Ruling on Denial of the Hereafter and Qur’anic Proofs to Convince Rejecters

Question:

What is the ruling on a person who denies the life of the Hereafter and considers it a superstition of the medieval ages? And how can such people be convinced to believe in the Hereafter?

Answer:

الحمد للہ، والصلاة والسلام علىٰ رسول الله، أما بعد!

The person who denies the life of the Hereafter and considers it among the superstitions of the medieval ages is a disbeliever, because the Holy Quran clearly states:

﴿وَقالوا إِن هِىَ إِلّا حَياتُنَا الدُّنيا وَما نَحنُ بِمَبعوثينَ ﴿٢٩﴾ وَلَو تَرى إِذ وُقِفوا عَلى رَبِّهِم قالَ أَلَيسَ هـذا بِالحَقِّ قالوا بَلى وَرَبِّنا قالَ فَذوقُوا العَذابَ بِما كُنتُم تَكفُرونَ ﴿٣٠﴾

“And they say, ‘There is only our worldly life; we shall not be resurrected.’ And if you could see when they are made to stand before their Lord! He will say, ‘Is this not the truth?’ They will say, ‘Yes, by our Lord!’ He will say, ‘Then taste the punishment because you used to disbelieve.'”

Quranic Arguments for Those Who Deny the Hereafter

The Holy Quran contains severe warnings at multiple places regarding the deniers of the Hereafter:

﴿وَيلٌ يَومَئِذٍ لِلمُكَذِّبينَ ﴾

“That Day, the deniers will be in ruin…”

﴿بَل كَذَّبوا بِالسّاعَةِ وَأَعتَدنا لِمَن كَذَّبَ بِالسّاعَةِ سَعيرًا ﴾

“Rather, they deny the Hour…”

﴿وَالَّذينَ كَفَروا بِـٔايـتِ اللَّهِ وَلِقائِهِ أُولـئِكَ يَئِسوا مِن رَحمَتى وَأُولـئِكَ لَهُم عَذابٌ أَليمٌ ﴾

“And those who deny the verses of Allah and the meeting with Him, they have despaired of My mercy…”

➊ The Teachings of the Prophets with Repeated Transmission:

• All the heavenly scriptures and the Prophets (peace be upon them) believed in Ba’th Ba’ad al-Mawt (resurrection after death).
• All nations have accepted this.
• If people accept the unproven statements of philosophers and thinkers, then why not accept the unanimous message of the Prophets?

(1) If creating for the first time is possible, then why not again?

﴿وَهُوَ الَّذى يَبدَؤُا۟ الخَلقَ ثُمَّ يُعيدُهُ وَهُوَ أَهوَنُ عَلَيهِ﴾

“And it is He who created you the first time; then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you to life again, and it is easy for Him.”

﴿كَما بَدَأنا أَوَّلَ خَلقٍ نُعيدُهُ﴾

“As We created the first creation, so shall We recreate it. This is a promise binding upon Us. Indeed, We will do it.”

(2) The great creation of the universe is far more difficult than creating humans:

﴿لَخَلقُ السَّمـوتِ وَالأَرضِ أَكبَرُ مِن خَلقِ النّاسِ﴾

“The creation of the heavens and the earth is greater than the creation of mankind.”

﴿أَوَلَم يَرَوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ…﴾

“Do they not see that Allah, who created the heavens and the earth and is not weary of creating them, is able to give life to the dead? Yes, indeed, He is over all things competent.”

﴿أَوَلَيسَ الَّذى خَلَقَ السَّمـوتِ وَالأَرضَ…﴾

“Is not He who created the heavens and the earth able to create them again? Yes, indeed, He is the Most Creator, the Most Knowing. His command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.”

(3) Argument from the Observation of Life on Earth:

﴿وَمِن ءايـتِهِ أَنَّكَ تَرَى الأَرضَ خـشِعَةً…﴾

“And among His signs is that you see the earth barren, but when We send down water upon it, it stirs and swells and grows [something] of every beautiful kind. Indeed, He who gives it life is the Giver of life to the dead. Indeed, He is over all things competent.”

