Nature of the Hereafter — Essence of Islam Vol. 2
Introduction
In this discourse from Essence of Islam (Volume 2), Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS), the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, expounds upon Nature of the Hereafter, presenting profound spiritual insights and scriptural verities.
Book Series: Essence of Islam (Volume 2)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (AS)
Section: Part 16: Resurrection
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: A New Body Is Bestowed in the Grave | Next: Three Qur’anic Insights About the Hereafter »
The hereafter is a reflection of this world, and the consequences of faith and disbelief that appear spiritually in this world would be demonstrated physically in the hereafter. God, the Glorious, has said:
وَمَن كَانَ فِي هَٰذِهِۦٓ أَعۡمَىٰ فَهُوَ فِي ٱلۡأٓخِرَةِ أَعۡمَىٰ وَأَضَلُّ سَبِيلٗا
“But whoso is blind in this world will be blind in the Hereafter, and even more astray from the way.” (Surah Bani Isra’il 17:73, 17:73)
He who is blind in this world shall be blind in the hereafter. We should not be surprised at this and should reflect how
spiritual matters are personified in a dream and the matter is even more surprising in a vision when spiritual matters take on physical shape before our eyes. Very often in complete wakefulness one meets those souls who have passed away from this world, and they appear in their original bodies wearing the clothes of this world and they talk and the holy ones out of them convey news about the future, by God’s command, and those news are fulfilled in fact. Often in complete wakefulness a sweet drink or some fruit which is very delicious comes to hand in a vision. This humble one has experience of all this. I have personal experience that some delicious food or fruit or sweet drink comes into view and is put into one’s mouth by a hidden hand and one enjoys its delicious taste while one continues to talk to other people and one’s senses continue to work. Not that it is an illusion or baseless fantasy. Instead Allah, Whose station is:
قُلۡ يُحۡيِيهَا ٱلَّذِيٓ أَنشَأَهَآ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٖ ۖ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ خَلۡقٍ عَلِيمٌ
“Say, ‘He, Who created them the first time, will quicken them; and He knows every kind of creation full well,” (Surah ‘He knows every kind of creation full well.’—Ya Sin, 36:80)
He demonstrates by way of example a kind of creation and birth in this very world. This is testified to in every age by those who possess insight. Why should one wonder at the personified creation which will be seen in the hereafter when the scales of deeds would be beheld and the narrow bridge will be seen and many spiritual matters will take on physical forms? Is it beyond the power of Him Who has shown this system of personified creation in this world to those who possess insight to exhibit it in the hereafter also? These personifications have a relationship with the 180 ‘He knows every kind of creation full well.’—Ya Sin, 36:80 [Publisher]
[Malfuzat, vol. III, pp. 61-62]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 415]
The condition of a person after death is nothing new. It is a clear representation of his life in this world. The condition of a person’s beliefs and actions, righteous or unrighteous, is hidden inside him in this world and its poison or antidote influences him in a secret way. In the life after death all these will become manifest. One experiences a sample of it in dreams. In a dream, one observes the conditions which prevail at the time in one’s body. When one is heading towards high fever, one beholds fire and flames of fire in one’s dream and when one is about to suffer from influenza, one finds oneself in water in a dream. Whatever disorder one’s body is ready for is personified in one’s dreams. The same is the case in the life after death. As a dream produces a change inside us and demonstrates our spiritual condition in a physical form, the same will happen in the life after death and our deeds and their consequences will be physically demonstrated and whatever we carry with us from this world in a hidden manner will all appear openly on our countenances on that day. As a person views diverse forms of images in a dream and never considers that they are images, but believes them to be real, the same will happen in the life after death. Through these images, God Almighty will demonstrate a new power. As His power is absolute, then, even if we do not talk of images, it will be true and absolutely correct to say that, by the grace of God, it is a new creation. God Almighty says: 181
No one, who performs good deeds, knows what a variety of favours lie in store for him. Thus God describes those bounties as hidden, no specimen of which is to be found in the world. It is obvious that the bounties of the world are not hidden from us and that we are well acquainted with milk and pomegranates and grapes and we always eat them. This shows that those bounties will be of a different type and will have nothing in common with these except the name. He who considers paradise as a collection of worldly bodies wholly misunderstands the Holy Qur’an.
[Islami Usul ki Philosophy, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 10, pp. 396-398]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 417]
وَكُلَّ إِنسَٰنٍ أَلۡزَمۡنَٰهُ طَـٰٓئِرَهُۥ فِي عُنُقِهِۦ ۖ وَنُخۡرِجُ لَهُۥ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَٰمَةِ كِتَٰبٗا يَلۡقَىٰهُ مَنشُورًا
“And every man’s works have We fastened to his neck, and on the Day of Resurrection We shall bring out for him a book which he will find wide open.” (Surah Bani Isra’il, 17:14)
In this very world, the effect of every person’s doings have We firmly fastened to his neck; and We shall display their hidden effects on the Day of Judgement and show them to him in the shape of an open book. The word bird has been here used metaphorically for deeds. For every deed, good or bad, flies away like a bird; its labour or its delight disappears and only its foulness or fineness remains in the hearts. It is a Qur’anic principle that every action has its hidden impress. Every action of a person attracts Divine action corresponding to it which preserves the quality of that action and does not let it disappear. Its impress is inscribed upon the heart and the countenance and the eyes and the hands and feet. This is the hidden record of actions which will be made manifest in the life to come. At another place it is said with regard to those who are admitted to paradise:
يَوۡمَ تَرَى ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ وَٱلۡمُؤۡمِنَٰتِ يَسۡعَىٰ نُورُهُم بَيۡنَ أَيۡدِيهِمۡ وَبِأَيۡمَٰنِهِم ۖ بُشۡرَىٰكُمُ ٱلۡيَوۡمَ جَنَّـٰتٞ تَجۡرِي مِن تَحۡتِهَا ٱلۡأَنۡهَٰرُ خَٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ هُوَ ٱلۡفَوۡزُ ٱلۡعَظِيمُ
“And think of the day when thou wilt see the believing men and the believing women, their light running before them and on their right hands, and it will be said to them, ‘Glad tidings for you this day! Gardens through which streams flow, wherein you will abide. That is the supreme triumph.’” (Surah Al-Hadid, 57:13)
That is to say: The light of faith which is bestowed in a
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 418]
Book Series: Essence of Islam (Volume 2)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (AS)
Section: Part 16: Resurrection
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: A New Body Is Bestowed in the Grave | Next: Three Qur’anic Insights About the Hereafter »