“As for the Day of Resurrection (yawm al-qiyamah), one must distinguish here between the individual experience of eschatological realities and the eschatological events concerning the whole of humanity. Usually the Day of Resurrection or Yawm al-qiyamah refers in fact not to the death of the individual but to the final end of present humanity not the eschatological experience which every individual must understand at the moment of his or her death, but that of the world of the present humanity itself. The Islamic teachings reserve the term al-qiyamah for cosmic eschatological event crowned by the resurrection of creation at well as the resurrection of the individual. More specifically these sources distinguish between the greater resurrection, al-Qiyamat al kubra which is that of the cosmos followed by the resurrection of the whole of humanity and the individual death and resurrection al-Qiyamat al-sughra which the soul undergoes following upon the event of death. What takes place between the death of the individual and the resurrection of the whole of humanity has been debated by various schools of Islamic thought and cannot be discussed in this work because it involves very complicated theological and philosophical issues.

The Qur'an also refers to eschatological events which concern the whole of humanity. As already mentioned Islam believes that this world in which we live is not eternal. It has a beginning and an end after which Allah will create other worlds. For He is always the Creator, al-khaliq. But this present world was created with a definite beginning and will have a definite end marked by eschatological events. According to traditional sources, these events involve, first of all, the appearance of a figure whose name is Muhammad al-Mahdi. This appearance is anticipated on the basis of the hadith of the Prophet who said that where oppression and iniquity cover the earth "a member of my tribe shall appear whose name will be the same as mine." Therefore, throughout the centuries, Muslims, both Sunni and Shi'ite, have believed that a figure will appear one day who will be the Mahdi, the Guided One, who will destroy iniquity, reestablish the rule of Islam and bring back justice and peace to the world. His rule, however, will be fairly short and it will followed by the return of Christ.

Islam and Christianity share the same vision concerning the second coming of Christ because Christians also believe in his return. Moreover, the Muslims also accept, as do the Christians, that Christ's return will occur in Jerusalem and that this city will be the place where final eschatological events will take place. Islam in contrast to Christianity, however, sees the function of the Mahdi and Christ as being associated with each other and their coming as part of the same major eschatological events. While the Mahdi will rule for some years on earth, the coming of Christ will coincide with the termination of the present history of mankind and of time as we ordinarily experience it. Historical time comes to an end and is followed by the Day Resurrection, the final judgment of all human beings, the weighing of the good and evil acts, the determination of the inhabitants of heaven, purgatory and hell and the coming to end of the history of the cosmos. These very complicated events have been described in Islam in such a way that no man, no matter what claims he makes, can predict exactly when the Hour will arrive. In fact, there is a hadith of the Prophet which says that all those who predict the time of the coming of the Hour are liars. Nevertheless, all Muslims believe that the Hour will come, that is, there is an end to human history, that Allah intervenes finally like lightning upon the stage of ordinary time/space consciousness, that there is the final death and resurrection of humanity and that there is an accounting for all that men have done in this world.

Most of the details of these teachings are usually put aside in every day life by ordinary Muslims who are not given to meditating and thinking about them. It is for theologians, philosophers and other authorities in the religious sciences to deal with their ultimate significance. But as their consequences are concerned, they are meant for all Muslims to think about them. First of all, we all die whether we are illiterate or great religious scholars, kings or beggars; therefore, the reality of death and what happens to the human soul after death are the concern of every human being. Not only every Muslim, but every human being whether Muslim, Christian, Jew or other thinks naturally of his or her end. The consequences of the eschatological teachings of Islam are there for the benefit of all Muslims and they have been thought about by all types of people and in very different forms ranging all the way from popular stories and old wives' tales to the most scholarly and intellectual expositions in which these realities have been presented in metaphysical and theological terms.

The important lesson, as far as the general teachings of Islam are concerned, is to keep in mind at all times the reality of death and the afterlife, the ultimate consequence of our human actions and our responsibility to Allah for what we do. The precious gift of human life, while has allowed us by the grace of Allah to possesses the freedom to act and to accept Allah's teachings on the basis of our freedom and not by coercion, must always be kept in mind. Without the eschatological realities the other teachings of religion would lose much of their compelling influence and the spiritual tension of human life in this world which is part and parcel of the reality of being human would disappear, leaving human life without any ultimate meaning. This would happen since no matter what man achieves in this world, there is always the certitude that these achievements will ultimately flounder and disappear. The greatest material achievements, not only of the individual but also of whole civilizations, can and in fact do whither away. It is only the eschatological realities which bring into focus the permanent, abiding and eternal consequences of human actions precisely because human beings are being created for immortality and the eternal world.”
                                                                        

“Combating Deviations of Reason

Another evidence in favour of the Qur'an's affirmation of the authority of reason -- which is more conclusive than that mentioned above -- is the battle it launched against all those agents which obstruct the proper functioning of reason. For clarification of this point, we are forced to mention certain things in the way of an introduction.

