Y Should I believe in Life after Death?

Question

But if I dont then there arises another big question i.e if suppose if someone kills 4 people and u cant punish him four times, or someone lives a luxurious life and someone dies of hunger, so the norms of justice can not be met unless and until there is a life after death, i need yours valuable comments.

Answer 1

1. Belief in the hereafter is not based on blind faith?

Many people wonder as to how a person with a scientific and logical temperament, can lend any credence to the belief of life after death. People assume that anyone believing in the hereafter is doing so on the basis of blind belief.

My belief in the hereafter is based on a logical argument.


2. Hereafter a logical belief

There are more than a thousand verses in the Glorious Qur’an, containing scientific facts (refer my book "Qur’an and Modern Science-Compatible or Incompatible?"). Many facts mentioned in the Qur’an have been discovered in the last few centuries. But science has not advanced to a level where it can confirm every statement of the Qur’an.

Suppose 80% of all that is mentioned in the Qur’an has been proved 100% correct. About the remaining 20%, science makes no categorical statement, since it has not advanced to a level, where it can either prove or disprove these statements. With the limited knowledge that we have, we cannot say for sure whether even a single percentage or a single verse of the Qur’an from this 20% portion is wrong. Thus when 80% of the Qur’an is 100% correct and the remaining 20% is not disproved, logic says that even the 20% portion is correct. The existence of the hereafter, which is mentioned in the Qur’an, falls in the 20% ambiguous portion which my logic says is correct.


3. Concept of peace and human values is useless without the concept of hereafter

Is robbing a good or an evil act? A normal balanced person would say it is evil. How would a person who does not believe in the hereafter convince a powerful and influential criminal that robbing is evil?

Suppose I am the most powerful and influential criminal in the world. At the same time I am an Intelligent and a logical person. I say that robbing is good because it helps me lead a luxurious life. Thus robbing is good for me.

If anybody can put forward a single logical argument as to why it is evil for me, I will stop immediately. People usually put forward the following arguments:

a. The person who is robbed will face difficulties

Some may say that the person who is robbed will face difficulties. I certainly agree that it is bad for the person who is robbed. But it is good for me. If I rob a thousand dollars, I can enjoy a good meal at a 5 star restaurant.

b. Someone may rob you

Some people argue that someday I may be robbed. No one can rob me because I am a very powerful criminal and I have hundreds of bodyguards. I can rob anybody but nobody can rob me. Robbing may be a risky profession for a common man but not for an influential person like me.

c. The police may arrest you

Some may say, if you rob, you can be arrested by the police. The police cannot arrest me because I have the police on my payroll. I have the ministers on my payroll. I agree that if a common man robs, he will be arrested and it will be bad for him, but I am an extraordinarily influential and powerful criminal.

Give me one logical reason why it is bad for me and I will stop robbing.

d. Its easy money

Some may say its easy money and not hard-earned money. I agree completely that it is easy money, and that is one of the main reasons why I rob. If a person has the option of earning money the easy as well as the hard way, any logical person would choose the easy way.

e. It is against humanity

Some may say it is against humanity and that a person should care for other human beings. I counter argue by asking as to who wrote this law called ‘humanity’ and why should I follow it?

This law may be good for the emotional and sentimental people but I am a logical person and I see no benefit in caring for other human beings.

f. It is a selfish act

Some may say that robbing is being selfish. It is true that robbing is a selfish act; but then why should I not be selfish? It helps me enjoy life.

1. No logical reason for robbing being an evil act

Hence all arguments that attempt to prove that robbing is an evil act are futile. These arguments may satisfy a common man but not a powerful and influential criminal like me. None of the arguments can be defended on the strength of reason and logic. It is no surprise that there are so many criminals in this world.

Similarly raping, cheating etc. can be justified as good for a person like me and there is no logical argument that can convince me that these things are bad.

