Chapter Qiyamah – Part 4

Qiyamah, part 4

Recap: We explored the nature of creation, the nature of human beings and how we are defensive and justify our mistakes by trying to get rid of the burdens of our mistakes.  We look for excuses to put forward and according to our justifications, we hurry to find out anything that makes our justification somehow look right to clarify ourselves.  That is not the solution because all the deeds are recorded.  That is how it is demonstrated and witnessed in creation as well.  Example: Some trees live for 300 to 400 years and throughout their life journeys, whatever happens to them has been recorded in their seeds.  That is how the beings witness that the One who creates the tree demonstrates to us: “Look I have recorded the life journey of the tree.”  Whoever created this universe with a perfect order, demonstrates His qualities and makes it visible to human minds and conscious beings that whatever the qualities s/he has or whatever He promises through human feelings (need for Eternal Paradise) has also been recorded.

That is, human feelings, the representative of this promise of our Creator, demonstrate the signs within us of what God is promising to human beings.  We must think about whatever the Source of my Existence is.  If someone says that I am created by matter or nature (whatever they refer their existence to), then matter is giving me these senses and promising that it will fulfill my feelings.  This is a proof for us to question: Can matter be the Source of my Existence and satisfy my feelings?  If someone says, yes, then why do you need anything else or God for no one will believe in God then?  Let me see whether matter is able to satisfy me and I do not see that it can for it has no consciousness to give me this promise (desire for Eternal Paradise) and fulfill this promise.  No one can buy into this, impossible!  

Matter functions under an order of the universe and it cannot get out of the order, that is how we see it functioning here.  I know that matter is subject to the order and if something is subject to the order, then it cannot be produced by the order because it is subject to the order itself and thus it cannot produce the order.  In other words, matter cannot be the Source of Existence (SOE) of the order (otherwise, it would be illogical).  So, what can satisfy my human feelings then (it is a promise within me)?  Whoever is the Source of existence must be the One to satisfy my feelings because it is a promise from Him.  The SOE of the whole universe must be something but nothing to do with this universe, a completely different being, called God.  This God tells me that I am recording everything in front of your eyes, physically you are experiencing it.  Here is the seed that contains in it 100 years of journey recorded in it. 

75:17 “We shall make sure of its safe collection and recitation.”
75: 18 “So when We recite it, follow its recitation!”
75:19 “And then, surely, it will be for Us to make its meaning clear.”

We will recite your record back to you and show it to you.  How?  Take the example of a seed that I put in the soil, what it does is that whatever is recorded in the seed is slowly being recited to me, in front of my eyes.  That is, the creation is being witnessed by me for example, the seed grows and is now a tree.  The quality of the seed as a tree is recited in front of my eyes.  This is a material demonstration of the quality of the Creator that He is recording my deeds through my life journey here and He is going to recite it back to me to make its meaning clear.  What does this mean?  Look at yourself, all the excuses that you have been putting forward to justify your wrongdoings, mistakes, and transgressions, here it is, you will see it now i.e. everything will be demonstrated.  

We should never ignore our feelings (not only the basic five senses) but any feelings that are created.  The feelings are the promises of the Creator and at the same time, a means of demonstrating which kind of qualities the Creator has.  These qualities are represented within us as well.  We must see and realize how precious creatures we are.  Look at yourself and listen to yourself.  We must see the universe in order to be satisfied that the Creator of the universe has these qualities and that He must be able to satisfy my feelings as well; because His qualities are manifested in the universe and are clearly demonstrated in front of my eyes. These qualities are coming from the infinite source who can be the One to satisfy them.  

The heart of this chapter is that man produces many excuses in order to justify himself, but I know what kind of a person I am. Whether I am doing something right/wrong, lying, accepting the truth, or declaring the reality, I know my doings.  That is how our being is designed to demonstrate within ourselves and see the reality and experience of what we are doing.  Although we may not declare it outwardly in front of other people, within ourselves we know that we are not doing the right thing as much as our capacity allows.  When we put forward some excuses, the nature of it is going to be demonstrated now.

