The
HEREAFTER
Islamic Perspective
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Articles of Faith in Islam
Existence and Unity of God
2. Prophets
3. Angels
4. Scriptures
5. The Hereafter
6. Divine Decree and Destiny
1.
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Concepts
 Death:
A door to a better world.
 Resurrection & Life after death
 Judgment: Salvation,
Reward and Punishment
 Heaven & Hell
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In the Name of God,
The Merciful, the Compassionate
“Look upon the signs and imprints of
God’s Mercy, how He revives Earth after
its death. He it is Who will revive the
dead [ in the same way]. He is powerful
over all things.”
Qur’an 30:50
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Existence of the Hereafter:
 The Infinite Eternal Power
revives
countless dead trees and different
plant and animal species with “Be!”
and it is, thereby making them images
of the Resurrection.
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Existence of the Hereafter:
 The
limitless Everlasting Wisdom’s
attention to the least detail over an infinite
extent
 The Eternal Mercy sustain, with perfect
caring and fashion, display each spring an
infinite diversity of adornment and beauty
within a short period.
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Existence of the Hereafter:
 Our
ardent, irremovable, and persistent
love of eternity, our longing for
immortality, and our desire for
permanence.
 We are the most beloved of God’s
creatures and are more concerned with
creation than any other being.
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 This
land is a maneuvering ground,
an exhibition of the King’s
wonderful royal arts, a temporary
hospice. A caravan arrives daily as
another one departs and vanishes.
It’s constantly filled and emptied.
Soon the land will be changed. Its
people will be transported to
another, and eternal land where
they will be rewarded or punished
for their service.
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Signs of a truth “Hereafter”
1.
2.
As reward and punishment are
virtually non-existent here, there
must be a Supreme Tribunal
somewhere else.
The oppressor remains powerful and
the oppressed humiliated. As they
both depart and migrate from this
realm, their affairs must be left to a
Supreme Tribunal.
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3.
4.
Justice demands that subjects’ rights be
preserved so that the government’s dignity and
the state’s authority and splendor are
maintained. But only a minute part of that is
fulfilled here.
Eternal beauty can not content with transient
admirers. Infinite Generosity requires eternal
display of all objects of desire as well as the
eternal nature of those enjoying the feast .
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5. Whatever leaves does not return, and whatever
comes is destined to go.
6. We work here and he rewards us there with a
form and degree of happiness suited to our
capacity.
7. The King ordered that all transactions and
deeds performed in his kingdom be recorded.
One day he will use these records to call his
subjects to account. He may bestow happiness
on the obedient and imprison the disobedient.
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8. A magnificent kingdom can not be founded on
something transient, impermanent, unstable,
and imperfect.
9. This temporary place is like a field, a training
ground, and a market that will be replaced by a
supreme tribunal and ultimate happiness.
10. Death w/o resurrection would turn
compassion into torment, love into the
affliction of separation, blessing into a vengeful
curse, and pleasure into pain.
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The Preserver
I
shall not allow to go to waste the
deed of any one of you, whether
male or female.(3:195)
 He is the All Preserver. Every
action of us is recorded and will
be judged/evaluated accordingly
in the Hereafter.
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Sovereign and Lord
He will fulfill his promise. He brings back in
the spring the innumerable beings of the
spring before, some identical, and some
similar.
The Answerer of the Prayers
Perfect people, from the time of Adam to the
present, offers supreme prayers and
petitioning for so universal a need“immortality”.
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Principles
 This
world’s adornments are meant to
rouse our appetite. As they are temporary
and give pain upon separation, they are
here only to instruct in wisdom, arouse
gratitude, and encourage us to seek the
permanent originals.
 The world’s adornments are like samples
of the blessings stored in Paradise.
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 Everything has
been created for
eternity, not for annihilation .
 We were not left to wander at will.
Our deeds’ forms and consequences
are recorded, registered for the Day of
Judgment.
 This transient world’s Eternal Maker
has an eternal world toward which He
urges His servants.
 One so Compassionate will give the
best of His servants gifts that are so
far beyond our knowledge.
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Consolation against death
For Children:
They can not endure death, must seem
to them an awful tragedy, except via
the idea of Paradise, which
spiritually strengthens their weak,
fragile natures. It gives them the
hope to live joyfully, despite the
vulnerability of their nature.
1.
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Consolation against death
For the Elderly:
The hope of eternal life allows them to
counter the pain and despair arising
from the anticipation of the death
and separation, despite their fragile
spirit and temperament.
2.
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Consolation against death
For the Youth:
Thought of Hell enables them to control
the stormy energy of feelings and
passions, their tempestuous spirits,
from destructiveness and oppression
by diverting them into serving the
collective interest.
3.
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Consolation against death
For the Family:
The vitality and happiness of our homes and
families depend upon sincere and devoted
respect, true kindness, and self-denying
compassion. All of this depends upon eternal
friendship and companionship, an immortal
bond, as well as the belief that feelings will be
everlasting.
4.
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Reference:
 The
Resurrection and the Afterlife from the
Risale-i Nur Collection.
by Bediuzzaman Said Nursi.
www.islamicteaching.info
www.bediuzzaman.org
www.pearls.org
www.fountainlink.com
www.mfgulen.com
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