Back | Home | Next

Eschatology and Life After Death - Theological and Scientific Perspective

MUHAMMAD NASEEM KHAN*

• REFERENCES

There are many questions pertaining to man and universe which have been agitating human mind since his advent in the world. Some of these questions are:

1.                  What is the beginning of the universe?

2.                  What is the purpose of man’s creation?

3.                  What is the ultimate end of man and universe?(1)

In the present discussion we shall discern the issue of ultimate end of man and universe both in religious and scientific perspective.

In the outset it seems pertinent to explain the concept of eschatology. According to the Oxford Universal Dictionary ‘Eschatology’ is derived from two words ‘eschatos’  (Last or Final) and ‘logos’ (Discourse or Discussion). It is the science of the four last things: death, judgement, heaven and hell. ‘New Webster Dictionary’ says Eschatology refers to the doctrine of the last or final things, as death, judgement and the destination of soul. Eschatology, according to the Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, can have two meanings. First, it can mean the end of each individual human life. Second, it can mean the end of the world. In the first, the individualistic, sense ‘eschatology’ is an account of the destiny that awaits each person after death. Ain the cosmic or social, sense it is a description of a goal (tales) in which history will be fulfilled. This goal may be of either a this worldly or an other worldly kind. (2) The eschatological data found in the Holy Quran and the ‘Hadith’ collections not only mention the ultimate fate of human race but also the destiny of the present universe.

The ‘Last Day’ is one of the basic articles of Islamic Faith. The Holy Quran discusses what occurs after death in a detail unparalleled by other scriptures, and ‘adith’ literature on the subject is voluminous. Hence scholastic theologians, philosophers, Sufis, Quran commentators etc., all made eschatology one of their principal concerns.(3)  Now 7Muslim scholars like Bashiruddin Mahmood, K.A Rashid, Maulana Wahiddudin Khan and Shahabuddin Nadvi have endeavoured to explain eschatological facts, contained in the Holy Quran and the Hadith literature, in scientific perspective. Some books written by Western scholars – such as Stephen Hawking’s A brief History of Time, and George Gamow’s The Birth and Death of the Sun – are seemingly by acknowledging the eschatological facts contained in the Holy Quran and the Hadith literature.

This universe is in a state of flux. There is going on the process of creation and recreation. A part of the universe meets its end and a new one comes into existence. There cannot be stalemate or impasse in the universe. The Holy Quran says:

Allah originates creation

Then He reverts it

Then in the end

Unto Him ye will be returned. (30:11)

Each day Almighty Allah manifest Himself in a new splendour. The Holy Quran says:

Whosoever is in the heavens and earth,

ask Him (for favours)

(And) Each Day He manifest Himself,

in a new splendour. (55:29)

Everything in the universe has a purpose and design. After this purpose or design of existence is fulfilled, it will be replaced by another one suited to new demands. The Holy Quran says:

“We have not created the heavens and the earth,

and all that lies between them but with a purpose,

According to a pre-fixed measurement.” (46:3)

And;

“Every order (event) has an appointed time,

And ye will come to know of it soon.” (6:67)

There was a pre-universe. Then the present universe was created by Almighty Allah. On a particular day this universe will come to its end and new universe will be brought into existence. The eschatological details contain in the Quran and the ‘Hadith’ literature reveals that this universe is fast approaching its ultimate fate. The Holy Quran says:

“Closer and Closer to mankind

Comes their reckoning,

Yet they heed not

And they turn away” (21:1)

Before the Great Happening many events are taking place. These events are sometime minor and at other occasions they are revolutionary. Minor Doomsdays will precede The Universal Doomsday. Minor Doomsdays have to do with the collapse of the earth and the solar system and the universal Doomsday with the whole universe. Death of an individual is also not less than Doomsday for him. The universal Doomsday can be understood having in view the changes taking place in the universe at the present. These events are reminiscent of the Day on which the universe will collapse.

Minor Doomsdays, S.Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood says, are of a routine nature, part of the continuous Divine process of creation and recreation. In their scope, they are generally limited to a particular earth, or even they may be localized affairs affecting a small region of the Earth.

