Introduction
Does the World of the Hereafter exist?

We can subject this inquiry to the same scientific principles as we use to study the physical phenomenon around us.Creation is in itself a proof of its Creator

The universe is such a highly meaningful phenomenon that it is unthinkable that it could have come into existence without having been created by some superior intelligence. The truth is that the choice for us thus is not between a universe with God and a universe without God. Rather, the real choice is between a universe with God and no universe at all!

If we say that God does not exist, then we are also compelled to say that the universe does not exist. But the universe is too obvious a fact for us to deny its existence. Therefore, we cannot also deny the existence of God.

The meaningful universe

Sir James Jeans once observed that the Creator of the universe must have possessed a mathematical mind. Here, I must add that the very meaningfulness of the universe is a proof that its Creator must have had a deep sense of purpose. Such a purposeful Creator could not have created a world, which was imperfect—and therefore meaningless—if this objective was to be fulfilled.

Yet despite all its meaningfulness, our world in its present state is incomplete. It requires the existence of another world for its completion. It is such a world that all the prophets have called the world of the Hereafter.

This world of the Hereafter is not just a matter of dogma. It is an entirely scientific fact. Indeed, the existence of the Hereafter can be proved academically in exactly the same way and by the same scientific standards as all other things are proved in the field of science.

Scientific proof

First of all, we must define what is scientific proof? According to modern science, scientific proof does not mean that there can be any degree of absolute certainty about whatever is to be proved. This kind of undeniable certainty is not possible. According to the modern scientific stand, when we say that something has been scientifically proved, this statement only means that its probability has been established. In modern science, concepts that are presented as established facts are generally accepted only because their probability has been established, not because there is any definite knowledge of them acquired as a result of observing them. An example of this is the acceptance of the structure of the atom.

We can, with confidence, apply the same scientific method to our belief in the world of the Hereafter. Indeed, employing any other method would not in principle be appropriate. And, from the scientific viewpoint, we cannot refuse to apply to the case of the world Hereafter, a method that we hold valid in most scientific matters. As we know, the steps to a scientific inquiry include —hypothesis, observation and verification.

If we apply this three-point formula to the world Hereafter, we can certainly arrive at an understanding of its probability. And as we know, probability is another word for certainty. Out of all God’s creatures, man, who is unlike any of His other creatures, is the only one who has the greatest need for certainty, for he must know what lies ahead of him. No other created entity, whether animate or inanimate, possesses such a concept of “tomorrow.” It is a well-acknowledged fact that the destination of all creatures, save man, is simply that of ‘today’, while man’s destination pertains to ‘tomorrow’.

Can man fulfil all his desires?

Every individual has desires embedded deep within him. One can in fact conclude that man is a ‘fulfilment-seeking animal.’ But experience shows that human desires are seldom if ever fulfilled. Every individual, driven by his desires, wants to build an ideal world for himself but, all too soon, he leaves the world without having achieved the ‘tomorrow’ of his dreams.

A ray of hope

Billy Graham, a well-known American missionary, writes that he once received an urgent message from an American billionaire who wanted to meet him without a moment’s delay. On receiving this message, Billy Graham cancelled all his other appointments and immediately set out to meet this man.

When he arrived at the billionaire’s palatial home, he was immediately taken to a private room, where the two men sat on chairs facing one another. Then, with great seriousness, the billionaire said to Billy Graham, “You see, I am an old man and life has lost all meaning for me. I am going to take a fateful leap into the unknown... young man can you give me a ray of hope?”

An American billionaire is not the only person to be faced with this kind of desperation. Every individual, man or woman, born into this world, is faced with this question at one time or the other. The answer or the solace can come only from a staunch belief in the world of the Hereafter. If we do not believe in a world after death, then this most perplexing question will remain unanswered.

The end of contradiction

A careful study of the human condition shows that all men and women have two contradictory themes running through their lives right from birth. On the one hand, they are consumed by a limitless desire to establish a dream world for themselves—a world that is in keeping with their ideals and where they may lead their lives—with all the sought-after pleasures and comforts. But, on the other hand, they are faced with this contradiction that, despite surrounding themselves with all the material things conceivable, they fail to build their desired world. Boredom, loss, illness, accident, the infirmities of old age and finally death within a period of even less than 100 years—that is the story of every individual born into this world. Although this concept of the ideal is inherent in the psyche of all men and women they are all destined to die before the realisation of this beautiful ideal.

