Death & the Hereafter
MAULANA WAHIDUDDIN KHAN
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Those huge masses of ice, which we know as icebergs, found floating in the seas of the North and South Poles are amongst the most deceptive and, therefore, most dangerous phenomena of nature. Their deceptiveness lies in the fact that no matter how huge or wonderful in configuration, what we see of them amounts to only a tenth of their enormous bulk.What lies below the surface of the ocean, spreading far and beyond the visible perimeter, poses tremendous hazards to the unwary . In some ways, our lives are similar to those floating mountains of ice. The part we spend in this world -about a hundred years or less -is like the part of the iceberg that is visible above the surface. We can see it, touch it and feel it.We can take its measure and deal with it effectively .
But the part that comes after death is like the submerged one: vast, unfathomable and fraught with peril. It defies the imagination but must nevertheless be understood, for that is the part of human life that God has decreed should be eternal and, as such, ineluctable.
We are familiar with the facts of our origin and the course that life takes from womb until death. But at the end of our lifespan, whether it terminates in youth or in old age, our familiarity with the nature of things comes to an end. It has been surmised that death means total and final annihilation. But this is not so. Death is simply a means of consigning us to a new womb, to the womb of the universe itself. From that point, we are ushered into another world: the Hereafter.
But the part that comes after death is like the submerged one: vast, unfathomable and fraught with peril. It defies the imagination but must nevertheless be understood, for that is the part of human life that God has decreed should be eternal and, as such, ineluctable.
We are familiar with the facts of our origin and the course that life takes from womb until death. But at the end of our lifespan, whether it terminates in youth or in old age, our familiarity with the nature of things comes to an end. It has been surmised that death means total and final annihilation. But this is not so. Death is simply a means of consigning us to a new womb, to the womb of the universe itself. From that point, we are ushered into another world: the Hereafter.
