Day of Judgement
Part 1 : Soul
(1) Some Definitions
Many words are used in Qur'an and Ahadith (traditions) for the Day of
Judgement and the things related with it. Some of them are explained
here:
Al-'Akhirah: The next (world), the (life) hereafter. Its opppsites
are al-'ula (the first world) and ad-dunya (the nearer world), both
of which refer to this world in which we presently live. Allah says:
* “All praise is due to Him in the first (life) and the hereafter, and
His is the Judgement, and to Him you shall be brought back.” (Qur'an
28:70).* *** ***
Qiyamah: Resurrection. 'Yaumul-Qiyamah: The Day of Resurrection.
“So Allah shall Judge between you on the Day of Resurrection”
(Qur'an 4:141).
Yaumud-Din: The Day of Judgement.
“The Master of the Day of Judgement.” (Qur'an 1:4). *** ***
Yaumul-Hisab: The Day of Reckoning.
“And Musa said: Surely I take refuge with my Lord and your Lord from
every proud one who does not believe in the day of reckoning.”(Qur'an
40:27).
* *
As-Sa'ah: The Hour; the Time of Resurrection and Reckoning.
“And because the hour is coming, there is no doubt about it; and
because Allah shall raise up those who are in the graves.”( Qur'an
22:7).
Yaumul-Fasi: The Day of Separation (between good and evil): the Day
of decision.
“Surely the day of decision is (a day) appointed.” (Qur'an
78:17).
Al-Haqqah: The thing (or day) that verifies (the truth of what men
doubted about); the sure thing:
“The sure thing! What is the sure thing? And what would make you
realize what the sure thing is!” (Qur'an 69:1-3).
Yaumul-Ba'th: The Day of Renaissance (coming to life again).
“So this is the Day of Resurrection, but you did not know”(
Qur'an 30:56).
Al- Hashr: The Emigration; The gathering.
“The Day on which the earth shall cleave asunder under them, they
will make haste; this is a gathering together easy to us.” (Qur'an
50:44).
An- Nushur: The Rising (the dead to life).
“Even so is the quickening (raising the dead)”( Qur'an 35:9).
All these names and words point to one or more aspects of the Islamic
belief that life in this world is not an end in itself; that there is a
life-hereafter; that all human beings will be resurrected one day, and
brought together to account for their beliefs and deeds; that it will be
a day which will separate good from evil and all will be rewarded or
punished according to their belief and deeds.
(2) The Belief in The Life Hereafter, the Most Ancient Belief
The beliefs in the Unity of Allah and in the Day of Judgement are the
Foundations of True faith. All prophets, right from Hadhrat Adam (A) to
the Last Prophet Hadhrat Muhammad Mustafa (S), inculcated these beliefs
in their peoples.
The proof of life hereafter can be found in the books of Anthropology
and archaeology. Scientists have discovered that almost all pre-historic
societies and communities firmly believed that man, after his death in
this world, lives in another world. And today even the most primitive
tribes staunchly believe in the life-hereafter. In the ancient tombs
throughout the world archaeologists do find household effects and even
grains stocked and stacked 'for use by the dead man in his next life.'
The original American Indians reached America between 26,000 and 13,000
years ago, “wearing skin and moccasins, with domesticated dogs, a belief
in the after-life (and) respect for the dead.”[^1]
This belief spanning the whole world, and reaching back to the very
dawn of humanity, proves that Hadhrat Adam (A) had indeed taught this
truth to all his children, and his teaching was preserved by all his
descendants throughout the ages, though the passage of time and
ignorance might have twisted the details in many cases.
(3) The Belief in Reward and Punishment is Based Upon Reason
All the religions of the world, in spite of their differences, are
agreed that a man does not always get, in this world, the rewards and/or
punishments of his good and/or evil deeds.
The Creator has laid down some rules and laws for physical aspects of
the world. And those laws never change. Whenever you mix two parts of
hydrogen with one part of oxygen, you are sure to get water as a result.
If you plant wheat, you will get wheat, at harvest time, and not
paddy.
And the same Creator has decreed some rules and laws for the spiritual
aspect of this world. If you were unjust to others, finally you would
bring harm to yourself. If you showed mercy to others, in the end you
would benefit from it yourself.
