“And who, of their eternal life to come, are certain”[1]

 

What does it mean to be certain of all the stages of the eternal life to come? What is certainty?

 

The eternal life to come or ‘life after death’ begins immediately after the experience of death. The person makes a transition from the dimension of life he perceives with his senses to a life with a luminous brain-body and continues to live in this plane of existence. He then moves on to the life of the grave or the intermediary realm, in which he continues to live until Doomsday. After this, those in the life of the grave and those in the intermediary realm will begin to live in a body that will be formed according to the conditions of the Doomsday period. This plane of life, also known as the Place of Gathering (mahshar), will then continue through the Bridge of Sirat to either hell or heaven.

 

“And there is none among you who He will not pass through (experience) hell!”[2]

 

Those who can pass and escape this stage will then be equipped with a new angelic body and continue their lives in paradise.

Those who believe in the Rasul of Allah (saw) need not only believe in all of these stages pertaining to life after death, but also have certainty.

What is certainty?

There are three statements regarding the state of certainty:

1. I know with certainty that this is so.
2. I have no doubt about this and won’t have any doubt in the future.
3. It can’t be any other way.

One who can say all three is one with certainty.

I explain and write about the stages of life after death because I’m certain of the teachings of Muhammad (saw)! In respect of all the information that has reached us, my own observations and modern scientific data, life after death is a definite fact without doubt! Thus, having certainty is to know no other possibility exists!

Therefore, to be ‘certain of all the stages of the eternal life to come’ is to know without doubt and without any room for debate that this is the absolute truth. Such people will then do everything they can to protect themselves.

Such are the people who have full faith in the eternal life to come and thus establish their salat, spend in the way of Allah from the sustenance they’ve been given, who believe in what has been revealed to Muhammad (saw) and to those before him, and who are certain of the eternal life to come.

They do this with the guidance given to them by their Rabb.

The word Rabb denotes the sublime power to which we owe our existence, the power that has created us and everything that transpires through us. It is with this power that we are able to continue our lives and conduct all our actions.

Without ‘guidance’, the ease of divine facilitation, we could not be of the people of faith.

So, let us know with certainty that, if we’re of the believers, if we can comply with the recommendations of the Rasul of Allah (saw), this is entirely due to the guidance from our Rabb.

He who is unable to see this truth is called neglectful (ghafil) and cocooned. He who denies this truth is called a disbeliever (kafir); one who covers the truth, one who is ignorant of the reality. Such people are the most needy in any society, for out of their inability to understand and evaluate the reality, they lead themselves straight into suffering.

On the other hand, those who believe in Muhammad (saw) despite not being able to read the system and those who can read the system and thus have attained certainty, they are the ones who will be able to overcome all obstacles and reach true success! They are those upon whom Allah has bestowed his favor.