Hereafter

Those huge masses of ice, which we know as icebergs, found floating in the seas of the North and South poles, number amongst the most deceptive and, therefore, most dangerous phenomena to be found in nature. Their deceptiveness lies in the fact that no matter how huge, or wonderful in configuration, what we see of them amounts to only one tenth of their enormous bulk. What lies below the surface of the ocean, spreading far and beyond the visible penmeter, poses tremendous hazards to the unwary. In some ways, our lives are like those floating mountains of ice.

There are certain philosophies that say that our life finishes when we die. Others say that our life is a never-ending cycle of births and rebirths. According to the belief of Islam we have a life after life. This can be understood with the help of the following example.

According to Islam, the present world is not an eternal abode. The Qur'an tells us that man is placed here only temporarily, so that his moral fibre may be tested in terms of his obedience to God’s will. He must always remember that there will be the life hereafter, or Akhirat as it is known in Islamic terminology. This is also referred to as Ma‘ad, which means a place to which one returns.