But, strangely enough, these spiritual laws, unlike the physical ones,
do not always hold their ground. More often than not, we see tyrants
spending their lives in comfort and luxury, while their victims live in
agony and die in ignominy
If the promulgator of both sets of laws is the one and same God, why
this difference? While talking of physical laws, we are always sure that
two and two make four. But in the sphere of the spiritual laws, we are
never sure of the result. Why?
This puzzle has only one solution. Reason says that the spiritual and
moral laws must be fool-proof, like the physical laws. A good action
must bring good result; and an evil must result in evil. And if that
anticipated result does not become a reality in this life, then it must
come out, as expected, in the next life.
Thus, the belief, that man must get full reward and/or punishment of
his good and/or evil actions after his death, is based upon reason. Any
sensible person could find out this Truth by himself, even if nobody
were to guide him towards this conclusion.
But the same sensible person cannot find out by himself when, where and
in which form that reward or punishment would be meted out. This
rewarding or punishing is the prerogative of the Creator, and entirely
depends upon His discretion. Therefore, the details of this Justice can
not be understood without the guidance of the prophets. We Must accept
these Truths, as described by the Holy Prophet of Islam (S), and mould
our actions accordingly, if we want to get eternal bliss and save
ourselves from everlasting disgrace.
(4) What is Soul?
In the following chapters much will be said about soul and spirit.
Therefore, it is necessary to explain before hand what we mean by these
words.
There are two words in Arabic: 'Nafs' (soul) and 'Ruh' (spirit).
Some scholars think that both are synonymous; others say that they
represent two different things. But then they can not decide what those
two things are. Every one defines them in his own way. For our purposes,
the two words have been treated as synonymous, because in writings as
well as in conversations both are frequently interchanged.
Anyhow, let us find out, 'what is soul?' Various people have tried to
answer this question in various ways. According to the ancient Greek
philosophers, the spirit is the steam produced in the heart, which flows
in the body with the blood. In their view, the soul or spirit was a
material thing. They called it 'Ruh-e-Hayawan' (the spirit of life);
it was neither eternal nor everlasting. It just vanished when death
came.
The same, more or less, is the view of the atheists. They believe that
life is just a development of matter; soul or spirit has no independent
identity and death means the final end of life. In 'God: An Islamic
Perspective”, it has been explained that if this view were correct then
“the universe would have been without life” because ''matter has no
life” and “it could not give to universe what it did not possess
itself”
According to Hinduism, the soul is eternal. It has not been created by
God. They say that matter and spirit both are self-existent and eternal
like God. God's only function, according to them, is to transfer a soul
from one body to another. Here the readers should be reminded that,
according to the proofs given in 'God: An Islamic Perspective', nothing
except God is eternal and self-existent: and to believe in more than one
eternal is 'Shirk' (polytheism) which has been proved to be baseless and
just a fantasy of idle minds.
We started this chapter with the question, “What is Soul?” But are
still talking about 'what the Soul is not?' This process of elimination
should gradually lead us to the true answer to our original question.
(5) Soul According to the 'Sufiya'
Mystics of Islam, who are called 'Sufiya', had a belief which was
borrowed from Hinduism and Christianity, and was gradually developed in
succeeding centuries. They said that soul was a part of God. And not
only soul, but every thing was a part of God. When a part separates from
“the absolute existence” (i.e., God) it gets different names and labels.
And as soon as it relinquishes its separate identity, it again joins
God.
They use the example of river and waves. The waves are part and parcel
of a river, when they apparently assume a separate identity, they are
called 'waves'; but even then they are no less a part of river. When
same waves come down and lose their separate identity, they become, and
are called, a part of river. But iri reality, they were river at all
times and in every stage, though we failed to realize and appreciate
this fact because of 'optic allusion' ('Maya' in Sanskirt).
This belief of theirs called “Wahdatul- Wujut” (oneness of
existence), and its motto is “Home Uust” (Everything is He). They
assert that Pharaoh and other people who claimed to be gods were telling
the truth; their only crime was that they leaked the secret, and that is
why they were condemned.
They claimed openly that every stone, every idol, every animal and, in
short, every thing was a part of God. Once a Sufi was sitting in a
mosque when a dog entered and passed urine inside the 'mehrab' (the
niche). The Sufi exclaimed: “Lo! You come into your own house and make
it unclean!”
With such generous distribution of godhead' it was to be expected that
many of them would claim to be gods. And they did.
