Close-knit connection between this world and the hereafter...

Close-knit connection between this world and the hereafter The fact of the matter is that our life is divided into this world and the hereafter. That is, we have a period of life which commences at our birth and ends at our death. Then, the second part of our life begins on entering purgatory [ ‘alam al-barzakh ] and facing resurrection.[^1] This division of life does not necessarily mean that our actions and behavior in this world shall be divided into two and viewed from two perspectives.

At any rate, we are in the world of action. Religion is revealed to guide our actions in the world, through a series of commandments and ordinances. Thus, the religious commandments are not only for after death. It is not correct to say that a portion of our fifty or sixty year-long lives is related to the hereafter while another portion is related to this world. Rather, we have nothing in this world which is not related to the hereafter.

All our actions in this world automatically assume an otherworldly form. That is, our actions here may be beneficial or harmful for us in the hereafter. Since our actions affect our otherworldly lives, the religious and Islamic view is that life in the hereafter is settled in this very world: أَلْيَوْمَ عَمَلٌ وَ لاَ حِسَابَ وَ غداً حِسَابٌ وَ لاَ عَمَلَ.

“Today is the time for action and not for reckoning while tomorrow is the time for reckoning and not for action,” [^2] And أَلدُّنْيَا مَزْرَعَةُ ٱلأَْخِرَةِ. “This world is the sowing ground for the hereafter.” [^3] So, we will reap in the hereafter the fruit and product of whatever we sow in this world.

It is not correct to say that our worldly life is alien to our otherworldly life; that a part of our actions are related to the life in this world while another part is related to the hereafter; and that we have two distinct spheres of life for this world and the hereafter.

Instead, all our actions in this world such as breathing, blinking, walking, sitting, rising, looking, social intercourse, speaking, listening, eating, marital relationship, and government-people relationship can be such that ensure our felicity in the hereafter, or bring harm to us.

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