We can come to grips with this paradox by examining the observable phenomenon of the principle of pairs, which is universally operative. Everything in this world exists in pairs; everything becomes complete only in a pair—the negative and positive particles in an atom, the male and female in animals and humans and even in plants. It follows that along with this world there must exist another parallel world, and in its existence lies the completion of our present world.

If we accept this logic, everything becomes meaningful. Everything begins to fall into place.

The right framework

Now, let us come to an understanding of the basic framework of this parallel world. Within this framework, the concepts of “Paradise” and “Hell” will also become clear. Paradise is a resting place for sincere and truth-loving people, while hell is a place for the insolent and the false.

Thus the picture that evolves is that of the present world being made by its Creator to serve as a testing ground for man, whereas the next world has been created as a place where we shall reap the rewards of (or punishments for) our actions in this world. Let us not forget that although our mind is eternal, our bodies are transient. The study of human physiology shows that our body is composed of several living cells, which keep transforming themselves. In this way the body is renewed at regular intervals. It is regenerated just like the water in a running stream. Yet the body eventually dies but the spiritual personality, or the soul, remains unchanged and lives on. This is because the soul can exist even independent of the body.

To put it in another way, a human life is like that of an iceberg, a very tiny portion of it is visible outside the water; the rest remains submerged. By analogy, the human lifespan can be divided into two parts: the first, the infinitesimal part runs its full course in this world, while the second part unfolds in the world Hereafter. While everything in this world is so designed as to permit man to develop his personality, we must remember that everything in the present world is finally just a test for man. This could be one reason why the present world is filled with so much bitterness and animosity. These negative experiences have been specifically devised to test man. Man has to prove that he can live with positive feelings even in such negative circumstances. For, only those who are capable of positivism will finally gain admission into Paradise. The others will get thrown into Hell from where there is no escape.

A satisfactory explanation

If we go by the theory of cause and effect, is it possible that this entire world could just have been created in vain – with no purpose whatsoever?

Look at the sun, the moon or the tiniest insect—is it conceivable that they could all have been created without any specific purpose?

In fact, to my mind everything appears to have been created for a specific purpose. Even human desires appear to have been created for a purpose. However, this purpose cannot be fulfilled in this present limited world. Since these desires are unlimited, they can only be fulfilled in an unlimited world, i.e. in Paradise.

The reality of paradise

This brings us to the question – what is Paradise? Paradise is the ultimate answer to the human quest. It is a vast, zero-defect, evil-free universe, complete in itself.

Certainty prevails all over the universe, but the human world is marred by uncertainty. Fear is unheard of in the universe, but man continually suffers from fear and apprehension. The rest of the universe is in a state of equilibrium as it receives everything that it needs, while human beings are in a state of imbalance as they are the only creatures in the world to suffer from the painful thought that they have not received what they wanted. Moreover, the rest of the universe is evil-free, while human beings continually suffer from the problem of evil.

Paradise is the answer to all these problems. The concept of Paradise shows that man too will find everything that the rest of the universe has found. So while the rest of the universe is receiving what it wants today in this world itself, man will receive what he wants tomorrow in Paradise.

God realisation

There are two levels of God realisation—the rational and the natural. Believing in the existence of God and the Hereafter at a rational level is the initial stage of realisation, whereas believing at a natural level represents the ultimate realization. The purpose of using rational arguments is thus merely to remove the veil of doubt from man, who needs to be brought to the point where he accepts the reality of God and the Hereafter without question, as at least a probable truth.

Therefore the use of argument and logic on the question of God and the Hereafter is meant merely to assist man to ascent that intellectual level where he is willing to accept the existence of God and the Hereafter as an ideology. When man reaches that state, the doors of his nature get automatically opened. He comes to recognize it as natural truth and adopts it.

The fact is that every human being has this burning desire to comprehend his Creator, the God and the Hereafter, but conditioning or mental block obscures these matters. The task of logical argument is to break down this conditioning, and remove the artificial screen from the eye of nature. Then nothing can come in the way of “seeing” God and the Hereafter. At this stage, man will be fully convinced of the invisible existence of God, just as a child is fully convinced of the existence of his mother, although he has never seen himself being born of his mother.