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Chapter
3:
Beliefs:
"It is
not righteousness that you turn your faces towards the East
and the West, but righteous is the one who believes in
Allah, and the Last Day, and the angels and the Book and the
prophets, and gives away wealth out of love for Him to the
near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer
and to those who ask and to set slaves free, and keeps up
prayer and pays the Zakaat; and the performers of their
promise when they make a promise, and the patient in
distress and affliction and in the time of conflict. These
are they who are truthful, and these are they who keep their
duty." (The Holy Quran 2:177)
Links present on
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Allah
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Angels
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Life
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A.
Allah:
"Allah - there is
no god but He. His are the most beautiful names." (The Holy
Quran 20:8)
"Say: He, Allah, is One.
Allah is He on Whom all depend. He begets not, nor is He
begotten, and none is like Him." (ch.
112)
15. What is the
basic teaching of Islam about God?
Islam teaches that there is
one, and only one, God Who is the Creator and Controller of
the entire universe. He is unique in every respect, and
there is nothing which bears any likeness to Him. He is the
Knower of all things, and has full power over the whole of
creation. He does not stand in need of anything at all,
while everything is totally dependent on Him. He possesses
all the perfect qualities, and man should worship Him, and
Him alone.
16. Is there any
name for God that Muslims use specially?
Yes. According to Islam, the
personal name of God is the Arabic word Allah. Personal name
means that it is the name which refers only to Him, and to
Him rather than to any particular quality that He possesses.
It is pronounced as follows:
AL - as in the English
word al-arm.
LAH - la as in the word la-rge.
The word Allah denotes that God is the
One Who possesses all the perfect attributes. The Quran
itself gives this meaning when it says:
"Allah has the most excellent
names (or qualities)." (7:180)
The names of God in other languages,
such as God in English, or Khuda in Urdu, only convey some
particular attribute of the Divine Being, and they are also
used for those other than God (as in god, gods, goddess,
etc.). Allah, however, has only ever been applied to God
Himself.
17. Does Islam give
any arguments to prove the existence of
God?
Yes, the Holy Quran gives
three kinds of arguments on this point.
Firstly, it refers us to the physical
world which shows great order and arrangement, works
according to laws, and where everything has a set purpose in
the whole scheme of things. There is also immense beauty in
nature which attracts man's heart. Science is discovering
more and more of these characteristics of the world all the
time. So behind this highly purposeful and beautiful working
of nature must be One, single Intelligence of great beauty
and attraction.
Secondly, the Quran tells us about the
close and deep connection between God and the inner nature
of every person. There is an in-built desire in each and
every person to search for something higher than oneself,
and when in difficulties a person instinctively wants to
call upon a Hidden Power to help him.
Thirdly, and most convincingly,
Prophets and men of God appeared in every nation in the
world and showed their people the reality of God through
their teachings and works. Just as most of us learn about
science not by making all the discoveries ourselves, but by
accepting the work and evidence of those who devote
themselves to the study of science, similarly the proof of
the existence of God is provided by the lives of the great
luminaries whom God sent all over the world for this very
purpose.
18. Other religions
also teach the existence of God. Is there any difference
between their teaching and the Islamic concept of God?
Yes, there are some important
differences.
The first major difference is that
Islam teaches the absolute one-ness of God, with Whom no one
can share in Divinity. No idol or heavenly object, nor any
religious or spiritual teacher, can possess some Divine
power or attribute.
Secondly, Islam teaches the highest
conception of God, and does not accept any limitation to His
power and knowledge, while other religions set limits to
Him. For instance, Islam rejects the Hindu belief that God
is not the Creator of matter and souls but exists alongside
them. It also rejects the Christian doctrine that God is
unable to forgive sins unless He punishes someone, and so He
sent His 'son' to suffer the punishment for the sins of all
humanity. Moreover, a son is needed to take the place of the
father when the father dies, and clearly this cannot apply
if God is perfect.
