Are There Causes That Necessitate the Foundation of an Eternal World of Happiness?
It is necessary that an eternal world of happiness should be established and the Majestic One Who will found this world is certainly capable of doing that. The destruction of the universe including this world is possible and will certainly occur. Moreover, the resurrection of everything is also possible and, with equal certainty, will take place. The following expounds this so that there will no longer be any doubt about the certainty of the Resurrection.
There is a purpose and necessary cause for the foundation of an eternal world of happiness; the following ten points indicate the existence and necessity of this purpose and cause:
Harmony and purposeful order in creation
The whole of creation displays a perfect harmony and a purposeful order, and in every aspect of the universe signs of a will and indications of a purpose are manifest. It is impossible not to discern, through the testimony of its fruits or results, in each thing and event, an intention and will, and in each composition a wisdom and choice. If this creation were not meant to produce eternal happiness, then its harmony and order would be a deceptive appearance, and the meanings, relations and connections that are the spirit of order would come to nothing--for it is eternal happiness which causes this order to be established.
Wisdom in the creation of the universe
The creation of the universe displays a perfect wisdom. Indeed, the Divine Wisdom, being the representation of eternal favor, announces the coming of eternal happiness through the tongue of the observation of benefits and purposes in the whole of the universe. If, then, there was no eternal happiness, it would require the denial of all the benefits and purposes observed in every thing and event in the universe.
Nothing superfluous or vain occurs in the creation
As pointed out by intellect, wisdom, experience and deductive reasoning, nothing superfluous or vain occurs in the creation, and this indicates the existence of eternal happiness. The Majestic Maker of the universe chooses the best and easiest way in the creation, and apportions hundreds of duties and thousands of purposes to any creature, no matter how insignificant it may appear. Since there is no waste and nothing in vain, there will surely be eternal happiness. For eternal non-existence would make everything futile, and everything would be a waste. The absence of waste in all creation, and in man in particular, demonstrates that man’s countless spiritual potentialities, his limitless aspirations and ideas, and inclinations will never go to waste. Man’s basic inclination towards perfection indicates the existence of perfection, and his desire for happiness proclaims that he is definitely destined for eternal happiness. If this was not so, then all the basic spiritual features and sublime aspirations which constitute man’s true nature would be a waste and futile and for nothing.
Changes in the universe and life indicate a complete rising and renewal
The alternation of day and night, and spring and winter, atmospheric changes, and the renewal of the human body each year, and the awakening and rising every morning after sleep, all indicate a complete rising and renewal. Just as seconds forecast the coming of the minute, the minute predicts the hour, and the hour anticipates the day in our clock, so, too, the dials of God’s great clock--the earth--point, in succession, to the day, the year, a man’s lifetime and the ages through which the world passes. As they show morning after night, and spring after winter, they intimate that the morning of the Resurrection will follow the death of the whole of creation.
As the daily, seasonal and annual changes, going to sleep and awakening the next morning, revivals and renewals which occur during a man’s life, can be regarded as a kind of death and resurrection, so the revival of nature every spring is also a promise of the final resurrection. Hundreds of thousands of different kinds of resurrection take place in the realm of animals and plants each spring, some animals coming to life and trees coming into leaf and flower. Thus the All-wise Creator reminds us of the Resurrection to come.
Each human being is equal in value and comprehensiveness to any of the other animate species because the light of his intellect has endowed him with such comprehensive aspirations and ideas as to encompass the past and future. In the other species the nature of the individuals is particular; their value is personal; their view, restricted; their qualities, limited; their pleasure and pain, instantaneous. Man, on the contrary, has a sublime nature and the greatest value; his perfection is limitless and his spiritual pleasures and pains are more permanent. It can be concluded from these facts that the kinds of resurrection experienced by other species in nature suggest that every human being will be resurrected completely on the Day of Judgment.
Man has been endowed with unlimited potentialities
Man has been endowed with unlimited potentialities. These potentialities develop into unrestricted abilities, which give rise to countless inclinations. These inclinations generate limitless desires and these desires are the source of infinite ideas and concepts. All these together, as observed and confirmed by scholars of profound knowledge, indicate the existence of a world of eternal happiness beyond this material world. Man’s innate inclination towards eternal happiness makes one sure that this world of happiness will be established.
The all-encompassing Mercy of God requires the foundation of eternal happiness
The all-encompassing mercy of the All-Merciful Maker of the universe requires the foundation of the world of eternal happiness. Were it not for this happiness, which is the chief grace of God for mankind, cries of lamentation would be raised by human beings because of eternal separation, and acts of favor would turn into vengeance, and Divine Compassion would be negated. Divine Mercy, however, is found throughout the whole of creation, and is more evident than the sun. Observe love, affection, and intellect, which are the three manifestations of Divine Compassion. If human life were to result in eternal separation, with unending pangs of parting, then that gracious love would turn into the greatest affliction for man. Affection would turn into a most painful ailment, and that light-giving intellect would become an unmitigated evil. Divine Compassion, however, (because it is Compassion) will never inflict the agony of eternal separation upon true love.
Divine Mercy cannot be restricted to a limited life.
All the pleasure-giving experiences known in the universe, all the beauties, perfections, attractions, ardent yearnings, and feelings of compassion are the spiritual articulations and manifestations of the Majestic Creator’s Favor, Mercy and Munificence made known to the intellect. Since there is a truth, a reality in this universe, most certainly there is true Mercy. And since there is true Mercy, there will be eternal happiness.
