Do we not have the right to perish forever after we die? Why do we have to exist forever?

The Details of the Question

- Why does Allah give us eternal life? Why does He force us to come into being?

- Suppose that we died. We committed sins and suffered in Hell; then, we left Hell. Why does Allah not allow us to perish forever after that? Why does He force us to exist forever by offering Paradise and Hell?

- Is it not our natural right as human beings to want to perish after we die and after our test in the world end?

The Answer

Dear Brother / Sister,

Allah does not create us according to our own will and He will not destroy us according to our own will.

When Allah created us, he wanted to see the manifestations of His names and attributes; similarly, the reason why He wants to continue life in Paradise and Hell eternally is that He wants to see the manifestations of His Names and Attributes.

Accordingly, Allah's name - for example - Khaliq requires the creation of humans; the name Razzaq requires people to be in need of sustenance, and the name Shafi requires people to be sick; similarly, the name Baqi and the name Abadi want people to live eternally in the hereafter.

Just as Allah's names with manifestations of beauty such as Rahman, Rahim, Rauf, Karim and Razzaq want those in Paradise to stay there eternally so too do His names of majesty such as Muntaqim, Qahhar, Aziz and Mudhil require those who are in Hell to stay there forever.

Allah does not ask us when he creates us in the world, when he kills us and when he resurrects us; similarly, He will not ask us when He makes some of us live in Paradise and some of us live in Hell forever.

When we make a car, write a book or have a child, do we ask them? When we plant vegetables or fruits in a field, do we ask those vegetables or fruits?

A toy is helpless in the face of the will of a human being and has no right to lay any claims; similarly, human beings have no right to demand anything from Allah.

However, Allah's infinite mercy and justice value people rightly. He does not consider an oppressing murderer equal with an innocent person. He does not equate stubborn unbelievers with obedient believers.

Besides, Paradise was not created only as a place for good people and Hell was not created only as a prison for bad people. As a matter of fact, Paradise and Hell have existed for billions of years, but there are no human beings there. That is to say, the main wisdom behind their existence is being a place of reflection for the manifestation of Allah's attributes of beauty and majesty.

The following statement of Badiuzzaman Said Nursi showing that there are other reasons for the creation of Hell is quite significant:

"Yes, if a worthless rebel who assaults the people says to the proud ruler of the place: ‘You can’t put me in prison!’, affronting his dignity, if there is not a prison in the town, the ruler will have one made just to throw the ill-mannered wretch into it. In just the same way, through his disbelief the absolute disbeliever affronts seriously the dignity of Divine glory, and through his denial offends the splendor of His power, and through his aggression disturbs the perfection of His dominicality. Even if there were not many things necessitating the functions of Hell and many reasons for and instances of wisdom in its existence, it is the mark of that dignity and glory to create a Hell for disbelievers such as that, and to cast them into it.” (Asa-yı Musa, pp. 48-49)

Finally, we should state that the greatest desire of every human being is to live eternally in an eternal life with an eternal pleasure. Allah created people with those desires and eternalized life in Paradise in order to satisfy those desires. It is the common desire of all people, including the one who asked that question, to want a life like Paradise, which is eternally the most beautiful and most comfortable, and where death does not exist and sickness and sadness do not occur.

The fact that some people commit suicide or attempt to commit suicide from time to time cannot be accepted as evidence that all people do not really want to live in the world. Likewise, the wrong desire of a few people based on an instantaneous feeling that they do not want to stay in Paradise eternally cannot be a measure of value for people in general...

We should also state that tactless thoughts like voicing such irrational and illogical requests and accusing Allah's infinite mercy and wisdom in this respect can be a delusion of the devil. For, if everybody listens to the voice of his conscience, he will hear the cry of "Eternity, Infinity"...

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