The human mind can, in many cases, fall into error. This fact is acknowledged by all of us. However, this danger is not limited to the intellect alone, but can equally befall the senses, and feelings as well. Just for the sense of vision, scores of visual errors and optical illusions have been pointed out. In the case of reason, too, there are times when people frame an argument and rationale and draw an inference on its basis, but later on they realize that the basis of their conclusion was erroneous. Here the question arises, whether the faculty of reason should be suspended on account of its occasional failures, or whether we should employ other means for discovering the errors of the intellect and seek to avoid such errors. In answering this question, the Sophists said that reason should not be relied upon, and that, basically, argumentation and reasoning is an absurd practice. Other philosophers have given a fitting reply to the Sophists, and said that though the senses can also err like reason, but no one has ever recommended their suspension. Since it was not possible to discard reason, the philosophers resolved to find ways of making reason secure from error. During their efforts in this regard, they discovered that all arguments consist of two parts, namely, matter and form. Like a building which has various ingredients in its construction, like, lime, cement, steel, etc. (matter), to acquire a specific structure (form). In order to attain the permanence and perfection of its construction, it is essential to procure proper material as well as to draw a perfect and faultless plan. For the correctness and accuracy of an argument, too, it is essential that its content and form be both free of error and defect. For judging the validity of the form of any argument, the Aristotelian or formal logic came into existence. The function of formal logic is to determine the accuracy or inaccuracy of the form of an argument, and help the mind to avoid errors in the process of reasoning.

But the major problem that remains is that solely formal logic is inadequate for this purpose, because it cannot alone guarantee the validity of an argument. It can give assurance about one aspect alone. To obtain the perfection of the material aspect, the use of material logic is also essential, that is, we need certain criteria for controlling the quality of the rational material.

Thinkers like Bacon and Descartes strove hard to evolve some kind of material logic similar to the formal logic of Aristotle, which was devised for formal reasoning. They did obtain certain criteria in this regard, though they are not as universal as those of Aristotelian logic, but are, to a limited extent, helpful in preventing the mind from committing errors in reasoning. Some may be surprised to know that the Qur'an has presented such principles for the prevention of any lapses in the process of reasoning, which surpass in merit and precedence the efforts of philosophers like Descartes and others.

The Qur'anic Viewpoint Regarding the Sources of Error

Among various sources of error mentioned by the Qur'an, one is that of taking conjecture and hypothesis for certainty and conviction. If a person were to adhere to the principle of putting conviction only in certainties and of not confusing between conjectures and certainties, he would not fall into error. The Qur'an lays great emphasis on this problem, and has clearly stated in one place that one of the biggest errors of the human mind is pursuit of conjectures and hypotheses. In another verse, which is addressed to the Prophet (S), the Qur'an says:

If thou obeyest the most part of those on earth, they will lead thee astray from the path of God: they follow only surmise, merely conjecturing. (6:116)

In another verse, the Qur'an say:

And pursue not that thou has no knowledge of ... (17:36)

This is the word of caution to mankind extended by the Qur'an, for the first time in the history of human ideas, warning mankind against this kind of error.

The second source of error in the reasoning process, which is particularly relevant in social issues, is imitation. Most people are such that they accept whatever beliefs that are current in their society. They adopt certain beliefs merely for the reason that they were followed by their preceding generation. The Qur'an bids people to carefully scrutinize all ideas and judge them by the criteria of reason --neither to follow blindly the conventional beliefs and traditions of their ancestors, nor to reject them totally without any rational justification. It reminds us that there are many false doctrines that were introduced in the past, but were accepted by the people, and there are also certain truths that were presented in the distant past, but people resisted them on account of their ignorance. In accepting any ideas or principles, men are advised to make use of their intellects and rational faculties, and not to indulge in blind imitation. Very often, the Qur'an puts imitation of ancestors in direct opposition to reason and intellect:

And when it is said to them: 'Follow what God has sent down', they say, 'No; but we will follow such things as we found our fathers doing.' What? Even if their fathers had no understanding of anything, and if they were not guided ? (2:170)

The Qur'an constantly reiterates the view that the idea of antiquity of an idea is neither the evidence of its falsity, nor is it a testimony of its truthfulness. Antiquity affects material objects; but the eternal truths of existence never become old and outmoded. Truths like:

God changes not what is in a people, until they change what is in themselves ... (13:11)

are true for ever and ever. The Qur'an asks us to face issues with the weapon of reason and intellect. One should neither forsake a belief for fear of becoming the target of others' ridicule and banter, nor should he accept a belief just because it is upheld by some important and well- known persons. We should ourselves study and investigate the roots of all matters and draw our own conclusions.

A third effective source of error pointed out by the Qur'an is

Selfish motives tarnish virtue and merit,
A cascade of curtains gallops from the heart towards vision.

Unless one maintains objectivity and neutrality in every matter, he is unlikely to think correctly. Reason can function properly only in an atmosphere that is free of selfish desires and motives. A well-known anecdote of al-Allamah al-Hilli, can illustrate this point. . . .

The Qur'an contains a large number of warnings regarding the evil of submission to personal desires. The following is just one instance of it:

They follow nothing except conjecture, and what the self desires ... (53:25)”