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.
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’.