of the plain declarations made by the Holy Qur’ān. And when we look at nature around us, we find the same law at work. Every cause has its effect, and everything done must bear fruit. Even that which man does in the physical world must bear fruit. Why should man’s good or evil deeds be an exception to this general rule working in the whole universe? And if they are not an exception, as they should not be, the conclusion is evident that good and evil must bear their full fruit in another life, which indicates the continuity of the life of man in another world, when death has put an end to it in this.
It will be seen from the above that the Resurrection is not a dogma in which a man is required to believe for his salvation in another life; rather it is a principle of human life, a principle which makes that life more serious and more useful, while at the same time awakening in him the consciousness of a life that is higher. The man who sincerely believes in the Resurrection will try his utmost to take advantage of every opportunity that is offered to him to live his life to the best purpose; he will try hard to do any good that he possibly can to the creatures of God, and he will shun every evil deed as far as he can. Thus a belief in the Resurrection is needed in the first place to make this lower life worth living. Without such a belief, life loses not only its meaning, leaving man without any real or abiding aim, but also all incentive to do good and eschew evil.
The idea of a life after death is so strange to the average mind that the Holy Qur’ān has, again and again, to answer the question, how will it be? And the answer given in all cases is that the great Author of all existence Who made this vast universe out of nothing, could also bring about a new creation. “Were We then fatigued, with the first creation? Yet they are in doubt about a new creation” (50:15). “But they say, Who will return us (to a new creation)? Say, He who created you at first” (17:51). “And they say: When we are bones and decayed particles, shall we then be raised up into a new creation? See they not that Allāh, Who created the heavens and the earth, is able to