The question
is often asked, "Do animals go to heaven?" Usually the one asking is an animal
lover, someone concerned whether his pet will join him in an afterlife. The truth is that the concern should be reversed. The pet will wonder if his owner will join him in
heaven.
Animals are
true submitters to God. They accept
everything that happens to them, and behave as they are supposed to behave. The bee knows to gather pollen and make honey. The salmon makes a very arduous journey upstream
to spawn. The cow eats grass and produces
from it milk which she allows man to use. The
horse is tamed to be ridden and pull a cart. T'he
dog accepts its household and its people, whether they leave him alone in the backyard or
allow him inside and enjoy his company. All
of these things happen because each and every animal follows the commands of its Lord. They do not ask, "why is this happening to
me?" The bee doesn't decide he's too tired today to find pollen. The salmon doesn't suggest that it might be easier
to go around than to fight the current. The
cow may be ornery and kick at first, but she will give man her milk.
Job pointed
out that the animals recognize and accept God's absolute control of every soul. To the taunts of the disbelievers he answered:
"But now ask the beasts to teach
you and the birds of the air to tell you; Or the reptiles on earth to instruct
you, and the fish of the sea to inform you. Which ofthese does not know that the
hand of God has done this? In his hand is the soul of every living
thing, and the life breath of all mankind."
(Job, 12:7-10)
Scripture
tells us that all things glorify God, even though we may not understand their
glorification. Psalm 148 speaks of all
creatures praising God:
"Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and depths; You wild beasts and all tame animals, you creeping things and you winged fowl...
Be this his
praise from all his faithful ones. "
(Psalms, 148)
The Quran
uses some specific examples:
And your Lord inspired the bee: build
homes in mountains and trees, and in (the hives) they build for you. Then eat from all the fruits, following
the design of your Lord, precisely. From their bellies comes a drink of different colors, wherein there is
healing for thepeople. This is a sign for people who reflect. (Quran 16:68-69)
This is the
way that the bee glorifies God, by following the
design of your Lord, precisely.
Do
you not realize that everyone in the heavens and the earth glorifies God, even the birds as they
fly in a column?
Each knows its prayer and its glorification.
(Quran 24:41)
The birds
glorify God every time they sing or spread their wings, and when they migrate annually
along a specific route incomprehensible to man.
In Proverbs
30, the wisdom of animals is extolled - ants storing food for winter, the migration of
locusts. These things are done by God's
command, in accordance with His will. And
therefore all the animals obeying their Lord will be brought back to God in the hereafter.
"All the creatures on earth and
all the birds that fly with wings are
communities like you.... To their Lord all creatures will be summond."
(Quran 6:38)
Look around,
enjoy the majesty of all God's creatures, learn from their submission. As Buddhist scripture points out, we have a great
deal to learn from God's creatures:
Swans fly to the world of the sun,
all creatures that have powerf ly through the air.
The wise conquer temptation, and thus escape from the world. (Dhammapada, verses on The World)
We will
share eternity with our animal friends only if we can follow their example in this life.
- Lydia
Kelley