Thirdly, Islam refutes the idea that
any human being, however great, was a 'manifestation' of God
on earth, or a Divine incarnate.
19. What are the
practical consequences of these three differences?
These differences dignify and
elevate the position of man. Belief in the one-ness of God
means that man should not worship or be a slave to anything
in the world, such as idols, forces of nature, heavenly
bodies, religious leaders, kings, dictatorial systems, etc.
So man is meant to conquer the world around him, not be
afraid of it; and each person is meant to use his or her own
intelligence and reason, not blindly obey someone
else.
Belief in the highest conception of
God means that man's own progress is unlimited. His
knowledge and power, though insignificant as compared to
God's, can go on increasing. Rejecting the belief that a
person could be a 'manifestation' of God, means that one
should look upon the great Founders of religions, not as
'gods' shrouded in mystery and possessing supernatural
powers, but as mortal human beings who by their own lives
and example showed others how to live.
20. Is there any
other important distinctive feature of the Islamic concept
of God?
Yes. Islam teaches that Allah
is "the Lord (Rabb) of all the worlds". (Rabb is pronounced
like the word rub.) Allah is, therefore, not just the 'god'
of the Muslims, nor the god of a particular race, religion
or nation, but the only One God for the whole of mankind. As
the Lord of all the nations He has not only provided means
of physical sustenance for all the countries on earth, but
also sent His guidance to every nation for its moral
progress. He is equally just and loving towards every
section of humanity, and has no favourite or chosen people,
or rejected ones.
21. How does man
stand in relation to God, according to Islam?
God has given man not only a
body, but also a soul through which he can come into contact
with his Creator. But whereas the body, like the rest of
nature, is bound to obey the laws of God, the soul is free
to follow God's guidance or to reject it. The soul's
development lies in willingly following the guidance God has
revealed through His prophets.
According to the Quran, each person's
soul is "God's Spirit" which has been breathed into him or
her (32:9). This means that man's soul has a special
relationship with God, and man is capable of emulating the
Divine attributes on his own small scale (see no. 23 below).
God is unimaginably near to man's soul, nearer to it than
even man himself. He knows a person's innermost thoughts,
even those which the person himself does not consciously
realize. In man's soul there is implanted love for God and
yearning after God, and it cannot find complete contentment
without God. (See, for example, the following verses of the
Holy Quran for these ideas: 50:16; 56:85; 20:7; 2:165;
5:119; 89:27-30.)
22. What are the
other things the Holy Quran tells us about God?
It tells us a great deal. Most
frequently it calls God Rahmaan (Beneficent) and Raheem
(Merciful). Rahmaan really means that God is so loving and
generous that He has granted man innumerable blessings as
free gifts without any effort on man's part. God is Raheem
means that He is merciful so that when man makes the effort
to use his God-given bounties for good purposes, God helps
him to succeed. For instance, God has given man all sorts of
physical resources in this world, without any effort on his
part. When man tries to exploit these resources for the
good, God makes him successful. The Holy Quran also tells us
that God is Forgiving, Compassionate, Just, Answerer of
prayers, Creator of everything, All-powerful, All-knowing,
etc.
A passage of the Holy Quran which
mentions several attributes of God is as follows:
"He is Allah besides Whom
there is no God. The Knower of the unseen and the seen.
He is the Beneficent, the Merciful. He is Allah besides
Whom there is no God; the King, the Holy, the Author of
peace, the Grantor of security, Guardian over all, the
Mighty, the Supreme, the Possessor of greatness . . . He
is Allah, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner. His are
the most beautiful names. Whatever is in the heavens and
the earth declares His glory; and He is the Mighty, the
Wise." (59:22-24)
23. What is the
purpose of believing that God possesses these
attributes?
So that man can try to acquire
and display the same kind of qualities in his life. The
Quran says:
"(Take) Allah's colouring -
and who is better than Allah at colouring."
