An Elementary Study of Islam — Page 56
56 such great speed that it is beyond our imagination. It keeps alive the stages of the system of evolution, and presents a picture of it. The creation of life underwent a long period of development to reach the form that we witness in nine months. This sheds light on the fact that the period of our first creation was very long, and our second creation will also span a long period. By studying these nine months we can learn something of the billions of years of the history of life and also about the evolution of souls in the next world. It is perhaps safe to infer that the time from the early origin of life to the ultimate creation of man would perhaps be needed once again for the development of the soul after the death. In support of this reasoning, the Quran categorically declares that when the souls are resurrected they will talk to one another, trying to determine how long they tarried on the earth. Some will say, ‘We tarried for a day’ while others will say, ‘For even less than a day. ’ Allah will then say, ‘No even that is not correct. ’ In other words, Allah will say, ‘You tarried on earth for much less than what you estimate. ’ In reality, the relationship of one life-span to a small part of the day is more or less the same ratio that the time of the soul’s resurrection will have to its previous entire life. The further away something is, the smaller it appears. Our childhood seems like an experience of just a few seconds. The greater the distance of the stars, the smaller they appear. What Allah is trying to tell us is that we won’t find ourselves being judged the very next day after we die. Instead, judgement will take place in such a distant future that our previous lives will seem like a matter of a few seconds to us, like a small point a long way away. In short, man’s resurrection is described as a transformation that he cannot envisage and an event that is as certain as his existence