is a field to be cultivated and a marketplace for the Hereafter, where we lay in store righteous deeds. Thereafter we die and depart from it, then we shall be resurrected, brought to account, and recompensed for what we have done.

That, in truth, is the purpose for which jinn and humankind were created. The evidence is the multitude of Qur’anic verses that affirm resurrection, rising from the graves, requital, and reckoning; reason itself confirms the same. It does not befit the wisdom of Allah, exalted is He, to fashion this astonishing creation and subjugate the whole universe to the children of Adam, only to let them die and disappear without consequence. Such a notion would be sheer futility. Inevitably, the results of these deeds must manifest in the Abode of the Hereafter.

Hence you may see a person who spends his lifetime worshipping Allah and obeying Him, yet remains poor and in need. He may be wronged, oppressed, and constrained, receiving none of the reward for his deeds in this world. Conversely, you may encounter an unbelieving, atheistic evildoer who roams freely through this life, indulging himself, granted whatever he desires. He perpetrates what Allah has forbidden, wrongs His servants, transgresses against them, devours their property, murders without right, tyrannises and behaves arrogantly—then dies in that very state, untouched by any punishment. Could it ever accord with the justice and wisdom of Allah, exalted is He, to leave the obedient servant unrewarded and the disbeliever unpunished? Such a thing is incompatible with His justice, exalted is He—