JUDGEMENT DAY Muslims believe that the present life is only a trial preparation for the next realm

of existence. This life is a test for each individual for the life after death. A day will come when the whole universe will be destroyed and the dead will be resurrected for judgment by God. This day will be the beginning of a life that will never end. This day is the Day of Judgment. On that day, all people will be rewarded by God according to their beliefs and deeds. Those who die while believing that There is no true god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger (Prophet) of God and are Muslim will be rewarded on that day and will be admitted to Paradise forever, as God has said: And those who believe and do good deeds, they are dwellers of Paradise, they dwell therein forever. (Quran, 2:82) But those who die while not believing that There is no true god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger (Prophet) of God or are not Muslim will lose Paradise forever and will be sent to Hellfire, as God has said: And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him and he will be one of the losers in the Hereafter. (Quran, 3:85) And as He has said: Those who have disbelieved and died in disbelief, the earth full of gold would not be accepted from any of them if it were offered as a ransom. They will have a painful punishment, and they will have no helpers. (Quran, 3:91) One may ask, I think Islam is a good religion, but if I were to convert to Islam, my family, friends, and other people would persecute me and make fun of me. So if I do not convert to Islam, will I enter Paradise and be saved from Hellfire? The answer is what God has said in the preceding verse, And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him and he will be one of the losers in the Hereafter. After having sent the Prophet Muhammad to call people to Islam, God does not accept adherence to any religion other than Islam. God is our Creator and Sustainer. He created for us whatever is in the earth. All the blessings and good things we have are from Him. So after all this, when someone rejects belief in God, His Prophet Muhammad , or His religion of Islam, it is just that he or she be punished in the Hereafter. Actually, the main purpose of our creation is to worship God alone and to obey Him, as God has said in the Holy Quran (51:56). This life we live today is a very short life. The unbelievers on the Day of Judgment will think that the life they lived on earth was only a day or part of a day, as God has said: He (God) will say, How many years did you stay on the earth? They will say: We stayed a day or part of a day.... (Quran, 23:112-113) And He has said: Did you then think that We had created you in jest (without any purpose), and that you would not be returned to Us (in the Hereafter)? So, God is exalted, the True King. None has the right to be worshipped but Him... (Quran, 23:115-116) The life in the Hereafter is a very real life. It is not only spiritual, but physical as well. We will live there with our souls and bodies. In comparing this world with the Hereafter, the Prophet Muhammad said: { The value of this world compared to that of the Hereafter is like what your finger brings from the sea when you put it in and then take it out: Shahih Muslim} The meaning is that, the value of this world compared to that of the Hereafter is like a few drops of water compared to the sea. All of the Prophets (P.B.U.H) sent by Allah for the benefit of humanity called upon their people to worship Allah and to believe in life after death. They laid so much emphasis on this last belief that even a slight doubt about its reality was considered a sign of denying both Allah and all other beliefs. The very fact that they have dealt with this metaphysical question of life after death so confidently and so uniformly, despite the fact that they appeared over thousands of years

and in different places, proves that the source of their knowledge about this reality is one and the same: divine revelation. We also know that these Prophets (P.B.U.H) of Allah were opposed strongly by their people on this very issue, as many considered it impossible. Despite such opposition, however, the Prophets (P.B.U.H) were able to convince many people of its truth. All Prophets (P.B.U.H) of Allah appeal to the aesthetic, moral, and rational consciousness of man when discussing metaphysical matters. For example, when the idolaters of Makkah denied even the possibility of life after death, Allah in the Qur'an, exposed the weakness of their stand by advancing very logical and rational arguments in support of it : And he makes comparisons for Us, and forgets his own (origin and) creation: He says, Who can give life to (dry) bones and decomposed ones (at that)? Say, He will give them life Who created them for the first time! For He is well-versed in every aspect of creation! - The same who produces for you fire out of the green tree, when behold! Ye kindle therewith (your own fires)! Is not He Who created the heavens and the earth able to create the like thereof? - Yea, indeed! For He is the Creator Supreme, of skill and knowledge (infinite)! (Qur'an 36 : 78-81) In another verse, God (Allah) says very clearly that non-believers do not have a sound basis for their denial of life after death. It is based on pure conjecture : And they say: What is there but our life in this world? We shall die and we live, and nothing but Time can destroy us. But of that they have no knowledge: they merely conjecture: And when Our Clear Signs are rehearsed to them, their argument is nothing but this: they say, Bring (back) our forefathers, if what ye say is true! (Qur'an 45 : 24-25) As man's life is so short and the world is not eternal, true justice can only be meted out in the afterlife, which will have none of these limitations. God (Allah) states that the Day of Judgment must come and that God (Allah) will decide the fate of each soul according to his or her record of deeds: The unbelievers say, Never to us will come the Hour: say, Nay! But most surely, by my Lord, it will come upon you - by Him Who knows the unseen - from Whom is not hidden the least little atom in the heavens or on earth: nor is there anything less than that, or greater, but is in the Record Perspicuous: that He may reward those who believe and work deeds of righteousness: for such is forgiveness and a sustenance most generous. But those who strive against Our Signs, to frustrate them - for such will be a penalty - a punishment most humiliating. (Qur'an 34 : 3-5) The Day of Resurrection will be the manifestation of God's (Allah's) justice and mercy. He will shower His mercy on those who suffered during their lives for His sake, believing that eternal bliss was awaiting them. Those who abused the bounties of God (Allah) and did not care about the life to come will be in the most miserable state. Drawing a comparison between them, God (Allah) says : Are (these two) alike? - One to whom We have made a goodly promise, and who is trying to reach its (fulfillment). And one to whom We have given the good things of this life, but who, on the Day of Judgment, is to be among those brought up (for punishment)? (Qur'an 28:61) God (Allah) also states that this worldly life is a preparation for the eternal life after death. But those who deny it become slaves of their passions and desires and make fun of virtuous and God (Allah)-conscious persons. Such persons realize their folly only at the time of their death, a time when their wish to be given a further return to this life and make amends will be in vain. Their miserable state at the time of death, the horror of the Day of Judgment, and the eternal bliss guaranteed to sincere believers are presented very clearly and powerfully in the Qur'an :

