The Hereafter- Where Security and Peace Prevails forever

Security and Peace

One of the fundamental differences between life in this world and life in the hereafter is that the relationships prevailing in the latter are utterly different from those found in the material world, because of the sublime and perfect nature of the hereafter.

In this world, beings infringe on each other, because of the particular type of relationships that exist here and the conditions created by time and space. By contrast, in the hereafter none will find his own existence threatened by that of another and none of the relations prevailing there will be based on negation or repulsion; all relationships will revolve around an axis of security and peace. The closer in the hierarchy of existence a sphere of being is situated to the Exalted Origin of all being, the greater will be the degree of Unity and harmony it possesses, and the farther removed it will be from separation, contradiction, and opposition. Once man reaches the sublime realm of the hereafter and enters the proximity of God's mercy, he will be beyond the reach of the unpleasant contingencies of the material world. Conversely, the farther removed a sphere of being is in the hierarchy of existence from the Effulgent Principle of all existence and the lower its rank, the more severe will be the contradictions that prevail in it and the more widespread will be the processes of mutual rejection and denial at work in it.

The Qur'an says the following concerning the relationships prevailing in the hereafter: "In truth, the Godfearing shall have gardens with flowing rivers in Paradise. They will be invited to enter eternal paradise to the accompaniment of greetings and peace and in the enjoyment of utter respect and security. We will utterly purify their hearts of all darkness, hatred and envy, and all other undesirable characteristics, so that will treat each other as brothers and friends and will sit facing each other on thrones of dignity. No pain or grief shall afflict them, and they shall never be banished from paradise" (15:45-48).

In another verse, the Qur'an refers to the order prevailing in paradise by the term "The Abode of Peace." It is an order in which all things will exist and interrelate on a basis of peace, because entry to such a pure realm one free of all defect and contradiction is necessitated precisely by their uniform motion toward God and their attainment of proximity to the Origin of all being. Thus the Qur'an says: "They shall have abode of peace and security in the presence of their Lord; God shall be their friend and protector for they were doers of good" (6:127).