Welcome to this week's episode of the series Let's Know Islam. Today, we study the belief in Day of Resurrection as one of the other principles of sacred religion of Islam.

In accordance to this principle, humans come to life on the Day of Resurrection so that their deeds are assessed before God Almighty and to be rewarded or punished for their good deeds or misdeeds. Belief in the Judgement Day is one of the topics of importance in the teachings of divine prophets and divine revelations. Within the framework of Islamic beliefs, the belief in the Day of Resurrection is of paramount importance. Many ayahs of Holy Quran are about the Day of Resurrection. Meanwhile, prior to discussing this topic of importance, it is appropriate to initially pay attention to the phenomenon of death.

Although the phenomenon of existence is the most valuable divine blessing and loss of life is dreadful, every human being will ultimately deal with the phenomenon of death. According to ayahs of Holy Quran, all humans ultimately die and no one is immortal in this world.

Human life swiftly passes by. Among living creatures, only humans are fearful of death and concerned about it.

Animals do not think about death and mortality. What is observed among animals is their instinctive avoidance of danger. Meanwhile, love of life is a common feature and trait of all living creatures. However, humans, in addition to maintaining love of life, aspire eternity. Thus, humans struggle against causes of death.

Death is a certain and irrefutable fact, and humans have always tried to unravel the enigma and mystery of death. In fact, death has always been one of human concerns. Obviously, individuals display different reactions to the phenomenon of death. Majority of people fear death. Upon the arrival of death, human aspirations and wishes are blown away. The fear of the unknown in the phenomenon of death generates fear and concern among the individuals. Humans do not know what happens to them after death.

For centuries, philosophers have tried to get rid of human fear of death. However, no one has unraveled the mystery of death.

Whenever humans ponder over themselves and their surroundings, the questions which spring to their minds is why have they come to this world and why death separates humans from their sweet lives? And ultimately what is the destination of their journey?

The questions which revolve around the world after death have occupied the minds of thinkers for centuries. The fact of the matter is that we can only appropriately understand why we have come to this world and what is our final destination if we believe in the existence of God.

It should be said that the only way to be saved from bafflement and disillusionment is to maintain belief in God Almighty and the Judgement Day. Therefore, religion, as the reliable source of awareness of mankind, is the best source for familiarization with the future path of mankind in the world after death. Religion unravels mysteries and manifests the path to eternal prosperity. Based on divine religions, mankind's actual prosperity is feasible within the other world and upon passage from the gateway to death. Therefore, one of the main teachings of all religions is belief in the Day of Resurrection. Divine messengers, in elaboration of the Day of Resurrection, have partly revealed the facts about death; and it can be said that the knowledge of mankind about death and thereafter developments is the outcome of teachings of the divine prophets.  

At this point, let's pay a glance at the concept of death in the Quranic culture. Death in Quranic teachings, is not synonymous to mortality and destruction, and, in fact, unfolds a gateway to eternity and survival. Based on the ayahs of Holy Quran, death marks a phase of transition from the mortal world to Hereafter. In the 42^nd ayah of Surat al-Zumar, in Holy Quran, God notes: "Allah takes the souls at the time of their death, and those who have not died in their sleep. Then He retains those for whom He has ordained death and releases the others until a specified time."

In the Islamic viewpoint, mankind is a creature who has been made of body and spirit. Human body maintains volume and weight and is a function of time and location. Also, human body is impacted by heath, cold, and aging, and is ultimately destroyed. However, this is not the case about human spirit.

Upon death, human spirit leaves human body. As a result of death, human body gradually decomposes. However, human spirit continues its existence after death.

Experts, in order to clarify the relationship between human body and spirit, have presented an appropriate example; within which they have resembled human body to a car, and human spirit to the car's driver.

At times, the car is on and the driver is behind the wheel. In this case, human body is alive and active, and human spirit is coupled with human body, which is related to wakefulness mode.

A times, the car is on but the driver is not sitting on the driver's seat. This means that the body is alive, and the human spirit has distanced itself from human body. This indicates the sleeping mode. The human body of someone who is asleep is alive and many of his body limbs are active.

At times, the car is off and dilapidated and the driver is not on his seat. In this case, human spirit has separated itself from human body and the individual is dead.

Meanwhile, although some individuals, based on their shallow viewpoints, consider death synonymous to mortality; this is certainly not the case. In fact, death marks a period of transition from one phase of life to another phase of life.

MR/MG