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Misconceptions About The Islamic Paradise

By
Bassam Zawadi

The best source of information to receive regarding this topic is from http://www.harunyahya.com/paradise01.php.

This article's purpose is to address four common misconceptions put forward especially by Christians regarding the Islamic concept of paradise.

I usually see people (Christians especially) criticizing the paradise according to Islam for mainly four reasons

1: There is nothing spiritual about it

2: Fornication and adultery is allowed there

3: Prohibited things such as wine is to be given in paradise

4: Women will not get any benefits out of paradise

1) Spirituality in Islamic Paradise

It is true that most of the descriptions of paradise in Islam may seem physical but we also do have spiritual pleasures.

Allah has promised the men and women of the believers Gardens with rivers flowing under them, remaining in them timelessly, forever, and fine dwellings in the Gardens of Eden. And Allah's good pleasure is even greater. That is the great victory. (Sura 9, 72)

We would be in the pleasure of God. Isn’t that spirituality?

Taken from http://www.harunyahya.com/paradise05.php

The most striking _expression of what believers feel when they win Allah's good pleasure is that He will manifest Himself to them in a way that they can see Him. This is impossible in the world because, as the Qur'an says: "Eyesight cannot perceive Him" (Sura 6, 10) But according to the Qur'an, in the next life and in a certain way Allah will manifest Himself to His believing servants. Only Allah knows how this will happen. But we are informed in the Qur'an that the believers' "faces that Day will be radiant, gazing at their Lord" (Sura 75, 22-23) and "'Peace!' A word from a Merciful Lord" (Sura 36, 58) will be heard. Believers will be "on seats of honor in the presence of an All-Powerful King" (Sura 54, 55).

In other words, the greatest possible blessing that believers can have is the deep sense of Allah's mercy and will. By winning His good pleasure, they experience a joy and a happiness that cannot be compared with any material blessing.

Actually, it is Allah's will that gives value to Paradise's other blessings. The same blessings may exist on Earth to a certain extent, but they have no meaning for believers as long as they surpass the limits Allah established.

CONVERSATIONS IN PARADISE

They will say: "Praise be to Allah, Who has removed all sadness from us. Truly our Lord is Ever-Forgiving, Ever-Thankful: He Who has lodged us, out of His favor, in the Abode of Permanence, where no weariness or fatigue affects us." (Sura 35, 34-35)

The Qur'an contains detailed accounts of conversations among believers, to whom Allah has given an exalted position in Paradise. These conversations are important, because they provide a good example for believers in this life. The verses: "They will hear no idle talk in it, nor any call to sin. All that is said is: 'Peace! Peace!''' (Sura 56, 25-26) show the importance of avoiding empty talk. Elsewhere, the same point is expressed as:

They will hear no idle talk nor any lying there, as a recompensation from your Lord, a commensurate gift. (Sura 78, 35-36)

Saheeh Muslim

Book 040, Hadith Number 6787.

Chapter : There is in paradise a tree under the shadow of which a rider can travel for a hundred years and even then he would not be able to cover it.

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported that Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) said that Allah would say to the inmates of Paradise: O, Dwellers of Paradise, and they would say in response: At thy service and pleasure, our Lord, the good is in Thy Hand. He (the Lord) would say: Are you well pleased now? They would say: Why should we not be pleased, O Lord, when Thou hast given us what Thou hast not given to any of Thy creatures? He would, however, say: May I not give you (something) even more excellent than that? And they would say: O Lord, what thing can be more excellent than this? And He would say: I shall cause My pleasure to alight upon you and I shall never be afterwards annoyed with you.

Book 040, Hadith Number 6797.

Chapter : The description of Paradise and the remembrance of Allah by the inmates morning and evening.

Hammam b. Munabbih reported: These are some of the ahidith which Abu Huraira reported from Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and one is this that he is reported to have said: The (members of the) first group that would be admitted to Paradise would have their faces as bright as full moon during the night. They would neither spit nor suffer catarrh, nor void excrement. They would have their utensils and their combs made of gold and silver and the fuel of their braziers would be aloes and their sweat would be musk and every one of them would have two spouses (so beautiful) that the marrow of their shanks would be visible through the flesh. There would be no dissension amongst them and no enmity in their hearts. Their hearts would be like one heart, glorifying Allah morning and evening.

Isn’t all this spiritual pleasures?

