The Ninth Proof

Details: Published: Monday, 30 November -0001 00:00

The Ninth Proof:

About the Resurrection and the Afterlife

In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate.

So glorify God when you enter the evening and when you enter the morning—and (proclaim that) all praise and gratitude in the heavens and on the earth are for Him—and in the afternoon, and when you enter the noon time. He brings forth the living out of the dead, and brings the dead out of the living, and revives the earth after its death. It is in this way that you will be brought forth from the dead. And among His signs is that He created you from earth; then, you have grown into a human population scattered widely. And among His signs is that He has created for you, from your selves, mates, that you may incline towards them and find rest in them, and He has engendered love and tenderness between you. Surely in this are signs for people who reflect. And among His signs are the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the diversity of your languages and colors. Surely in this are signs indeed for people who know. And among His signs is your sleeping at night and in the day, and your seeking (livelihoods) out of His bounty. Surely in this are signs for people who pay heed. And among His signs is His displaying before you the lightning, giving rise to both fear and hopeful expectation, and that He sends down water from the sky, and revives with it the earth after its death. Surely in this are signs for people who reason and understand. And among His signs is that the heaven and the earth stand firm by His Command. In the end, when He calls you forth from the earth, then (at once) you will come forth. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and on the earth. All are obedient to Him in humble service. He it is Who originates creation in the first instance and then reproduces it, and will bring it back: and that is easier for Him. Whatever attribute of sublimity there is in the heavens and the earth, it is His in the highest degree, and He is the All-Glorious with irresistible might, the All-Wise. (30:17–27)

ONE MOST SIGNIFICANT ARGUMENT INCLUDED IN THESE SUBLIME heavenly verses, which point to one pole of belief, in these exalted sacred proofs that establish the Resurrection’s reality, will be explained in this Ray. It is a subtle Divine favor that at the end of Muhakemat (“The Reasonings”), which he wrote thirty years ago as an introduction to the Qur’anic commentary, the Old or Former Said wrote, “A Second Summation of Two Other General Proofs: This explains the two verses of the Qur’an which indicates the Resurrection. In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate”… and then put down his pen, unable to continue. Praise and thanks to my All-Compassionate Creator to the number of the signs and proofs of the bodily Resurrection, He has enabled me to resume that task.

Nine or ten years ago, God granted me The Tenth and Twenty-ninth Words, two works containing numerous strong proofs and interpretations of the Divine Decree—Look upon the imprints of God’s Mercy, how He revives the earth after its death. Certainly it is He Who will revive the dead (in a similar way), and He has full power over everything (30:50). The Tenth and Twenty-ninth Words silenced those who denied the Resurrection. Now, a decade or so later, He has granted to me the interpretation of the supreme verses quoted above, unassailable fortresses of belief in the Resurrection. It consists of two points.

THE FIRST POINT

We will relate only four of the many arguments for belief in the Hereafter as the very basis and bedrock of human social and individual life, and as the foundation of all happiness and achievement.

THE FIRST ARGUMENT: Children make up a third of humanity. They cannot endure death, which must seem to them an awful tragedy, unless it be tempered by the idea of Paradise, which gives spiritual strength to their weak and fragile spirits. It gives them the hope to live joyfully, despite the vulnerability of their nature. Keeping Paradise in mind, they may say: “My little sister has died and become a bird in Paradise. She is flying there and enjoying a better life than us.” If they could not do this, their awareness of the deaths of those around them would overwhelm them: it would crush their powers of resistance and inner strength, causing their eyes and all inner faculties, heart, mind and spirit to weep, and transforming them into the most wretched and distraught of creatures.

