reason, all intellectuals who work for the peace and safety of the humankind and aim to provide peace for them should evaluate this issue from this point of view.

Establishing true peace, happiness and comfort for individuals, families, society and the humankind altogether depends only on believing in the afterworld where all deeds – significant or insignificant – are going to accounted.

The Quran says:

“Then shall anyone who has done an atom’s weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done an atom’s weight of evil, shall see it.” (az-Zalzalah, 99:7-8).

This verse declares that even a good deed of an atom’s weight will have its reward and that even an evil deed of an atom’s weight will have its punishment and it infuses into people this feeling of responsibility. When people have got this belief, we can tell them, “Do whatever you want”. Actually, practices and realities express that what goes around comes around. One who adopts this understanding feels the need for doing things which will not make him ashamed in the otherworld.

A child, with his weak, vulnerable soul, can find a peaceful life only by believing in the resurrection. Anyone who evaluates his childhood from this point of view and who remembers his childhood years will admit this conclusion.

Yes, a child has got a vulnerable heart. And a child is incapable of evaluating incidents happening around him and coming to a conclusion. And he cannot lose himself in entertainment. For this reason, he feels anxiety of death more than adults. The world of a child whose parents have died is destroyed. All the stars lighting up his inner world fade away and the sky of his heart sinks into darkness. Everyone who has got a heart can feel this.

One of my siblings died in my childhood. Every time I visited his grave, I would open my eyes and beg Allah saying “O Allah, please bring him back to life so that I can see his beautiful face once again!” Now, if you take away this belief in the resurrection after death from thousands of people like me having this psychological mood, with what will you heal this painful heart and how will you extinguish this fire? No, no way… Nothing can heal it and it will be impossible for you to extinguish that fire. It is only belief in the resurrection that can console this child writhing in pain and sorrow.

When his beloved ones depart this world one by one, it is only the belief that they have gone to Heaven that can console this little one and saves him from this unbearable sorrow.

Pass-away of a beloved elderly one, or even of a younger one, whom he is accustomed to and without whom he thought he could not do, leaves an incurable wound in his vulnerable heart. It is such an incurable wound that only one thought can ease it:

“He is gone, or taken away; but, Allah opened the doors of Heaven for him. Now, he is flying like birds in the gardens of paradise. When I die, I am going to fly like him, too.”

If the one who died is an elderly person, he will think as follows: “He is dead. But, he is going to take me into his arms and caress me there.” And they are these thoughts that will fill the gap of separation and longing opened by death and will be the cure for his bleeding wound.

Do you long for peace? You can find it neither with factory chimneys fuming all around the world, nor by organising journeys from stars to stars. The true peace is the peace that depends on this belief and faith. Yes, this peace, which is based on the principles of resurrection after death, is the true peace.

Aged people…Aged people who are approaching death with every step they take… While grave is waiting for them with its door open, and while they are running towards it at the highest speed, with what can they find consolation? What can console them? With what can they get over the sorrow caused by seeing the white hairs amongst their hair that they see in the mirror every day? How can they compensate for the spiritual gap caused by this situation? How can they eradicate the scars left in their heart by people – their children, their grandchildren, their friends and relatives – whom they saw off for the otherworld throughout all this time until they reached this age?

How can you console them when youth, health, career and position left them with a terrible scar in their souls? Every material thing which you present to them as a consolation will leave another terrible scar in their souls when they lose them and this will always go on like this. Therefore, there is only one cure with which all people including the aged ones can find peace: Believing in the resurrection after death!…

Persuading people that grave, which awaits them to swallow them like a monster with its terrible mouth open, is indeed the door of the corridor leading to the gardens of Paradise in the otherworld!… Presenting it as a departure lounge in order to get into those gardens of Paradise!… Describing it as a place where mercy and salvation roam!… And all of these will be a source of consolation for them.

The Quran reports prophet Zachariah (A.S) saying:

“O my Lord! Infirm indeed are my bones, and the hair of my head doth glisten with grey: but never am I unblest, O my Lord, in my prayer to Thee!” (Maryam, 19:4).