(In falsehood will they be) until, when death comes to one of them, he says : O my Lord! Send me back (to life) - in order that I may work righteousness in the things I neglected - By no means! It is but a word he says - Before them is a partition till the day they are raised up. Then when the trumpet is blown, there will be no more relationships between them that day, nor will one ask after another! Then those whose balance (of good deeds) is heavy - they will attain salvation: but those whose balance is light, will be those who have lost their souls; in Hell will they abide. The Fire will burn their faces, and they will therein grin with their lips displaced. (Qur'an 23: 99-104) The belief in life after death guarantees success in the Hereafter and also makes this world a place of peace and happiness by transforming people into individuals who are more responsible and dutiful in their activities. Consider the example of the people who lived in the Arabian peninsula before the appearance of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). They were great lovers of gambling, wine, tribal feuds, plundering, and murdering. As they had no concept of an afterlife, they saw no reason not to enjoy themselves as they saw fit? But as soon as they accepted the belief in the One God (Allah) and an afterlife, they became a very disciplined nation. They gave up their vices, helped each other when requested to do so, and settled all their disputes on the basis of justice and equality. The denial of life after death also has consequences in this world. When an entire nation denies belief in the afterlife, all kinds of evils and corruption are unleashed and the society is set on the path to ultimate destruction. God (Allah) in the Qur'an mentions the terrible end of preIslamic peoples such as `Aad, Thamud, and Pharaoh of ancient Egypt : (The tribes of) Thamud and 'Aad disbelieved in the judgment to come. As for Thamud, they were destroyed by lightning, and as for 'Aad, they were destroyed by a fierce roaring wind, which He imposed on them for seven long nights and eight long days so that you might see the people laid prostrate in it as if they were the stumps of fallen down palm trees . Now do you see a remnant of them? Pharaoh likewise and those before him, and the subverted cities. They committed errors and they rebelled against the Messenger (pbuh) of their Lord, and He seized them with a surpassing grip. Lo, when the waters rose, We bore you in the running ship that We might make it a reminder for you and for heeding ears to hold. So when the Trumpet is blown with a single blast and the earth and the mountains are lifted up and crushed with a single blow, then on that day, the Terror shall come to pass, and the heavens shall be split for upon that day it shall be very frail. Then as for him who is given his book in his right hand, he shall say: 'Here, take and read my book! Certainly I thought that I should encounter my reckoning.' So he shall be in a pleasing life in a lofty garden, its clusters nigh to gather. 'Eat and drink with wholesome appetite for that you did long ago, in the days gone by.' But as for him who is given his book in his left hand, he shall say: `Would that I had not been given my book and not known my reckoning! Would that it had been the end. My wealth has not availed me, my authority is gone from me.' (Qur'an 69: 4-29) There are very convincing reasons to believe in life after death. First : All the prophets (pbut) of God (Allah) have called their people to believe in it. Second : Whenever a society is built on the basis of this belief, it has been the most ideal and peaceful society, free of social and moral evils. Third : History bears witness that whenever this belief has been rejected collectively by a group of people in spite of the repeated warning of the prophet (pbuh), the group as a whole has been punished by God (Allah) even in this world. Fourth : The moral, aesthetic, and rational faculties of man endorse the possibility of life after death. Fifth : God's (Allah's) attributes of justice and mercy have no meaning if there is no life after death.