The Nature of Life and Death  

The Creation Plan of God

Everyone asks the same questions: Who am I? Why I am here on this planet earth? What is the purpose of human life? What is success and what is failure? These questions may be summed up in a single sentence: What is the creation plan of the Creator? Chapter sixty-seven of the Quran, Al-Mulk (The Kingdom), gives the answer to this question. The translation of the relevant verse is as follows:

God created death and life so that He might test you, and find out which of you is best in conduct. He is the Mighty, the Most Forgiving One. (67:2)

According to the Quran, a human being was created as an eternal being. In the above Quranic verse ‘death and life’ represent both the pre-death period of life and the post-death period of human life. So, death and life cover the entire eternal lifespan of human beings.

God created humans with a well thought-out plan, the essence of which is to give a person complete freedom – not simply as a gift, but as a test. The result of this test would enable God to know who misused his freedom and who put his freedom to the best use. This was, and still is, the divine scheme of things for man.

This test is not just for the sake of testing mankind. It is for a high purpose. Before creating humans, God created an ideal world, that is, Paradise. Now God wanted ideal men and women who would merit being settled in this Paradise for all eternity. Therefore, the present world is a selection ground for Paradise.

This Quranic notion explains human life. It explains not only the existence of man, but also all the misadventures that he faces in this world. It gives great meaning to all the good and the bad in life.

According to this divine scheme, the present human lifetime affords a great opportunity to a person. In the pre-death period of life, an individual has the chance to qualify himself for Paradise, so that in the post-death period of life he may be settled as a deserving candidate in this perfect world. This divine scheme gives one great hope. The present world may be one of problems, for in this world there are sorrows, pains and unwanted situations. But the divine scheme of life prescribed in the Quran gives us a great solace. It is like a bright light in the darkness. It gives men and women great hope that all those sorrows they experience in the present world are for the temporary period of testing, and that once they qualify in the test, they will be fortunate candidates for eternal Paradise.

This Quranic notion explains human life. It explains not only the existence of man, but also all the misadventures that he faces in this world. It gives great meaning to all the good and the bad in life.

Given his often untimely demise, a human being seems to be a completely inexplicable phenomenon, but in the light of the above divine scheme, human life becomes completely explainable and understandable.

The Road to God

Man is a creature and God is the Creator. Every creature must seek the blessings of his Creator. Every man and woman must proceed towards this goal destined by God. This is laid down in the Quran in the chapter Al-Dhariyat (Scattering Winds). The translation of this verse is as follows:

Therefore hasten to God; truly, I am sent by Him to give you clear warning. (51:50)

It is an established fact that every person is born with a certain inner urge – nature’s gift to him – to reach a particular a goal. This urge is so common that there is no exception whatsoever – rich and poor, or educated and uneducated, all are born with this natural urge. So, it is an issue for all individuals.

What is this goal? First of all, it is to find out one’s own Creator, to understand the creation plan of God and to grasp all those factors that are relevant to life in this world.

All prophets came to guide mankind towards this goal. To this end, they received revelations which took the form of guidance from God Almighty.

The only path that has no end is the road to God. It continues even after the death of human beings, both men and women. It is an unbroken trajectory into eternity, from the limited world to a world without limitations. This represents a transition from the imperfect world to the perfect world, from materialism to spirituality and, as such, is a voyage from time and space to beyond time and space. All other roads end with the death of the human being

It is a fact that a person often experiences frustration. The reason is that a human being by birth wants a complete world to live in, but in the present world he is compelled to live in a world that is not complete. Journeying on the road to God is the solution. This road takes you from the incomplete to the complete: it is the hallowed nature of God’s path that gives the traveller of this path unlimited bliss.

The Concept of Death

One of the most important teachings of the Quran concerns death. Death is the end of the life of every man and woman, but no one knows when it will come. The Quran refers to this fact in the chapter Luqman:

No soul knows what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul knows in what land it will die. Surely, God is all-knowing, all-aware. (31:34)

Death is like an individual earthquake. Everyone is doomed to die, but no one knows when he is going to face this fateful moment. Death means complete detachment from the present world. It is like compulsory eviction from the world he has built for himself.