During the heyday of Sufism, this belief served as a screen to hide
every type of immorality Quite young initiates were used for
homosexuality. The explanation was that it was not the beauty of the
flesh they were after, rather they were seeing in it the divine
beauty!
There is no need to remind the readers that this idea of
'universality-of godhead' was diametrically opposed to the belief of the
Unity of God; which is the Foundation of Islam. According to the
Muslim scholars, such belief was the worst type of polytheism It is in
fact 'pan-theism' The idol-worshippers pay homage to a limited number of
deities; these Sufis paid homage to every thing in this world, including
their own self.
To counteract such belief, the Muslim scholars coined another phrase:
“Hame Azusf (Everything is From Him) It showed, in a nut-shell, the
Islamic belief that every thing in this world is created by Allah (and
it is not a part of Allah). Many scholars, during the heyday of Sufism,
felt compelled to use the phrases and language of the Sufis, to make
their talks and writings intelligible to the masses.
And, as the majority of those scholars remained aloof from the
hocus-pocus of the worldly; affairs, spending their lives in pursuit of
religious knowledge and seeking the pleasure of Allah, some people
thought that those scholars also were followers of Sufism. But nothing
could be further from truth. A person does not become a Sufi just by.
renouncing the luxuries of the world, unless he believes in the theory
of “Hame Uust”. And no Shi'a scholar was ever accused of such
belief.
(it is surprising how with so much prevalence of pleasure and lust
going on in the “Khanqahs”, (monasteries of Sufis), the masses still
believed that “renouncement of world” was the Speciality”' of the
Sufis).
(6) Soul, According to Qur'an
Leaving aside the theories invented by human minds, let us turn to the
Qur'an for guidance.
There is an 'ayah (verse) in the Qur'an:
“They ask thee concerning the spirit (or soul). Say, the spirit is
from the 'Amr” of my Lord; but you (people) have not been given
knowledge but a little”. (Qur'an 17:85).
At First, glance, this answer seems vague. But it does not mean that
Allah avoided, the explanation, it just means that those who asked the
question were unable to understand the answer. When a 3-year old asks
his mother whence his newly-born brother has come, she says that she had
brought it from the hospital, or that a stork had brought him into the
house. Such evasions are used because the child's mind is not mature
enough to receive the facts.
But in any case, there is a difference between the Creator and the
created: Parents may give a wrong answer, Allah cannot. Therefore, we
should ponder upon this “vague” answer. Perhaps we may find some
explanation behind this very vagueness.
The spirit (soul: Ruh) is from the Amr' of thy Lord.” Now, in
various Ayats (verses), of the Qur'an, the word *Amr *has been used
for three meanings :
• Order; Commandment;- Authority.
• Work; Task.
• To create without any matter'
Have mentioned in previous chapters the theories of atheists,
polytheists and other groups about the soul. Reading them a person is
bound to be puzzled about various aspects of soul
He may wonder whether the soul is self-existent or a created thing. The
answer is: It is
the Amr i.e., the work of Allah. In other words'; it is a created
thing, not self-existent.
He may be puzzled whether it is a material thing, of is different
from matter. Again 'the answer is: it is the Amr' of my Lord, Without
any matter
He may be confused by some people's claim that it was equal to God.
This Ayat will guide him to the: fact that it is the creation of my
Lord' and as such can not be equal to the creator nor independent of
Him. '
In this way this Ayat teaches us that the soul or spirit was created
by the order of Allah without any matter. It does not go beyond that, it
does not explain the nature of the soul. But we should not be perturbed
by this veil of secrecy. After all. we do not know the nature of many
things with which we come into contact everyday. We know how electric
power has changed the face of the earth and our way of life. But nobody
has yet discovered what electricity is. We know how it is produced, but
we do not know the thing which is produced. Likewise, magnetism had not
been identified yet.
But this ignorance of the nature of the electricity or magnet has not
prevented us from taking full advantage of these wonders of creation.
Once we know the functions of electricity, the ignorance of its nature
can not prevent us from making its full use. Likewise, functions of soul
or spirit are known. We should try to improve our spiritual qualities by
believing in Allah and obeying His commands.
Let us appreciate that Allah has told us in this Ayat (verse) as much
as was necessary for keeping us on the right path. Otherwise, we would
have been confused by various claims about soul (which have been
mentioned in previous chapters). Now we know that soul is not a
development of matter; it is a creature of Allah and not His equal; it
is not self-existent. In this way, our faith in the Unity of Creator has
been safeguarded. Now we should advance spiritually by taking full
advantage of the functions of the soul.
