“Ask them: ‘Is this state better or the Garden of Eternity which the God-fearing have been promised?’ It shall be their recompense and the end-point of their journey; the Garden wherein whatever they desire will be fulfilled. In it they shall abide for ever. This is a promise whose fulfilment Your Lord has made incumbent on Himself.”
(Al-Qur’ān – 25:15-16)
The Qur’ānic expression wa‘dan mas‘ūlan here means a promise whose fulfilment can be asked for. One may well ask here: How can the promise of Paradise and the threat of Hell be effective against those who deny the Day of Judgement, and who reject accountability. The logic of the statement is obvious. If one were trying to convince an opponent about one’s beliefs, one would use a certain line of argument.
The core of the statement runs something as follows: if there is no definite proof of Life after Death, then there is also no definite proof to refute it. At most, one can say that both the existence and non-existence of Life after Death lie within the range of possibilities. If a person who does not believe in the Hereafter were to die and become dust, just like the one who believes in the Hereafter, then both would ultimately end up the same. But, if what the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) was saying was true, then the one who did not believe in the Hereafter was totally doomed. Such a line of argument can easily make a dent in the stubbornness of the unbelievers.