This being so, everyone is living in a state of emergency. Every moment could be his last moment. Every breath may prove to be his last. At any time he may face the fatal verdict of destiny – he may reach the point of no return in his life.

This situation is very serious; it is a great teacher for every man and woman. It creates a new kind of ethics that is based on death. This concept, if taken as a living concept, may change the whole way of a person’s life. It may indeed revolutionize the course of his life.

The concept of inevitable death makes you very sincere. It saves you from all kinds of distractions. It nullifies all kinds of lust and exploitation. It tells a person that negative planning is pointless because before its fulfilment, one may die – and death is for all eternity. One may think against his fellow men but no one has the power to fulfil his evil desires against others.

One positive contribution of death is that it makes you live in contentment, and contentment is the only source of peace and a tension-free life.

One positive contribution of death is that it makes you live in contentment, and contentment is the only source of peace and a tension-free life. In fact, the desire for more and more is an outcome of unawareness about death and contentment is a result of awareness of this universal fact.

The concept of death serves as a speed breaker in one’s life. Death makes people adopt a realistic approach. Death reminds one of one’s limitations. Death is like a corrective measure in one’s life, the concept of death serves as a check and balance force in life.

Death serves as a regulator of life. Death serves as a positive teacher of every human being. Death enables one to live a healthy and constructive life.

The concept of death makes you set your target and priorities, and then exert all your energy and time for that target. Death is not a negative event in one’s life; it has a completely positive lesson.

Deserving Candidate for Paradise

Who is a deserving candidate for the eternal world of Paradise? According to the Quran, only a muzakka (20:76) person will be selected for being settled into Paradise.

Muzakka means a purified soul. The muzakka person is one who prepares himself in terms of the Paradise culture, who develops his personality on the lines required for living in the society of Paradise. Paradise is an ideal society. The qualities that are required in a muzakka person are given in the Quran in detail.

The hearts of the people of Paradise will be filled with the glory of God (39:75). This is the first quality of a muzakka person. That is, he must discover the glory of God in the present world and acknowledge it from deep within his heart. Glorifying God is always a result of discovery. It means that a person should adopt the culture of contemplation (tadabbur), and through thinking and reflection, discover God as the Lord of the Universe. This discovery must be intellectually so deep that it should bring about a revolutionary change in his personality. In this way he becomes a rabbani (divine) person. (3:79)

A scene from Paradise has been given in the Quran in chapter Al-Qamar (The Moon) in these words:

The God-fearing will find themselves in gardens and rivers, in the seat of truth with an all-powerful sovereign. (54:55)

It means that the people of Paradise will have the qualities of truthfulness and sincerity in the complete sense of the word. Those who have proved that they possess this high quality will be enrolled in the bright list of entrants to Paradise.

Only that person will be selected for Paradise who has proved in the present world that he is so intellectually developed that he can live in society with peace and compassion.

The Quran refers to Paradise as dar us-salam (10:25). Dar us-salam means the home of peace. According to this, every member of the high society of Paradise will be a peaceful person. Only that person will be selected for Paradise who has proved in the present world that he is so intellectually developed that he can live in society with peace and compassion. No excuse, whatsoever, would develop the slightest feelings of hate and violence against anyone in his heart.

About the sublime society of Paradise, there is a very meaningful verse in the Quran in chapter Al-Nisa (Women). It says:

Whoever obeys God and the Prophet will be among those He has blessed: the prophets, the truthful, the witnesses for God, and the righteous. What excellent companions these are! (4:69)

The society of Paradise will be a collection of the best individuals from the whole of human history. Every member of this society will possess the fine qualities of positive thinking, peaceful behaviour, sublime character, truthfulness, sincerity and amiable personality, idealist in thought and perfectionist in behaviour.

Those who have developed this kind of personality in the present world are competent members of their society. Only those persons will find entry into Paradise who have qualified themselves in the present world.

Paradise is not anyone’s birth right, nor will one receive entry into it through recommendation or wishful thinking. Entry into Paradise is totally a matter of selection, and this selection will be done by none other than God Almighty in the world Hereafter. This criterion has been given in the Quran in these words: “[In the Hereafter] man shall have only that for which he strives.” (53:39) It means only that person will find entry into Paradise who qualifies for it.