The Story of Human Life

The Story of Human Life Human beings are actually eternal beings. But their life is divided into two periods. One period, a very small portion of their life, is the pre-death period. The remaining portion of their life is the post-death period, which never ends. In the universe, except for a human being every single thing or entity is under the law of nature. They function exactly as is decreed for them according to the law of nature. The case of us humans is different. An individual human being is, exceptionally, a free being. He charts his future based on his own free will. He can use his freedom responsibly, or he can misuse it. He can avail of the many opportunities he is provided with. But, equally, he can foolishly waste them. This fact is expressed in the Quran in different ways. For instance, the Quran (95:4-5) says: “We have indeed created man in the best of mould, then We cast him down as the lowest of the low.” This is, as it were, a warning for human beings, inviting him to reflect on his present and his future. It means that God created us with great potentials and possibilities, but by underutilizing them, we make ourselves the worst case of failure. A human being’s personality is a dual one. An individual consists of body and soul (or mind). Both have their own characteristics. A person’s body is not eternal, while his soul is. Unlike the body, the soul is a non-material reality. It is above and beyond physical laws, in contrast to a person’s body, which is subject to physical laws and continuously undergoes decay.