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“The sourness of this world is (in fact) sweetness of the next world, and sweetness of this world is bitterness of the next world.” Excerpt from What is True Success? Excerpts from Peak of Eloquence (Nahjul Balagha) Syed H. Akhtar

I hope the person reading this is well, Insha'Allah. After getting into bad company and facing subsequent losses, I thought about one thing. Many people often quote the Hadith where the Mercy for All Worlds (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) says that Heaven is at the feet of mothers. Surely, this also means that if person A harms person B, such that person B's mother is hurt, even so far that person B's mother cries, especially if Person B is a victim of your Zulm, then despite Person A being good with their mother, Person A has done Zulm on Person B's mother. Due to obvious motherly love, Person B's mother will complain to Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) about Person A's actions. As such, is it logical to think that Person A is set for an appropriate retribution through the 'Adalat of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى)? The Hadith seems to imply that treatment to one's mother is a big determinant towards one's position in the Hereafter, and judging by thge wording, I find that it not only talks about one's own mother, but other mothers as well. Surely, Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) delivers 'Adl for the Mazloom, so with this logic, is it justified to think that Person A's Hereafter is not a Heavenly one? I found this to be an interesting topic, but since I am so unlearned, I thought I would ask the much more learned people at ShiaChat. JazakAllah

Imam Ali (as) wrote to Salman al Farsi (ra) : To continue, surely, the likeness of this world is that of a snake: it is soft to touch, and deadly poisonous. The ignorant child is distracted by it, and the one with understanding and intellect is cautious of it. So turn away from what fascinates you in it, for how little of it stays with you.

Salam Alaykoom. - Death has been my biggest fear in life, i'm scared of loosing a loved one someday like my parents, & i'm afraid of dying myself, but i always wish death upon myself first, before my parents. Thinking about death or hearing someone that have passed away, gives my life no meaning, i just keep thinking like what's the point of this, or the point of doing all those Dunya things ( Life things ) Dunya entertainments, when my time of death could be here at any time, i get thoughts in my head, that i should just sit & cry my whole life & just worship Allah nonstop until the time of my death, so i don't do any life entertainment things, because i find them useless, but yet, i cant stop my self from not having fun, like laughing, taking pictures, going out & having fun & that all will lead you to thinking like you're living here for ever. How can i help myself in this situation, either ways isn't good, if i chose to not do anything & just worship, or i don't know what's the proper word to use, but like cry, & pray, & ask for forgiveness from Allah non stop is not something someone can do their WHOLE life, or still chose to love life & do all those fun entertaining things, which will keep me away from Allah ( i feel like ), so i'm just stuck here, needing help. Or what if i die & end up in Hell fire, Jahanam. Because i'm not yet that one perfect Muslimah Allah loves, shaaytan, always makes me feel worthless, & makes me feel like i'm a bad Muslimah. Any Advice would be appreciated, i'm struggling so much.

As salam alaikum, For some background: My mother is Hindu but more spiritual,doesnt believe in rituals etc., dad neutral about religions and a lot more spiritual, and brother is a downright atheist - I'm Muslim lol..and all of us live together so some of our discussions can be..well..interesting and disturbing.. Based on these discussions, I have a question: What is the purpose of creation and afterlife, as per Islam? I understand the purpose of our temporary earthly life is as a test to ensure jannah in the hereafter, through the worship of our creator....but then what? We enter jannah, live there...and then? Whats the point really? My dad asked me this...and I dodged the question coz I wasn't very sure on how to handle it....his view is that we don't know what happens after death, n there is no way to experience it, so how can you just believe something a book says? Mum believes in re-incarnation and the idea that the soul needs to be freed...but after its freed after several thousands of lifetimes, we don't know what will happen... My brother says: well we have no idea what happens once we die - so live this life fullest...following religion or rituals will not allow you to maximize your potential in terms of career and the rest coz it takes up too much time...in terms of creator and universe, he says "there's no way I would think that there is a creator who created this universe...its all physics and quantum mechanics" I ask him who created gravity, how did all of that exist? He says we are not qualified enough in the field of physics to know that...there may be 10 to 15 people in the world who can tell you what existed before the Big Bang and how it was created....but we are not at that level of education, but surely you cannot believe that a God created it...that would just make life so boring - imagine not being able to use your own critical analysis and science backed evidence of the existence of physics laws...and just coming to a conclusion of "oh one creator created all of this"...thats just plain silly and provides no intellectual stimulation in his opinion... They all see religion as being something just for people who haven't got a career or are not educated, to be happy and content with whatever little they have..in the false hope that there will be something better after death, so its ok if there's no money etc now...therefore they will not strive for the most, and will be more focused on religious things... All of them truly believe that religions are all man made to control and manipulate crowds who cannot think for themselves...but for critical thinkers like them (especially my super highly educated brother), it is a joke and very sad to think that you would need to live within certain limits set by someone (something) else....unless its the law of the state, noone else should have any authority over your being except yourself....he doesn't agree with a creator or soul or any of that...and immorality and morality to him is a social construct - the only things which all humans can agree are immoral are those that hurt others: murder, stealing, rape, and sometimes cheating but not always.....he can't understand why marriage is such a huge deal and premarital sex or LGBT is a problem...or the concept of chastity...according to him its all in the heads of people and society has formed it that way - in nature however, if we look at animals, there are many who are homosexual, and there is no such thing of premarital issues, or even issues with one night stands...so why do humans have to make such a big deal and complicate life so much? So based on the above viewpoints, there are many times I don't know how to answer them because I just can't deal with their perspectives...its inconceivable for me to ever think of the idea of not believing in a creator...I have pursued the quest for God since I was a kid...so I really need help answering some of these questions.. My belief is that life is temporary and it is there as a test for the hereafter....but what happens if we go to heaven, or hell for that matter...what is the purpose of getting gardens in which rivers flow? What happens after that? Yes our souls can get close to God, but then what? And ok God will punish those in hell, keep punishing them continuously, but then what? What's the point there? Why would a God do that anyway? What does He get by putting us in heaven or hell? These are the kind of questions I'm afraid to answer, but I really do need something to understand this..and I'm becoming curious of this as well..I'm sure there is a reason I don't know it yet, and I may even believe if Allah has said it is not for us to know, but that won't work with my family...so any help would be greatly appreciated in this matter... I know there are several different points - opinions on all would be great...but the most crucial is the purpose of creation, hereafter and the rest... JazakAllah...

[Quran 17:71] Just imagine the scene on the Day, when We will summon every community with its leader (Imam): then those, who will be given their records in their right hands, will read their records and will not be wronged in the least; [Quran 17:72] and whoever is Blind in this [life] will be Blind in the Hereafter and more astray in way. Who is referred by the Quran as Blind in this Verse? Does it mean who can not recognise the Imam is blind in this world and hereafter?