لطفا منتظر باشید ...
MA''AD
(RESURRECTION)
Ma''ad is one of the three pillars of the holy
religion of Islam and one of the essentials of this pure religion. Every
man (without any exception) can tell the difference between good and evil
deeds with his Allah-granted nature and considers "benevolence" (although
he may not practise it) to be ''decent and essential act to perform and
"evil deeds" (although he may be performing these) to be indecent and an
act to essentially avoid. Undoubtedly, goodness and badness, benevolence
and malevolence are from the viewpoint of the results and rewards which
these two qualities possess. Likewise, there is no doubt that not even a
single day exists in this world when the rewards and retribution of good
and bad deeds of benefactors and malefactors do not reach them; for we
clearly observe that many benefactors spend their lives in extreme
bitterness and misery, whereas many malefactors who are fully involved in
committing crimes and misdemeanours, with their wicked behaviour and
disgraceful character, spend their lives with happiness and
prosperity.
For this reason, if in the future and in a world other
than this world, no day had been fixed when good and bad deeds would be
judged and appropriate recompense would be given, such an attention and
care (that benevolence is good and essential and malevolence is bad and to
be avoided) would not have been placed in the nature of man.
It should not be imagined that the reward of benevolence,
which the man considers good is this that it establishes order in the
society and people gain prosperity in their lives and that consequently
the benevolent person himself receives a portion of the benefits of his
benevolence. In the like manner, it should also not be imagined that a
malevolent person, with his indecent conduct and behaviour, disrupts the
order of the society and thus he himself finally gets entangled with its
unpleasant effects.
Although this kind of thinking is to some extent
applicable to disorganised and inefficient individuals; it does not apply
to those people who have reached the peak of power and whose happiness and
success are not at all influenced by the order and disorder of the
society, on the contrary when disturbance and corruption prevail in the
society and when the living conditions of the people become gloomy, these
individuals get happier and more successful, thus there re mains no reason
for the nature of such people to consider benevolence as good and
malevolence as bad.
In like manner, although these people are prosperous in
their short lives, it should not be imagined that their names will be
disgraceful and will bear the dislike of the public forever because of
their wicked acts.
This is because the manifestation of their disgraceful
names and the unpleasant judgement of the posterity about them occur at a
time when these people have passed away and have no impact on their lives
full of happiness, pleasure, and enjoyment.
On this account, there will be no reason for man to
consider benevolence as good and to acquire it or to consider malevolence
as bad and to refrain from it and tend towards the above-mentioned belief.
Had there not been the Ma''ad, it would be a superstitious
belief.
Therefore, through this pure and firm belief that the
Creator of the world has placed in our nature, we should understand that
the Almighty Allah will resurrect everyone after death and will look into
their deeds. The Almighty Allah will give a good reward and an everlasting
blessing to the benefactors for their deeds and will punish the
malefactors for their deeds. And this day is called the Yawm
al-Qiyamah (Day of Judgement).
MA''AD, RELIGIONS AND FAITHS
All religions and faiths, which call men to the
worship of the Almighty Allah and enjoin human beings to do good deeds and
prohibit them from bad deeds, express belief in Ma''ad and in the
life Hereafter. They have no doubt that benevolence is worthy only when it
is followed by a good reward and since this reward is not seen in this
world, inevitably it will be given to man in another life in the world
Hereafter.
Besides, signs and vestiges, that are observed in the
most ancient tombs discovered by the archaelogists, indicate that the
early human beings believed in the other life in the world Hereafter and
according to their beliefs they used to perform certain formalities and
provide things so that the dead may have comforts in the Hereafter.
MA''AD AS IN THE QUR''AN
The Holy Qur''an, through hundreds of Ayat
reminds the people of the Ma''ad and negates any doubt regarding it.
In many instances, the Qur''an reminds the people of Allah''s absolute might
in order to augment the knowledge of people and to eliminate the
unlikelihood of the creation of primary things. The Holy Qur''an
states:
"Does not man see that We have created him from the
sperm? Then lo! he is an open disputant. And he strikes out a likeness for
Us and forgets his own creation. Says he: Who will give life to the bones
when they are rotten? Say: He will give life to them Who brought them into
existence at first, and He is Cognizant of all creation
(36:77-79)."