THE SECOND ARGUMENT: The elderly make up another one-third of humanity. They can endure the grave, which is never far from them, only by believing in the afterlife; this consoles them to some extent in the face of what they see as the inevitable extinction of their lives, to which they are so attached, and the fact that their precious and lovable worlds have come to an end. Only the hope of eternal life allows them to counter the pain and despair which the anticipation of death and separation give rise to in their child-like, fragile temperament and spirit. Without such a hope, our venerable elders who are so worthy of compassion, those aged parents of ours who need a serene and steady heart, would become so distraught and distressed in heart and spirit that their world would seem to be a dark prison and their lives a ghastly torment.

THE THIRD ARGUMENT: Young people are the mainspring and foundation of social life. Only the thought of Hell enables them to control the stormy energy of their feelings and passions, their tempestuous, evil-commanding souls, from destructiveness and oppression, and divert them into serving the collective interest of society. Without this fear, and drunk on the energy of youth, they would follow the principle of “Might is right” and give free rein to their passions and caprices. This would turn the world into a hell for the weak and powerless; it would lower human life to the level of beasts.

THE FOURTH ARGUMENT: The family is the most important core of our worldly life; it is our most fundamental resource, and the paradise, home and citadel of our worldly happiness. Each person’s home is his or her own miniature world. The vitality and happiness of our homes and families depend upon sincere and devoted respect, true kindness and self-denying compassion. All of this, in turn, depends upon eternal friendship and companionship; it depends on an immortal bond, as well as the belief that feelings and relations between parents and children, brothers and sisters, and husbands and wives will be everlasting.

For example, a man can say: “My wife will be my eternal companion in an eternal world. Even if she is now old and not as physically beautiful as before, her eternal beauty will show itself in the Hereafter. For the sake of that companionship in eternity, I will make every sacrifice and show her as much compassion as I can in this world.” Thus he can regard his aged wife with love, care and compassion as though she were a beautiful houri. A relationship that ends in permanent separation after a few hours of physical proximity can only be slight, transient and insecure: it would produce only a superficial love and respect based on physical attraction and sexual desire. Eventually, other interests and powerful emotions would arise and, defeating that respect and concern, turn a worldly paradise into hell on earth.

One of the numerous benefits in the Resurrection and afterlife therefore relates to human social life. If many other related aspects and benefits are deduced by analogy with these four, it will be clear that the realization of the truth of the Resurrection and its occurrence are as certain as our own existence and our universal needs. It will be even more evident than the argument that the stomach’s need for sustenance testifies to the existence of food. Were it not for the Resurrection and afterlife, then the lofty status of being human—a status so significant, exalted and vital within creation— would be reduced to that of a carcass fed upon by microbes. Let those concerned with humanity’s orderly life, morals and society focus on this matter. If the Resurrection is denied, with what will they fill the resulting void and cure humanity’s deep wounds?

THE SECOND POINT

Among innumerable proofs of the truth of the Resurrection, we set out succinctly the support offered by the other pillars of belief. It is as follows:

All miracles which affirm the Messengership of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, all proofs of his Prophethood, and all evidence of his truthfulness establish and bear witness to the realization of the truth of the Resurrection. For after the Unity of God Almighty, all the claims which that exalted person set forth during his life focused on the Resurrection.
Also, all the miracles and proofs of all other Prophets that attest to their Prophethood and urge humanity to attest to the same bear witness to this same truth.
In addition, all the signs and proofs which establish the Divine-authorship of all the Divine Scriptures and therefore make completely clear the testimony to the Messengers, bear witness to this truth also.
All miracles and proofs which establish the reality and truth of the Qur’an also establish and prove the realization of the truth of the Resurrection. For about a third of the Qur’an deals with the Hereafter: most of its short suras begin with powerful verses evoking it, and its truth is expressed explicitly or implicitly in hundreds of verses.

