ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Eternity of Man The type of connection between the world and the Hereafter In this part, up to now, the essence and the reality of death as viewed by Islam and also the fear of death, of a lot of people, were the object of discussion and to a certain extent have become clear. For the purpose of completion of the discussion, it is necessary to place under study and discussion the type of connection between the world and the hereafter.

Regarding the connection between the world and the hereafter, various theories existed and still exist, dwelling upon all of which does not appear to be very necessary. Hence the main aim of this discussion is to study of the various verses and elucidating the view of the Holy Qur’an with respect to the connection between the world and the hereafter.

However, before proceeding with the Qur’anic verses, we will refer to the fact that in the ancient times and between different nations, there persisted this belief that whosoever enjoyed the material benefits in this life, in other words, whosoever was lucky in this world, would also be lucky in the other world, especially he, whose material things of use were placed along with him, or in his grave, so that after becoming alive, could utilize them.

Thus, decorative articles, money, food and other things which could be needed in life were buried with the dead in their graves, a large number of which have been uncovered during various excavations. On the other hand, these very people were of the belief that if a person did not possess material wealth and was poor and unlucky in this world, he would be in the same condition in the hereafter.

The Holy Qur’an does not accept this superficial and irrational connection but instead is a proponent of the connection between man's voluntary actions in this world and his eternal life.

That is, if the voluntary actions of man take place as a result of “belief and faith” and fall under the category of “righteous deeds”, it shall be a reason for his happiness in the hereafter, while on the contrary, if the voluntary deeds and actions do not occur as a result of faith and belief and are also not categorized as “righteous deeds”, the hereafter has trouble in store for him.

However, the increase and the decrease in intensity as well as magnitude, as also the time period of the pain and suffering of this person in the hereafter depends upon these two fundamental factors of his worldly life.