Page 83 - The Nightmare of Disbelief

tence of the hereafter, death becomes utterly terrifying. They
think they will be reduced to nothing in the ground and will
have no opportunity whatsoever to return to life. Their fear of
death is basically oriented around losing worldly joys and ceas-
ing to exist rather than the reality of the Day of Judgment.
People mostly endeavor to overcome this feeling of being
reduced to nothingness by creating monuments to leave be-
hind. This attitude is also stressed in one of the verses:

You construct fine buildings, hoping to live for ever. (Surat
ash-Shu'ara': 129)
The very mention of death plunges unbelievers into a state
of misery. No matter how hard they avoid the thought of it,
they come upon death scenes every day in newspapers and on
the TV. The deaths of people surrounding them, or the occur-
rence of accidents and illnesses elsewhere are constant re-
minders of the end of this life. Yet, as is their general tendency,
they avoid the subject and do their very utmost not to give so
much as a thought to death. If anyone ever attempts to talk
about death, they change the subject and make him forget the
approaching end.

That death may come in various forms terrifies them. 81
They do not want to see a graveyard, for instance, nor would
they buy a house close to a graveyard in order to avoid the
thought of death. However, no matter in which corner of the
world they are, death will inevitably lay hold of them one day.
This immutable fact is related in the following verse:
Wherever you are, death will catch up with you, even if you
are in impregnable fortresses… (Surat an-Nisa': 78)

Death and the hereafter are the two realities of which be-
lievers have a sharp comprehension. They spend their lives in
anticipation of it. For them, death is actually the bliss of meet-

HARUN YAHYA (ADNAN OKTAR)