The catastrophies on national or global scale happened in the past and are likely to happen in the future. In the past these were events like Flood of Nuh, falls of meteors, earth quakes etc. which wiped out entire civilization or led to the extinction of some species (like dinosaur) from the face of the earth. The Holy Quran has referred to many such catastrophic events. (4) The Holy Quran says:

“So they were rightly seized by a mighty blast,

And We turned them in to mouldy rubbish,

A good riddance of the wicked people

Then after them we raised an other generation.” (23: 41-42)

And;

“And We sent Noah to his people and he lived them a thousand years minus fifty.

Then they were caught by the deluge for they were evil” (29:14)

Yet again:

…. Against some We sent of violent hurricane.

And of them was he who was overtaken by the awful cry.

And some We submerged under earth

And some We drowned (29: 40)

The people of Shohaib were destroyed by an earth quake. The Holy Quran narrates their account in the following way:

He Said: O people, worship Allah

And be ready for the Day of Resurrection;

Don’t do evil and create not mischief in the land;

But they denied him and ultimately

Were seized by an Earth Quake. (29:36-37)

The universal Doomsday will commence with the destruction of the Earth, followed by the collapse of our solar system and then the universe will meet its end and a new universe will be brought into existence.

The Earth’s Doomsday is a scene of general destruction. It will fall on all the living creatures, oceans, mountains, rivers, etc. It will be a sudden event and no one would be able to dispose of his affairs. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) said, “It will be such a sudden event that a man will not have time to place in his mouth, what is in his hand.” (5)

A number of verses of the Holy Quran and sayings of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) clearly mention many events and happenings which will either by the causes of earth’s collapse or they will be the outcome of the disastrous event. Thus we find clues to the mechanics of the Earth’s Doomsday.

In a ‘Hadith’ of the Prophet (PBUH) it is told that during this period the Earth will experience excessive meteorite showers falling like stones on it. (6) In another ‘Hadith’ it is said that near the Doomsday there will occur earth quakes, due to which large tract of the earth will sink, first in the East, then in the West and one in Arabia. (7) At another occasion the Prophet of Allah said, “Before the Last hour, time will move so fast that a year will appear as a month; and a month as a week, and a week as a day; and a day as an hour and an hour as a burst of fire” (8) In an another ‘Hadith’ the Holy Prophet said, “Finally will then become overcast with smoke. The whole Earth will experience catastrophic red wind storms, which may continue for years, killing every living creature from the face of the Earth.” (9)

The Holy Quran says:

And When the ‘Soor’ shall sound,

One blast,

Earth and the mountains,

Will be lifted up,

and crushed with one crash.

Then on that Day,

The Event will fall” (69:13-15)

And;

See they not,

How we are,

Reducing the Earth gradually,

From its all sides (13:41)

Having all the verses and ‘Ahadith’ in view the likely causes of earth’s destruction can be summarized as under:

1. There can be a great crash of some external heavenly body which would then cause a series of events referred to in the Holy Quran.
2. The contraction of the Earth may mount pressure on the interior of the earth and can result into an explosion.
3. Earth may be pushed out of its orbit which would ultimately cause the destruction of the whole solar system.

After the crash of some asteroid or meteor from the outer space the orbit of the Earth around the sun will shrink, its orbital velocity will increase inversely proportional to its distance from the centre of the sun. This will result in increased velocity of the Earth around its own axis. The Enhancement of the rotational velocity will result into the enhancement of centrifugal forces acting on the body of the Earth. Consequently, matter on the earth such as mountains would separate and thrown into space. Also the increase in rotation of the Earth can subject internal molten lava in its core to extreme cyclical pressures which might ultimately result into bursting open of the interior of the Earth. Moreover, with the increasing velocities the time period of the year and the day would decrease gradually. The release of internal heat, volcanic activity, higher rotational velocity, higher temperature on the Earth, under their combined effect can result into another disastrous event referred to in the Holy Quran as the ‘ Boiling of Oceans’. The Holy Quran says:

(Consider the events)

“When the oceans boil over” (82:3)

The bursting of the interior of the Earth may cause another phenomenon referred to in the Quran oceans being on fire: The Quran says: Consider when the oceans would burst on fire. (81:6)

Due to volcanic activity the release of hot lava under the beds of oceans or the release of hydrocarbon from the interior of the earth may produce the effect of oceans being on fire. (10)

In the above lines we have referred to a verse of the Quran according to which the earth is contracting from all its sides. The process of the Earth contraction is continuing ever since its inception and may ultimately become the cause of Earth’s Doomsday.

