Approaching the West — Page 121
A pproaching the West—121 9 Reconciling the Existence of God and Human Suffering According to the Holy Qur’ ā n, our present life, with all its joys and sufferings, is merely transitory and illusionary. The passage of human life continues after crossing the valley of death. Our present life is but temporary and fleeting, and the life after life is permanent and perpetual. Death may be the ultimate human suffering in this world, but it is certainly not the end of life. Death is just like a door through which we have to pass to enter into a new dimension of life. In Isl ā m, the next life is a reality beyond any doubt. Both the dimensions of human life—the life in this world and life yet to come—are welded together, one merging into the other like a splendid waterfall turning into a mighty river. The only difference is this that the second phase of human life is reflective of how we conduct ourselves in the first phase of life. The joys as well as the sufferings shall continue in the life Hereafter. Therefore, according to Isl ā mic perspective, many who might have lived a life full of sufferings in this transitory world may enjoy the most blissful and everlasting life in the next world in what is known as the Heaven; and many who