ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Imamat and Khilafat Relation Between This Life and the Next A very basic point to which the revealed Books have drawn our attention is the relation between the life of these two worlds. The life of the next world is inseparable from the life of this world. The seed of the life after death is sown in this world by man himself, who determines in this life what is going to happen to him in the next life.

Pure faith, correct belief, realistic conception of the world, excellent human habits free from jealousy, cheating, malice, hatred and fraud, as well as the good deeds conducive to the development of the individual and society performed with sincerity of purpose, are the things which ensure happy eternal life.

In contrast, disbelief, wrong conceptions, dirty habits, selfishness, self-importance, self-conceitedness, tyranny, oppression, hypocrisy, taking usury, telling lies, calumny, back-biting, fault-finding, creating rift, abstention from the worship of the Creator and other similar qualities and habits are the things which make one's life very miserable in the next world. There is a beautiful saying of the Holy Prophet. He said: "This world is the cultivation field of the next world.

As you sow in this world, so you will reap in the next." AS it is not possible for anyone to sow barley and reap wheat, to sow thorns and pluck flowers, or to sow colocynth and pick dates, similarly it is also impossible for a man whose conduct is bad in this world, to be happy and comfortable in the next.

Embodiment and Eternity of Human Deeds It is gathered from the Holy Quran and the sayings of the Imams that not only man continues to exist after his death, but his deeds and works are also so preserved that they do not disappear. In his post-Resurrection life man will see all his past deeds depicted and embodied. Good deeds will have very beautiful, attractive and pleasing forms. They will be a source of delight and enjoyment.

The forms of the evil deeds will be very ugly, repulsive and horrible. They will be a source of pain, suffering and torture. Here we confine ourselves to the mention of three verses of the Quran and two sayings of the Holy Prophet in this connection: (i) "On the Day when every soul will find itself confronted with all that it has done of good and all that it has done of evil.