The review of the latest scientific theories on the evolution of the Earth reveals that the Earth was at least 100 times larger than in volume that it is now and has shrunk to its present size during the last five billion years of its existence.

The contraction of the earth can result into its destruction. The contraction increases pressure on the internal molten mass and a stage will arrive when further increase of the pressure will bounce back in the form of violent explosion of its core. This will then automatically initiate happening of other events linked with the Doomsday such as violent earthquakes, filling of smoke in the atmosphere, boiling of the oceans, disintegration of the mountains, and so on pointed out by the Holy Quran. (11)

According to the Holy Quran (Chapter 19, verses 13-15) a great crash (may be fall of a giant asteroid or meteorite) will start the Doomsday of the Earth. This crash of some heavenly body may push the Earth out of its present orbit around the sun and if brings closer to the sun, then, the mutual gravitational pull will continue increasing with the decreasing distance between them, which will ultimately result in the fall of the Earth in the sun.

If some supernovas explode at a distance of 10 light years away from the Earth, it could seriously affect its stability and life there. (12) The destruction of a neighbouring star can send powerful ripples in the solar system that will upset all its family members a great deal. This may cause the death of the whole of the planetary system.

The Holy Quran has also mentioned some events which indicate the destruction of the whole solar system. One event referred to in the Holy Quran is the catching of moon by the sun. In this regard the revelation (75: 8-9) is highly thought provoking which says:

“When the moon is buried in darkness and the sun and moon are joined together”.

In this regard Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood writes:

“There could be several reasons for the moon becoming dark. The simplest explanation could be overcastting of moon by solar dust which would prevent the sun rays reaching the moon thus burying it into darkness. However it is also possible that verse may relate to some total moon eclipse, after which it will be separated from the Earth and fall into the sun. Another plausible reason could be that the Earth will come too close to the sun. A stage would then be reached when due to its higher field of gravity the sun will snatch the earth’s moon” (13)

Another event mentioned in the Quran is that the sun will be thrown out of its normal path, creating overall chaos in our galaxy: The Holy Quran says:

The (Day) When the sun is overthrown. And when the star fall loosing white light and when the mountains fly out their positions (81:1-3)

Sultan Bashirruddin Mahmood explains this catastrophe of great magnitude involving not only sun but many stars in the following words:

“If we try to explain the mechanism of this happening in the light of current thinking in physics, we could say that it may due to the explosion of some nearby supernova. One type of such an explosion occurs when a massive star exhausts its nuclear fuel and collapses under its own weight. A shock wave bounces back with tremendous explosion that blows apart the stars outer most layers. When a supernova explodes, star’s atmosphere may rush outwards at a speed as much as 100 million miles per hour. The energy released in one such explosion can be greater than several billion suns. This can affect the nearby stars, at least by filling the space around with dust, making them invisible for a distant observer. Star losing their light (referred to in the above quoted verse) may be due to this cause. There is also the possibility that one supernova may detonate another supernova, resulting in a chain reaction of heavenly explosions. (14)

The Quranic account of the Doomsday tells us that after destruction or collapse of this universe a new universe will be created by Almighty Allah. We can quote numerous verses in this regard. The Holy Quran says:

“There will a Day, when we shall rollup the heavens, like a recorder rolls up a written scroll:

As We began the first creation,

Surely We shall repeat it,

It is a promise upon us,

Lo! We are to perform it” (21: 104)

The new universe will not be a replica of the present one, but a grand system of new heavenly bodies. The earth will not be the same and the heaven of the new universe will not be the heaven of this universe. The Holy Quran reads:

(on that day)

The Earth will be changed to a different Earth and so will be the heavens. (14:48)

Again,

And cry not any other god

Along with Allah.

