Badges mark quoted or attributed material (Qur'an, hadith, another author, an opposing view). Unbadged passages are Maulana Wahiduddin Khan's own words.
GOD’S CREATION PLAN p. 314
The question arises as to why the Creator gave man this freedom. To understand this matter, knowing God’s creation plan is necessary. According to the creation plan, God created man as an eternal creature and divided his life span into two periods: the temporary pre-death period of trial for which he has been granted freedom and the eternal post-death period for receiving reward or punishment merited by one’s actions during one’s lifetime. Man has been given complete freedom to test him in this world of trial. Every human being born into this world can misuse his freedom or use it correctly. The problems that occur in human life are all the result of the misuse of this freedom, sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly, sometimes due to the personal actions of the person afflicted with suffering, and sometimes due to the actions of other humans, as a result of an immediate mistake, and sometimes it happens that the result of the error of previous generations comes before the later generations. p. 315
We must understand that whenever there is freedom, there will be the misuse of freedom; however, freedom is so precious that it cannot be taken away merely due to the risk of being misused by man. God is testing man to bestow a great reward upon man. This great reward is Paradise—a place of eternal pleasure in the world Hereafter. Only those who properly use their freedom in this world of test will be entitled to a place in Paradise. Who will be the inheritors of Paradise? It will be those who use their freedom correctly despite having the freedom not to do so. p. 315
In the present world, people from all over human history are being chosen to inhabit Paradise, generation after generation. This could only be possible by giving man freedom, which is why freedom is essential to the creation plan of God. This interpretation of human history not only explains the universe’s existence but also makes the universe completely meaningful. p. 315
The Explanation of Cosmic Morality p. 315
The second aspect of the debate about God’s existence relates to the meaningfulness of the universe. Believing in God not only explains the existence of the universe but also makes the universe completely meaningful. To deny God means a meaningful universe will end in a meaningless conclusion. Meanwhile, believing in God tells us that the universe will eventually reach a meaningful conclusion. p. 316
A sense of justice and injustice is found in human beings by birth. Man, by nature, wants the person who lives according to the principles of justice to be rewarded and the person who chooses the path of injustice to be punished. The fulfilment of this natural demand is found only in the theory of a universe with God; there is no answer to this natural demand in the view of a universe without God. As per the creation plan, man will be made to appear before God to be judged after death. God will reward people who chose the path of justice by granting them eternal Paradise and punish those who were unjust by throwing them in the eternal dustbin. p. 316
Every human being is born with a sea of desires. Fulfillment of these desires is not possible in this world. According to the theory of a universe without God, it is a heartbreaking fate that one’s natural desires will never be fulfilled. However, in the belief of a universe with God, a person can achieve complete satisfaction of their desires in the afterlife by attaining eternal Paradise—if they use their freedom correctly in this world of testing. p. 316original + quote
Perception of Time p. 316
The study of human psychology tells us that humans are time-conscious creatures. They perceive their time as divided into the present and the future. However, the reality is that only the present exists in each person’s life. Every person dies in a state of despair, deprived of their future. They work in their present for a better future, but within their limited lifetime, this better future does not materialize, and they depart from this world in despair. p. 317
Once, we searched the internet for notable individuals who succumbed to despair and died in a state of depression in their later years. The internet provided a list that contained four hundred and two such individuals. The title of the list was “Risk Factor Depression.” In the theistic perspective of the universe, there is an answer to this innate question of human beings, but in the atheistic perspective, there is no answer. p. 317
The ideal future that man aspires for is eternal Paradise. This saves man from living in despair. In the present world, he realizes that although he has not found fulfilment, his belief in the Hereafter assures him that he will attain it in eternal Paradise. p. 317
The Principle of Pairs p. 317
The study of the universe reveals that everything here is created in pairs—negative electrical particles have positive electrical pairs, flowers have male and female parts, animals are male and female, humans are women and men, etc. It is a universal law that everything completes itself by pairing with its counterpart. p. 317
In this context, human life is considered to have an incomplete phase before death in this world and a complete phase after death in eternal Paradise. This complementary pair is present in the theistic view of the universe, but it is absent in the atheistic view. p. 318
The Failure of Idealism p. 318
All philosophers and thinkers have considered the existing world to be eternal. They believed that someday, within this very existing world, we will create our desired world. Concepts of an ideal society, ideal state, and ideal system were born under this thought. All such thinkers were captivated by these concepts until their last days. But they were unable to achieve this ideal in this world. p. 318
For people, civilization was the interpretation of this human dream. After the industrial advancements, people thought that civilizational progress would eventually lead them to a point where they could build their paradise in this existing world. However, this notion turned out to be entirely false. p. 318
The End of the World p. 318
After studying the laws of nature, Sir Isaac Newton (d. 1727), the founder of modern science, predicted in 1704 that the current world would end in 2060 (Times of India, June 18, 2007). All scientists worldwide declare, based on pure observations, that global warming has made the end of the world inevitable. Further progress of civilization is no longer possible here. p. 318original + quote
Alvin Toffler’s book ‘Future Shock’ was first published in 1970. In this book, Toffler stated that the world was moving from the Industrial Age into the Super Industrial Age. The next phase of civilization would be a phase of complete automation. The push-button culture would progress so much that everything would become automated. However, the issue of global warming, instead of bringing humanity to the completion of history, has brought humanity to the end of history. p. 319
Without a doubt, this phenomenon in human history is the biggest question of today. A satisfactory explanation for this question can only be found in the theory of a universe with God. Under the theory of a godless universe, it is impossible to explain this phenomenon satisfactorily. p. 319
Such examples demonstrate a significant gap in the theory of a godless universe, and in accepting this theory, a highly meaningful universe appears to end in an utterly meaningless outcome. p. 319
On the other hand, the theory of a universe with God is entirely free from this defect. Accepting the theory of a universe with God, the outcome of a meaningful universe ends in a highly meaningful future. This event serves as proof in favour of the theory of a universe with God that fully satisfies reason and logic. p. 319