75:20 “Truly, you love this fleeting life.”

My Creator is now speaking to me: “insert your name, be honest, when you just get away with your life by making mistakes and try to justify it with any excuses (I don’t want to stick out as being different in the society, so I follow what the society dictates because everyone is doing it and I do not want to contradict the society), and you know what you are doing is wrong.  Why do we do this, what is the nature of this attitude?  Now, a friendly discussion starts:  “insert your name, leave all this aside and be honest with yourself, let us speak to each other personally.”  That is what kalla means, let us confess what we are doing: “insert your name, you love this quick result, enjoy your day, enjoy your moment now.  Don’t think about tomorrow, it hasn’t come yet, and yesterday which is gone, forget about it.  If you are doing something wrong, just enjoy it and prefer that moment’s pleasure of now (not the reality of it, which is what we need to think on)”.  Example: you are doing something wrong and you are saying I don’t care, as long as I eat and I am happy whether I am doing right/wrong, transgressing the rights of people, who cares at the end of the day really.  Wake up, your life and existence are a serious matter, it is not a joke.  

• God never jokes with us!  

We need to take everything that we do into consideration, let us look into the following examples to get a bit emotional on what we are up to as far as the reality of our existence is concerned: 

Example 1: I have my money and I can buy anything.  Oh, I like the color of this shirt.  Do you need it?  Yes, it looks nice, how much?  It is only twenty dollars, no big deal, I can afford it.  Who produced this shirt?  A guy in some village in India, who was paid 50 cents for his labor.  Let’s add another 50 cents for the fabric/materials and another 50 cents for delivery/other expenses and another 50 cents for the label.  The total for a shirt that you paid $20 is just $2.  What an injustice!?  The more we consume, the more this obvious injustice continues.  This is hurtful because it is not a shirt, it is the sweat of a poor young boy or girl who does not know the abuse and injustice that is going on in this world and has nothing to say. They are working many hours to get paid only $2-3 per day as his/her wage.  What am I doing by being proud of wearing brands, I am just contributing to this injustice?!  Consult your consciousness!  We may justify our purchases and seem very honest with our excuses.  “I did not steal the shirt, they asked $20 for it and I paid for it.  Why should I feel something painful!?  I did not steal it and that is the truth.  Yes, I did not steal but I supported the theft of stealing the labor of poor innocent uneducated children of other undeveloped countries.  Why do we do that!?  The justification comes: “It was the color and shape of this fashionable brand shirt that just came out now; I enjoy wearing it and having it”.  This is an emotional matter for a conscious being who truly reflects on the reality of what this existence points to.  

• Some of these feelings that are experienced have nothing to do with my denying or accepting the notion of God.  Perhaps, it may be somewhat related.  I may say that I prayed to God, thanked Him, and wore the shirt as it was something that attracted my attention, Alhamdulillah (all praise is due to God that I am able to afford the shirt).  Whether I needed it or not is not the point because I just liked the shirt.  Here, my human existential responsibility is not considered because I like things now and I am going to enjoy it now is my concern. I further justify my case as I cannot go to India or Vietnam and get the shirt for $2.

Example 2: A person without health insurance needs to take a life-supporting medicine otherwise s/he would die.  It is impossible to imagine how much one tablet of the required medicine costs because the Pharmaceutical companies put a very high price on it where the medicine cost is approximately $500 a month.  (yes, we are thankful to the scientists and companies who produce it and for their labors).  However, how many people can afford this medicine, (regardless of having insurance or not)?  Since that person could not afford it here, he went overseas to purchase the same medicine with the same ingredients and the same effects for $30 per month.  He got enough supply for the next couple of years and his flight and hotel expenses cost him a tenth of what he would have paid here.

• Why would I go the extra mile in my endeavors?  