There are not God save him

Everything will perish

Except his countenance

His is the Command, and

unto him ye will be brought back. (28:88)

And,

 (Ultimately)

All that is there will perish,

Except the Face of your Lord,

Full of Majesty, Bounty and Honour. (55: 26-27)

There are different concepts of the creation of universe. Greeks thought that universe had always existed. This idea has recurred in the modern theory of steady-state universe, postulated by Fred Hoyle. But this has been super ceded by the more widely accepted theory known as Big Bang – The Big Bang theory says that this universe started with a big explosion and it may last forever. A modification to Big Bang is that universe keeps on repeating and this theory is known as pulsating universe theory. The latest theory is known as “Big Bounce”. According to this theory this universe started with a “Big Bang” it will fold itself back to its origin and from there on would start in an exponential manner. This theory was propounded in a conference of cosmologists and particle physicists held in November 1983. This theory seems akin to views expressed in the Holy Quran. (15)

 Almost all the societies and religion do have some concept of the life after death. Death is the gateway between the probationary life on the Earth and the spiritual world. The phenomenon of death takes man to a new world which is as real as this earthly life. It is not equivalent to nothingness but an act of creation like the present life.

It is, according to the Holy Quran, a new state in which human will be tried for this deeds or misdeeds:

He Who created death and life

That He may try

Which of you is best in deeds (67:2)

And,

They will say, Our Lord,

Twice thou gave us death,

and twice you gave us life,

Now we have recognized our sins

Is there any way out? (40-11)

And,

How can ye reject the faith in Allah

Seeing that ye were dead,

He gave you life,

Then He will cause you to die

And will again bring you to life

And again to Him will ye return (2:28)

We came from Allah and go back to Allah:

The Quran says:

He is the Omnipotent over His slaves,

He sends guardian over you until,

When death comes unto one of you,

And they neglect not

Then they are restored unto Allah,

Their Lord, the Just. (6: 61-62)

And,

Say, the angel of death,

Put in charge of you will (duly)

Takes your souls,

Then shall ye brought back to your Lord. (32-11)

The stay in the grave after death will be till the Day of Resurrection.

There were numerous objections raised by infidels and these have been answered by Allah in the Quran: The Quran says:

Shall we be brought back when we are dead and have become dust? That is a return remote?  Surely We know that which the earth consumeth of them, and with Us is a Book preserved. (50: 3-4)

“Deemest man that We shall not assemble his bones? Yea! We are able to put together evenly his finger tips”. (75: 3-4)

“And they were wont to say: When we have died and become dust and bones, shall we, then, verily be raised?

We and our fathers of old?

Say thou: verily the ancients and those of later generations.” (56: 47-49)

“And they say: When we shall have become bones and fragments, shall we in sooth be raised as a new creation?

Say thou: become ye stones or iron.

or anything created of the things more remote in your breasts. They will say: who will restore us?

Say thou: He Who created you the first time…” (17: 49-51)

And man saith: When I am dead, shall I be presently brought forth alive?

Remember not man that we created him afore when he was not aught? (19: 66-67)

Observe they not what wise Allah originateth creation? And then He shall restore it.

Verily for Allah that is easy.

Say thou: go about in the land and behold what wise He hath originated creation; and then Allah shall produce another production; verily Allah is over every thing potent. (29: 19-20)

The above mentioned verses of the Holy Quran contain the objections raised by infidels of Arabia about the Resurrection and life after death and the answers given by Almighty Allah. This sort of objections and doubts are also being raised by different people in the present era of doubt & suspicion.

The Last Day is one of the basic tenants of Islam. We can explore the rational basis of this Great Happening to satisfy those mind which are engulfed by suspicion and doubt. Recent developments in the field of science can go a long way to have an idea of the life after death.

With the discovery of cloning technology the resurrection of human can better be understood. ‘Clone’ means a group of individuals having similar physical and genetic make up. A clone is created from the non-reproductive tissues of an adult animal without involving usual sexual process. This method is in vogue for thousands of years in the field of horticulture when trees are grown by just planting twigs from the parent without the involvement of sexual process.

If it is possible for humans to produce identical or replica of a person from any cell of the body then it is far more easier for the creator who has created man without any prior form.

The Holy Quran says:

Observe they not what wise Allah Originateth Creation? And then He shall restore it. Verily for Allah that is easy.

