As other axioms, the afterlife (Ma’ad) is one of the first requisites for stepping into the religion of Islam and is defined as the existence of another world that creatures enter after their death, where they experience eternal life. It is noteworthy that the belief in receiving revelation and prophethood (Nubuwwah) builds the foundation of this axiom; in other words, one cannot find acceptance in the afterlife unless he comes to faith in prophethood and more importantly, monotheism (Tawhid).

Nevertheless, prophets didn’t come to impose the idea of Ma’ad on their followers, rather led people’s mind to ponder on this issue and recognize its validity. The reason for this concept to be considered as an axiom is that Islam not only wants us to have faith in the afterlife dependent on the belief in prophethood but also through individual and conscious investigation.

How to Find Faith in the Afterlife?

Aside from revelations that prophets received, there are some other ways and proofs for coming to believe in the afterlife which is the result of the intellectual and scientific efforts of human beings, including the knowledge of God, the universe, and human soul. Here we will briefly introduce each of these ways.

1. God’s Attributes  

This argument which is based on the axiom of monotheism (Tawhid) -God exists and is the only one and should be accepted through rational thinking -, claims that God cannot be considered perfect and wise unless we believe in the existence of a world beyond this material world, an afterlife. In other words, without afterlife, the whole creation will become meaningless and vain.

If we find a wisdom governing the universe, then it necessitates the existence of another world which complements creation and forms a part of it. But why? We justify this issue based on God’s attributes.

Divine Justice

God is just and has built the foundation of the universe, heaven, and earth on Justice. Human’s life, also, is placed within this just order; therefore, God’s justice requires every creature to be endowed with what they deserve in order to avoid denying their right.

The reward of many good deeds is not obtained in this world, just as many sins that cannot be punished thoroughly during this earthly life. Accordingly, since this world is limited and does not have the capacity to provide human beings with their deserved rewards or punishments, another world with infinite and unlimited time must exist in order to make up for the rights that people have not acquired in this world.

Divine Wisdom

Wisdom is attributed to one whose deeds are always purposeful and would result in a specific and clear goal. Therefore, the wise God does not commit any absurd or nonsensical deed, otherwise, his action would be the result of his ignorance and lack of knowledge.

Moreover, the creation will not be meaningless, if it leads to eternity; if the creatures have been created for eternity and permanent endowment from God, then it shows an existence – as opposed to nothingness, inexistence – and continuity, thus it would not be absurd.   

In addition, he has created every creature for a special purpose and has provided them with the means of reaching it. If He has endowed them with certain desires and capacities, then surely He has anticipated the appropriate answer for them, too.

For instance, in response to the urge for thirst or hunger in animals, He has created water and food in order to satisfy this need of them. Similarly, He has bestowed upon human beings the desire for immortality and eternal perfections; most of us feel the urge for eternity and unending life, as well as everything good in its best way.

If there were no way of reaching these desires, then why would God have placed them in human beings? These feelings do not fit into this earthly life and cannot be satisfied here; our All-wise God has for sure devised a plan for mankind to fulfill these needs, that is creating a world where they are able to experience everlasting life and achieve what they long for in their perfect forms.

2. Universal Phenomena

Looking around, we can find many instances that remind us of the Resurrection and the revival of human beings in the afterlife. The very first thing that comes to mind when we think about the creation of the universe, is that the same power and wisdom that has created this world also has the power and ability to create another one. When we compare this power to our own capabilities, the occurrence of the afterlife seems far-fetched, however by the omnipotent being who has brought this world into life, this act is not at all infeasible.

Moreover, we are faced with many incidents in this world, on a daily basis, which is fairly similar to what will happen in the afterlife; we have seen them so many times that we have got used to their happening and consider them typical and insignificant, however at a closer look, we can find out the systematic and repeated order that governs the universe.

We constantly experience the cycle of life and death in nature with the change of seasons, that with the coming of winter and autumn everything - trees, flowers, etc. - on earth seems to be dying, and by spring, the sky sends its drops of rain to awake the hibernating earth and bestows a new breath on it.

