direct opposition to each other:
Do those who commit ill deeds think that We will make them as those
who believe and do the right, equal in their life and death! How ill they
judge (45:21).
The Mu'min, who is untiring in the pursuit of the good and keeps
his eyes riveted on the eternal verities, is not afraid of death. He
welcomes it gladly as he believes that he will pass through the
shadow of death to a fuller and richer life. The poet Iqbal says:
Let me tell you by what sign you may recognize the true Mu'min. When
the grim spectre of Death approaches, he greets it with a smile.
(Armughaan-e-Hijaaz, p. 165).
It is so because death, for him, is not the end of life but the
threshold of a far more glorious life. The Mu'min regards death as a
test which gives him the opportunity to prove his fitness for the
higher life he is about to enter. The Jews claimed that every member
of the Jewish race was predestined for paradise. In that case, says the
Qur'an, they should face death with equanimity as they had nothing
to fear:
If the abode of the Hereafter with God be for you, exclusive of the
(rest of) mankind, then long for death if you are truthful (2 :94).
The Qur'an leaves no doubt on the point that paradise is not
reserved for a particular race or community but is open to all who
are steadfast in the pursuit of the good as revealed in the Qur'an,
and who lay down their lives for the cause of truth.
IV. Immortality and EternityIt should be noted, however, that immortality does not imply
eternity. Eternity belongs to God alone It is also beyond our power
to formulate a precise definition of immortality. It refers to stages
of existence which transcend human calculation. All we can say, and
all we need know is that life has no end. When we attain a higher
stage, new vistas are opened up for our ambition. It is the nature of
life to move forward unceasingly. The self in which the movement is
retarded or arrested, suffers the torments of Hell.*
- It may be pointed out here that, from the Qur'anic point of view, there
is much difference between "survival after death" and "immortality."
While survival is for every human being who has attained self-
consciousness, immortality is only for those who have developed their self
and have thus qualified themselves for higher planes of life after death.
Survival : Individual and Collective^173