For example: When the sun is folded up. (81:1)

O humankind, keep from disobedience to your Lord in piety; the violent convulsion of the Last Hour is an awesome thing. (22:1)

When the earth quakes with a violent quaking destined for it. (99:1)

When the heaven is cleft open. (82:1) When the heaven is split asunder. (84:1)

What are they asking each other about? (78:1)

Has the account of the overwhelming event come to you? (88:1)

Just as the initial verses of about twenty suras state that the truth of the Resurrection is a most important and essential reality of creation, many other verses affirm and provide other evidences of the same truth. Given that the truth of the Resurrection has been established in a manner as clear as the light of day by numerous arguments and proofs of the Qur’an—a Book every verse of which has yielded innumerable fruits in both the religious and the natural sciences—would denial of this truth not be similar to denial of the existence of the sun itself? Would such a thing not be absurd?

A sovereign sometimes sends his army into battle merely to prove the truth of one of his statements. Is it then conceivable that the truth of that most solemn and glorious sovereign’s innumerable words, promises and threats stand contradicted? Is it possible that they should be false? A single indication from that glorious sovereign—namely the Qur’an—is enough to prove the truth of the Resurrection, particularly given that it has ruled over and educated countless spirits, intellects, hearts and souls in perfect truth and righteousness for more than thirteen centuries. Having demonstrated this truth with thousands of explicit proofs, what else can we say except that those who continue to deny this truth are deserving of punishment in Hellfire? Would that not be pure justice?

Furthermore, all Divine Scriptures and sacred Books other than the Qur’an, each of which was addressed to a specific age and time, accept the truth of the Resurrection—a truth which the Qur’an, addressing all times, explains and establishes in detail and with explicit arguments. Even their brief and sometimes allusive explanations affirm it so powerfully that they constitute an irrefragable endorsement of what the Qur’an teaches.

We offer here an argument drawn from The Treatise of Supplication, The Third Ray. This argument, which includes the testimony of belief in the Last Day by the other pillars of belief—in particular, belief in God’s Messengers and Books—is forceful and may suffice to end all doubt. In this supplication, we say:

O my All-Compassionate Lord! Through the teaching of the noblest Messenger and the instruction of the wise Qur’an I have understood that all Divine Books and Prophets—primarily the Qur’an and Your noble Messenger—assert and testify that all Your Names of Majesty and Grace, Whose exemplary manifestations are witnessed throughout the universe, will continue to manifest themselves in the abode of eternity in a more brilliant way; that Your bounties and blessings, the merciful manifestations and samples of which are observed in this fleeting world, will endure in the eternal realm of happiness in a more brilliant fashion; and that those who are fond of them and who discern them in this brief worldly life with pleasure and seek them in love will accompany them through all eternity.

Also, based on the countless proofs of their Prophethood, including their hundreds of evident miracles, and on hundreds of decisive evidences which exist in all the Scriptures You revealed, but primarily in the wise Qur’an, as well as on the promises and threats that You repeat in them frequently; and relying on Your all-sacred Attributes and essential Characteristics such as Power, Mercy, Favoring, Wisdom, Majesty and Grace, Which require Resurrection, and on the dignity of Your Majesty and the dominion of Your Lordship; all the Prophets with luminous spirits, including first and foremost God’s noblest Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, and all the saints with illuminated hearts and the pure, saintly scholars with enlightened intellects, who rely on their spiritual unveilings and observations, along with their convictions at the degree of certainty of knowledge and certainty of vision or observation—all of these prominent members of humanity give both jinn and humankind the glad tidings of eternal happiness for the people of guidance, and they warn that Hell awaits the misguided, while themselves being the first to believe in and bear witness to this happiness and Hell.

O the All-Powerful and All-Wise! O the All-Merciful and All-Compassionate! O the All-Munificent Who is absolutely true to His promises! O the All-Overwhelming One of Dignity, Grandeur and Majesty!