(7) Creation of Souls
Shaykh As-Saduq in his book of creed writes:-
“It is our belief about the 'Nafs' (soul) that it is the 'Ruh'
(spirit) which is the cause of life; and that the spirits (or souls) are
the first creations. As the Holy Prophet has said: “The first thing
which Allah created out of nothing were the blessed and pure souls; then
Allah made them declare His oneness (Tawheed); and after that He
brought into being other creatures.”.[^2]
This is in conformity with our belief that the Light of Muhammad (S)
and Aale -Muhammad (A) were the First creation. The same idea has been
conveyed here using the word 'Nafs'. So the 'Nafs' or 'Ruh' is the
first thing created, that is the 'Nafs' of the
The other souls also were created long before the creation of Adam (A).
Shaykh as-Saduq further writes:
“And the Prophet has said, “The souls are like a collection of armed
forces, whichever souls knew each other (in that world) are attracted
towards each other (in this world) and whichever remained apart and
aloof (there) are repulsed from each other (in this life).
“And Imam Ja'far as Sadiq (A) said: 'Verily, Allah established
brotherhood between the Souls in the (world of) shadows, 2000 years
before creating the bodies. For this reason, when the Qa'im of
Ahlul-Bait (i.e., Imam Mahdi (A)) will appear, he will bestow
inheritance of a man to his brother of that world of spirits, and not to
the brother by birth'.”
He further writes:-
“And it is our belief about the souls that they are not from the genus
of body (i.e., not made of matter); and that they are 'another
creation', as Allah has said:
” Then we made it into another creation”( Qur'an, 23:12-14).
Shaykh as-Saduq has referred to the following verses:
“We formerly created man of a finer sort of clay; afterwards we placed
him as semen in a sure receptacle, i.e., womb of mother; then we made
the semen as coagulated blood; and we formed the coagulated blood into a
piece of flesh; then we formed the piece of flesh into bones; and we
clothed those bones with flesh; then we made it into another creation.
Therefore, blessed be Allah, the Most Excellent Creator.”[^3]
(8) The First Covenant
Allah says in the Qur'an:-
“And when thy Lord drew forth their posterity from the loins of the
sons of Adam, and took them to witness against themselves (saying), 'Am
I not your Lord?' They answered, 'Yes, we do bear witness,' (This was
done) lest you should say, at the Day of Resurrection, Verily we were
negligent as to this (matter), or lest you should say, Verily, our
fathers were indeed joining other gods with our Lord, and we were but
their seed after them: wilt thou destroy us for the doings of vain men?
Thus make We our , signs clear: that haply they may return to God.”(
Qur'an, 7:172-174 ).
This covenant was taken, according to the traditions of Islam, before
the creation of Adam (A). The Sunni traditionalist, Daylami, narrates in
his book, Firdaus-ul-Akhbar, Chapter 14, that the Messenger of Allah
(S) said:
“If the people were to realize when it was that 'Ali was named The
Leader of the Faithful, they would not deny his superiority. He was
named 'Leader of the Faithful' when Adam was between soul and body
(i.e., his creation was not completed). Allah has said: 'And when thy
Lord drew forth their posterity from the loins of the sons of Adam, and
took them to witness against themselves (saying), 'Am I not your Lord?”
Then the angels said, 'Yes'; and Allah said, 'I am your Lord, and
Muhammad is your Prophet, and 'Ali is your Leader'.”[^4]
The two narratives mentioned in this and the previous chapters, throw
light on some mysteries of human behaviour.
'Love at the first sight' is not just a poetic figure of speech.
Neither is hate at first sight. All of us have experienced these
inexplicable feelings at one time or the other. Some times we meet a
person for the first time and instantly feel a sort of attraction
towards him. And in other cases, an instant dislike occurs within our
hearts.
Many people try to explain this phenomenon by saying that our bodies
emit electrical currents, accordingly, if someone else's electrical
waves are in harmony with ours, we are attracted to him; and if on the
other hand, the waves are not in harmony, we instantly dislike that
person. Be it as it may. But the tradition of Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (A)
gives us the basic reason of this mystery; that theory of electrical
currents may explain the secondary cause, but the primary cause is that
attraction or repulsion of the spiritual world.
