My unwavering belief in humanity’s ultimate accountability before God is the driving force of my everyday existence. The importance of believing in an afterlife, for me, is not about assuming – rather foolishly – that one group of people have some exclusive monopoly over heaven because of the religion to which they belonged, regardless of their inner faith or works. Nor is it about naively thinking that I am “saved” because of a certain proclamation I’ve made at some point in my life regardless of my behavior.

The importance of believing in an afterlife, for me, is about understanding that God is going to hold me accountable for every single action I’ve ever committed in this transient thing called life. It is about realizing that God will ask me why I threw away my leftovers when I know for a fact that there are hungry, homeless people on the corner of 9th & F St. where I work. It is about realizing that God will ask me why I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my time or money to help someone who really needed the help. It is about realizing that God will ask me why I raised my voice at my mother, even though He commanded that we show utmost respect and reverence to our mothers.

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The Quranic verse that best defines my faith is the one where God rhetorically asks, “Did you really think that we created you in vain and that you would not return to Us?” (23:115).

"أَفَحَسِبْتُمْ أَنَّمَا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ عَبَثًا وَأَنَّكُمْ إِلَيْنَا لَا تُرْجَعُونَ"

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