• I do this because I will enjoy my life right now.

• How about afterwards? 

• Truly, you love the fleeting life.  That is, you love the “immediate” moment that you are living now (‘aajil).

 The fleeting life slips away immediately because you enjoy it now, and that moment is gone.  Your Creator says: “insert your name, the excuses that you put forward to get away from the pains of your wrongdoings as a result of your choices is because you prefer the immediate enjoyments of life.”

75:21 “and neglect the life [the result] to come.”

In a way, you are neglecting the life to come.  That is, the end-result.  In a way, when you do something wrong, it produces “akhir” or the end-result.  The last point of the action that you performed right now will be directed to this last destination, the akhir.  

Example: I love cherries and I eat them; this is the ‘aajil or immediate pleasure that I receive.  Should I deny it?  No.  This is the immediate pleasure that I am tasting through the tools of my tongue and palette.  I feel this pleasure which is ‘aajil i.e. immediate satiation and pleasure given to me and I should not reject it, it is a sign that there is something.  

Here is the cherry and here is the taste.  Cherry is a physical matter and the pleasure in eating is the taste which is nothing of the matter.  But when I eat the tasty fruit, I feel pleased.  This feeling of pleasure I get from the taste cannot be produced by the cherry fruit.  The cherry as a fruit and matter, I ate it and it disappeared.  Cherry cannot produce the feeling of pleasure.  Whoever made the cherry tasty, produced the pleasure in it.  The One who created the cherry created it with taste, beauty, smell, a perfect design, and full of wisdom, with combinations of vitamins and minerals that are beneficial to my body. Everything is prepared consciously and well-measured perfectly and presented to me.  All of what these qualities point to are “the akhira” of the existence of the cherries i.e. the material body of the cherry is ‘aajil (immediate) and what these qualities manifested in it point to are the akhira (end result) of the cherry.

 

• Common remarks: But akhira means the hereafter.

• Akhira is the concluding result of creation.  When you learn something i.e. how to do it, the akhir of what you learned is the concluding result.  

• Example: You learned how to engineer an electric device, the akhir is to produce it.  

• Example: After attending college and following a discipline, you become a professional in that discipline.   That is the akhir of your attendance at college.

 

How about the akhir or the end-result of your eating the cherry?  

If you think of the whole lifespan of a human being, the akhir is his/her resurrection.  Just as the akhir of this day is this evening when the sun sets and the akhir of my youth is the start of middle age.  In a general sense, the akhir really depends on what you think about your existence and how do you view it?  The akhir of the morning is noon or after the sun rises.  

The akhir of eating cherries is experiencing the qualities manifested in the existence of the cherries, your consciousness captures it immediately.  “I enjoy it” is a momentary pleasure, it is just a transient, fleeting event.  

• How about the akhir of it?  It is when we experience the qualities of the cherries/object/event.

• What am I going to do with this akhir?  While you are producing excuses for your wrongdoings, negligence, and being selfish, you are choosing your akhir as such.  

• We are just consuming what we like as we like it and making a choice of our akhir, which is only the transient pleasure with no end result.

In the science of economics (or a capitalist society), if everyone seeks his/her own benefits, in the end, the social benefits increase to the degree of the totality of the personal benefits.  “Follow your benefits” means try to make most of everything beneficial for yourself.  As a result, social welfare will be disturbed, i.e. the rich get richer and the poor stay poor.  How about those people who do not know how to benefit, they suffer because of being uneducated?  If I just follow my own interests, without thinking of the benefits of others, the economy will bloom at the expense of others, mainly the poor and weak who are the subject of exploitation.

• This is a secularist understanding of life, interest, and benefit.  We are expected to think of the end-result of these actions where I follow my own interest, at the expense of what?  I must think about my relationship to things in the social context.