➌ Sensory and Experiential Evidences:

• The Quran mentions several incidents in which Allah brought the dead back to life.
• One of these is the incident mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah 259:

﴿أَو كَالَّذى مَرَّ عَلى قَريَةٍ وَهِىَ خاوِيَةٌ عَلى عُروشِها قالَ أَنّى يُحيۦ هـذِهِ اللَّهُ بَعدَ مَوتِها فَأَماتَهُ اللَّهُ مِا۟ئَةَ عامٍ ثُمَّ بَعَثَهُ قالَ كَم لَبِثتَ قالَ لَبِثتُ يَومًا أَو بَعضَ يَومٍ قالَ بَل لَبِثتَ مِا۟ئَةَ عامٍ فَانظُر إِلى طَعامِكَ وَشَرابِكَ لَم يَتَسَنَّه وَانظُر إِلى حِمارِكَ وَلِنَجعَلَكَ ءايَةً لِلنّاسِ وَانظُر إِلَى العِظامِ كَيفَ نُنشِزُها ثُمَّ نَكسوها لَحمًا فَلَمّا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ قالَ أَعلَمُ أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَلى كُلِّ شَىءٍ قَديرٌ ﴿٢٥٩﴾.

“Or (have you not seen) the one who passed by a town which had fallen into ruin? He said, ‘How will Allah bring this to life after its death?’ So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years; then He revived him and said, ‘How long have you remained (dead)?’ He said, ‘Perhaps a day or part of a day.’ He said, ‘No, you have remained for a hundred years. Look at your food and drink; they have not decayed. And look at your donkey; and thus We make you a sign for the people. And look at the bones (of the donkey), how We raise them and then clothe them with flesh.’ And when it became clear to him, he said, ‘I know that Allah is over all things competent.'”

➍ The Demand of Wisdom:

• Life will become meaningless without accountability after death.
• There will be no difference between the life of a human and an animal.

﴿أَفَحَسِبتُم أَنَّما خَلَقنـكُم عَبَثًا وَأَنَّكُم إِلَينا لا تُرجَعونَ ﴿١١٥﴾ فَتَعـلَى اللَّهُ المَلِكُ الحَقُّ لا إِلـهَ إِلّا هُوَ رَبُّ العَرشِ الكَريمِ ﴿١١٦﴾

“Do you think that We created you in vain and that you would not be returned to Us? So exalted is Allah, the Sovereign, the Truth; there is no deity except Him, Lord of the Noble Throne.”

﴿إِنَّ السّاعَةَ ءاتِيَةٌ أَكادُ أُخفيها لِتُجزى كُلُّ نَفسٍ بِما تَسعى ﴿١٥﴾

“The Day of Resurrection is certainly coming, I intend to conceal its time so that every soul may be recompensed for what it strives for.”

➎ Clear Declaration of the Quran:

﴿وَأَقسَموا بِاللَّهِ جَهدَ أَيمـنِهِم لا يَبعَثُ اللَّهُ مَن يَموتُ بَلى وَعدًا عَلَيهِ حَقًّا وَلـكِنَّ أَكثَرَ النّاسِ لا يَعلَمونَ ﴿٣٨﴾ لِيُبَيِّنَ لَهُمُ الَّذى يَختَلِفونَ فيهِ وَلِيَعلَمَ الَّذينَ كَفَروا أَنَّهُم كانوا كـذِبينَ ﴿٣٩﴾ إِنَّما قَولُنا لِشَىءٍ إِذا أَرَدنـهُ أَن نَقولَ لَهُ كُن فَيَكونُ ﴿٤٠﴾

“And they swear by Allah with His strongest oaths that He will not resurrect the one who dies. Why not? It is a true promise upon Him, and He is certainly able to do it. But most people do not know, so that He may make clear to them that over which they differ, and so that the disbelievers may know that they were liars. When We intend to do something, Our command is only that We say to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.”

﴿زَعَمَ الَّذينَ كَفَروا أَن لَن يُبعَثوا قُل بَلى وَرَبّى لَتُبعَثُنَّ ثُمَّ لَتُنَبَّؤُنَّ بِما عَمِلتُم وَذلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسيرٌ ﴿٧﴾

“Those who disbelieve think that they will never be resurrected. Say, ‘Never will you be resurrected, by my Lord!’ Yes, indeed, by my Lord, you will surely be resurrected, then you will be informed of what you did. And that is easy for Allah.”

Conclusion:

If despite all these evidences, someone still denies resurrection after death, then he is stubborn, obstinate, and unjust. Such people will soon come to know their place of return, which is Hell.

ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب