What Will Save a Person in the Hereafter According to the Qur'an?

When religion is mentioned, what first comes to most people's minds are the forms of behavior that must be observed and avoided. Indeed, avoiding what is unlawful, worshiping and engaging in good behavior are requirements to which the Qur'an attaches great importance. Yet at the essence of these requirements lies an even more fundamental element. This fundamental element is to have a sincere heart turned toward God. Indeed, when the Qur'an is considered as a whole, it can be seen that when God assesses man, He emphasizes not only outward behavior, but also the heart that is the source of that behavior.

Then, according to the Qur'an, what exactly will save a person in the Hereafter? In answering this question, the Qur'an sets forth a striking criterion:

The Day when neither wealth nor sons will be of any use – except to those who come to God with sound and flawless hearts. (Surah ash-Shu`ara, 88-89)

In this verse, after listing the things that will be of no benefit to man in the Hereafter, God leaves only one exception: coming to God with a sound and flawless heart. For this reason, anyone who wishes to understand the concept of salvation indicated by the Qur'an should first understand the concept of a "sound heart."

In order to better understand what the concept of a "sound heart" means, one may also look at other verses of the Qur'an. For example, when believers are described in Surat al-Anfal, it is not the deeds they perform that are mentioned, but the state they harbor in their inner worlds toward God:

The believers are those whose hearts tremble when God is mentioned… (Surat al-Anfal, 2)

Here, in describing the foremost characteristic of a believer, the Qur'an defines him as someone who is exceedingly sensitive toward God, whose heart trembles when He is mentioned and who feels a profound devotion to Him. When the name of God is mentioned, the heart being stirred with such powerful excitement, comprehending His greatness with an admiration that makes the heart tremble and turning to Him with love are very important characteristics of faith. Similarly, it is revealed in Surat az-Zumar:

God has sent down the Supreme Discourse, a Book consistent in its frequent repetitions. The skins of those who fear their Lord tremble at it, and then their skins and hearts yield softly to the remembrance of God... (Surat az-Zumar, 23)

The faith described in the Qur'an is not merely an intellectual acceptance. The faith described is a profound state of belief and submission attained by a heart that is moved by the Word of God, that softens with His remembrance and turns toward Him. Trembling before the Word of God and then finding peace through the remembrance of God demonstrate that faith has a genuine counterpart in the human soul. Indeed, when describing believers, the Qur'an explicitly emphasizes the strength of their love for God:

… But those who have faith have greater love for God… (Surat al-Baqara, 165)

This verse defines a believer not merely as someone who believes in the existence of God, but as someone who is devoted to God with a very powerful love and who places the love of God at the very center of his life.

Another concept on which the Qur'an places great emphasis is sincerity:

They were only ordered to worship God, making their religion sincerely His as people of pure natural belief... (Surat al-Bayyina, 5)

This verse also reveals that worship must be performed solely for God, and that the value of deeds is determined not merely by their outward appearance, but by the intention in the heart and sincere turning toward God. As someone who is devoted to God with love and sees the manifestations of God wherever he looks, a believer devotes his entire life purely to Him with the love and ardent longing brought about by his desire to meet God. In the behavior he displays throughout his life, he hopes to earn His approval. For this reason, sincerity, refinement and beauty are manifested in all his behavior.

When all these verses are considered together, a common picture emerges. The Qur'an certainly regards righteous deeds as indispensable, yet presents them as the natural consequence of a sincere heart turned toward God. Righteous deeds are the fruits of a sincere heart in love with God reflected in life. It is already inconceivable that the devotion of someone who is genuinely attached to God, loves Him, whose heart trembles with respect and love in His Presence and who dedicates his worship solely to Him would not be reflected in his behavior. Likewise, if behavior that appears right outwardly is not nourished by a sincere heart turned toward God, the quality of the believer described in the Qur'an remains incomplete. That is because some people may perform behavior that appears right not out of love for God and sincerity, but for worldly purposes such as hypocrisy, ostentation, personal gain or the desire to earn people's appreciation.

It can be seen that when describing believers, the Qur'an speaks of a state of mind in love with God. God wants sincere servants who are in love with Him and whose hearts beat with love at every moment. God wants faith to be not merely on people's tongues, but in their hearts. A person who loves God with all his heart and with a passionate love turns to Him with his most sincere feelings and submits to Him with heartfelt, profound devotion. The believer described by the Qur'an is one who profoundly experiences the love of God and reflects this love in every moment of his life. This love clearly manifests itself in his saintly moral values, his immediate reactions to events, his sincere reflections that appeal to the heart and every aspect of daily life.

According to the Qur'an, the life of this world is a place of testing. The purpose of this test is not merely to reveal how many deeds people perform; it is to reveal how close they are to God in their hearts, how powerful a devotion they have to Him and how wholeheartedly and willingly they turn to God under all conditions, both in blessings and in difficulties. The righteous servants described by the Qur'an are people in love with God who give thanks for God's blessings, do not lose their trust in and devotion to Him when they encounter difficulties, know that everything comes from Him and are pleased with God's decree regardless of the nature of the test. They do not become spoiled in the face of blessings, nor do they fall into despair in the face of troubles. They do not attribute independent power to people or events, and they know that everything, everyone and every event is created by God, their Friend toward Whom they turn with love.

This outlook enables a person to look at life through the eyes of the All-Merciful. A heart that sees God's artistry in a flower, the sky, the rain, the endearing ways of a baby or colorful fruits likewise notices the wisdom God creates in a test requiring patience and gives thanks. That is because the center of his entire life, the meaning of his life and his most important priority are not the blessings God gives, but God Himself.

For this reason, the most distinguishing characteristic of servants who are close to God is that their love for God does not change even when conditions change. In joy and in difficulty, in abundance and in hardship, their hearts are turned in the same direction with the same love. Under all conditions, the remembrance of God never leaves the believer's tongue, and his trust in and submission to Him are never shaken. When he encounters a test that is difficult for his lower self—for example, when another person behaves in a way that displeases his lower self or says something—he does not forget that God creates everything and attribute independent power and will to that person. He does not forsake his Lord, his Friend Whom he loves, with Whom he is in love and to Whom he has devoted his entire life, for a momentary fit of anger. Behavior that allows him to forget God and be directed by his lower self has no place in his life. That is because, for him, the purpose of life is not merely to experience pleasant days that suit his lower self and interests. His true purpose is to remember God in every situation, pass through the tests He creates for him without forgetting Him and properly complete the life of this world in a state of closeness to God.

This is the truth to which the Qur'an refers as a “sound heart.” It means seeing our Lord not only in blessings, but also in tests; being with God in blessings, difficulties, hardship, abundance, morning, evening, night and day—in every moment of life and under all conditions; not being deceived by appearances and thus growing distant from Him, and experiencing love for Him fully and as it should be. Such devotion is possible not merely through knowledge, but through a profound and passionate love for God. This is what it means to worship with a sound heart in which sincerity, submission and love of God, as indicated by the Qur'an, are united.