(2:138)
God is the Rabb (the Provider and
Fosterer of the whole world), so man should try to provide
for others. God is Rahmaan, and so man too should take the
initiative in doing good to other people, whether they have
done anything to deserve it or not. God is Raheem, and so
man should join with, help and encourage those who are doing
good. God is All-Knowing and Wise, so man too should try to
perfect his knowledge and acquire wisdom.
Believing in the Divine attributes
also stops one from harming others for personal gain. A
person who truly believes God to be his Rabb (Provider)
knows that He will always look after him, and so such a
person would never try to take someone else's due. A person
who truly believes that God is All-Seeing and All-Knowing
would know that he could never hide any bad deed, however
secret, from God.
B.
Angels:
"And We indeed
created you, then We fashioned you, then We said to the
angels: Make submission to Adam (or mankind)." (The Holy
Quran 7:11)
24. What are
angels?
Angels are 'spiritual',
non-material beings who put God's commands and laws into
action in this world. They have no 'will' of their own,
unlike man, and are intermediaries between God and the
world.
25. What do angels
look like?
As angels are not physical
beings, they cannot be seen by man's eye. So this question
does not arise. However, Prophets of God and other righteous
persons can 'see' angels on occasions, but it is with their
spiritual (or mind's) eyes, in dreams and visions.
26. What functions
do angels perform?
These are of two kinds: their
functions in the physical world, and their functions in the
spiritual development of man. In the physical world, the
working of nature is governed by laws, as science has shown
by discovering many of these laws. Islam teaches that these
laws have been devised by God, and the angels - the obeying
functionaries of God - put them into action. On the
spiritual side, the angels communicate God's revelation to
the Prophets and other righteous ones, bring comfort and
strength to the hearts of true believers, and inspire noble
thoughts in the minds of all persons. They do this, of
course, by acting through the spiritual senses of human
beings, not their physical senses like the eyes or ears.
27. Why are angels
necessary to bring God's messages to man?
Just as light is needed as a
medium for our eyes to see things, and air is needed to
carry sound to our ears, similarly an agency is required to
activate our spiritual senses. The angels are that agency.
They bring God's messages to the 'inner' eyes and ears of
righteous people, and also cast good and noble thoughts into
the 'hearts' of all people. But it is only the righteous
who, because of their highlydeveloped spiritual
senses, may be able to perceive the working of angels.
28. Is there any
other important point Islam tells us about angels?
A most important point
disclosed in the Holy Quran is that mankind has been given
by God the ability to acquire knowledge of all things in the
universe. The Quran further tells us that the angels, who
put God's laws into action in the world, submit to man
because of his great knowledge. In other words, man can use
his knowledge of the laws of nature to control the world. So
the Holy Quran disclosed many centuries ago that man can
make the greatest progress in science and technology,
because the angels, the agencies who automatically put God's
laws into action in the running of the world, all submit to
man.
29. Is there a key
significance of belief in angels?
As stated earlier, every
belief in Islam requires a Muslim to do something practical
and positive, and belief in angels means that we should
follow our good impulses and reject the bad ones. The Holy
Quran also says that there exist 'devils' which put low,
selfish thoughts in man's mind. However, even though they
exist, the Quran does not require a Muslim to 'believe' in
the devils, but in fact to disbelieve in them. This shows
that in Islam 'belief' does not just mean believing in the
heart but also acting in accordance with the belief.
C.
Prophets and Messengers:
"Mankind is a
single nation. So Allah raised prophets as bearers of good
news and as warners. . ." (The Holy Quran
2:213)
"And those who believe in
Allah and His messengers and make no distinction between any
of them (in belief), to them He will grant their rewards."
(4:152)
"And certainly We raised
in every nation a messenger, saying: Serve Allah and shun
the devil." (16:36)
30. What is a
'prophet' or 'messenger' of God?