Failure to bring about the Resurrection would mean contradicting so many truthful friends of Yours, breaking Your vehemently repeated threats and promises, and negating Your sacred Attributes and essential Characteristics, thereby leaving unfulfilled that which is required by the very nature of your dominion as the Lord; it would mean rejecting and render futile the hopes and prayers for the Hereafter of Your innumerable servants whom You love, and who make themselves loved by You by confirming and obeying You; it would also mean confirming the people of unbelief and misguidance in their rejection of the Resurrection, who through unbelief and disobedience and by contradicting You in Your promises, insult Your Grandeur, attack the dignity of Your Majesty, offend the honor of Your Divinity and disparage your Lordship’s Compassion. Undoubtedly You are utterly exempt from and infinitely exalted above such a failure! I declare Your infinite Justice, Grace, and Mercy to be absolutely above such limitless ugliness and unrighteousness. We believe with all our heart that all of the Prophets—those more than one hundred thousand truthful messengers of Yours and heralds of Your dominion—and saintly, purified scholars and saints are absolutely correct in their testimony to Your eternal treasures of Mercy and Benevolence and the extraordinarily exquisite manifestations of Your All-Beautiful Names in the world of permanence with certainty based on knowledge, and certainty based on vision, and certainty based on experience. What they have indicated is true and conforms with reality. They also believe and teach other servants of Yours that the greatest ray of Your Name the Ultimate Truth, Which is the origin, sun and preserver of all truths, is this greatest truth of Resurrection.

O Lord! For the sake of what they teach and in veneration of it, bestow on us and all students of the Risale-i Nur perfect belief and a happy end to our earthly lives. And allow us to receive their intercession. Amin!

All arguments and evidences which establish the veracity of the Qur’an and all other Divine Books, as well as the miracles and proofs establishing the Prophethood of Muhammad, the beloved of God, upon him be peace and blessings, and of all other Prophets also point to the truth and reality of the Hereafter; indeed, after the Unity of God, the reality of the Hereafter is the teaching which they emphasized the most. Similarly, most arguments and evidences for the Necessarily Existent Being’s Existence and Unity also affirm the existence and appearance of the Abode of Happiness—that Realm of Eternity where God’s Lordship and Divinity will be manifested most fully. For the Existence of the Necessarily Existent One, as well as most of His Names, and all His Attributes and His essential Characteristics such as Lordship, Divinity, Grace, Wisdom, and Justice necessitate most certainly the existence of an eternal realm—the Hereafter—and the resurrection of the dead for the meting out of just punishment and reward.

Since an All-Eternal God exists, most certainly there is a Hereafter, the everlasting pivot of His Divine Sovereignty. Since we see that a most magnificent, wise, caring, purposeful and absolute Lordship exists throughout the entire universe, there must certainly be an eternal realm of happiness to which admission is granted, so that the majesty of that Lordship is not extinguished, His Wisdom is rendered futile, and His Caring is not destroyed by betrayal and oppression.

Since these infinite visible bounties, blessings, kindnesses and instances of generosity and mercy show to hearts and minds that are not dead the fact that an All-Merciful and All-Compassionate Being exists beyond the veil of the Unseen, there must of necessity be an eternal life in an eternal world, for it is the existence of such a world which can show that His Divine bounties are not for nothing, that His Act of bestowing is not in truth an act of deceit, that His Favoring His servants is not something deserving only of enmity, that His Mercy is not in reality a torment, and that His generosity is not in actual fact an act of betrayal. In addition, eternity and everlastingness will allow all bounties and blessings to assume their true and perfect forms.

Also, each spring on the narrow page of the earth, a Pen of Power tirelessly inscribes before our eyes innumerable books one within the other without the slightest error. The Owner of that Pen has promised repeatedly: “I will write a beautiful, imperishable book in a place far more spacious than this and ‘more easily’ than this cramped and intermixed book of spring, which is written on such a narrow page, and I will allow you to read it.” He mentions this book in all of His decrees. Given this, its draft has been written already, and it will be set down in writing with all its additions and footnotes on the Day of Resurrection. And all the records of people’s deeds will be included in it.