How about in my personal relationship with the cherry fruit?  When I am eating the cherry fruit, I have to say that I am experiencing something with a strange taste, why should it be tasty?  Example: Medicine to a sick child is important and very effective but has no taste and if the child is given a cherry, he/she loves it.  Why do we enjoy the taste and why is there taste in everything we eat?  Why are all these different qualities given to different creatures and they are perfectly balanced and ordered, full of wisdom?  We know that these are the actions of a Conscious Being and we must realize this, where do all these qualities come from?

Example: A famous architect makes a building out of stones/bricks.  The resulting building shows perfect art and design that appeals to me.  We know that a brick cannot produce this art, rather a conscious architect has arranged everything in such a way that this art is added to the qualities of the brick. The construction using bricks is a human action, bricks are fixed and adjusted by human beings.  However, the art is not produced by human beings but the result of the culmination of the bricks put together as a building.  Similarly, as far as the creation of the universe is concerned, the body of the cherry is created, and it is produced by the Creator of the universe within His own order as He wills it.  The Creator produced the cherry and all the qualities with the cherry are addressing to my feelings.  

The qualities including the arrangement of the vitamins and nourishment speak to my feelings, but the vitamins and nourishment of the cherry speak to my body.  My feelings understand that my body needs these vitamins/nourishments, which are included in the fruits in different proportions and ways.  Why do all the products and elements of the universe have different vitamins/nourishments/properties?   We know that all thving beings, humans, animals, and plants need different proportions of nourishment for a healthy survival, yet these elements (such as sunlight, moonlight, air, snow…) are made up of the same dumb matter.  As if my Creator is saying: “insert your name, be careful, the physical matter cannot be the source of these qualities.  The same matter manifests endless different art and qualities where endless products are produced out of it”.  The same elements are made to manifest endless art at the same time with no difficulty, no one is working as we physically work to build something.  For an architect, he draws the blueprint of the artful building, and how many people work for how many years?  However, in the universe, we cannot compare the work of human labor to that of the Creator of the universe where everything happens at the same time simultaneously i.e. from our side, we may see it as moments happening sequentially.  But if we think about it, everything is happening constantly with no disconnection or gap.

Everything is renewed in the creation and out of the same elements, thousands of endless qualities are distributed with perfect proportions.  What does it mean?  This is the akhir of the creation in order to introduce the Creator who is not visible or physically experienced in this world; so I have to see and experience the signs of His qualities in front of my eyes and physically live with it.  With this observation, can anyone dare to say that I do not believe in God because I cannot see it!?  It is as if you are saying that I looked at the building and I see stones.  Really, these are stones?  

Is there a difference between a mountain and the building?  Everyone comes to take pictures of the building or a famous mountain because they love it.  The value of a brick in the eye of a person is one cent, but when the bricks form an artful building, the value is worth millions or billions of dollars.  What happened?  Why do you spend a hundred million dollars on a building made up of bricks?  What arranged this high-valued building, is it arranged by the bricks?  I admire and love the architectural design of the building.  Why do you love it?  Why don’t you love a brick sitting out there as much as you love the building made up of multiple bricks?  The bricks in the form of an artful building manifest the qualities of art is the end-result or akhira of the bricks put in the art form.  That is what we experience in the universe.  The qualities of the Architect of the universe are manifesting continuously in front of my eyes so that I will conclude that my Creator is communicating with me. This happens by me interacting with the universe for instance as a result of my eating the cherry.  

Those people who don’t believe and follow the momentary pleasure and never think of the end-result or akhira of their actions, God says: “you cannot produce the qualities and the pleasure, and you are not taking notice of the end results of your actions, how can you call yourself as a conscious human being and honorable human being?”  If someone insults you, you say that he insulted my human dignity and honor.  What is that?  Why does matter suddenly have honor?  We are completely lost!  

 

• We don’t take this world seriously, so how are we going to take care of ourselves?  

• We are so ungrateful, especially if we do not take into consideration the result of our actions or akhira (end-result) in this world.  

