44
attention \--as turned toward the priority of this other life: "And verily the
Hereafter will be better for you than the presem."17
In reality, the message is meant very dearly nm to appease doubts and
fears about inescapable death but to impress on the believers' minds and
hearts the firm beLief that this life has a meaning and that to God we shall
return. T his constant presence of the reminder of the hereafter docs
indeed convey the idea of the LaSt Judgment, for wruch God will estab-
lish the balance of good and evil that each being has been responsible for
during his o r her earthly life. T hus, consciousness of the Last Judgment
points to the relationship between faith and morals, betwee n contempla-
tion and action: [he "srrnight path" that pleases the l\'!ost High is the way
of those who " believe and do righteous deeds" (a/-/adhina al!lallll UIQ ami/II
(lNaliha~.18
Being with God, being for God, giving o neself, thus involves "enjoin-
ing what is right" (al-I1Iaruj') and " forbidding what is wrong" (al-I1Il1lIlwr);
it is opting [() meet the ethical demand.^19 Being with God necessitates
changing one's behavior and d eciding [Q be pan of " a community invit-
ing [0 all that is good."20 Islam, like other monotheistic traditio ns, insists
on the return [0 G o d, on His judgment, on heaven and hell, and num er-
ous verses associate the m eaning of life with the hereafter. In the spiritu-
al experience that determines the meaning of life and links it [0 the
requirement to behave ethically, this initiatory phase is essential, even
though it is not the ultimate teaching of the relationship with God.
Beyond the hope for His paradise and th e fear of hell, the pinnacle o f the
relationship with the Most Near is primarily to love Him and to aspirc to
contemplating His face (uwjh) fo r eternity, as thc Prophet was late r to
teach his Companions with this invocation: " 0 God, offer us the grace
and pleasure of looking upon Your infinitely bounteous face lll·wjhika}."
The moral demand constitutes the necessary path toward the intimate and
loving presence of God.
AdversityThe call was now public, and e\'en though the training new converts
received at al-Arqam's home was discreet, they did not hesitare to speak
to their rdatives and to the people around them. Day after day, clan chiefs