Dear Hadi,
Dear Inquisitive Young Person,
We’re impressed! You’re 12 years old and are asking one of the most important spiritual questions there is. We’ll do our best to give you our perspective.
Let’s start with an example. Let’s say you’re in math class and your teacher has just passed out an exam that covers multiple chapters. Your teacher has been teaching your class for nearly a year and is very familiar with all the students’ abilities. Your teacher knows who is going to pass the test and who is going to fail. Let us say she is absolutely sure about this, and that she is absolutely correct in her assessment. To make it more concrete, let us say there is a certain student named Boruta, who is the worst student in the class and is sure to fail the test. The teacher starts handing out the test papers to the class so they can begin the exam, and when she gets to Boruta’s desk, she doesn’t give him a test paper, and instead says, “Boruta, I’m just going to give you an F.”
Can the teacher do this? Of course not! She has to let everyone take the exam. Why is that? Well, for the students who have studied and worked hard, when they receive their passing grade, they will feel happy to be rewarded with their good grade. And the student who fails will know their grade was a result of their poor preparation. Imagine if students were just given an A without having studied and prepared – would they feel the same satisfaction and pride? Even more, imagine if students were just given an F, would they feel justly treated? The test provides the “proof” that reassures students that they were treated fairly. Think of it this way: the test isn’t so that the teacher (who in this case is assumed to make perfect assessments of her students) can know who will pass or fail, but so that the students all feel that they had a fair chance, and that their grade is just.
This is similar to life’s test. On the Day of Judgment, when we are called to account and given our grade, those who have passed will feel a sense of elation and satisfaction that God accepted their efforts and rewarded them. Those who did not pass will clearly understand that their failing grade was what they had earned and will not be able to claim it is unfair. Everyone’s efforts will provide the proof that reassures each one of us that we were justly treated, regardless of the outcome. In Arabic, by the way, this idea is known as the “hujja,” or the manifest proof, that will be there for each of God’s servants on the Day of Judgment.
One more idea to think about - if people were created and the good were immediately placed in heaven, without having gone through the test of this life - with its struggles to be faithful and righteous, and the effort which this entails - the reward of heaven would have less meaning for them. Similarly, those who simply find themselves created in hell would always feel that this is unfair, and that had they just been given a chance, surely they would have been able to earn heaven.
Once again, it is wonderful that you are already thinking about these questions.
In peace.