Hope and fear in whatever small proportion they may be are the best incentive to man’s performance not to speak of the hope for eternal Paradise and the fear of eternal Hell.

If we pin our faith and belief on the Resurrection day, its influence and impact will not be hidden from anyone. He, who knows that there will be assessment and scrutiny, and accounting and there is justice, imprisonment, punishment for every big and small thing, he can never be thoughtless, oppressor, and sinner. He who knows that all his actions will be assessed will remain completely satisfied. We quote below a few Qur’anic verses:

Impact of Resurrection on Economic Matters

The Holy Qur’an addresses the dealers and say:

Who insist on being given full when they take from others. But when they measure out to others or weigh out for them, give less. Do they not think that they will be raised again on a grievous day—the day, all mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds? (Quran, 83:2—6)

Here the Holy Qur’an reminds dishonest sellers of the Resurrection day. Without doubt this is an example of the impact of faith in the Resurrection day, which has a direct bearing on economic matters such as production, distribution, marketing, commerce and trade and in particular wasteful expenditure.

Impact of Resurrection on Military Affairs

Here we quote an example: A large delegation of people called on one of the Prophets of a Jewish tribe, Bani Isra’il, and said to him, “We have decided to fight against the oppressors but for that we need an able ruler”. The Prophet replied, “In my opinion you do not seem to be fit for the battle”. They said, “We are fully determined to fight against them because we are too tired of bearing their tortures and oppression”.

Their Prophet said, “Allah has appointed Talut as your ruler as he is an able, experienced and strong young man and is well-versed in warfare affairs”. But when the war was declared a group of the people who were very enthusiastic over fighting got scared in the very first phase and deserted the field. Some made an excuse of the poverty of the commander of the forces and refused to march forward. And others who had claimed that they would remain steadfast in the hour of trial also became impatient and left the field.

Some others who had not deserted the field became panicky after seeing the strong army of the enemy, and started saying, “We do not have the strength to fight”. A small regiment of the soldiers, who believed in the Resurrection day, raising the slogan that a small band of soldiers could overpower the larger force of the enemy by Allah’s help, fell upon the enemy soldiers and defeated them.

This narration of the story of Talut and Jalut which is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an shows that belief in Resurrection leads to steadfastness and victory in the war. The Holy Qur’an says:

And when they went out against Jalut and his forces they said, “Our Lord bestows upon us patience, make our steps firm and assist us against the unbelievers. (Quran, 2:250)

Martial temperament has much to do with the mental disposition. That warrior who considers his future to be linked with an eternal life, proximity with Allah and His Prophet cannot be compared with the fighter who considers death as his total annihilation and destruction. About those who are diffident in marching ahead to the battlefield, Allah says:

But the provision of this world’s life compared with the Hereafter is but little. (Quran, 9:38)

Impact of Resurrection against Politicians and Transgressors

In order to put Prophet Musa to disgrace Fir’aun sent for all the magicians of the town so that they might counteract the miracle of Prophet Musa. These magicians who till then had no faith in Resurrection expected wealth from Fir’aun. They showed their mean mentality also and started saying to Fir’aun, O Fir’aun, if we give defeat to Musa, will you reward us”.

Fir’aun said, “Yes I would”. When the contest began, the magician did what they could do. Prophet Musa threw his staff on the ground. It turned into a big snake. The magicians at once realized that this could not be a magic but it was a miracle from Allah. The magicians then in the very presence of Fir’aun declared faith in Prophet Musa.

Fir’aun got angry with them and said, “You people have brought your faith on him without my permission, I shall have your hand and feet cut in diagonal order only and have you hanged from the top of the trunk of the date-palm tree. But these magicians who were a moment before expecting rewards from Fir’aun after declaring their faith in Resurrection said to him, “Do whatever you want to do; you are only powerful in this world only”. The Holy Qur’an says:

They said, “We do not prefer you to what has come to us of clear arguments and to Him Who made us. Therefore, decide what you are going to decide; you can only decide on this world ‘s life. (Quran, 20: 72)

The magicians further said to Fir’aun:

There shall be no harm, surely we shall return to our Lord (Quran, 26.50)

In fact, the belief in Resurrection in a moment brought about such a great change and the wealth and the rewards that they considered a great thing a moment ago now appeared to them good-for-nothing and they were ridiculing Fir’aun and with boldness they were telling him, “You can only decide on this world’s life”. In short it was the belief in Resurrection which brought about such a revolutionary change in men, enlightened their soul, and infused them with a spirit of self sacrifice and martyrdom.

Impact of Resurrection Regarding the Deprived Persons

When Aqil, the brother of Imam Ali, requested him to increase his share from the public treasury the Holy Imam after setting an iron bar ablaze brought it nearer to the hand of his brother Aqil and said, “If you are scared of an ordinary fire of this world, I am scared of Allah’s eternal wrath and displeasure”. (Sermon—227, Peak of Eloquence.)

During their childhood Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn fell ill and the Holy Prophet with some of his companions came to inquire about the health of his grandsons. The Holy Prophet suggested to Imam Ali to observe fast for three days in order to invoke Allah’s Blessings on the ailing children. When both the children recovered from their illness Imam Ali, Lady Fatima, Imam Hasan, Imam Husayn and Fizzah, the maid-servant observed the pledged fast.

However, on the first day when all of them after offering their dusk prayers sat for breaking their fast, a knock on the door announced, “I am a poor and needy person. Help me”. At this they gave their bread to the beggar and broke their fast with water. On the second day a similar thing happened. This time it was an orphan who said, “I am hungry. Give me food”. And all of them gave all their food to him. On the third day it was a captive who asked for food and they gave him all they had to break their fast with.

All the blessed five souls observed their fast for three days and gave their bread to an indigent, an orphan and a captive on three consecutive days and broke their fast with water only. The Holy Qur’an has narrated this incident in Quran. It says:

Surely, we fear a stern, distressful day from our Lord (Quran, 76:10)

Indeed, how the belief in Resurrection binds men with the obligation of looking into the rights of the deprived people of the society. Of course, those who do not care for the poor and the needy will admit this on the Resurrection day that one reason of their going to the Hell would be that they had not cared for the poor nor had they fed them. The Holy Qur’an says that they would say:

And we did not feed the poor. (Quran, 74:44)

In the following verse we learn that indifference towards orphans and the poor amounts to disbelief in the Resurrection day. The Holy Qur’an says:

Have you seen him who denies the Day of Judgment? It is he who treats the orphan with harshness, and does not urge others to feed the needy. (Quran, 107:1—3)

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References

Muhsin Qara’ati, Lessons from Qur’an, Publisher: Islamic Seminary Publications, ISBN 0-941724-51-4