Man’s conscience, which is his conscious nature, indicates eternal happiness
Man’s conscience, which is his conscious nature, indicates eternal happiness, and whoever hearkens to this conscience will hear it pronouncing eternity over and over again. If a man were given the whole universe, it would not compensate him for his lack of eternity—he has an innate longing for eternity, for which he was created. This means man’s natural inclination towards eternal happiness comes from an objective reality, which is the existence of eternity and man’s desire for it.
The Prophet Muhammad preached the coming of the everlasting life.
The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who spoke the truth and whose words have been confirmed throughout the centuries, preached the coming of everlasting life and eternal happiness, and it was his words which promised its coming. In his message, he concentrated almost as much upon the Resurrection as he did upon the Divine Unity, referring to the consensus of all the Prophets, peace be upon them all, and the unanimous agreement of all the saints.
The Qur’an announces the Resurrection and the coming of eternal life.
The Qur’an, a matchless miracle with forty aspects, announces the Resurrection and the coming of eternal happiness. It unveils the mystery of creation and offers thousands of rational arguments about the Resurrection. Verses such as He created you by stages, (71:14) and, Say, ‘He Who has originated them the first time shall bring them to life again,’ (36:79) contain a comparison and an analogy, and, Your Lord wrongs not His servants, (41:46) indicates God’s justice. These provide man with a view, as it were through a telescope, of the Resurrection and everlasting happiness. As to the proofs offered by way of comparison in the first two verses mentioned above, they have been explained in my treatise called Nukta (The Point) as follows:
A man undergoes ordered and systematic changes in the process of his development. The sperm, a blood-clot, a tissue, bones and flesh, which develops into another (distinct) creature with human shape, and the formation of this being, each requires adherence to very precise principles. These principles, each particular to the successive stages of development, indicate the exercise of purpose, will, and wisdom. The All-Wise Creator, Who creates man by these stages, also causes the body to renew itself each year. This renewal demands the replacement of the cells which have decomposed with new ones. These are produced by the provision of food by the All-Provident One, according to the needs of each part of the body. If we observe the particles of those substances used for the renewal or repair of the body, we see them come together from the atmosphere, the earth or the water as though these particles were in receipt of marching orders. They seem to have received instructions to go to a certain place, so precise are their motions, and their manner of going indicates the operation of the Real Agent. They start from the inanimate world of elements and chemical substances, and pass to the animated world of vegetables and animals. Having developed into sustenance in agreement with some definite principles, they enter the body as food, and, after having been ‘cooked’ in different ‘kitchens’, and undergone some transformations and passed through some ‘filters’ (the organs of the digestive, respiratory, and filtering systems) are distributed to its parts according to their needs. All these processes take place in accordance with the laws laid down by the All-Provident One without the intervention of blind chance, lawless coincidence, deaf nature, and unconscious causes. They all display a perfect knowledge, wisdom and insight. For at whatever stage each of them enters from the surrounding element to the body’s cell, it acts, as if voluntarily, through the specified laws of that stage. It enters it in an orderly fashion. To whichever level it journeys, it steps with such order that it appears self-evidently to be proceeding at the command of an All-Wise Mover. In this way, it gradually advances from stage to stage, and level to level, until, at the command of its Sustainer, without deviating from its aim and object, it reaches its appropriate position, for example the pupil of the eye, where it establishes itself and works.
The provision of food and its reaching the cells for which it is destined is a manifestation of Divine Will and Divine Determination. There is so perfect an order and arrangement in this process that it is as if it were written on the ‘forehead’ of each particle of sustenance to which cell it will go. Is it conceivable that the Majestic Creator, Who exercises Lordship with boundless power and all-encompassing wisdom over the whole creation, from particles of matter to the planets, and spins them with order and balance, could fail to revive the creation once more? Verses of the Qur’an open man’s eyes to this revival by comparing it with man’s first creation, removing all doubts. The Qur’an declares,
Say, ‘He Who has originated them the first time (with definite purpose) will bring them to life again (in the Hereafter).’
It is He Who originates the creation, then brings it back again, and it is easier for Him. (30:27)
Just as the soldiers of a battalion come together again at the call of the bugle more rapidly than at first after they had fallen out for a rest, so also, according to reason, it is as easy and possible for the essential particles of a body, which had established close relations and familiarity with each other during their worldly life, to re-gather at the trumpet-blast of the angel Israfil, upon whom be peace, and they will do so more readily than at the first creation. It will not be necessary for all the component parts to be present; rather, the fundamental parts and essential particles, which are like nuclei and seeds, and are called ‘the root of the tail’ (the os coccyx) in a Prophetic saying, may be sufficient as a basis and foundation for the second creation. Upon this foundation the All-Wise Creator will rebuild the human body.
The following is to summarize the truth expressed by the analogy of justice which is indicated by verses such as Your Lord wrongs not His servants (41:46):
We observe that cruel, sinful and tyrannical persons usually lead a comfortable and luxurious life whilst godly, oppressed people live in poverty and difficulties. Death makes them equal with the result that both sides would have departed for ever with their deeds unquestioned had it not been for a supreme tribunal. The Divine Wisdom and Justice, which never allow any act of wrongdoing to go unnoticed and do not approve injustice, require a supreme tribunal to be set up in order that evil is punished while the good are rewarded.
This world is not exactly propitious for a complete development of human potentialities, so man is destined to find realization in another world. Man has a comprehensive essence, and is bound for eternity. He has a nature which is basically sublime so that he is able to accomplish important things whether they are good or evil. Order and discipline are essential to him, and he should not be left to himself to deteriorate into non-existence. Hell is waiting for him with a wide-open mouth, and Paradise is expecting him with open arms.
This article has been adapted from Risale- i Nur Collection.