Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Bhai,

As salaam aleikum
In the below aayah Allah has pointed to our first life where every soul was born and confirmed the our Lord is Allah and then we were sent to the world which is our 2nd life in body form and 3rd life is when we will be re-born on the day of judgement.

Is this true?

When thy Lord drew forth from the children of Adam from their loins their descendants and made them testify concerning themselves (saying): "Am I not your Lord (who cherishes and sustains you)?" They said: "Yea! we do testify!" (This) lest ye should say on the Day of Judgment: "of this we were never mindful." (7:172)

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Answer:

Born before this life
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question: Is this true?

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah An-Nisa verse 122: The promise of Allah is true, and who can be truer in his word than Allah?

My dear and beloved Brother in Islam, it is our ardent and unshakeable belief that whatever is declared by Allah Subhanah in His Glorious Quran is, without an iota of a doubt, absolutely, completely, utterly, and unconditionally True!

We learn from several traditions that this episode happened on the occasion of the creation of Adam. At that time the Angels were gathered together and commanded to bow down before him, and man’s appointment as Allah’s vicegerent was proclaimed. Likewise the whole of mankind that was to be born up to the Day of Resurrection was brought into existence at one and the same time, and imbued with common-sense and brought forth in Allah’s Presence and asked to testify that Allah is indeed their Lord.

Narrated Hadrat Ubayy-ibn-Ka’ab from the Holy Prophet (saws) that Allah gathered the whole of mankind and arranged it into separate groups according to their kinds or periods, and gave them human shape and power of speech. Then He took a Covenant from them and made them witnesses concerning themselves and asked, “Am I not your Lord?!” They all answered, ‘Most certainly, You Alone are our Lord.” Then Allah said, “I ask the earth and the heavens and your father Adam to bear witness to this effect lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection that you had no knowledge of this. So note it well that none other than I is worthy of worship and there is no other Lord than I. You should not set up any partner with Me. I will send to you My Messengers, who will remind you of this Covenant that you are making with Me; I will also send My Book to you.” At this the whole of mankind replied, “We bear witness to this: You Alone are our Lord and our Deity, we have no other lord or deity than You.”

In the quoted Aayah, it has been made plain that after this Covenant, mankind could not justify any sin on the ground that they had committed it in ignorance nor could they shift the responsibility for deviation on to their predecessors. Allah Subhanah warns that by taking this Covenant He has imbued and imbedded in the subconscious heart of every individual that He Alone is the One and Only Lord worthy of worship. Therefore none can absolve himself from that responsibility for a deviation saying, ‘I was quite unaware of this’, or ‘I was led astray by my wrong environment’.

Invariably to the human mind, a few questions would arise regarding the Covenant!

Do we have any remembrance of this Covenant?

Is anyone of us conscious that he was brought before his Lord on the occasion of the Creation, and that the said dialogue did take place?

If the answer is negative, then how can it be justified to bring such a Covenant as evidence against us on the Day of Resurrection, when we do not remember it nor are we conscious of it?

The answer is that this will be brought against us as an evidence because, though its remembrance and consciousness has been removed from the memory and the conscious mind, it has been retained by Allah Subhanah in the sub-conscious mind of each and every individual. As to why it has been removed from the memory and conscious mind, the answer is obvious: If the impression of the Covenant had remained fresh in the memory and the conscious mind, then everyone would have automatically observed it, and the trial and test that Allah Subhanah had set for mankind would have become meaningless! Thus the very object for which man has been created would have been rendered meaningless!

Thus, it has been retained in the sub-conscious mind as a potentiality, and can be brought into consciousness by intuition and internal factors as is the case of all other branches of sub-conscious knowledge. That this knowledge does really exist is proved by the fact that it has been appearing every now and then in every period of human life in every part of the earth, every habitation, in every posterity and in every generation, and that no earthly power has been successful in effacing it.

There has always been need of some external appeal to cause them to appear and take practical shapes. Accordingly the Prophets, the Divine Books, and the inviters to the Truth from amongst the followers of the Prophets have been performing this service of calling mankind to the remembrance of their Covenant. That is why the Glorious Quran calls each of them ‘remembrances’! For the Prophets, the Divine Books, and the Inviters to the Truth do not create anything new in the minds of the people, but rather refresh their memory, and bring to the surface by reminders what was already latent to them.

Another proof of the existence of this hidden knowledge in the sub-conscious mind is that in every age, it has made a positive response to the call of the inviter, and has come out as soon as it recognized his voice.

Another proof of the existence of this hidden knowledge in the sub-conscious mind is that it has survived in the human heart in spite of the strenuous and continuous efforts to suppress, conceal and pervert it. Though the powers of ignorance and folly, lusts and prejudices, misguidance and temptations have succeeded in producing ‘shirk’, atheism, irreligiousness, deviation, etc., they have failed to efface the impress of this inherent sub-conscious knowledge from the human heart. That is precisely why it comes to the surface whenever efforts are made to revive it.

As regards the evidence of this inherent knowledge on the Day of Judgment, Allah Subhanah will refresh and revive the memory of this Covenant, whereby we all acknowledged that Allah Subhanah Alone is our Lord and Deity. Then He will show that this knowledge remained embedded in our subconscious mind, in spite of its persistent denial in this world, and will provide from their own selves the proof of the fact that the impress of this Covenant was always present in their minds and hearts. He will show them from the records of their own lives how and when they suppressed the voice of this inherent knowledge; how and when their intuitional knowledge rebelled against their deviations; and how often it urged them to respond to the invitation of the inviters to the Truth, and how they silenced their inner voice by means of different pretexts!

At that time, when all the secrets will be exposed, none will be able to put forward any excuses. That is why the Quran says that they shall not say, ‘We had no knowledge of this Covenant’, but each and every disbeliever will have no choice but to confess, ‘We were disbelievers and knowingly denied the Truth’. The disbelievers will stand witness against themselves to the effect that they knowingly denied the Truth!

Although today one might not be able to completely comprehend the phenomena of the Covenant made to their Lord before this life; on the Day of Judgment when all conscious and sub-conscious knowledge will be laid bare in the Majestic Presence of the All-Mighty, each and every one will remember this Covenant as clearly as he remembers his own name!

If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws), he can be assured of never ever being misled; but if one believes, obeys and follows any other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), he can be assured of being led astray.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan