Page 24 - Communication and Argument in the Qur'an

22 COMMUNICATION AND ARGUMENT IN THE QUR’AN

ble. In fact, by creating the Hereafter and making human
beings so that they can live forever, Allah has responded to
this desire. Death is only a passageway, the first stage in a
journey that starts in this transient and deceptive world and
leads to eternal life. It is the spirit that is real, not the body.
With death, the spirit lives on in a different form.
According to their deeds, people will receive their true
reward and punishment in the Hereafter. In this world, a
believer may have a difficult life while an unbeliever may be
rich and live in splendid debauchery. This is a requisite of
the test in this life, for Allah’s eternal justice demands that
believers be rewarded and unbelievers be punished. He
created the Day of Judgment, as well as the Garden and
Hell, for this very purpose.
Recognition of this fact is of vital importance for people
who learn about Islam. The faith in the Hereafter is the sec-
ond basic tenet of Islam, after faith in Allah’s existence. In
addition, they must become familiar with the Qur’an, the
Day of Judgment the final accounting, the Garden and
Hell. They must know that Allah sees whatever they do,
that the angels assigned to record these deeds are actual-
ly doing so, and that people are responsible for whatever
they think, do, and say.