Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | Concept of Hereafter | Al-Risala, April 1987, p. 13
The Quran makes it clear that a prophet invariably adopts the standpoint of Bayyinah, that is, reason. By contrast, his opponents have nothing on which to base their arguments save blind opposition and deception. While a Prophet’s words are based on facts, his opponents’ utterances are founded on egoism and contumacy.
In the present world, a distinction must be made between the upholders of truth and the perpetrators of falsehood. A prophet is unequivocally a representative of divine truth, and we can take it that every single word he utters is based on this truth. All of his statements are based on the knowledge he has received from God, and that is why the entire universe confirms their truth. His opponents’ statements, on the other hand, stem solely from self-oriented desire and self-interest. It is for this reason that neither learning nor intellect will support what they have to say.
The present world, being God’s testing-ground for humanity, every man on earth is free to act as he pleases. If an individual wishes to speak the truth, the words come to him with ease. Even if he wishes to tell lies, he has no difficulty in finding the words to do so. In neither case will he be impeded by grammar or vocabulary.
This ease and freedom, however, are limited solely to the present world and in the next world they will be non-existent. Deprived of his glibness and volubility, the deceiver will be unable to find even the smallest syllable with which to utter a lie. There will be no way whatsoever that he will be able to pass off deceit as sincerity, or cruel behaviour as justice.
In today’s world, one is not held accountable for lying. Deceit and intrigue can place one in the highest of positions. This state of affairs is wholly transitory, and when death takes its toll, all such machinations will be exposed from top to bottom for the false actions that they are. After death, when man enters the Hereafter, he will suddenly find himself utterly helpless. The ground on which he had previously stood will have vanished from beneath his feet, and, finding himself with nothing on which to stand, he will fall headlong through. Today’s world is a world which stands upon lies. The world of the hereafter will be a world which stands upon truth.