Considering God’s power, the afterlife thus is neither impossible to happen nor something beyond our understanding or illogical based on the events that take place in the universe.

3. Human Being’s Soul

What we as human beings consider as our “self” or “I” is in fact a fixed and permanent fact. This “I” is actually the soul in mankind which is an immaterial and unchanging reality and has every action of the body under its control.

The axiom of the afterlife cannot be accepted unless one has a belief in the existence of a soul in human beings independent of their body, which is responsible for their conscious choices and deliberate actions. Otherwise, the belief in the afterlife is not possible, since if we see human beings as only this body that would be destroyed and diminished by death, then we cannot expect them to be revived exactly as the same; the human being that will be brought to life again would be for sure a different creature.

The only valid assumption would be that when a person dies his soul continues to exist until it returns to the body. Accordingly, the issue of the afterlife is justifiable through the knowledge of the human being’s reality which leads us to consider him as an immortal and infinite being.

Furthermore, as it was mentioned above, human beings are endowed with certain capacities - desire for immortality, to have eternal perfections - which are not fully compatible with the characteristics of this world and require another world for their fulfillment. If there were no resurrection for human beings, then his creation would be pointless from the very beginning, since his perfection has not manifested itself in this world and the means of receiving this goal would become useless and in vain. 

To conclude, the aim of creation is going back toward God and to attend His final judgment among His creatures on Resurrection Day; everything in this world has been created to return to its God, reach eternity and never fail to exist.

They have come to life in order to pursue the path to their perfection and ultimately join God Almighty. It is noteworthy that the afterlife is not considered as dependent and the result of this world, but rather as a necessity and introductory for this earthly life; God has created this Universe, especially human beings with their extraordinary capacities - the power of the mind, the urge for seeking God and joining Him, etc.-, for becoming immortal in the afterlife and reaching the summit of their capabilities and eternal bliss; thus this world only provides the ground for the ultimate goal of creation. Afterlife is the final destination of creation and this world is only a temporary dwelling.     

The foundation of the holy religion of Islam is built upon the belief in monotheism, to the extent that without its acceptance, one cannot be called Muslim at all. This fundamental axiom is basically defined as the fact that God exists and that He is the only one; in other words, one must not only testify to the existence of a creator, a divine source, and a higher power, but also to His absolute uniqueness and singularity.

Is Human Able to Know His God?

We might wonder if we are able to understand or imagine God’s existence, the answer is yes but in quite a different way than other things. The concept of a divine source is philosophical and abstract; therefore we cannot feel or imagine it tangibly and vividly, however, our mind can understand such concepts by a kind of rational investigation and scrutiny in a general way.

How Can Human Beings Realize God’s Existence?

There are some specific ways to understand the existence of God based on Islamic doctrine, including “innate disposition”, “scientific or pseudo-philosophical reasoning” and “philosophical reasoning”.

Innate Ideas

Perhaps the easiest form of realizing God’s existence is with the use of “innate idea” which is present in every human being. According to Islamic teaching, all of us have some desires and characteristics with which we were born and that we unconsciously seek in our lives.

One of the most important inborn desires in human beings is the yearning for a God and creator; in other words, every person with his/her special creation and distinctive spiritual characteristics knows his/her God without needing any exterior knowledge. Many psychologists have claimed the existence of a hidden self, called the unconscious, which contains the innate and unknown desires of human beings; the desires that control their actions and influence their decisions. The force in the search of God, also, can be traced in this part of the human mind.

Pseudo-philosophical Reasoning

The reasons that are mentioned under this division include the “Teleological Argument”, “Causal Argument”, “Occurrence Argument” and “Guidance Argument”.

Teleological Argument

According to “Teleological Argument”, a comprehensive and efficient system is the one whose components are in balance and harmony and are ordered in a way to achieve a certain goal. If we consider the universe as an enormous system with complex functions and a web of relations, we could easily notice its sophisticated order and discipline.