 

Practically speaking when I just eat or bite my cherry, immediately, I should take notice of the akhira of this action and I should say: “what a beautiful enjoyable taste, thank you the One who prepared it for my body and my soul”.  My body digests it and I need to eat another one later or tomorrow.  What is left?  The akhira of the cherry is left and you say: “I had a refreshing sweet cherry for lunch, and it is gone, but the pleasure that I enjoyed is with me.  I took notice of the pleasure from the cherry and I did not falsely justify myself”.  Yes, I did not steal the cherry, I bought it at the farmer’s market, and I paid its price.  

 

• Have you paid for the taste and the qualities or the existence of the cherry?  

• Have you paid back to the Creator of the cherry?

• What did you pay the Creator of the taste of the cherry, color, beauty, wisdom and all the qualities that are perfectly digestible and useful for your body through many ways to help the body digest it?  

• This same Creator who has given you the qualities to understand and appreciate and become conscious of the qualities of the cherries, what did you pay Him?  

• Nothing, I paid to the farmer and the rest (the main part) I neglected.  And that is how we neglect the end-result or akhir of our actions, that which we encounter in this world.  

 

Another practical example, when we see a beautiful garden or the pleasurable appearance of an orchid, we just say that it was smelling wonderful, animals were enjoying it on lush green grass and it was refreshing for me.  What did you pay for it?  You cannot pay for it because it is free. Is it really free?  All the qualities are presented to me and all the tools that I am given, everything is perfectly and mutually corresponding to each other i.e. beauty is there and the sense of appreciating and enjoying the beauty is with me.  My tools that detect the qualities manifested are interacting with each other perfectly in harmony and we don’t pay anything for it.  What will happen?

75:22 “On that day, some faces will be bright with happiness.”

We are aware of what we do, if I do something right, I thank for it and if I do something wrong, then we feel guilty about it and we regret doing it.  In the course of our lives, we do lots of wrong things and we ask for forgiveness.  Today, I enjoyed the beauty of a flower, the convenience of a car or the ability of a smartphone for example:  “I paid the manufacturers of the materials that I am benefitting from but I did not pay anything to You, I am sorry!  You provided me with what is needed to make the phone, or the car that  I am enjoying, and you made the engineers discover your order in creation and equipped them with the ability and qualities to make materials for my benefit.  I am sorry that I am not paying anything to you!”  

• I may be using my car for years and I may be saying that I am paying for the maintenance and gas for my car. That is,  I am not transgressing the rights of anyone but am I not transgressing the rights of the One who is creating and preparing this universe by arranging it in such a way that allows me to benefit from this order?!  

• “I never remember You, my God when I use my car, I am a very neglectful person, please forgive me”.

• I like my car, I like my cherry, I like my house, I paid for it and I haven’t stolen, I haven’t lied to anyone to avoid paying for something they deserve.  I am an honest man!  

• Yes, you are an honest man to the car/phone manufacturers!  

 

• More importantly, you are a wonderful DISHONEST man to the Creator of this order of the universe, the Creator of the cherry, and the Creator of your senses that detects pleasure and beauty!  

 

The moment when we face the end-result of our choices, the result of our negligence or acknowledgment, we become, what we have done.  That moment that I realize what I have done, my face will be bright.  “Nadirah” means a bright happy face.  

• Example: After 4 years of studies, when we receive the degree at the end, our face is brightened.  When you get the degree, your face is upward because all your family members are there taking pictures.  At that moment, you enjoyed the result of being an honest man.  

In order to be a happy bright person, it does not necessarily mean that you must be a perfect person.  No!  We cannot be a perfect person!  To be perfect is impossible!  We will have shortcomings and we will make mistakes and be negligent.  Sometimes, we may even get angry with God: 

• “Why did you create this?  
• My friend is in pain because of what you created!  
• Why did you destroy some people from a tsunami?  