Also, the earth has a special importance. For on account of the multiplicity of its inhabitants and the fact that it is the abode, origin, workshop, and place of display and resurrection of countless constantly changing species of living beings and beings with spirits, it is the very heart, center and core of the universe; indeed, it is the very reason for the creation of the universe. Despite its small size, the heavenly Decrees hold it equal to the vast heavens, describing God as the Lord of the heavens and the earth. And there is humanity, which dominates the earth. We have dominion over most of its creatures; we subordinate and gather around ourselves almost all animate beings, and order, display and ornament most of the creation according to our needs and desires. We catalogue and classify all things in their wonderful variety, each species in its own place, and in such a way that all people and jinn, all dwellers of the heavens and the universe, gaze upon it with appreciation; even the Lord of the universe bestows His appreciative glance upon it. We have thus a very high value and importance, and through our arts and sciences we show that we are the reason for the creation of the universe and its most important and valuable fruit. We have been chosen and appointed to administer the earth and develop it according to our Creator’s laws. Since we demonstrate and arrange most excellently the miraculous works of our Maker in this world, we are given a respite here despite our rebellion and unbelief, and our punishment is postponed.

On account of the services we perform, we are granted a temporary stay and are favored with success.

However, despite being endowed with such qualities, we are in reality extremely weak and impotent when it comes to fulfilling the demands of our nature and disposition: we have innumerable needs and are subject to innumerable pains. And yet a most powerful, wise and caring Ruler provides for us in a way altogether beyond our power and will. He makes the planet a storehouse stocked with every kind of mineral and food we need and with all the merchandise we desire. Thus does the Ruler nurture and take care of us and grant our wishes.

The Lord Who does all this loves us and makes Himself our beloved. He is eternal and has eternal worlds. He does all things with justice and wisdom. But the magnificence of this All-Eternal Ruler’s Sovereignty and the eternality of His Rule cannot be encompassed within the transient life of this fleeting, temporary world. Furthermore, many of the enormous injustices which humanity commits, and which are hostile and contrary to the wise order, just balance and harmonious beauty of the universe, go unpunished in this world, as does much of the rebellion, betrayal, denial and unbelief of countless people with respect to their Benefactor and Provider. The cruel and the treacherous appear to live charmed lives, while the oppressed and downcast live in wretchedness. But the absolute justice, traces of which can be seen throughout the universe, is by its very nature totally at odds with the notion that the cruel and the treacherous—who die just like the oppressed and the desperate—should never be resurrected to account for their crimes at a supreme tribunal.

Since the Owner of the universe has chosen the earth out of the universe and humankind out of the earth, giving both a high rank and significance. Out of humankind, He has chosen the Prophets, saints, and pure, saintly scholars—true human beings who conform to His purposes as the Lord of creation and make themselves loved by Him through belief and submission. He has taken them as friends and addressees, ennobling them with miracles and Divine support, while punishing their opponents with wrathful blows from above. And out of these lovable and most valued friends He has chosen their leader and source of pride, Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. For long centuries He has illumined with his light the half of the globe and one-fifth of humanity. As though the universe were created solely for his sake, all of its exalted purposes become manifest through him, his Religion, and the Qur’an revealed through him. Although he was deserving of an infinite reward for the inestimable value of the services he rendered—services that would take ordinary people thousands of years to perform—he was granted a brief life of no more than sixty-three years spent in hardship and struggle. Is it then at all likely that he should not be resurrected, together with all his peers—the other Prophets—and Companions? Or that he should not, even now, be alive in the spirit? Or that they should die and disappear into eternal extinction? The entire universe and the truth on which it is based demand his being again, demand his life from the Owner of all that is.

Thirty-three powerful arguments in The Supreme Sign, The Seventh Ray, have established that the universe is the handiwork and property of a Single Being. They have also demonstrated self-evidently His Unity and Oneness, Which give rise to all His Perfections. Through His Unity and Oneness all beings become His duty-bound soldiers and absolutely obedient officials. And by means of the Hereafter, His Perfections remain ever free of defect; thanks to the existence of the world to come, His Absolute Justice will never become reduced to absolute treachery, His universal Wisdom to foolish pointlessness, or His all-inclusive Mercy to frivolous tormenting. Thanks to the Hereafter, His all-dignified Power is saved from being reduced to impotence.

