Yet the great majority of the children of Adam agree that justice is better than injustice, truthfulness better than falsehood, and knowledge better than ignorance; for the benefactor toward people is superior to one who shows them no kindness.
As for the return after death, some restrict it to souls, others to bodies. What is certain is that, once people die, they become either blessed or miserable, a truth acknowledged by many nations outside the People of the Book—albeit in an imperfect form—such as the sages of India, Greece, the Magians, and others.
The inhabitants of the earth, then, hold four views concerning the return:
- The first view—which is the creed of the early Muslims from among the Companions, their followers in excellence, the renowned Imams, and all adherents of the Sunnah, including the traditionists among the jurists, the Sufis, and the theologians—affirms the resurrection of both souls and bodies. When a person dies, his soul enjoys bliss or suffers torment, and, at the Great Resurrection, that soul is returned to its body.
For this reason Allah often mentions the two resurrections in many surahs: the lesser resurrection at death and the Greater Resurrection when people rise from their graves and their souls are restored to their bodies,
just as He refers to both resurrections in Sūrah al-Wāqiʿah, saying at its outset: