THE HEREAFTER: PAIN FOR UNBELIEVERS, HAPPINESS FOR BELIEVERS

Everything which the human being desires lies waiting for him in the
Afterlife, providing hespends his life in this world pursuing the
pleasure of Allah. In the life of Paradise, there will be the
blessings of infinite abundance and beauty. At the same time,
believers will also experience enormous spiritual joy in Paradise and
will feel such emotions as happiness, love, joy,peace and security in
a far more powerful manner than in their earthly lives. Unbelievers,
on the other hand, will experience pain and unimaginable torment in
Hell, described in the Qu'ran as a fire "fueled by men and stones."
Allah has revealed in the Qur'an that the Hereafter will be full of
severe torment for unbelievers but full of blessings for the
believers:
When Our signs are recited to such a person, he turns away arrogantly
as if he had not heard, as if there was a great weight in his ears. So
give him news of a painful punishment. (Surah Luqman, 7)
Their Lord gives them the good news of His mercy and good pleasure and
Gardens where they will enjoy everlasting delight. (Surat at-Tawba,
21)
The sufferings the unbelievers will experience in the Hereafter will
be incomparably greater than those in this world. Unbelievers will be
punished with a torment they have never imagined and the like of which
they have not previously experienced. The expression "blazing fire" is
used in several verses of the Qur'an in order to describe the
fierceness of the flames of Hell. In other verses, that fierceness is
described as follows:
But no! It is a Raging Blaze. Stripping away the limbs and scalp.
(Surat al-Ma'arij, 15-16)
Unlike this fierce torment in Hell,a very happy and peaceful
environment has been prepared for the people of Paradise. Allah, in
His mercy, has created Paradise for His faithful servants in the best
and most perfect manner. Allah is pleased with them and will reward
them witheternal joy. In the Qur'an, the following is stated:
Allah has promised the men andwomen of the believers Gardenswith
rivers flowing under them, remaining in them timelessly, for ever, and
fine dwellings in the Gardens of Eden. And Allah's good pleasure is
even greater. That is the great victory. (Surat at-Tawba, 72)
Allah has revealed the difference between Paradise and Hell in another verse:
An image of the Garden which ispromised to those who guard against
evil: in it there are rivers of water which will never spoil and
rivers of milk whose taste will never change and rivers of wine,
delightful to all who drinkit, and rivers of honey of undiluted
purity; in it they will have fruit of every kind and forgiveness from
their Lord. Is that like those who will be in the Fire timelessly, for
ever, withboiling water to drink which lacerates their bowels? (Surah
Muhammad, 15)
Imam Ghazali has invited people to think rationally on this matterby
considering in his commentaries the sharp differences, as regards to
pains and blessings, between Paradiseand Hell:
Know that there is another home (And that is Paradise) in contrast to
sorrow and sadness (i.e. flame), the abode of Hell youknow. Consider
the blessings and joys it will impart. That is because he who is far
removed from one of these will definitely find a decision in the
other. Think long and hard about the terrors of Hell and fix them in
your heart. Also think long and hard about the eternal
blessingspromised to the people of Paradise and fix a hope in your
heart. Drive earthly desires with the whip of fear and bring them to
the true path by means of hope. In this way you will attain a great
existence and be saved from a painful torment. Considerthe people of
Paradise, on whose faces is the beauty of the blessings of Paradise.
Souls are permanent, thereby finding what they desire. In Paradise
they neither fear nor are downcast. They are free of the fear of
death.
Then consider the chambers of Paradise and the height and variety of
the degrees of Paradise. That is because the Hereafter is the greatest
in terms of degree and in terms of virtue. In the same way that in
this world people are different in terms of external religious
observances and esoteric pleasing moral values, so there will be
differences in the rewards and punishments people will receive for
their deeds in this world. If you wish to attain the highest degrees
in Paradise then try to ensure noneexceed you in worship of and
obedience to Allah." (Imam Ghazali, Kalplerin Kesfi [The Discovery of
Hearts], pp. 534, 535, 539)
As we have seen, a person has two alternatives for the Afterlife:He or
she will choose either Hell, with nothing but eternal and
indescribable suffering, or Paradise, with the greatest happiness and
beauty. All rational people will of course choose Paradise, "a place
full of happiness and infinite blessings." That is because nobody
wishes to spend all eternity without the possibility of salvation
except by the will of Allah, in a place devoid of all physical and
spiritual beauty, in a state of constant suffering, sorrow and regret.
Any normal individual will prefer to live in happiness for all
eternity with those he or she loves, in a place consisting solely of
blessings and happiness, and where no difficulty, trouble, evil or
imperfection is created.
The Hereafter is an absolute reality revealed by our Lord. In order to
be saved from terrible suffering in the Hereafter and to attain a
happy and prosperous end, people need to apprehend this truth. They
must spend the time allotted to them in the life of this world in
doing good deeds to gain the approval of Allah and trying to attain
the moral values beloved of Him.
Let us also note that nobody must rest content with what he or she has
already performed. Nobody can be certain that his or her past deeds
will be sufficient for salvation. From that point of view, a person
must both be joyful out of a hope of entering Paradise and also
increase the level of godly deeds performed out of a fear ofHell. As
revealed by Allah in the verse:"Wealth and sons are the embellishment
of the life of this world. But, in your Lord's sight, right actions
which are lasting bring a better reward and are a better basis for
hope." (Surat al-Kahf, 46)
In the knowledge that a constant effort is nearer to gaining the
approval of Allah, a person must continue to engagein godly works. As
in the words of the prayer of Prophet Ibrahim(as) revealed in the
Qur'an,"And make me one of the inheritors of the Garden of Delight,"
(Surat ash-Shu'ara', 85), a person must pray to be rewarded with
Paradise by Allah.