• We complain to God for what He did!  What a horrible God!?  We may find ourselves in such situations, that is our reality!  With our current circumstances right now, the angel of death that we hear about (in the form of a virus) is a reminder to our reality that at any time,  you can catch it, you never know where it is going to approach you.  Sometimes, all that you do, you may still get it.  The possibility of death is next to us because of war like conditions where we are restricted like soldiers in a warzone with social distancing.  Everything has wisdom, don’t worry, God knows what He is doing.  This does not mean that God is punishing us, rather we are in need of education through many ways and this is one of the ways to let us train so that we behave ourselves.  When the war happens, some countries take actions by killing innocent people justifying it as for the interest of the country.  All the horrible crimes are going on in the world, where is God?  God is there letting all the people do this horrible thing whereas I may continue to support consumerism and indirectly support the horrible things. I have the option to say that I will not support this and I will not contribute to this system and I will avoid consumerism, which pumps money into the weapon industry.  We need to be watchful of ourselves, I am not responsible for the actions of another person, if he listens to me I will remind him kindly, at least I must do my responsibility and I have no right to complain about wars.   Rather, I have to say: “Please God, forgive me!  I may have contributed to the injustices and atrocities going on in the world indirectly.  I am not noticing it to say why don’t you stop all human exploitations and injustices going on in the world?  I am sorry I did not do anything and now, I must take care of my responsibility seriously.”

If I fail, I must ask for forgiveness and this forgiveness obliterates everything, God promises that because the point is to be educated and become a perfect human being as much as possible and make progress in our human life.  Again, it is not that we are not perfect because something is wrong in our creation, rather, we have been given free will and we choose one way or another way. While choosing one way, sometimes, I may ignore the other way and I find out that I am choosing the wrong way.  As soon as I understand that I took a wrong turn, I need to come back, that is asking for forgiveness and repentance.  

• We should try to be on the right path and when we fall into the wrong choices and make mistakes, just ask for forgiveness and come back and continue walking on the right path, make correct choices, so that at the end, I will understand what is the right choice and my face may become bright and illuminated.

75:23 “looking up to their lord”

Naziraa means looking up to (the Lord.)  There have been some disputes amongst scholars on this subject asking how will you see God?  I understand the Quran now while I am living in this world because the Quran does not speak to dead people.  After I die, that is the end of my education and studying the Quran.  The Quran speaks to me while I am living in this world and educates me while I am living in this world.  The Quran is directly connected to me, to my worldly life and reminds me of the end-results of my worldly life and gives me the news of the akhir, the end-result of my worldly life.  That is the function of the Quran and that is why God speaks to me.

Just as a teacher speaks to me when I am a registered student in College.  As a student, the teachers keep reminding me to study and pay attention in class.  If you are busy texting while in class, then you lose your concentration and you do not learn.  And when you do not learn, you will not get a bright face on graduation day and you will be very sorry.  

• When you don’t pay attention to your teacher in class, you know that you are doing something wrong.  
• When we are on the right path (including our repentances and being patient with our mistakes) we acknowledge our position: “I am going to ask my Creator to forgive me and keep me on the right path. When I do that, I look up to my Lord.”  

• Now, when I was eating cherries, using my phone or driving my car, I would usually thank God for the cherry, the car or the phone: “thank you God to give me money to buy these items”.   At least, I am remembering God, but it is a very preliminary step, just one out of my endless responsibilities towards my Creator, which should extend further by:

• “thank you, God, to enable humankind to make this technology, anytime, I can speak to my friends, communicate and learn.  While I am on the way from school to home, I can study and follow the class on my phone and study while on the train and bus.”  

• Not only God enabled me to buy a phone, but also God enabled mankind to produce the phone out of His order, that is His grace and wisdom.  We must thank Him for all that!  