Another phenomenon is the readiness of the human soul to follow the
path of truth, if left to itself. This may easily be understood if we
look at even the primitive tribes and find out their beliefs about the
Creator and the life -hereafter. We will surely find them believing in a
Supreme Being, and as explained in the previous pages, in the life after
death. This instinctive belief comes from the First Covenant, which has
been mentioned in this chapter.
(9) Functions of the Soul
The human soul performs various functions in the body, like growth,
senses, digestion etc. According to a Muslim scholar, there are four
'souls' in a true believer. Actually, he means that there are four
facets in the soul of a true believer:
• The Soul of Vegetation and Growth: It has five workers (or
functions): It obtains the food, keeps it securely, digests it, removes
the waste and turns the digested food into parts of the body. Also it
has two properties: Growth and Decay.
• The Soul of Animation and Senses: This also has five workers (i.e., functions): Sight, hearing, smelling, taste and touch. And it has two properties: Love and Hate.
• The Soul of Reason and Purity: This aspect of human soul has five powers: Thinking, memory, knowledge, forbearance, and dignity. Also it has two properties: Purity and Wisdom.
• The Soul of Divinity: This also has five powers: To be immortal in mortality; to get bliss in adversity; to find honour in apparent disgrace; to be poor in riches; and to have patience in hardships. And it has two properties: To accept the will of Allah and to submit to His decrees.
And this soul is the one which, in this context, is called 'An-Nafs
al-Mutma'innah' (The Tranquil Soul).[^5]
These different aspects of human soul have been given here in brief, to
show that just as a diamond, when uncut, is valuable, but not as much as
it would be after being cut; likewise, a human soul in the beginning, is
honourable, but not as much as it would be after being put to test. And
as we all know, there are various 'cuts' of a diamond: the one having
the utmost number of facets, is considered the most valuable; and the
value decreases if there are less facets. Likewise, if a soul has got
all the above-mentioned facets, it is the most honoured one in the eyes
of Allah. But if it loses its facets described in the last paragraph,
i:e., the facet called 'the Soul of Divinity', then it is considered
worthless.
(10) From Another Angle
Looking from another angle, the soul has three other facets:
- An-Nafs-al-Ammarah (The soul which urges man to do evil). If the individual fights against this urge successfully with his faith in God and his determination to do only good, the strength of the will is increased and the individual remains safe against the strongest temptations of satanic forces.
It was this aspect of the soul that the prophet Yusuf (A. S.) referred
to when he said:-
“And I boast not of the purity of my soul; verily the soul is wont to
bid (one to) evil, except those on whom my Lord has mercy; for Gracious
is my Lord, the Merciful.”( Qur'an, 12:53).
- An-Nafs-al-Lawwamah (The Reproaching Soul): We call it “conscience”. It is the power of the soul which reproaches the man whenever he goes astray from right path. Allah has honoured this facet of soul by swearing by it in the 75th Sura:
”Nay! I swear by the self-reproaching soul”( Qur'an, 75:2).
Repeated sins blunt the edge of this reproach, and gradually a time
comes when the evil-doer does not feel the pang of conscience. If one
has already reached that stage, nothing can save him from eternal
disgrace.
- An-Nafs-al-Mutma'innah (The Tranquil Soul): Its powers and properties have been mentioned in the last chapter. It is the soul which has conquered all desires and has completely surrendered itself to the Will of Allah. This is the highest stage of the perfection of the soul. Allah has referred to this aspect of the soul in the following verses:-
“O thou Tranquil soul, return to thy Lord, well pleased, well
pleasing (to Him)' enter thou amongst My servants, and enter thou My
paradise.”(Qur'an, 89:27-30).
(11) From yet Another Angle
Shaykh as-Saduq has described the various facets of the soul in a very
clear way. The example of the 'cuts' of diamond should be kept in mind
when reading the following description taken from his book.
“It is our belief that there are five spirits in the prophets, and
Imams: The Holy Spirit, The Spirit of Faith, The Spirit of Strength, The
Spirit of Desire, and The Spirit of Animation (or Life); “And the
believers have four spirits: The Spirit of Faith, The Spirit of
Strength, The Spirit of Desire, and The Spirit of Life;
“And the unbelievers and animals have three spirits. The Spirit of
Strength, the Spirit of Desire, and The Spirit of Life”[^6]
Thus, the more the facets to be found in a soul, the more prestige it
acquires in the eyes of Allah.
