4. THE HEREAFTER

4. THE HEREAFTER ~ 86 ~ Prophet said – with justice – ‘Summer heat is a small part of the heat of Hell!’ These two sides of human deeds have been beautifully described through allegories and symbols in the hadith of the mi’raj (The Prophets’ Journey to the Heavens). When the Prophet reached Sidrah al-Muntaha (the lote tree at the end of the Seventh Heaven), he saw four rivers: two flowing inward and two flowing outward. It was explained to him by the Angel Gabriel that the two inwardflowing were rivers of Paradise, and the outwardflowing were the Nile and the Euphrates. By analogy, the present world and the Hereafter are two sides of the same event. The worldly side is trivial and temporary, while the Hereafter side is substantive and permanent. It is to the latter side that we must face up after death. Here one has complete freedom to live out one’s worldly existence as one wills; in the life-to-come, one will have no choice about the future course of one’s life. One will either be raised to eternal glory, or cast down into the pit of everlasting Hell.