Belief in Al-Akhira

قال الله تعالى - أما بعد:

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱتَّقُواْ رَبَّڪُمۡ‌ۚ إِنَّ زَلۡزَلَةَ ٱلسَّاعَةِ شَىۡءٌ عَظِيمٌ۬

O mankind! Fear your Lord and be dutiful to Him! Verily, the earthquake of the Hour (of al-Akhira) is a terrible thing. (Surah al-Hajj: v 1)

أيها المؤمنون : Belief in the Last Day and the life in the hereafter is one of the pillars of Iman. A person is not a believer without the belief in this pillar.

Allah swt says: “And who believe in (the Quran and the Sunnah) which has been sent down to you (pbuh) and in that which we sent down before and they believe with certainty in the Hereafter” [2:4]

Allah swt also says: “Those who perform As-Salat and give Zakat and they believe with certainty in the Hereafter” [Surah an-Naml: v3]

The Scholars of Islam have broadly categorised the teachings of the Qur’an into three subject matter areas i.e.

·       Tawheed Allah

·       Risalah and

·       Al-Akhira (judgement day) and the life in the hereafter

Therefore, topic-wise a third of the Qur’an is describing al-Akhira and the life in the hereafter. There are hundreds of Ayats in the holy Quran that are directly or indirectly describing the day of judgement and portraying how al-Akhira will be established, how and where people will live in the hereafter.

أيها المسلمون: In Sahih Muslim there is a book dedicated to this subject and also there are a number of Ahadith recorded by Imam Bukhari, Imam Malik and other great Scholars of Islam.

In the famous Hadith of Jibrael (as) in which the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) has said that the “Belief in al-Akhira (the day of Judgement and the life in the hereafter) is one of the Pillars of Iman”.

In every age, people have raised doubts about Life after Death. The Holy Quran has recorded their doubts in several places. Belief in ‘Life after Death’ has always been a basic teaching of all the prophets (pbut).

Without this belief, life on earth does not make much sense. We see very many injustices and wrongs being done all around us. The perpetrators of crimes are not always caught or sufficiently punished to fit the crime they committed.

On the other hand many a pious people who selflessly devote their lives to doing good deeds are not always rewarded in this life or not rewarded sufficiently. This does not seem fair.

Brothers in Islam: Therefore, if we do not believe in ‘Life after Death’, where people will be punished and rewarded properly for their deeds, all other beliefs become meaningless.

Similarly, if a man does not believe in the ‘Day of judgment’ and the life in the hereafter and does not think that he is accountable for his deeds, then he can pursue a life of pleasure and wickedness. There will be no incentive for him to follow the Code of life provided by Allah and His messenger.  Why should he undergo struggles and tribulations and suffer hardships? Unlike the one who does not believe in the ‘Day of judgment’?

 The one who believes is cautious in his life and acts according to the dictates of the Shariah.  He will always remember that he is accountable to Allah for his deeds. He will know that he will face the consequences for his actions in this world and in the hereafter. Thus he will lead a life of piety and righteousness. Thus this belief of ‘Akhira’ has a radical effect on his life and the lives of the people around him.

أيها المؤمنون : Allah swt says in Surah as-Sajdah: v10: “And they say. ‘What! When we lie hidden and lost, in the earth, shall we indeed be in a creation renewed? Nay, they deny the meeting with their Lord!

As we believe that our Creator is Al-Hakim (The Wise), Al-Adil (The Just) and Ar-Rahim (The Merciful), then it is logical that He would not treat His obedient and pious servants the same way as wicked and evil people.

Thus, in Surah al-Fatiha Allah’s attributes of Mercy are followed by ‘Master of day of Judgment’, and in surah al-Hijr, Allah swt’s mercy and His judgement are mentioned together.

In the human history there were a great number of people who were willing to believe in God but refused to believe in the life in the Hereafter. Even in today’s world we see there are millions of people who believe in some form of God but not in the life in the Hereafter.

أيها المسلمون: It is worth remembering that the hereafter will be different from this world. There will be metamorphosis and radical changes in everything. Material things will loose their weight, and actions and deeds will have weight and can be measured. Reality of everything will be revealed. Inanimate objects and parts of human body will be able to speak on the order of Allah swt.

Thus, there is no escape from that day where the whole of mankind will be assembled and each one has to give account of his deeds individually before Allah swt.

There will be no one to help and intercede on our behalf. Each one of us will be asked to recite our own record and judge for ourselves. There are many verses that graphically depict the day of judgement. Even the very many graphic words used for that day are indicative of its horror and its calamity. There are many names for al-Akhira and the hereafter

Some Names of from the Qur’an and Hadith:

§   Az-Zalzala – The Earthquake

§  As-Saiqah – The Blast

§  Yawm Al-Thaqheel – A Hard or heavy day.

§  Yawm Al-Qiyamah – Day of Resurrection

§  Yawm Al-Muhit – The Encompassing day

§  Yawm Al-Hisab – Day of Accounting

§  Yawm Al-Qar’iah – The calamity

§  Yawm Haqah – The Reality

Allah swt says: “The Day when they will (all) come out, nothing of them will be hidden from Allah. Whose is the kingdom this Day? (Allah Himself will reply to His Question): It is Allah's the One, the Irresistible” [Surah al-Mumin: v16]

O’ Believers, al-Akhira is the result of the test of this Life:

To prepare for the life after death, we must know what it is that we will be accounted for. We are being tested in every aspect of life. We will be examined on:

1. Our characters - to see whether we are greedy, selfish, lacking in sympathy, mean, cruel or cowardly.

2. Our reaction to misfortune - to find whether we are frightened, full of complaint, a burden to others or depressed.

3. Our reaction to good fortune - to see whether we are selfish, arrogant, proud or stingy.

4. Our way of life - to find whether we are dishonest, disrespectful, hurtful and unforgiving.

Brothers in Islam: We will be accounted for our every action on the Day of Judgement in the Court of Justice of Allah swt. The end result will depend on our ways of spending our lives on earth.

On the Day of Judgement, every man and woman will be standing in front of Allah swt. Nobody’s love and commitments, in the earthly life, will save another person by giving away their good deeds. Nobody, on that day will remember their once beloved family, friends and relatives, during their earthly lives. The only person every individual will be thinking of during the Day of Judgement is himself or herself.

Some people are lulled into believing that the Day of Judgement is a long way away. There is no need to worry about it now. Yet the time for action is very short. We do not know when death will overtake us. As soon as we die our time is up and we have to be ready to face our Lord.

It is related that Uthman (ra) used to cry a lot when visiting the graveyard. People asked him the reason for this and he replied that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “The grave is the first of the stages of the Akhira. The one who attains salvation here, the rest of the journey will be easy. If he cannot attain salvation at this stage the rest of his journey will be more difficult and ardours.” (Tirmidhi)

Knowing when the Day of Judgment occurs is not important, but in how we are preparing for it. We have to prepare ourselves for this journey now by good actions and good deeds.

May Allah keep us steadfast in our Eeman throughout our life so that we die in a state of Eeman? Ameen.