by Dr. Ali Shehata
Why Will those who do not Submit be Punished with an Eternal Punishment?
Many people, even some Muslims, have wondered why it is that someone may only live a few decades on this Earth and yet receive in return, either an eternity of Paradise or an eternity of punishment. The answer is actually quite straightforward when one looks at the matter from the perspective of intentions. The Prophet Muhammad pbuh is authentically recorded as having said:
Indeed, all actions will be judged according to their intentions and everyone shall have what he intended …. [Bukhari and Muslim]
Those people who lived a life of denial and were concerned only with themselves would live that way if they were given a thousand years or more. They never had the intention to do anything different than that which they were doing, and the same goes for those who submitted to the worship of God. If they were given a million years of life, they too would have worshipped Him for that long.
Thus, as the hadith mentions, everyone will be judged according to what they intended. If the person had no real intention to ever worship their Lord alone, then they will be put far from God’s mercy on the Day of Judgment and be thrown into Hellfire forever, and vice versa.
For this reason, it is so important that people take a serious look at what they are doing with their lives. It is amazing that some people will spend several months researching options before buying a car that they may only keep for a few years, yet they will not even give one hour to consider the meaning of their life and their relationship with the One that brought them into existence. You have been given an entire lifetime, and for so many people, in the end it was all about serving their own self and not their Creator.
Of course, the details of the Hereafter and its study are matters which are extremely deep in Islam and comprise large portions of both the Quran and Sunnah. This brief discussion was only intended to discuss the evidences behind the concept and to show the lack of “blind faith” in Islam. For more information on the description of Paradise and Hellfire in Islam, please refer to the recommended resources at the back of this book.
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