#31 The Afterlife: the fifth principle of Iman (Belief)

Life after death, resurrection and judgment are integral parts of the Islamic view of reality. We live in a world of imperfection, where vice often triumphs over good, where the innocent often suffer at the hands of exploiters, where criminals get away unscathed from the scene of murder, where principled stances often have little place in a competitive market of strong-eats-weak. Happiness is usually bittersweet, and short-lived. Justice and fairness require that there must be a Hereafter in which those that suffered will be requited, and those who oppressed and trampled the rights of others be brought to justice.

Islam describes the Afterlife as the “Day of Truth” or the “Day of Decision” in which all of our self-deceptions will be laid bare, all questions answered and all affairs settled. In contrast to the “Day of Truth” the word “dunya” is used to describe the World. The negative connotations of the term “dunya” refer not primarily to the physical or spatial understanding our home, “the earth”, for indeed the earthly world is the place where we have the opportunity to prepare for the Afterlife. Rather, “dunya” refers to the finite nature of the world and its deceptive influence that arise whenever we cling to finite reality at the expense of the infinite. Being engrossed in “dunya” is seen as being involved in matters that will reap only material but not spiritual benefit. One of the closest companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Ali described those that pursue the pleasure of God as opposed to those who pursue material gain: “The Afterlife is approaching and the (time of the) World is retreating. The Afterlife has its children and the World has its children. Be the children of the Afterlife…”

Today’s materialistic, hedonistic, consumer culture marches to advertising slogans that tell us to “obey your thirst.” We enslave ourselves to obeying and satiating our consumptive selves, eat, drink, do as you please under the common mantra “you only live once.” Most faiths disagree: we do not only live once. Death is not a simple deletion of existence, but a transport into a different realm of life: the Afterlife. And our future destiny depends on the dignity, the principled stances we took in this life, to do what is right even when that is against our immediate best interests.

Far from being a perfect World, the World is indeed a perfect testing ground. And those that realize that this human life is a test, will embark on a different course of action than merely “obeying your thirst.” Realizing our destination is the Afterlife, our road map and journey should be one of actively seeking God’s pleasure in all that we do, all that we say, in the interactions we have with God’s creature and the imprint we leave on the world.

And as nothing is possible without the will and help of God, we remember the Prophet’s prayer (peace be upon him): “O Lord. Direct me aright in my faith which is the guardian of my affairs. Direct me aright in my life in which I have my being. Set right my Hereafter which is my resort and make my life filled with every type of good and make my death a comfort from all ill.”