A prophet (nabi) or messenger
(rasul) of God is a human being to whom God gives His
guidance and whom He charges with the task of conveying that
guidance to the people, so that they may do good and avoid
evil.
31. In which
countries of the world did Prophets arise?
According to Islam, God sent
prophets to all nations on earth, at various stages of their
histories. The Holy Quran says:
"And for every nation there
is a messenger." (10:47)
"And there is not a people but a
warner has gone among them." (35:24)
32. In which of
these Prophets of God do Muslims have to believe?
Muslims have to believe in all
the prophets and messengers of God, equally, without
distinction, wherever they may have appeared. In the Holy
Quran (2:136, 285, and 3:84 etc.) it is stated clearly: "We
make no distinction between them".
33. Please name
some of these Prophets.
Many prophets are mentioned by
name in the Holy Quran; for example, Noah, Abraham, Moses,
David, and Jesus from the Biblical prophets, and also
nonBiblical prophets some of whose names are Luqman,
Hud, and DhulKifl. And, last of all, there is the
great, universal Prophet Muhammad, may peace and the
blessings of Allah be upon him.
34. Did any
Prophets appear other than those mentioned in the Holy
Quran?
Certainly. The Quran itself
tells us that it has mentioned only some of the prophets
(see 4:164). Since prophets appeared in every part of the
world, and there were many in each nation, to make a full
list of names is impossible. Muslims have to believe in and
respect all the prophets, whether named in the Holy Quran or
not.
35. It is
wellknown that Muslims believe in the Israelite
Prophets, including Jesus. How do they regard the great
figures of other religions, such as Krishna, Buddha, and
Confucius?
It is quite obvious from the
teachings of the Holy Quran that, as God sent Prophets to
every nation, and quite a large number of them appeared all
over the world, the ancient founders of these other
religions too would have been Prophets and messengers of
God. In fact, wherever there are people following a sacred
scripture older than the Quran, their religious founders
mentioned in those Books should be accepted by Muslims as
true prophets of God. It has been suggested that Buddha is
mentioned in the Holy Quran by the name DhulKifl,
meaning man of Kifl, where Kifl is the Arabic form of the
name of his birth-place Kapilvestu.
36. But religions
such as Christianity and Hinduism revere their great
religious figures as 'gods' or incarnations of God. What
does Islam say?
According to Islam, all these
righteous persons were mortal, human prophets of God, like
the Holy Prophet Muhammad, having the same needs that every
human being has. They all eventually died, as everyone must.
There are several reasons why they have come to be revered
by their followers as 'gods'. One is that their words were
misunderstood by the later generations, who mistook their
figurative expressions in a literal sense. Another is that
the details of their lives were not preserved accurately,
and therefore a great many myths have grown up around them,
and their works and deeds have been much
exaggerated.
37. Why were the
Prophets humans, and not 'gods on earth'?
Because they were sent to
guide other human beings, not only by preaching, but also by
personal example. So they had to be completely human to show
other people how to live. According to Islam, each Prophet
was himself the first and foremost follower of the guidance
God revealed through him for people to follow. This is why
previous prophets are called 'Muslims' in the Holy Quran,
being not only teachers but also followers of God's
guidance. See for example 3:67. As for the Holy Prophet
Muhammad, not only does Islam teach that he was a human
being, but a study of his life shows that he regarded
himself as a humble mortal, and
mixed with people as just one of them.
38. What did the
Prophets teach?
They all gave the same basic
teaching: that man should worship God, and God alone, and do
good to his fellowbeings. Of course, the details of
the teachings differed according to the nation and the time
in which a Prophet appeared. In the Holy Quran, the
teachings of all Prophets are called Islam, and the Prophets
and their true followers are labelled Muslims. See, for
example, 2:131-133 and 5:111. This refers to the fact that
the fundamental teachings given by all of them were the same
- submission to God and peace with fellow human
beings.