(12) Whoever Knew his Soul
In the previous chapters, we have tried to describe some known
functions and aspects of soul. The readers would have realized by now
that even without telling us the 'nature' of soul, Allah and His chosen
ones have told us enough about its functions.
In this back-ground, we should look at the saying of our first Imam,
'Ali bin Abi Talib (A) “Whoever knew his soul, knew his Lord.”[^7]
If we ponder over this short sentence, we will realize that:
As mentioned above, it is not possible to know the soul. Likewise, we
should realize that it is not possible to know God. When we do not have
ability to know the creation, how can we expect to know the Creator?
Though we do not know the nature of soul, we are forced to admit that
there is something which is the source of life and of all our powers and
abilities. Scientists admit that they do not know what life is; but they
know that there is life. Likewise, our intelligence and instinct both
compel us to admit that there is a Creator, though we do not know Him.
We know that the soul is the ruler of our body. Likewise, we know that
God is the ruler of this Universe.
If one of our limbs refuses to obey the commands of soul, it is not a
reflection on the strength of the soul. It is considered the defect of
the limb itself. In the same way, if one refuses to obey the commands of
God, it should be deemed as one's own defect. This disobedience will not
weaken the authority of God. Instead, the disobedient person will be
rated as spiritually sick.
We know that soul is connected with our body; but we do not know where
it is. We know that life is everywhere in our body. But if a limb of a
man is severed, we do not say that so much portion of his soul has been
cut off. Thus, we say that life is everywhere in the body, and at the
same time do not say that 'It is here', or 'It is therfe'; in fact, we
may as easily say that it is nowhere. Likewise, we know that God is
everywhere; but we can not say, 'He is here', or 'He is there'. We can
not point towards Him. We can not connect him with any place.
Whenever we want to do any work, our limbs at once do it without any
need on the part of our soul or spirit to tell that limb to do this or
that. Likewise, whenever God wishes anything to happen it just happens
without any need on the part of God to say, 'Be this' or 'Be that'.
There is a verse in the Qur'an:
“His command, whenever He wills a thing, is only that He says unto it 'Be' and it is.” (Qur'an, 36:82)
According to the explanations of our Imams, it is a way of expressing
the idea that as soon as God wills something, it happens.
We know that God has decreed that once created, the soul does not die.
Likewise, we know that God is eternal and ever-living. We can not see
the soul. We can not see God. Thus, even without knowing the nature of
the soul, we are able to reach Allah through its functions.
Now we come back to our original topic of Reward and Punishment of our
actions. First, let us examine the theory of “transmigration of souls”
and see whether it satisfies the demands of Justice, as it is supposed
to.
(13) Transmigration of Souls
Those people who believe that the soul is eternal and not created by
God say that the souls are transmigrated from one body to another for
ever. According to them, the body is changed according to the deeds of
the previous life. For instance, if a man is virtuous, he will be
rewarded in the next life by being born in a family of Brahmins or
Kings. If he was a thief, he would reappear in the next life as a monkey
or a mouse. If he was a murderer, he might become a tiger in the next
life, and so on.
What is the reason behind this belief? These people accept the need for
reward and punishment of our deeds. Let us see whether all the
requirements of reward or punishment arc satisfied by this theory. The
punishments are justified for any of the three following reasons:
• To satisfy the victim of the crime;
• To help the wrong-doer to mend his way and thus become a useful member of the society;
• To make the wrong-doer an example for others to deter them from committing such crimes.
For example, if someone murdered an innocent person, and in consequence
thereof was killed by the order of the judicial authorities, two of the
above benefits would be obtained:
The relatives of the victim would be satisfied that the blood of their
innocent relative had been avenged; and other potential murderers would
realize that it does not pay to kill.
Of course, the third benefit (reform of the criminal) is absent here;
but it does not matter. Even if only one of the benefits could be
obtained, the punishment would be justified.
Now let us see what is the benefit of giving punishment by transferring
a soul from one body to another. Nobody knows why he has been given a
human body. Therefore, he is deprived of the satisfaction of receiving
the reward for his past good deeds; he does not even know what they
were. And we may assume safely that, likewise, no monkey or snake knows
why he has been re-bom as a monkey or a snake. Therefore, the benefit of
reform is out of question here.
