The Significance of belief in the Hereafter

First: Belief in the Hereafter is one of the six pillars of Faith upon which a believer’s faith rests and without which his faith turns invalid.

Second: He who does not believe in Allah and the Hereafter lives like an animal in this world, unaware of the purpose of his creation. This present life is meaningless without belief in the Hereafter, for it becomes disconnected from the past and the future.

A contemporary existentialist, realizing the fact, regarded life as something futile and waiting for more of it is just foolishness; for the continuity of life means merely further opportunity to do mischief to others. So, he who wants to save himself or his beloved persons from his own evil and that of the others, should set out to get rid of his life and the life of his beloved persons.

To apply his philosophy, this philosopher, seeing his wife at her happiest moment, and wishing to protect her from any future potential misery, hurried to slaughter her and then deliver up himself to the police. The police raised his case to the authorities, till the then president of the Republic heard of it. He then said: “ It is shameful for France to imprison her mind! Send him to the mental hospital!” in order to find him a way out of the reach of judiciary.

Third: He who does not believe in Allah and the Hereafter is utterly concerned with this life and the interests and benefits he can acquire. He does his best to compete with others to get what they possess to enjoy the largest share before death deprives him of his pleasures. You find him exert himself to carry out his aims, regardless of the means, whether through forgery, deception, usurpation, oppression, murder, rape, tricks or hypocrisy. He never fears the Lord’s penalty. He is only cautious of being exposed to the questioning of the law and the penalty of human authorities. If he could avoid them and succeed in misleading them, he would set out like a wild beast non-stop. So, man without belief in the Hereafter is a wild monster, for his only concern is this life and seeks nothing but its personal pleasures and worldly interests.

Remembering death would kindle the fire of desires and greed in himself and his heart and drive him to realize his desires and his ambitions through any evil means before he dies.

In contrast, a believer in the Hereafter knows that this worldly life is just a prelude to his life in the Hereafter, to which he will transfer through death, and that he has to do good deeds and avoid bad deeds in order to win the Lord’s satisfaction and enter Paradise of the eternal ever-lasting prosperity and happiness, and to get safe from the Fire. He believes that Allah (SWT) will not render any of his deeds invalid, but he will reward him for it by admitting him into Paradise.

The believer’s remembering of death increases his clearness of mind and his insight, and urges him to get ready for the Hereafter and worship his Lord, behave according to Islamic moral tenets, instruct others to do good and avoid evil. You would see him truthful in his speech, keeping his promise, trustful, doing good and resisting evil. He does not deceive or cheat others, steal, kill or commit adultery, or backbite. He is the righteous normal human being.

The vices we see today spreading among Muslims can be attributed to some weakness in their belief in the Hereafter. Allah knows better: May Allah bestow his blessing on our Prophet Muhammad, his Family and his Companions.