39. Since Muslims
believe in all the Prophets equally, what is the special
position of the Holy Prophet Muhammad?
All Prophets were equally from
God, and equally true, but the scope of their missions
varied. The Divine messengers before the Holy Prophet
Muhammad were each given teachings limited to their
respective nations, because in those times a nation did not
have much to do with other nations. Furthermore, the
teachings of each Prophet applied for a limited period of
time only, after which God would raise another Prophet to
revise some of the teachings for the new circumstances. But
at last the time came to unite all the nations upon a single
religion so that mankind may live in peace as one nation.
For this purpose was sent the Holy Prophet Muhammad, to whom
God gave teachings for the whole world for all time to
come.
40. Can you give
any arguments to support this belief?
Yes. Firstly, while followers
of previous religions believe that God's revelation and
guidance was given only to some particular nation or land,
Islam teaches that guidance from God had come to every
nation and it requires Muslims to believe in all the
previous national Prophets. So the Holy Prophet Muhammad is
the one who confirmed and established the truth of the
Prophets of all the various nations, and laid the basis for
peace between them. He is thus the World-Prophet. Secondly,
it is a recognized fact that, while the original teachings
of previous Prophets are largely lost, the sources of Islam
(the Holy Quran and details of the Holy Prophet's life) are
available to us fully and accurately. This shows Islam to be
the religion for all time.
41. Could there be
any Prophet or Messenger of God after the Holy Prophet
Muhammad?
No, after the Holy Prophet
Muhammad there cannot come any Prophet or Messenger from
God. The reasons are clear from what has been stated above.
The teachings God gave to the Holy Prophet are meant for all
nations, for all times, so that the entire world be united
in one, perfect brotherhood. Those teachings are preserved
perfectly. So there is simply no need for a Prophet after
the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
42. Does this mean
that no human being can now reach the stage of a close
contact with God, and be spoken to by God?
No, it does not mean this. It
simply means that no further new religious teachings,
scripture, or prophet will come into the world. There will
still be people, after the Holy Prophet Muhammad, who, by
following the teachings of Islam, shall have such close
contact with God that He will speak to them, comfort them
and disclose to them events of the future, through words of
inspiration, and true dreams and visions. In Islamic history
there have been countless examples of such righteous
individuals who reached this high stage by following the
teachings of Islam perfectly. A person such as this is known
as a wali or saint
D.
Books of God:
"(Muslims)
believe in that which has been revealed to thee (O Muhammad)
and that which was revealed before thee." (The Holy Quran
2:4)
"He has revealed to thee
(O Muhammad) the Book with truth, verifying that which is
before it, and He revealed the Torah and the Gospel before,
a guidance for the people, and He sent the Discrimination
(the Quran)." (3:3)
43. What is a Book
of God?
To the various Prophets that
God sent for people's guidance, He revealed His teachings.
The Prophets made this revelation public, and their
followers learnt it and passed it down to their children,
and they in turn passed it down to the next generation, and
so on. This is how we come to have the 'scriptures' or 'holy
books' of various religions today. Islam calls the original
revelations of the Prophets as "Books of God" because they
were meant to be preserved in a collected form (whether
orally or written, or both).
44. Please name
some of the Books of God which exist today?
The revelations granted by God
to the Prophets before the Holy Prophet Muhammad, such as
Moses, Jesus, Krishna, and Buddha, cannot be found today in
their full and original form. However, the presentday
scriptures of the followers of these great prophets do
contain some fragments of the original teachings, although
they are mixed up with later additions and interpretations.
Some of these scriptures are: the Torah of the Jews, the
Gospels of the Christians, the Vedas of the Hindus, and the
Zend Avesta of the Zoroastrians.
On the other hand, the word of God
that came to the Holy Prophet Muhammad is to be found fully
intact and completely preserved in the Muslim scripture,
which is known as the Quran.
