Eternity is NOT a Very Long Time, it is the ABSENCE of Time!

In studying the Quran we can determine that time in the Hereafter is certainly not the same as time here on earth. For those on earth, time is an important aspect of our daily lives.

Wherever you may be situated, we can all agree that time is linear in this life, that is, everything runs on a timeline. We all have our past, present and future depending on where we are referencing the vocal point in time. 

God advises in the Quran that the sun and the moon are to be used as calculation devices, from which we have invented clocks and calendars to keep track of time. 

[6:96] He is the One who splits the daybreak, and He rendered the night for resting and the sun and the moon for calculation. Such is the determination of the Dignified, the Knowledgeable.

There are around 40 calendars that are still in use in the world today, including the Gregorian, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, Chinese, Julian, and Persian calendars. 

It is interesting to note that it really depends on your geographical location as to what year it even is!

It may be the year 2025 if you are using the solar calendar, while it is year 1447 AH on the Islamic Hijri calendar and for the Asian community it’s 4723, the Year of the Snake!

Naturally when we think about the Hereafter and ponder over the eternal destinations of Heaven and Hell, we reflect in terms of time since that is the way we have been programmed. 

There may however be no time at all in the Hereafter.  The term ‘eternity’ is defined as: a state to which time has no application; timelessness.

Eternity is said not to be an extension of time but an absence of time.”
~ Graham Greene

God has specified in the Quran that a day with our Lord is like 1000 of our years: 

[22:47] They ask you to hasten the punishment! God will not break His promise. And indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of your count.

While God explains this in terms that we can comprehend, if one day at God feels like 10 long lifetimes, it would certainly feel like forever just being at God for one day.

With this information, we can conclude that when we transition to the spiritual plain, we cross over into eternity; a realm that is absent of time.

Forever or eternity is more of a sensation, a feeling as of something limitless, unbounded and for those who choose God in this life, an inseparable bond of being one with God and all that exists. 

Everything is everlasting on the other side since our souls are infinite and we do not cease to exist.

God talks of Hell being an eternal torment, and while it may feel like ages, we cannot measure eternity in time. Time is purely something we have invented on earth.

[78:21-23] Indeed, Hell has been lying in wait for the transgressors as a homecoming. They shall remain there-in for ages. 

[5:37] They will want to exit the Fire, but they will not exit therefrom, and they shall have a lasting punishment.

We learn in verses 11:106-107 that their conditions are subject to change as God wills:

[11:106-107] As for the miserable ones, they will be in the Fire.. Therein, they shall permanently remain, for as long as the heavens and the earth endure, save for what your Lord wills. Indeed, your Lord is Doer of what He wills.

This is also true for those who enter Paradise:

[11:108] As for those who were granted happiness, they are in Paradise. Therein, they shall permanently remain, for as long as the heavens and the earth endure, save for what your Lord wills; an uninterrupted donation.

So if we really wanted to put a length of time on Heaven or Hell, it would be as God stated: “for as long as the heavens and the earth endure, save for what your Lord wills”.

And God certainly does what He wills, since the heavens and the earth will be renewed when we return to Him: 

[14:48] The Day when the earth will be replaced with another earth, as well as the heavens, and they are brought forward before God; the One, the All-Conquering.

We must remember we are spiritual beings having a physical and psychological experience here on earth. 

Time is not real. At present we are existing in a simulated reality that is no more than an illusion. 

[57:20] ..The worldly life is no more than the enjoyment of an illusion.

The concept of time is part of the illusion of this world. This life is certainly not the real life and not who we truly are.

[29:64] This worldly life is no more than amusement and play, while the Abode of the Hereafter is the real life if they only knew.
 

Peace & God Bless

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