Fifth Lecture
Resurrection in the Scale of Justice

A cursory look at the system of creation will reveal to us that everything is systematic and governed by rules.

In the body of man, this system is so delicate that any imbalance would lead to either sickness or death.

For instance, in the structure of the eyes, heart, and brain this order is readily noticeable. The same order, systematization, and justice prevail over all of creation.

بِالْعَدْلِ قَامَتِ السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالأَرْضُ.

Through justice, the skies and the earth have been erected.

An atom is so tiny that millions of them could be located in the point of a needle. Such an atom must be extremely precise and ordered in its structure to allow it to exist for millions of years.

This happens because of the justice and exact calculations that are employed in the construction of an atom.

Is man such an exceptional being as to be free to do what he pleases? Is he free? Or is there something hidden here?

Free will and Freedom in Decision-Making

One distinctive feature that distinguishes man from all other creatures is that he possesses freedom of action. Why has He created him free and given him the freedom of will to carry out what he wants?

The reason rests in the fact that if he were not free he would never develop. This freedom has ensured man’s spiritual and ethical development.

Suppose one is forced at gunpoint to help and assist the needy and carry out those acts which are beneficial to the community. Even though his acts would be naturally useful to everyone no ethical or human perfection or maturity would have taken place. Whereas, if he had carried out these actions voluntarily and he only did one hundredth of what he could have done, he still would have taken a big stride towards his perfection and development.

Thus, the first condition for spiritual and ethical perfection is to have a free will; man should do good things on his own and not through force. This great asset has been given to man just for this purpose.

Of course, this great asset is like a beautiful flower which is accompanied with thorns which represent the misuse of this free will.

Naturally, it would be quite easy for God to punish a man for his unjust deeds, to inflict him with all sorts of miseries, to make him blind, or dumb, or paralyzed altogether.

Under such circumstances, nobody would dare to do wrong things. But this abstention and piety then would be by force and could never be counted as a point of honor for man, for this piety would have been due to his fear of a great punishment.

Thus, man should be free. He should be exposed to God’s different trials and not be threatened by immediate punishment so that he could show his true worth.

But there remains one issue to be solved. If each person could be free to do whatever he desires, this could negate God’s Justice which governs the world.

That is why we become convinced that there should be a court for mankind in which everyone should be present and be tried to receive punishments if they had wronged others or given rewards if they have been just in their deeds.

Is it possible for Nimrods, Pharaohs, Genghis khans and korahs to commit atrocities carry out all sorts of unjust acts and then go away with no punishment whatsoever?

Could criminals and pious people be equal on God’s scale of justice?

Regarding this, the Holy Qur’¡n says:

أَفَنَجْعَلُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ كَالْمُجْرِمِينَ * مَا لَكُمْ كَيْفَ تَحْكُمُونَ

What! Shall We then make those who submit as the guilty? What has happened to you? How do you judge? [Qur’¡n 68:35-36]

Regarding this, the Holy Qur’¡n says elsewhere.

أَمْ نَجْعَلُ الْمُتَّقِينَ كَالْفُجَّارِ.

Shall We make those who guard against evil like the wicked? [Qur’¡n 38:28]

It is a fact that some of the wrongdoers would be at least partially punished in this world for their devilish acts. It is also a fact that the court of conscience exists. It is also a fact that the consequences of one’s unjust and devilish acts would inflict him later. But if we consider the matter carefully, we will find out that no tyrant or sinner receives a punishment in this world proportional to the degree of his devilish acts. There are some who even escape the consequences of their wrongdoing.

So there should be a universal court in the other world to judge them justly and impartially or else the principle of justice would vanish forever.

Therefore, the acceptance of God and His system of Justice entails the acceptance of the Resurrection and the other world. These two are faces of the same coin.