45. Do Muslims have
to believe in Divine scriptures other than their own?
Muslims have to believe that
the original teachings of all the Prophets, including Moses,
Jesus, the Prophets of India, those of China, etc., were
revealed by God. On that basis, they respect the scriptures
of other religions because some of the original revelations
can still be found in them. So Muslims are required to
believe that the religions that came before Islam, such as
Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc., contain
many truths, even as they exist today.
46. In what
relation does the Holy Quran stand to other Divine
Scriptures?
The Holy Quran claims to
be:
i. a "verifier" of previous
scriptures: "a Book from Allah verifying that which they
have" (2:89).
ii. a "guardian" over them
(5:48).
iii. a "judge" to decide their
differences: "We have not revealed to thee the Book
except that thou may make clear to them that wherein they
differ" (16:64).
iv. to "make manifest" and to
"perfect" their teachings (26:1; 5:3).
47. Please explain
the four points above a little further.
i. The Holy Quran verifies
that all the scriptures revealed to various nations of
the world are of Divine origin.
ii. It has guarded and preserved
those of their original teachings that were of permanent
application, after these had become obscure due to loss
and alteration in their texts.
iii. All scriptures were from God,
but they had changed so much as to become totally
different from each other, even in terms of their basic
teachings. The Holy Quran came as a "judge" to decide
these differences, and to sort out the original teachings
from later changes.
iv. The Holy Quran shed full light
on all essentials of faith, many of which had not been
fully dealt with in the earlier scriptures. It also
replaced those of their teachings which were only local
or temporary by perfect and universal teachings
applicable to all nations and all times.
E.
Life after Death:
"We have ordained
death among you, and We are not to be overcome, so that We
may change your state and make you grow into what you know
not." (The Holy Quran 56:60-61)
"O soul who is at rest,
return to thy Lord, well-pleased (with Him), well-pleasing
(Him). So enter among My servants, and enter My garden."
(89:27-30)
"It (hell) is the fire
kindled by Allah which rises over the hearts." (104:5-6)
48. What does Islam
teach about life after death?
It teaches that a human being
not only has a body, but also has a 'spirit' given to him or
her by God. The spirit is the seed from which a higher form
of life grows within man, higher than physical life, just as
the body has developed from a small 'seed'. Just as in the
world around us higher forms of life evolve from lower ones,
similarly from the life of the individual in this world is
evolved his higher 'spiritual' life. During his life, man's
deeds shape and mould his spirit, for better or worse,
according to his deeds. When a person dies, the physical
body is finished, but the spirit remains, as he or she had
moulded it by their deeds when alive. That is the life after
death.
49. How is the
spirit shaped during our life here?
Just as our physical actions
and habits affect the body and leave their impressions upon
it, so does the good or evil of our deeds affect the spirit
and leave an impression upon it. Sometimes we can even feel
something of the effect of a good or bad deed upon us. If we
nourish the spirit through prayer to God and, with the
strength we get from this, do good and righteous deeds, the
spirit will develop and grow properly. But if the spirit is
neglected, and bad deeds are done, it suffers harm. It is as
if God has given each person a piece of soft clay. It is
then up to the individual to shape it into something
beautiful or ugly by his deeds.
50. Is man rewarded
after death for his good deeds and punished for the bad
ones?
As has been said above, good
deeds benefit the spirit and evil deeds harm it. This effect
upon the spirit is what constitutes the reward or punishment
for one's deeds. In this life we can occasionally feel this
effect, but only very faintly and vaguely. After death, when
only the spirit is left, bearing all the impressions of
deeds done throughout life, the effects of those deeds will
be felt clearly and vividly. It is this which is the reward
for good deeds and suffering for evil deeds.
51. What are heaven
and hell?