2. A Muslim can convince a powerful and influential criminal

Now let us switch sides. Suppose you are the most powerful and influential criminal in the world, who has the police and the ministers on his payroll. You have army of thugs to protect you. I am a Muslim who will convince you that robbing, raping, cheating, etc. are evil acts.

Even if I put forth the same arguments to prove that robbing is evil the criminal will respond the same way as he did earlier.

I agree that the criminal is being logical and all his arguments are true only when he is the most powerful and influential criminal.

3. Every human being wants justice

Each and every human being desires justice. Even if he does not want justice for others he wants justice for himself. Some people are intoxicated by power and influence and inflict pain and suffering on others. The same people, however, would surely object if some injustice was done to them. The reason such people become insensitive to the suffering of others is that they worship power and influence. Power and influence, they feel, not only allows them to inflict injustice on others but also prevents others from doing likewise to them.

4. God is Most Powerful and Just

As a Muslim I would convince the criminal about the existence of Almighty God (refer to answer proving the existence of God). This God is more powerful than you and at the same time is also just. The Glorious Qur’an says:

"Allah is never unjust
In the least degree"

[Al-Qur’an 4:40]

5. Why does God not punish me?

The criminal, being a logical and scientific person, agrees that God exists, after being presented with scientific facts from the Qur’an. He may argue as to why God, if He is Powerful and Just, does not punish him.

6. The people who do injustice should be punished

Every person who has suffered injustice, irrespective of financial or social status, almost certainly wants the perpetrator of injustice to be punished. Every normal person would like the robber or the rapist to be taught a lesson. Though a large number of criminals are punished, many even go scot-free. They lead a pleasant, luxurious life, and even enjoy a peaceful existence. If injustice is done to a powerful and influential person, by someone more powerful and more influential than he, even such a person would want that person perpetrators of injustice to be punished.

7. This life is a test for the hereafter

This life is a test for the hereafter. The Glorious Qur’an says:

"He who created Death
And life that He
May try which of you
Is best in deed;
And He is the Exalted
In Might, Oft-Forgiving"
[Al-Qur’an 67:2]

8. Final justice on day of judgement

The Glorious Qur’an says:

"Every soul shall have
A taste of death:
And only on the Day
Of Judgement shall you
Be paid your full recompense.
Only he who is saved
Far from the Fire
And admitted to the Garden
Will have attained
The object (of life):
For the life of this world
Is but goods and chattels
Of deception."
[Al-Qur’an 3:185]

Final justice will be meted out on the Day of Judgement. After a person dies, he will be resurrected on the Day of Judgement along with the rest of mankind. It is possible that a person receives part of his punishment in this world. The final reward and punishment will only be in the hereafter. God Almighty may not punish a robber or a rapist in this world but he will surely be held accountable on the Day of Judgement and will be punished in the hereafter i.e. life after death.

9. What punishment can the human law give Hitler?

Hitler incinerated six million Jews during his reign of terror. Even if the police had arrested him, what punishment can the human law give Hitler for justice to prevail? The most they can do is to send Hitler to the gas chamber. But that will only be punishment for the killing of one Jew. What about the remaining five million, nine hundred and ninety nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine Jews?

10. Allah can burn Hitler more than six million times in hellfire

Allah say in the Glorious Qur’an:

"Those who reject
Our signs, We shall soon
Cast into the Fire;
As often as their skins
Are roasted through,
We shall change them
For fresh skins,
That they may taste
The penalty: for Allah
Is Exalted in Power, Wise"
[Al-Qur’an 4:56]

If Allah wishes he can incinerate Hitler six million times in the hereafter in the hellfire.

11. No concept of human values or good and bad without concept of hereafter

It is clear that without convincing a person about the hereafter, i.e. life after death, the concept of human values and the good or evil nature of acts is impossible to prove to any person who is doing injustice especially when he is influential and powerful.

Answer 2

Just to answer the first question, Jesus answered this question by recalling that God called Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and by asking (rhetorically) whether God was the God of the living or the dead? God is the God of the living; therefore, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are alive.