And,

Is not He who created the heavens and Earth able to create the like of these? Yea! He is the Supreme Creator the Knower His affair, when He intendeth is only that He says unto it: Be and it becometh. (36: 82-83)

[In this verse the word ‘misl’ is used which can be translated a clone  (i.e. identical)]

In this connection Maulana Shahabuddin Nadvi writes:

“The Holy Prophet’s (PBUH) sayings in this regard can further explain the process of Resurrection. He says when a person dies all his/her parts are lost in the soil except coccyx (end of the vertebral column) from which recreation will result. In another saying the Prophet (PBUH) told that coccyx is just like the grain of mustard seed. Any cell of coccyx may be used for new birth of man in the Hereafter. (16)

 K.A. Rashid gives another explanation of the Resurrection in “Iqbal, Quran and the Western World”, “It has now been proved that the individual cells of a living being have a Blue Print of the entire human and the Genes which are the smallest part of a chromosome are capable of rejuvenating by assimilation. The Genetic code has to be translated into the ‘Albumin Language’ (Protein Language) first. This code is a physiological script recently discovered in the chromosomes which lays bare a programme of life and death. The programme indicates the human capacity for renewal. This programme includes the materialisation of consciousness.” (17)

He further writes:

“[The development in the field of biophysics] (18) has discovered that all the living forms of life are radiating with energy. They are vibrating in different wave lengths which depict their function. The entire human body is surrounded by an aura (-atmosphere surrounding a person or object and thought to come from him) which has also now been photographed. This aura changes in colour and in intensity according to its emotional and physical state.” (19)

In another chapter of the same book K.A. Rashid writes:

“The hallow or aura round man can be traced and recorded by scanning. The vibrations are pure energy inter-convertible into matter. All vibrations can reassemble and reconstitute into the original body, just as we catch radio-waves and project the pictures on our television set. It is in similar manner that the ashes and bones of man will reassemble from the radiations and vibration of dead matter to witness the Day of Judgement.”(20)

There is a divine system of recording our deeds and misdeed which will be shown to us on the Day of Requital or the Day of Judgment. Every thing around us and our body itself will bear testimony to our actions we did here during our life. In this respect the Holy Quran points out that our voices, movements and actions are printed or recorded in the surrounding environment. I quote some verses: In Sura 99, the Holy Quran says:

When earth is shaken to her utmost convulsions,

And the Earth yields up her burdens,

And man says,

What is the matter with her;

On that day

She will relate her chronicles,

Because thy Lord inspires her. (99: 1-5)

This verse is explained by the Holy Prophet (PBUH). He says, “Earth is the witness of our deeds”. It has no eye but can see, it has no pen but witness; it has no brain but remembers”. (21)

Another verse relates that our own body’s parts keep on recording our deeds:

On that Day,

We shall seal up their mouth,

And their hands will speak out,

Their feet will bear witness,

To what they used to earn. (36: 65)

And,

At length when they reach their judgement,

Their hearing, their sight and their skins,

All beer witness against them

They will say to their skin,

Why bear you witness against us?

It will say,

Allah has given us speech,

He who gives speech, to everything (41: 20-21)

Recent advancement in the field of science can be helpful in understanding these verses of the Holy Quran. In this connection we can benefit from different scientific theories. K.A. Rashid writes in his book “Iqbal, Qruan and the Western World”: “Another very interesting thing has been recently discovered and it is the process of recording our actins in the human body. Says Edward Russel, “There is within the brain a Ganglionic record of past experiences. The main vehicles of experience in the human body are limbs, the sexual organs and the organs of sight, hearing , taste, touch and small. Each of these organs is vibrating and communicating with the brain and with each other as well as with the outer world. ……. this record is being maintained in the brain cells in the form of tiny hair like  fibrous tapes, which would be projected as if on a T.V. screen to show man on the Day of Resurrection what he had been doing.” (22)

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan in his book “God Arises” has explained the process of record keeping in the light of Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis. He writes:

“It becomes evident that human memory is not confined just to that part of existence which is consciously by experienced. One may not be conscious of certain compartments of the human memory, but they nevertheless exist. Various experiments have proved that all our thoughts are preserved for ever in the form in which they first existed. And even if we so desired, we could not eradicate them from our memory. …… there is another major part of the human personality which exists below the level of consciousness. Freud dubbed this part the subconscious or unconscious. (23)

