If a group of people were asked, ‘What was the
most important issue for mankind today?’
different people would have different answers.
Some would say that the spread of nuclear
weapons was the most important issue. Some
would say population explosion, while others
might say that the production and distribution
of wealth were of paramount importance. Such
diversity of opinions shows that people in
general do not properly recognise themselves.
If they did, they would all agree that the most
critical issue facing mankind was man’s
disregard of the reality of his existence.
Man persists in ignoring the inescapable fact
that one day he must die and be called to account
before his Maker. If he were to become aware
of the reality of his existence, it would be to the
afterlife rather than to this world that he would
direct his attention.
If you stand at a busy
crossroads during the evening rush-hour and
observe what people are hurrying towards, you
will realise what today’s human-being has
chosen as his fundamental issue. Why do you
think there is an endless stream of traffic in the
streets? Why has the merchant decorated his
shop? Where are the crowds of people coming
from and going to? What is the main topic of
people’s conversation and the true purpose of
their meeting one another? What interests them
the most? To what use are their finest talents
and resources put? What have people taken with
them; from their homes, and what do they intend
to return with? If you can answer these
questions, you will also be able to deduce exactly
what it is that mankind has chosen to base his
life on and what he is endeavouring to achieve.
It is plain for all to see that today’s human
being is simply running after the satisfaction of
his own desires. It is the world rather than the
afterlife that he is eager to obtain. His happiness
hinges on the fulfilment of his worldly ambitions,
while his grief stems from the fact that this
seemingly eludes him. The everyday concept of
success is the immediate acquisition of
commodities, the enjoyment of leisure and
popular acclaim; while failure, to him means to
be deprived of these things. This is what the
whole of humanity is chasing. No one cares
about tomorrow; everyone becomes frantic
about getting his share now, today, this very
minute.
This state of affairs is prevalent not only in
our big cities but even in the tiniest human
settlements; wherever one goes, people seem to
be similarly obsessed. Male and female, rich and
poor, old and young, urbane and rustic, even
the religious and irreligious all are running in this
same direction. Man is even ready to sacrifice
his faith and his conscience for them at the altar
of worldly gain. His struggle is for worldly ends
alone, and he cares not what this struggle entails.
Every success gained in this way, however, is
trivial and mundane and will be of no avail in the
afterlife. He who is concerned with the
consolidation of his worldly position at the
expense of the afterlife is like the young man
who does not care to save up for his old age.
Eventually the time comes when his limbs fail
him and he becomes unfit for further toil.
Suddenly he realises his predicament: he is no
longer able to provide for himself. The same
applies to our afterlife. All of us are too
concerned with the consolidation of our present
positions. No one gives a thought to tomorrow.
Though we witness with our own eyes the death
of people all around us, we are still not
galvanised into action. When the air-raid siren
sounds in wartime and proclaims in its chilling
wail: ‘Squadrons of enemy bombers are
approaching to blast this city to eternity. To the
air-raid shelters at once!’ everyone immediately
takes the quickest route to the shelters and in an
instant, the busiest of streets are deserted. Anyone
who does not react in this manner is considered
insane.
There is another danger, however, even more
terrible and inevitable, concerning which the Lord
of the worlds has given us due warning, which
we do not even give a second thought to. What is
this warning? It is the warning of the Lord of the
worlds. He proclaims His imperatives through His
prophets to mankind, ‘Worship Me, fulfil your
obligations to one another and live in accordance
with My will. I will punish those who fail to do
this in a way that cannot be imagined.’ Although,
every ear has heard this declaration and every
tongue acknowledges it in one form or the other,
but the general attitude is to treat it as a matter of
‘no consequence.’ In order to avail themselves
of worldly advantages, people perpetrate every
form of misdemeanour.
However when it comes to the advantages of
the afterlife, they are not concerned enough to
take appropriate action. In this way, life’s caravan
proceeds heedlessly towards a point of no return.
People start in response to the siren-screeching
out from the military headquarters, but no
importance is attached to the danger signal that
the Lord of the Universe has given out for
mankind. Far from hastening at the sound of it,
no one even alters his pace.
What can be the reason for this sorry state of
affairs? It is simply that the danger about which
the military headquarters’ siren warns us is of
this world and is observable by us. So, everyone
perceives this and knows that its effects will be
immediately felt. On the other hand, the danger
that God has cautioned us about will be felt only
in the afterlife: the wall of death stands between
us and its realisation and our eyes cannot
penetrate it. Therefore, although people
immediately respond to the air-raid siren, they
remain unaffected and dispassionate on hearing
ample
warning. The news does not impress upon them
the absolute certainty of their doom. This being
so, they do not feel spurred on to atone for their
sins, or to begin leading righteous lives.
God has given us not only our two eyes with
which to perceive the external world, but also a
‘third’ eye, which can scan the invisible realities
that lie beyond the horizons of perception. This
‘third’ eye is that of our intellect. People remain
in a state of doubt because they do not use their
intellect. They reckon that reality is what they
see through their two eyes, whereas, if they were
to ponder over things, they would become even
more certain about what remains unseen than
about what is visible.
What is the one reality that everybody
acknowledges? Death must be the unanimous
answer to this question. Death is a reality to
which everyone has to reconcile himself with.
Everyone realises that death can overtake one at
any time, but whenever the thought of death
occurs to people, the things that they think about
are of domestic nature like: ‘What will happen
to my children after I die?’ In fact, most of their
life is spent in safeguarding their children’s
future, but no efforts are made to insure their
own life ahead. From their attitude, it seems as
if only their children will survive them, and that
they themselves will be non-existent and so they
really have nothing to prepare for. They are
totally unaware of the fact that there is a life
after death. Whereas the fact of the matter is
that, the real life only commences after our death.
If people only realised that when they are buried,
they are actually being ushered into another
world, they would be more worried about
themselves rather than about their children’s
future. This is because most people, whether
religiously or agnostically inclined, are not
convinced about the afterlife. Two factors cause
one to have doubts about life after death. Firstly,
on dying, every human being turns into dust and
all traces of his body are effaced. How then can
he subsequently be revived? Secondly, the fact
that life after death is not visible to us, while the
world of today is an observable phenomenon.So
if no one has actually seen it, how can we place
implicit trust in its advent? Let us look at both
these objections in turn.
--Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
( Ref - Reality of Life )