THINK AND ANSWER

Sixth Lecture
The Resurrection in This World

The sacred verses of the Holy Qur’¡n clearly illustrate the fact that idolaters and other unbelievers, not only in the time of the Prophet(s), but in all times have been astonished at the very notion of the Resurrection and life after death and even considered anybody who said it as mad:

هَلْ نَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَى رَجُلٍ يُنَبِّئُكُمْ إِذَا مُزِّقْتُمْ كُلَّ مُمَزَّقٍ إِنَّكُمْ لَفِي خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ * أَفْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِباً أَم بِهِ جِنَّةٌ؟

[And those who disbelieve say]: shall we point out to you a man who informs you that when you are scattered with the utmost scattering you shall then be most surely raised in to a new creation. He has forged a lie against Allah or there is madness in him. [Qur’¡n 34:7-8]

In those days, due to people’s lack of knowledge, belief in life after death and in the dead coming back to life was considered madness or forging a lie against Allah.

However, the Holy Qur’¡n uses different kinds of reasoning which can be used by scholars and ordinary people alike, each one to the extent of his or her own capacity.

Although a complete description of the arguments of the Holy Qur’¡n needs a separate book, here we shall present only some portions of it.

1. Sometimes, the Holy Qur’¡n tells them: you see with your own eyes daily scenes of the Resurrection: you notice how some creatures die and then come back to life and then you have doubts concerning the issue of the Resurrection.

وَاللَّهُ الَّذِي أَرْسَلَ الرِّيَاحَ فَتُثِيرُ سَحَاباً فَسُقْنَاهُ إِلَى بَلَدٍ مَّيِّتٍ فَأَحْيَيْنَا بِهِ الأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا كَذَلِكَ النُّشُورُ.

And Allah is He Who sends the winds so they raise a cloud, then We drive it on to a dead country, and therewith We give life to the earth after its death; even so is the quickening. [Qur’¡n 35:9]

When we look around during winter everything in nature reminds of death; the trees are naked of leaves, flowers and fruits; what has remained is dry wood; there are no flowers; no buds blossom; nor is there any sign of life in the mountains, or in the deserts.

Spring, however, brings a mild climate; the life-giving drops of rain fall; suddenly, there is a magnificent commotion in nature: the flowers blossom, the trees give forth leaves; birds settle themselves on the branches and start their beautiful songs: and life is a commotion of activity.

If life after death did not mean anything, we would never witness this scene each year. If life after death were an improbable or insane act, we would never touch it so vividly every day.

2. Sometimes, the Holy Qur’¡n points towards the beginning of creation, that is, the first stages of creation. It tells Mu¦ammad how to answer that nomadic Arab who came to him carrying a rotten piece of bone in his hand: “O Mu¦ammad! Who is able to give life to this piece of bone? Tell me who can?” assuming he has offered a convincing argument against the issue of the Resurrection. The Holy Qur’¡n ordered Mu¦ammad(s) to say:

قُلْ يُحْيِيهَا الَّذِي أَنشَأَهَا أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ.

Say: He shall quicken them Who originated them the first time. [Qur’¡n 36:79]

What differences should there be between the beginning of creation and its repetition? In the next verses, the Holy Qur’¡n answers this question succinctly by saying:

كَمَا بَدَأْنَا أَوَّلَ خَلْقٍ نُّعِيدُه.

As We originated the first creation, so We shall reproduce it. [Qur’¡n 21:104]

3. The Holy Qur’¡n at times mentions God’s Great Power over all of creation:

Is not He Who created the heavens and the earth able to create the like of them? Yea! And He is the Creator of all, the Knower. His command, when He intends anything, is only to say to it: Be, and it is. [Qur’¡n 36:81-82]

Those who showed their doubts concerning these problems were those whose sphere of understanding was very limited or else they should have known that re-creation and bringing the dead back to life is easier than creation in the first place.

4. Sometimes, by “resurrection” they understand the word "energies” and say: “see, God who is able to make fire out of the green trees is able to give life to the dead.”

الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنَ الشَّجَرِ الْأَخْضَرِ نَاراً فَإِذَا أَنتُم مِّنْهُ تُوقِدُونَ.

He Who has made for you the fire to burn from the green tree, so that with it you kindle fire. [Qur’¡n 36:80]

Regarding this verse of the Holy Qur’¡n’ science tells us that when we burn a piece of wood to make a fire, the heat produced is the same energy that the piece of wood had received from the sun for long years and is now emitting it. We used to think that the sun’s energy had died, but now we see it has come back to life again and puts on a new dress of life.

Is it difficult to revive the dead for a God who has stored light and energy inside a tree for years to be released later?⁽[1]⁾