He further writes:

It has been proved that sound waves once produced continues to exist for ever in the atmosphere. Although our technology is not yet so advanced as to enable us to catch and reproduce these sounds … it has been accepted in theory that we shall have the physical means to listen to the sounds produced in ancient times….. (The difficulty is that at present we can not separate individual sounds from the complex mixture of noises produced at any given moment) ……… The techniques of segregating natural sounds have yet to be evolved. But the very facts that techniques already exist by which radio transmitter and receivers separate artificial sounds is strong indication that some time in future, we shall be in a position to hear distinctly separate, naturally produced sounds”. Then we shall have a first hand account of all periods of human history through the medium of the sound produced at that time” (24)

How the inanimate things can perform the function of record keeping is not incomprehensible for a man who lives in the age of computer. In this respect I would like to quote again from Bashiruddin Mahmood’s Book. He writes:

“…In these days every one knows about the computer memory chips made of silica, each one of which is able to store millions of information bits for ever. And each new day rises with the new miracles of information storage. They now talk about the ability to record all the volumes of Encyclopaedia Britannica on the head of a paper pin.”(25)

Last but not least is the question about the nature of the life after death. This question’s answer can be found in a dialogue between Hazrat Abrahim and Almighty Allah. He was keen to know the attribute of Allah Almighty as to How He would raise up the dead and he asks of Him:

“And when Abraham, My Lord show me how thou giveth life to the dead: He said dost thou not believe? He said: Yes, but heart may be at ease. He said: Then take four birds, then tame them to incline to thee, then place on every mountain a part of them, then call them, they will come to thee flying. And know that Allah is Mighty, wise.” (2: 260)

The life hereafter is just as material as this place, except that it will be absolutely pure, devoid of all pollution and evil which is creation of man. The same vibrations will energise to reassemble and attain the same form which will carry no physical defects. (26)

REFERENCES

1. Gilani, Manazer Ehsen. Addin-Al-Qayyam (Karachi: Nafees Academy, 1980) pp.16-17
2. H.P Owes. The Encyclopaedia of Philosophy (ed), Paul Edwards (London and New York: Macmillan, 1967) Vol:3, pp.48-49
3. William C. Chittick. Encyclopaedia of Islamic Spirituality, (ed.) Seyyed Hussain Nasr (Lahore: Suhail Academy) Vol:1, pp.378-379
4. Mahmood S.Bashiruddin. Mechanics of the Doomsday and Life After Death (New Delhi, Kitab Bhavan, 2000) pp.7-9
5. Ibid, p.50
6. Ibid, p.56
7. Ibid, p.55
8. Ibid, p.57
9. Ibid, p.56
10. Ibid, pp.69-73, 75-84
11. Ibid, 71-73
12. Ibid, 72-73
13. Ibid, 85
14. Mehmood, S.Bashiruddin. Doomsday and Life After Death (Delhi, Millat Book Centre) p.140
15. Mehmood, S.B. Mechanics of the Doomsday. pp.24-25
16. Maulana Shahabuddin Nadvi’s article appeared in the Monthly Al-Haq”, Akora Khattak, Nowshera and quoted by Professor Abdul Majid in his article ‘cloning technology’ published in the college magazine of Govt. Post-Graduate College, Mansehra.
17. Rashid K.A. (Lt. Col), Iqbal, Quran and the Western World (Lahore: Progressive Books, 1978) p.50
18. It is added by me.
19. Rashid K.A, op.cit, p.50
20. Ibid, p.82
21. Rashid
22. Rashid K.A., op.cit, pp.61-62
23. Wahiduddin Khan, Maulana: God Arises ………evidence of God in Nature and in science (New Delhi, Goodword Books, 1999) pp.110-111
24. Ibid, p.113
25. Mehmood, Bashiruddin: Doomsday & Life After Death (Delhi, Millat Book Centre) pp.177
26. Rashid, K.A, op.cit, pp.73-74

Back to Table of Contents
 

Copyrights © 2001-2004 | All rights reserved