If you are looking for an pre-apologetical answer, read Chapter 4 of God: The Evidence by Patrick Glynn. ISBN 0-7615-1964-5. This is an introduction to the subject of life after death. He briefly reviews the standard explanations for Near Death Experiences (Anoxia, Hallucination, Birth Tunnel Memory, Endorphins, Hypercarbia, etc.) and presents cases where such standard physiological explanations for NDEs do not make sense. Start to research the cases where people are able to recount their own surgeries, events in other rooms, etc. when their heart and/or brain activity has flat-lined. That may be the most helpful place to start.

Searching the web for Glynn's book I found some criticism of his book. I think that you are going to have to look into the matter yourself and read the books that Glynn refers to (e.g., Michael Sabom, Recollections of Death: A Medical Investigation, Harper & Row, 1982).

I hope this helps you.

Answer 3

Your question has a simple answer and the answer is Yes, of course there is life after death. The bible clearly states that there is a Heaven and Hell. People are free to do whatever they want but there are consequences for our actions. For example like you stated if someone murders 4 other people then here on earth he could only be punished once but if he does not repent of his sins he will go to hell and in hell he will be judged and the greater his sins were here on earth the worse his punishments and sufferings will be in hell. Likewise for those that do good, the more you do good and follow the Bible and do as GOD asks of you, the better your life in Heaven will be. No one suffers in Heaven but it is said that the more good we do the better life we live in Heaven.

These passages from the Bible should answer your question.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning GOD created the heaven and the earth.

Psalms 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget GOD.

Isaiah 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

Genesis 22:11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

Those are just some of many you could find in the Bible.

I hope I helped you with your question, its good to ask questions but important to confirm all answers given to you. I suggest reading the bible and praying to GOD for guideness.
GOD Bless.

Answer 4

First of all, we as humans are caught in the illusion that we are seperate. I don't beleive that. We are all the same energy.
If you hurt another you hurt yourself also (either consciously or by compassion).
We wouldn't beleive in a god if we just jumped out of our concepts for a moment...you know, just snapped out of our psychosis.
When we die, I think thats it....I really don't see why there would be something. I thought maybe the bible is convincing...its not. I've really started reading it thouroughly, it turns out people missinterpret it totally.
Its bs and a waste of time.
Anyway, we'll all come to the realisation one day that we're all one energy and there's no real self. Self is just a "trick of the mind", a hypnosis, that we're born into.

Answer 5

i'm a Theravadha Buddhist and personally i believe in reincarnation because i have evidence from verifiable sources to satisfy my own personal beliefs and also because that explains many things ...for example ,why would a perfectly nice person who had not done anything wrong in this life,die a horrible death due to ,say, a tsunami?



nobody HAS to believe in anything...think things for yourself and come to a conclusion that makes sense

Answer 6

No-body is forcing you to believe in it..
That is if you still have free will...
I believe in Karma, and that explains all of the what you have written above...
If you killed 4 people, you would be paying Karma in many lifetimes to come...
The people who died were probably paying their Karma...
That's the way I see it...
Love and Light.. BB.. )O(

Answer 7

y you did not believe in life after the death

Answer 8

The Bible and church doctrine convinces us that we should believe in life after death. If we consider that when we fall asleep our soul stays on to watch over us, so when we die, the soul has to hang on for the judgement day, whenever that will come.

Answer 9

Justice is met by karma and reincarnation. They go hand in hand. Each is accountable for their actions. All actions cannot be accounted for in one lifetime, therefore souls continue to reincarnate back to the physical plane until they account for all actions good and bad, and all is balanced. It certainly takes more than one lifetime to purify oneself enough to re-enter the kingdom of heaven. That's my belief.

Answer 10

Life is not equal. People go unpunished. Some people are rich some are poor. Deal with it.

Answer 11

You shouldn't. There is not evidence for the after life.