"Oh Mankind! If you are in doubt concerning the resurrection, then verily We created you from dust, then from a drop, then from a clot, then from a lump of flesh (both) shaped and shapeless, that we may make it clear to you andWe cause what We will to remain in the wombs for an appointed time, and afterwards We bring you forth as infants; then you retain your full strength, And among you there is he who is brought back to the most abject time of life so that, after knowledge he knows nothing. And thou seest the earth barren, but when We send down water on it, it thrills and swells and puts forth every lovely kind (of growth). That is because God is the Reality, and it is He Who gives life to the dead, and it is He Who has power over all things, and because the Hour (of Judgment) will come concerning which there is no doubt, and because God will raise those who are in the graves."
— 22: 5-7 The Qur’an
The belief in the Resurrection, or the Day of Judgement, or the Retribution is one of the seven articles of faith in Al Islam. The Muslim believes in the Resurrection not because it can be proven with scientific evidence or instruments of deduction. He believes in the Hereafter regardless of whether it can be arrived at through dialectic reasoning and logic. The Muslim believes in the Hereafter because his Lord, Creator, and Fashioner, the One True Reality, the Source of all Knowledge, Wisdom and Authority reveals to him that it is so.
Surely the Deity Who gave life to us in the first instance is able to raise us after we are dead and give us life again. Surely the Power that created us from dust is able to fashion us again, from dust.
To perceive that there is no life after death, and to base this perception on the fact that we have not seen it, is akin to a group of savages mistakenly subscribing to the notion that there are no telephones, computers, radios, or jet planes, simply because they have never seen or experienced them.
Several of the lauded Greek thinkers and philosophers, men like Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle, subscribed to the belief that all being emanated from the physical senses and that even the soul was a manifestation of the rudimentary workings of the intellect acting in concert with the faculties of sensory perception. Yet with all the fanfare and intellectual prominence associated with their names, they were essentially ignorant men, for their knowledge was not anchored in Reality but adrift on the often illusionary and unreliable vessels of the physical senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell And although these faculties perform admirably when taking account of the transitory and the mundane, they are hopelessly inadequate to gauge the higher realities of the soul or to provide insight into the spiritual realities.
We realize that the universe has a design and a meaning, and that it fulfills a specific function. Let us briefly examine a few of them. The sun provides light and energy which is necessary for the development and the maintenance of life. The moon, likewise, provides light of a reflective nature and it’s gravitational pull on the earth has a stabilizing effect on the bodies of water of the earth. With stars (many billions of light years away yet seemingly stationary) we are able to calculate distance and direction. The wind has its purpose. It carries the seedlings and facilitates the process of photosynthesis and plant reproduction which, in turn, produces the oxygen we need to breathe. The wind also pushes the rain laden clouds to a dry land so that life nurturing water can fall upon the earth and its inhabitants. Indeed, once we take the time to reflect, we will discover that everything on the earth, in the earth, and around the earth has a discernable meaning, functio! n and purpose.
Now let us ask ourselves- what about man? Has man,- God’s most noble and sublime creation- been left without a meaning? Has man been created to wander forlornly about this revolving sphere and to spend his life aimlessly without plan or purpose? Has God (Allah) created and fashioned everything in existence, right down to the tiniest molecule and atom with an inherent function and meaning, but left man a functionless creature bereft of purpose and without some higher persuasion and potential other than eating, drinking, sleeping, and procreating? And if this is so, why has man been equipped with such marvelous attributes? Why has he been gifted with the ability to discern? The powers of reason? The faculties of deduction and logic? Why has he been bestowed with such a wide sweep of emotions which have not graced the countenance of any other being? The emotions of love, sentimentality and remorse and the feelings of generosity, forbearance, compassion, honesty and truthfuln! ess? And why has man (a relatively frail creature) been blessed with a latent power which far surpasses the sum of his parts? A power that enables him to bend other creatures to his will and even (to a limited extent) modify the course of nature. Surely logic decrees that if we are given tools we are expected to use them; but why and for what purpose?
We find the reason for man’s creation in the Holy Qur’an., God’s (Allah’s) Book of revelation and guidance to humanity.
When Adam (the original pattern for the human being)was disobedient to God (Allah) he fell from the exalted spiritual plane in which he initially existed and descended from the lofty state of felicity. Nevertheless, Adam and his progeny were not cursed. They were placed in a different more trying spiritual (and physical) dimension. A new testing ground. Yet God (Allah) in His Infinite Mercy did not leave Adam and his descendants without guidance and to manage on their own. He provided them with His Guidance through His Revelations and through His messengers.
In short, man’s life and the will he utilizes to steer his way and to plot his course are a means by which he is tested. God (Allah) did not create the universe in sport and play. Nor did he create man in vain. It is all a part of His Divine Plan.
In 2:37, 38 of the Holy Qur’an Allah reveals:
"Then learnt Adam from his Lord Words of inspiration and His Lord turned to him for He is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful. We said, ‘Get you down all from here: And if, as is sure, there comes to you Guidance from Me, whosoever follows My Guidance, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.’
Thus, man is not a creature placed here on this earth to do whatever he pleases, whenever he sees fit. There are specific duties and obligations that he is commanded to perform. Basically there are four categories of responsibility. The obligation he owes to himself, the obligation he owes to other human beings, and the obligation he owes to the rest of God’s (Allah’s) Creation. Man’s future destiny in the Hereafter is determined on how well he fulfills these contracts.