The second benefit (to satisfy the victims of the crime) also is out of
the question; because uptil now nobody has been informed that the thief
who had broken his safe 10 years ago is now a mouse in his garden.
By the same reasoning, the reform of the society is not achieved by
this system. As no potential debauchee knows that the bitch in his house
was a debauchee in its previous incarnation, he can feel no deterrent
against his immoralities.
On the other hand, it may be claimed that the transmigration of soul is
a reward of the crimes and encouragement of sins. A man breaks into a
shop, and in the next re-birth he is turned into a mouse. What happens
to him now? He, in this new life, breaks, or can break, into hundreds of
houses and shops; and can steal hundreds of items. A man steals a fruit
from a garden, and he becomes a monkey in the next life. It means that
now he has been given liberty to steal fruits all his life from hundreds
of trees.
Obviously this theory has no logic behind it, to say the least.
Further, let us look at this theory from the practical point of view.
Everyone agrees that moral standards nowadays have become very low; that
all values of humanity have lost their meaning. Now, according to the
theory of transmigration of souls, the population of human beings should
be decreasing day by day. Why? Because very few people can truthfully
claim that they have done nothing to warrant degradation in the next
life. Therefore, the majority of the people dying should be reborn not
as human beings but as brutes. But we see that human population is
increasing at an alarming rate. Does it mean that the more a man becomes
immoral the more are his chances of being reborn as a human being?
Also, this theory pre-supposes the existence of the caste-system. What
would the believers in this theory say in a society where there is no
caste, like in Islam? Obviously, this theory was invented to justify the
system which was existing at that time.
Sometimes, one sees in newspapers some un-verified reports designed to
support this belief. For example, recently there was a report of a young
lady (in her teens) who, it was said, could speak in various foreign
languages, including Arabic, at the age of 3 years. But how could you
check this report when she had already passed that age? Why such reports
are not published at a time when they could be verified?
(14) Immediate Assessment of Reward/Punishment not Possible
The effects of the good and/or bad deed of a man do not necessarily end
with his death. A man establishes a seat of learning. He dies, but the
school remains; and hundreds of thousands of people benefit from it
after the death of the founder. A man, or a group of men, invent
hydrogen bomb. And with the invention thousands of innocent people may
be killed long-after the death of the inventors. Common sense says that
the former should be rewarded for making it possible for so many people
to get knowledge. And the reward of teaching ten persons can not be the
same as that of teaching ten million. Likewise, the people who created
the means of killing thousands of people in one instant must share the
responsibility of that massacre, though the victims might have been
killed long after the death of the inventors. And the sin of killing ten
million persons cannot be the same as that of killing one person.
So, it is evident that the good or bad acts of a person do not end with
his death. The account must remain open so long as there are people to
follow and imitate him. Therefore, it is simply not possible to judge a
man immediately after his death.
Reason guides us that judgements cannot be passed until the accounts of
the deeds of each and every individual are closed finally. Only then the
true picture of his deeds may emerge clearly.
And this is what Islam believes. According to this belief, a day will
come when everybody will die; and then all of them will be resurrected
by Allah; their beliefs and deeds will be judged by Allah; and all of
them will be rewarded (or punished) accordingly.
This belief of Qiyamat has one advantage which is lacking in the theory
of transmigration of souls. Even if we forget all the defects of the
theory of transmigration, then at its best it has the ability of showing
only one aspect of the attributes of Allah, and that is Justice. It
cannot show the Mercy of Allah. On the other hand, in Qiyamat there will
be as much chance of showing Mercy as that of Justice. There, also, will
be opportunities of forgiveness and reconciliation, because all the
parties concerned will be present at one place. Also, there will be
chances of intercession by the Prophets, Imams, and other virtuous
servants of Allah.
All these advantages are conspicuous by their absence in rival
theories.
[^1]: Reader's Digest, Feb 1974.
[^2]: As-Saduq, Kitabu 'ul-l'tiqadat, ch.15.
[^3]: As-Saduq, Kitabu 'ul-l'tiqadat, ch.15.
[^4]: 'Ubaydullah Amritsari, Arjahu 'l-matalib, p.16.
[^5]: Safinatu 'l-Bihar, Vol.2 pp.603.
[^6]: As-Saduq, Kitabu 'ul-l'tiqadat, ch.15.
[^7]: Safinatu 'l-Bihar, vol.2, p.603.