An Elementary Study of Islam — Page 55
Mirza Tahir Ahmad 55 e ? aWU # 6 : 9 fY#% 6K See how God gives you various shapes in the womb. (Quran 3: 7) Now this subject is related to the subject of the two identical creations mentioned above. Take for example the case of such children as are congenitally ill. They do not suddenly contract illness at the time of delivery; rather they gradually develop into a state of morbidity which is progressive and which starts from the time of their early embryonic stage. Similarly, the soul of a person who is spiritually diseased, in that embryonic stage before its final resurrection on the Day of Judgement, will suffer through a semblance of hell and will remain uneasy in that period of the grave as does an unhealthy child in the womb of its mother. The ways of a healthy child are totally different, even his kicking is appreciated by the mother. The question that now arises is: Will the soul also progress as does the child in the mother’s womb, and will it passes through all these stages? The answer to this can be found in the very same verse of the Quran: ‘Ma khalqukum wa ma ba’sukum illa ka nafsin waḥidin’ —your first creation and your second creation will be identical. To understand the second creation, we need to understand the way a baby takes shape in a mother’s womb. These forms apparently only take nine months to develop, while in reality the creation of life is spread over billions of years. Going back to the beginning of zoological life, the baby passes through almost all the stages of the evolution of life. From the beginning of the pregnancy, through to its culmination nine months later, the development of the child reflects all the stages of creation. In other words, all the phases of evolution are being repeated in those nine months, one after the other, and at