And sometimes the Holy Qur''an draws the attention of
people to Ma''ad and entrance into spring after the winter death and
reminds men of the power of Allah, as it states:
"And among His signs is this, that you see the earth
still, but when We send down on it the water, it stirs and swells: most
surely He Who gives it life is the Giver of life to the dead; surely He
has power over all things (41:39)."
And sometimes, by using logical reasoning, the Holy
Qur''an awakens man''s Allah-given nature to admit this reality, as it
states:
"And We did not create the heaven and the earth and
what is between them in vain; that is the opinion of those who disbelieve;
then woe to those who disbelieve on account of the Fire. Shall We treat
those who believe and do good like the mischief-makers on the earth? Or
shall We make those who guard (against evil) like the wicked
(38:27-28)?"
(This is because those who do good and the wicked
will not receive their entire reward and recompense in this world. If ro
other world (Hereafter) existed in which each of these groups received
their rewards and punishments in accordance with their behaviours and
deeds, then both groups would be equal in front of Allah and this is
inconsistent with the Divine Justice.)
FROM
DEATH TO THE YAWM AL-QIYAMAH
[THAT WHICH DIES IS THE body NOT THE RUH (SOUL, SELF, OR
PERSONALITY)]
From the viewpoint of Islam, man is a creature made
of body and soul (body and ruh). The body of man is one of the
materialistic compositions and is subject to laws, i.e., it has volume and
weight, lives at a specific time and place, and becomes influenced by cold
and heat and the like. Gradually, man''s body gets old and worn out and
finally gets destroyed in the same manner as it had come into existence
some day by the will of the Almighty Allah.
But man''s self is not materialistic and has none of the
above-mentioned characteristics, rather the epithets of knowledge,
perception, thought, will power, and other spiritual qualities such as
affection, rancour, happiness, anguish, fear, hope, and the like are
attributed to it. As the self or soul does not possess the above-mentioned
materialistic characteristics, spiritual epithets are also far away from
these characteristics; rather the heart, the brain, and all the parts of
the body submit to the spirit and spiritual qualities in their own
innumerable activities and none of the parts of the body can be specified
as a centre of command.
The Almighty Allah states:
"And certainly We
created man of an extract of clay, then We made him a sperm in a firm
resting-place, then We made the sperm a clot, then We made the clot a lump
of flesh, then We made (in) the lump of flesh bones, then We covered the
bones with flesh, then We caused it to grow into another
creation...(23:12-14)."
THE MEANING OF
DEATH FROM
THE VIEWPOINT OF
ISLAM
The meaning of death from the viewpoint of Islam is
not that man becomes naught and vanishes, rather it means that the soul or
self of man which is immortal cuts its attachment and relationship from
the body and consequently, the body perishes while the soul continues its
life without the body.
The Almighty Allah states:
"And they say: ''What! when we have become lost in the
earth, shall we then certainly be in a new creation?'' Nay! they are
disbelievers in the meeting of their Lord. Say: ''The angel of death who is
given charge of you shall cause you to die...'' (32:10-11)."
The Holy Prophet (SA) states: "You shall not be perished,
but you shall be transferred from . one house to another".
THE WORLD
OF BARZAKH (INTERVAL
BETWEEN
DEATH AND MA''AD)
Islam believes that man remains alive in a special
manner after death. He enjoys blessing and happiness if he is a benefactor
and he will be punished if he is a malefactor. He will present himself for
public reckoning on the Day of Judgement. The interval between the death
of a man and the Ma''ad is called "Barzakh".
The Almighty Allah states:
"...And before them is Barzakh until the day they are
raised (23:100)."
The Almighty Allah also states:
"And reckon not those who are killed in Allah''s way as
dead: nay, they are alive (and) are provided sustenance from their Lord
(3:169)."