Every element in this world is built with a kind of inner structure that enables it to do its job on a regular basis. For sure, this regularity has not happened accidentally. For this huge system to work properly,  a wise and powerful creator is required, one who is aware of every incident that takes place in the universe and has control over them.

Occurrence Argument

Based on this argument, this world and all other creatures had not existed before and came to be at a specific point in time. Consequently, since they have occurred and started to exist, they need a creator for their occurrence.

When we look around, we find ourselves surrounded by things whose existence is depended on something else, they go through changes – for better or worse-, and they are described concerning other things – i.e., their attributes are relative. We may first try to justify each incident by another one; however, ultimately we will realize that the summit of this chain must be a higher force who is unique and untainted by any flaw and inconsistency.

Furthermore, everything in this universe –including the universe itself- has initiated and will be terminated at a specific time; in other words, nothing in this world is infinite, and everything is born from its own kind – e.g., A human from a human, a horse from a horse, etc.

Thus the universe cannot be created spontaneously and out of itself or from a pile of dust, an animal or a tree, since the origin of every living creature is always another living creature. If we suppose that every kind of creature gains its existence from single or multiple origins, or consider the initial origin of them an ameba, then again we are faced with this question that how this ameba has been created. Here we arrive at this conclusion that there is a single, omnipotent, divine source who has caused the life on earth [i].

Guidance Argument

While “Teleological Argument” tries to prove Monotheism with regard to the complex inner structure of the creatures in the world that makes them capable of being in line with their role and objective in the universe, “Guidance argument” focuses on what these creatures actually do and how they do it.

Based on this argument, the creatures in this world, after being perfectly created, are guided by a mysterious insight and intelligent force through their course of actions. However, the path that they follow in their deeds is the result of an external cause, rather than their own built-in features. This sophisticated outer force is no one other than God, the one and only. 

Causal Argument

The “Causal Argument”, also known as the principle of causality, is one of the primary propositions known to people in their ordinary lives. This principle states that there is a cause for everything. In other words, every single thing that happens and every single effect, or existence, has a cause. But there must be a start to this series of events. It is believed that the beginning of this chain is a power, which is beyond all other powers and can cause everything to exist.

Philosophical Reasoning

This kind of reasoning, which is totally rational and philosophical, is based on the study of the existence and the existent. Briefly, philosophers claim that the existence of a “Necessary Being” [ii] is essential; meaning that if the “Necessary Being” did not exist, nothing would have started to exist and since there are things here, then a “Necessary Being” must certainly exist.

Why is God One and Unique?

First of all, as we said before, the creator of this world should be infinite and eternal. Accordingly, we cannot consider a like for an infinite being, since He is dominant over everything and no time or place is empty of Him. Furthermore, plurality necessitates a difference; that is two beings are separate if one has something that the other lacks, so they cannot be considered perfect.

Secondly, since God is an absolute and pure being, then we cannot find any incongruity in Him, and thus there is no need for another being to make amends for His inconsistencies.

Moreover, if there were two “Necessary Beings”, they must have had a gap or lapse among themselves. Consequently, the existence of a third being becomes crucial, and this process goes on endlessly.

Finally, the unity of the universe and its oneness and the fact that there exists no inconsistency and malfunction in the elements of this world, lead us to look for a single and unique being as its creator.

To conclude, monotheism (Tawhid) as the main entry to the religion of Islam which needs to be understood rationally and then fully accepted, rejects any dualistic, Trinitarian or polytheistic beliefs. This axiom is not only the cornerstone of the other Islamic axioms but also a necessity for practicing the practical principles of the religion. Even though individual investigation and understanding will bring faith in monotheism, this belief will not be complete without total acceptance of prophethood (Nubuwwah), and this takes us to the next axiom.

Notes:

[i]. Charles Darwin, the well-known English naturalist, and geologist, on this matter explicitly states that “life had been occurred through a divine breath.”

[ii]. There are two sorts of existent entities: those that exist but could have failed to exist, and those that could not have failed to exist. Entities of the first sort are contingent beings; entities of the second sort are necessary beings [1].

Reference:

1. God and Other Necessary Beings