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 under- standing cannot be achieved without the fear of God. Remember, therefore, that the arising of doubt concern- ing the hereafter puts faith in danger and makes a per- son's end uncertain. [Malfūzāt, vol. I, pp. 53-54] Three States of Existence According to the Holy Qur'an, 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 hereaf- ter, 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 (Purga- 411