Badges mark quoted or attributed material (Qur'an, hadith, another author, an opposing view). Unbadged passages are Maulana Wahiduddin Khan's own words.
CONCEPT OF HEREAFTER
God created man as an eternal creature, dividing his life into two parts. A small part in this world is for action and the eternal life in the Hereafter is to reap its reward.
Human beings have been created as eternal creatures. However, God has divided a person’s lifespan into two parts. A very small part of his lifespan has been destined to be lived out in the present world while the rest has been destined for the world after death. The present world is a place for action, while the world Hereafter is a place where the rewards for that action will be reaped.
Where the present world is defective, the world Hereafter is perfect in every respect. The Hereafter is a limitless world. There all things have been provided in an ideal state.
God has placed Paradise in the world of the Hereafter. Paradise is full of all kinds of blessings. Those who prove to be true worshippers of God and who lead virtuous lives will enter this world of Hereafter. When they enter this world of the Hereafter, the door of Paradise will be opened to them for all eternity.
But those who lead a life of unmindfulness of God in the present world or who lead lives marked by arrogance and insolence are sinners in the eyes of God. All such people will be denied the blessings of the Hereafter.
In the present world God is invisible. But in the world Hereafter, He will appear in all His power and glory, and, at that time, all human beings will surrender before Him. But surrendering at that time will be of no avail. Surrendering before God is acceptable only when it is done in this present world before being able to see God. In the Hereafter, surrendering after seeing God will benefit no one.
Death is not the end of life for a person, rather, it is the beginning of the next stage of life. Death is the middle stage when a person leaves the temporary world of today and reaches the permanent world of tomorrow. He leaves the ephemerality of this world and enters the eternal world. This stage of the Hereafter will be faced inevitably by everyone. There is no one who can save himself from being called to account in the Hereafter.