Without doubt, and as is necessitated by the universal truths discussed—the truths from among the many which arise from the cardinal truth of God’s Existence and Unity—the Resurrection will occur. The dead will be resurrected and gathered together on the Place of the Supreme Gathering, and the realm of reward and punishment will open its gates. All this will occur so that the real significance and centrality of the earth, and the true significance and value of humanity may be truly realized. It will occur so that the Justice, Wisdom, Mercy and Sovereignty of the All-Wise Ruler, Who is the Creator and Lord of us and our planet, will be established wholly and eternally. It will occur so that all true friends and ardent lovers of the All-Permanent Lord may be delivered from eternal annihilation, and that the nearest and dearest of them, upon him be peace and blessings, may be rewarded for the sacred services with which he graced the world. And the All-Eternal Sovereign’s Perfections will show themselves to be without defect, His Power will show Itself to be without incompetence, His Wisdom without foolishness and His Justice without oppression.

In sum, the Hereafter exists because God exists.

The three pillars of faith mentioned above—belief in the Existence and Unity of God, belief in Prophethood and belief in the Qur’an and other Divinely-revealed Scriptures—bear witness to the truth and reality of the Resurrection. Similarly, the remaining two pillars of faith—belief in angels and belief in Divine Decree and Destiny—also require the Resurrection and bear witness to the reality of that eternal realm. We will elucidate as follows:

All proofs which establish the existence of the angels and their duties of worship, as well as numberless human observations of them and conversations held with them, also attest to the existence of the world of spirits, the World of the Unseen, the Hereafter, the world of permanence and the abode of happiness and Hell, which in the future will be peopled by human beings and jinn. For the angels are able to see and enter these worlds by Divine leave. All the angels who are close to the Divine Throne and who communicate with humanity, such as Gabriel, are unanimous in reporting their existence and their travels in these abodes. Even if we ourselves have never been to America, for example, the reports of travelers returning from there leave us in no doubt as to its existence. Similarly, the reports given by angels, which have the authority of numerous undisputed narrations, should leave us in no doubt as to the existence of the eternal realm of the Hereafter and of Heaven and Hell.

All arguments contained in the Twenty-sixth Word (on Divine Decree and Destiny) which establish the pillar of faith also attest to the Resurrection, to the revealing in the world to come of all our recorded deeds in this world, and of their being weighed in a Supreme Balance. For the apparent order, regularity and balance in the universe provide an indication of the fact that the lives of all things were pre-recorded and lived out according to that eternal program. Also, the life history of every animate being is inscribed in its memory or its seed, and other tablet-like forms; the deeds of every being endowed with spirit, especially human beings, are recorded on preserved tablets. Such an all-embracing determining, such wise and purposive ordaining, such detailed and precise recording and inscribing exist only to enable the meting out of permanent reward or punishment at the Supreme Tribunal on the Day of Judgment. Were this not the case, such comprehensive, meticulous recording and registering would have no purpose or meaning; it would be contrary to sense and reality. Moreover, if there were no Resurrection, all of the carefully established meanings inscribed by the Pen of Divine Destiny in the book of the universe would be annihilated. This would be tantamount to denying the existence of the universe itself.

In short, then, the five pillars or articles of faith and their proofs bear witness to and necessitate the Resurrection: they require that the Realm of the Hereafter appear and open its gates. It is because, in keeping with its vastness and sublimity, the truth of Resurrection has such firm and tremendous supports that approximately a third of the miraculous Qur’an is devoted to it. The Qur’an makes it—next to belief in God—the bedrock of all of its truths and constructs everything on its basis.

Said Nursi