Heaven and hell are not actual
places somewhere in the universe, but really our inner
conditions or the condition of the spirit resulting from our
deeds. Heaven and hell begin in this life within a person's
heart. The feelings of bliss and contentment at doing good
is the heaven in one's heart. And the guilt, shame and greed
felt by an evil doer is the hell of the heart. After death,
the heaven or hell that developed in the heart is unfolded
before us and becomes the world in which we live, and we
live in it not with the physical body of this life but the
'spiritual' body made from our deeds.
52. The Holy Quran
mentions many blessings and comforts in paradise and many
painful punishments in hell. What is the nature of
these?
The exact nature of these
things cannot be known in this world because they are in an
entirely different world where ours ideas of space, time,
feelings, etc. do not apply. But to describe them to us,
physical terms have to be used such as "gardens and rivers"
in paradise, and the "fire" of hell, to give an idea of what
they feel like.
However, all these things of the next
world actually begin in one's heart in this world. For
instance, the "fruits" of paradise are really the fruits of
good deeds that a person starts tasting in his heart in this
life, and the "fire" of hell is the same fire of low desires
and greed that burns in a person's heart here. In the next
world, all these feelings are unfolded and manifest
themselves as comforts of paradise or miseries of
hell.
53. What is the Day
of Judgment according to Islam?
Just as the life of an
individual has an end, and the life of a nation has an end,
so does the life of this entire physical world have an end.
That is the 'Day of Judgment', which will bring the
spiritual world into full manifestation, in place of the
present physical one. As said above, immediately upon death
a person begins to feel an awakening to the higher life,
made from his deeds in the present life. But this is only a
partial realization. It is on the Day of Judgment that
everyone is fully awakened and raised to the higher,
spiritual life. It is called the Day of Judgment because
each person shall then become fully conscious of the effects
of his deeds in this life, and have a 'body' (so to speak)
made out of his or her own deeds.
54. Is there any
other significant point about paradise and hell disclosed by
Islam?
Yes. It is that the life after
death is actually the starting-point of further progress for
man. Those in paradise are advancing to higher and higher
stages in knowledge and perfection of faith. Hell is meant
to purify those in it of the effects of their bad deeds, and
so make them fit for further advancement. Its punishment is,
therefore, not everlasting.
55. Do Muslims
believe in reincarnation, that is, after death a
person may be reborn in this world for another life
here, and in this way have several lives on earth?
No, Islam teaches continuous
progress of the soul and so it cannot return to this world
after death of the body. The theory of reincarnation
teaches that if a person is born in poor or miserable
circumstances, or is suffering from some disability or
disadvantage, this is a punishment for him for bad deeds
done in his former life; and if anyone is prosperous,
healthy, and of a 'high' family, that is his reward for good
deeds done in his former life. If one believes this, it
would mean that we should treat the poor, the destitute, and
the suffering as if they deserve their misfortunes, and have
no sympathy for them because they are only getting their
just punishment; and we should have high regard for the rich
and the comfortable because they are receiving their reward
for past good deeds. Such an attitude would be inhuman and
against the basic teachings of Islam.
Islam teaches that each person is born
with a pure soul, without any burden to bear from a past
life, and that both those people who seem to be facing
hardship in this world and those who appear to be enjoying
comforts are in a state of 'trial' to see how they behave
under those circumstances. These are not punishments or
rewards. In God's eyes the best person is he or she who
acquits himself best in the conditions they meet.
56. What is the
significance of the Muslim belief in life after death?
Firstly, it encourages man to
do good and restrains him from doing evil. This is because
he realizes that a good deed will always bring him benefit,
even if it may not be obvious at the time; and he knows that
an evil deed, even if no one at all sees him do it, will
have to be answered for, and will have adverse consequences,
in the next life if not immediately in this one.
Secondly, it teaches man to look at
the inner worth of himself and of others, rather than the
outward appearance (be it wealth, position, beauty, or
education). This is because he knows that it is the inner
part of man which is the real thing, and which survives
forever, while the outward possessions are certainly lost at
death, and often even before then.
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