The Essence of Islam – Volume II — Page 411
16. RESURRECTION. Satan creates many doubts and the most dangerous doubt that arises in the mind of man and makes him a loser in this world and in the hereafter is with regard to the life after death. A great source of virtue and righteousness, in addition to other means and sources, is belief in the hereafter. . When a person regards the hereafter and all that concerns it as a mere tale or story, then it may be taken that he has been rejected and has lost both worlds. The fear of the hereafter makes a person anxious and afraid and drives him to the true fountain of understanding. True understanding cannot be achieved without the fear of God. . Remember, therefore, that the arising of doubt concerning the hereafter puts faith in danger and makes a person's end uncertain. [Malfūzāt, vol. I, pp. 53-54]. Three States of Existence. According to the Holy Qur'ān, there are three states of existence. . The first is the world, the name of which is the first creation and the house of earning. In this world a person earns good or ill. There is progress in good in the hereafter, but that is through the pure grace of God. It has nothing to do with a person's effort. . The second state of existence is called Barzakh (Purga411