Living The Quran
From Issue: 494 [Read full issue]
Al-Rum (The Romans)
Chapter 30: Verse 8 (Partial)
Proofs Within
"Do they not reflect on themselves?"
Man's own being and the position he enjoys has been presented as a proof of the imminence of the Hereafter. Man is, after all, distinguished from all other creatures by the following three features:
i. Innumerable objects on earth and its environs have been yoked to man's service and man has been vested with a wide range of abilities so that he can make use of these.
ii. Man has been granted freedom to choose his course in life. But once he makes the choice, he is enabled, by the nature of things, to pursue his choice and, in so doing, can use the resources which God has created.
iii. Man has been inherently endowed with moral consciousness. Thanks to this, he can instinctively differentiate between good acts and evil acts.
These innate traits indicate that at some point in time man should be called to account; that he should be asked how he used the abilities, power and authority that were granted to him in the world and how he exercised his free-will to choose between good and evil. It is also evident that the appraisal of man's performance is possible only after the term granted to him to act comes to an end. Furthermore, this can only happen when the actions of not just one individual or nation, but of all human beings, come to a final end. This, because an individual's death or even the disappearance of a whole nation does not bring about an end to the total effects of a person's actions.
Thus, there will be an Afterlife in which everyone will be judged in the light of his life's record and be recompensed in accordance with his performance.
Source:
"Towards Understanding the Quran" - Sayyid Abul Ala Mawdudi, Vol. 8, pp. 75, 76