When I eat the cherry, I must say that the Creator of the cherry gives me the news that He loves me, cares for me, and gave me these senses so that through the qualities of the cherries, He is introducing Himself to me so that I acknowledge Him.  Now I look up to Him: “Please God!  You are going to keep your promise now because you gave me in my feelings the promise of eternal happiness, only You can give me, now I am waiting for you to fulfill the mission”.  It does not mean that we have to wait, rather, as soon as I realize that I am really thankful to my Creator, that is the purpose of my existence. I am trying to realize the Owner of my existence, my God, who says: “that is why I created the universe for you to communicate with Me and to look up to Me, that is what I am hoping from you to keep this promise that I gave you.” 

• • Now you should acknowledge: “I do not know if I am grateful enough to You or I am thankful enough to You, please forgive me for my shortcomings, now I look up to my Creator”.  

 

• All this communication and being in contact with the Creator must happen before I die.  

 

When I get out of this limited and physical/static matter, then the communication will come to an end  in this world of existence and I will be given the end-result of how I communicated here.  It is obvious to notice that animals and plants are alive, stars, moon, clouds, and oceans are alive.  Their meanings are alive, i.e. the representatives of these meanings are alive.  Let us concentrate on what does things being alive means for me now:

I am seeing the work of my God now introducing Himself to me, I don’t have to see Him physically, it is impossible, but I know Him through my feelings and His acts.  When you listen to the music of a singer that you enjoy, you feel that you are in his presence and he is speaking to you and entertaining you with the song that he is singing.  I want to see Him personally as well, that is better and more appropriate.  Yes, but before you see Him personally, you must experience His presence in your feelings personally as if you are with Him.  That meeting Him personally must happen after you get out of this type of creation and given a new creation (after resurrection) which is perfectly adaptable to the capacity of your feelings and as much as you educated yourself here.  In other words, you are given a body/tool in the hands of your feelings, based on how you educated yourself and fulfilled the capacity of your feelings, that much tools/body are going to be given to you.  Within this capacity you will see your Lord, that is your life in Paradise, and you will experience it.  While we are in this world, we can see our Lord according to the capacity of our feelings and education.

Example:  There are two friends taking the same course in school. One of them continually follows the class, takes notes, studies it and revises them daily and prepares herself/himself for the next class as much as s/he can and pays attention to the points that s/he does not understand and seeks clarity.  If s/he still does not understand, s/he asks the questions to the teacher who understands that this is a serious student and the teacher takes notice of the question and tries to explain it in another way until the inquiring student understands.  Now, the student revises those notes and whatever s/he learns from it, does more exercise until it is settled in and becomes a part of their practical life and reflection.  The other friend did not put in much effort from attending the class.  At the end of the school year, do both friends understand what the teacher is teaching equally?  No.  

• Who understands the teacher better?  The studious friend. 

The last day they join the class together.  Can they understand the teacher equally when the teacher teaches the class?  No. Similarly, when we get the result (akhira) of our actions, who experiences the presence of the Creator?  Those of us who appreciated the end-result of the acts of the Creator.

• The one who acknowledged the qualities in the existence of the cherry, the phone, and the car i.e. the one who became aware of the qualities of the Creator.  And so, after this one dies, s/he becomes acquainted with the qualities of the Creator.  

• In the akhira/hereafter, when the Creator presents His qualities at the level of the person’s feelings and understanding of the qualities of the Creator, he will acknowledge His Creator so exuberantly and excitingly: “Here I got my record, perfect, I am happy!” With the language of the Qur’an, “Now as for him whose record shall be placed in his right hand, he will exclaim: “Come you all!” Read this my record!” Qur’an, 69: 19. 

The following verse will present the scenario of people who would not understand what is going on because their feelings have not been trained and educated here i.e., they did not pay attention in class and have not learned anything.  The last class that they attend here, they would not understand what the teacher is talking about because they do not have any background.  And after resurrection, their feelings have not learned anything, and the new body/tools will be given according to the capacity of this feeling.  Can you make a 1-year old child wear his father’s shirt?  No, it does not fit.  You must give a shirt size that fits his/her body.  

