The Announcement of the Hereafter
God has made the present planet earth as a temporary abode for man. It has a term set for it. The planet’s life support system is also provided for this limited period of time.
By God’s will, when this limited period comes to an end, the trumpet will be blown instantly. This will be the declaration of the fact that the first stage of human history is over and the time has come for another phase of history for man.
According to the divine plan, in the next phase, this world will be destroyed and another better world will be built. Only those will find a place in the next eternal world who have proved themselves as deserving candidates for it in the present world.
God desires that, prior to the blowing of the trumpet, such signs will appear as will warn man in advance about the approaching end of the present world and the beginning of the next world, so that man may reform himself and be found eligible to enter the next world successfully.
For this purpose, God has arranged for an alarm in advance which may be called a wake-up call. There are two chief signs of this alarm or wake-up call—one in nature and the other in history. Circumstances tell us that both kinds of alarms have been rung. But only those can hear it, who have an ear to listen to this silent message.
A very clear example of the alarm of nature is that all the resources which are necessary for supporting life on earth are rapidly being depleted. It would be right to say that these resources have now reached their final stage of exhaustion. We have been told about this in the Quran in advance that the resources necessary for the survival of human life, far from being boundless, are limited. (The Quran, 15:21)
God desires that prior to the blowing of the trumpet man
may reform himself and be found eligible to enter the next
world successfully.
In the present day, just as everything has been subjected to research, in a similar way research is also being carried out on a large scale on natural resources. Here are some of the books based on such research work:
- The Limits to Growth by Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jorgen Randers Universe Books, 1972, pp. 205, printed in the USA
- The End of Nature by Bill Mc Kibben, Anchor, 1989, pp. 195, printed in the USA
- Beyond the Limits by Donella Meadows, Dennis Meadows, Jorgen Randers, Chelsea Green, 1992, pp. 320, printed in the USA
These books and other such books tell us that the resources of nature have been limited from the very beginning. Man, particularly in the present age of modern technology, has been making unlimited use of these resources, which our world of limited resources cannot afford. Now these resources have diminished to such an extent that scientists want to develop new ways and means of sustainable development. But the truth is that it is not a case of sustainable development, rather it is a case of the coming to an end of all resources.
This coming to the end of resources has become so certain that some scientists, like Stephen Hawking, have suggested that if we want the human race to survive, we shall have to build space colonies. But, obviously this is a scientific joke rather than any practicable suggestion, in the real sense.
Another aspect of the alarm of Doomsday is what may be called the historical aspect. Perhaps the most prominent example of this historical aspect is the appearance of the Ark of Noah. The appearance of the Ark is no simple matter. It is in fact a confirming statement of the prophetic mission in terms of historical evidence.
The Ark or daabba is providing evidence that Noah and many other prophets came to this world, but man ignored them to the extent that he failed to even place them in his recorded history.
The Ark or daabba tells the story of the times when the prophets warned the people that if they did not listen to them, they would be visited by God’s chastisement. The Ark of Noah proves the veracity of the coming to pass of such a chastisement (in the form of a flood). It serves as living evidence of God’s creation plan.