• Similarly, we will be given a physical existence according to the capacity of our soul and our feelings.  These feelings if not trained according to their capacity will have nothing or no tools/body to see who their Lord is, that is Hell.  

If someone grows and develops his feelings and capacity, the body will be given a soul according to that capacity.  That is, when the teacher speaks in the last class, s/he will understand perfectly.  They will look at their God and understand their God perfectly and their face will be shiny and bright: “I got my degree now and You are present with me.  In the world, I was seeing it blurry and now I am really experiencing what the capacity of my spirit is and my feelings are.  According to this capacity, I can understand your presence in my life, that is life in Paradise and while I am living here as well, according to the capacity of this world.  Now, I can just imagine the capacity of the next creation!” 

“That is why we say that when I experience the pleasure of belief in God, submitting to and obeying  my God, being grateful to my God and always being thankful to my God and when I fail, I ask for forgiveness by begging Him to forgive me, I will never do this again, please help me so that I don’t do this again.”  That is fitting to created beings and creatures and it is normal for and expected of a human being to ask for forgiveness.  We are created beings and if we do not apologize to God and if we don’t ask for forgiveness, then we would be an arrogant person and God will say “what are you doing, if you do not ask for forgiveness when you do wrong. I am generous and I understand that it happens, and I also know that mostly during extraordinary moments you remember Me but come to Me and I shall forgive you.”  

• My Creator does not get any pleasure from torturing me.

4:147 “Why would God cause you to suffer [for your past sins] if you are grateful and attain to belief- seeing that God is always responsive to gratitude, all knowing?

God is so Merciful and Compassionate, not only in creating this world but also with the glad tidings that He provides to us.  “What am I going to gain to punish you, do you think that I will get pleasure to punish my creatures, no!?” 

•  If I am attentive and believe in Him, confirm Him and acknowledge Him and am grateful to Him, then what benefit will He gain to punish me!?  None.  

 

• What is a mother going to gain to punish her child when the child is nice and happy and a source of joy in the house!?  

• If the child is doing something wrong, and the mother spanks him/her and the child feels a little pain, is the mother happy or is the mother sorry for this because the child needs some discipline and so the child must learn?!

 

Finally, we must prepare ourselves, the more we look at the akhira, the akhira of the actions of what we do, the more we see the end-results of our actions immediately (not after I die but now, and definitely after I die, it must be so, otherwise my soul gives me false news about its Creator and my feelings become self-contradictory).  When we think about the reality, we must experience it here and now.  When we take this experience and transfer it into the conditions of the new creation (which is resurrection), we must understand now and for the hereafter, we have to think of it by multiplying the experience by infinity (that is the new creation).  Life is worth it then to spend on believing and being thankful and acknowledging Him and never forgetting to incorporate repentance, asking for forgiveness for our shortcomings.  That is a serious matter.  

 

• Without asking for forgiveness, we cannot reach perfection at all.  I fail, although my capacity is perfect, this is the act of a perfect Creator, that is why He created perfectly.  As far as I am concerned, while using my freewill, I am not perfect in managing my freewill, I have to admit it. 

• That is why I have to accompany my belief in God with my asking for forgiveness of God, that is the only way to become a fully equipped believer i.e. acknowledge your Lord and ask for forgiveness for shortcomings is what constitutes belief.

 

In essence, asking for forgiveness is the result of belief and the main element of belief.  That is why we cannot separate belief and asking for forgiveness, they are welded with each other and united together and they cannot be separated.  We should take notice and think about these kinds of subjects.  The message of the Quran is not difficult at all if only we pay attention to the fact that the message of the Quran is speaking to me right now, it is so sweet and delicious.  God willing (inshAllah), the Creator of the universe will give us the taste of studying the Quran, His words exactly as He wants us to grasp.

Tags: Akhira, Al-Qiyamah, Calamity, Death, Eternal Life, Hereafter, Meaning of Existence, Qiyamah Series