As a matter of fact the paradise according to Islam is more superior than the paradise according to the bible. Because the paradise according to the bible is only a spiritual paradise in contrast to the paradise according to Islam which is both carnal and spiritual. Human beings have both physical and spiritual needs. Therefore, the paradise according to the bible is only 50% complete whilst the paradise according to Islam is 100% complete, therefore making it more superior!!

For more details just read the book by Harun Yahya available at http://www.harunyahya.com/paradise01.php

2) Is there fornication and adultery in the Islamic Paradise?

And those who believe and do good works. WE shall make them enter Gardens through which streams flow, to abide therein for ever; therein shall they have pure spouses, and WE shall admit them to a place of plenteous shade. (4:157)

The word here is AZWAAJ.  In Arabic, it means spouse.

Notice, the key word, SPOUSES. The houris will be our spouses. If a man has sex with his wife, is that fornication?? No, of course not, she is his spouse.

So I ask you, if a man can legitimately have sex with his spouse here on earth, they why can’t a man legitimately have sex with his spouse in paradise?  

 3) Prohibited Things Such As Wine Will be Available in the Islamic Paradise

Allah described paradise in a Qudsi hadith…

Saheeh Bukhari

Volumn 009, Book 093, Hadith Number 589.

Narated By Abu Huraira : The Prophet said, "Allah said, "I have prepared for My righteous slaves (such excellent things) as no eye has ever seen, nor an ear has ever heard nor a human heart can ever think of.'"

So as we can see paradise is something that is not of this world. So when the Quran talks about rivers of honey that does not mean that it is the same kind of honey that we have in this world. Similarly, when the Quran talks about rivers of wine in paradise that does not mean that it is the same kind of wine that we have here on earth that makes you get drunk and do stupid things and gives you a hangover the next morning. No, not at all. God is just using these terms in order for us to try to imagine what this paradise is kind of like. So the wine of paradise is nothing like the wine of this world.

 1) Women Will Not Get Any Benefits Out of Paradise

 Some people tend to argue that since men will get houris then what will women get? Shiekh Saqr says…

Focusing more on this issue, Sheikh `Atiyyah Saqr, former Head of Al-Azhar Fatwa Committee, adds:

“Here Allah mentions the Hoor Al`Een because in most cases men pursue women and not vice versa. As for women, Allah Almighty may marry them to any of the believers in Paradise, if they did not get married during worldly life, or He may compensate them by making them feel content with their position. It is also said that Allah may grant women some kind of beauty with which they will feel that they are better than the Hoor Al-`Een and that they are their mistress, so they will not love anyone other than their own husbands nor will they feel jealous of the Hoor Al-`Een.” (Source)

The main reason why the Quran and hadith are stressing the fact that men will get virgin girls is because it more appealing to men than promising virgin men to women. Men are more sexually active and therefore are facing a lot of difficulty (especially in the teenage years) to remain chaste. There are a lot of temptations in this world. That is why that Allah keeps promising these virgin girls who are more superior to the women of this world to those that remain patient and steadfast. That way, this motivates the unmarried men to remain chaste and be patient because they know  they have something better waiting for them in the next life. Because if they do not get it legally in the next life then they would get it illegally in this life. 

These are some verses that show the equality that men and women receive when it comes to attaining the rewards of paradise. 

Surah 3:195

So their Lord accepted their prayer: That I will not waste the work of a worker among you, whether male or female...

Surah 4:194

And whoever does good deeds whether male or female and he (or she) is a believer -- these shall enter the garden, and they shall not be dealt with a jot unjustly.

Surah 16:97

Whoever does good whether male or female and he is a believer, We will most certainly make him live a happy life, and We will most certainly give them their reward for the best of what they did.

Surah 33:35

Surely the men who submit and the women who submit, and the believing men and the believing women, and the obeying men and the obeying women, and the truthful men and the truthful women, and the patient men and the patient women and the humble men and the humble women, and the almsgiving men and the almsgiving women, and the fasting men and the fasting women, and the men who guard their private parts and the women who guard, and the men who remember Allah much and the women who remember -- Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a mighty reward.

Surah 36:56

They and their wives shall be in shades, reclining on raised couches

Surah 39:34

They will have with their Lord whatever they desire; that is the reward of those who good.

Surah 43:70

Enter the garden, you and your wives; you shall be made happy.

The prohibition of alcohol in Islam.

Back to Rebuttals, and exposing the lies of the Answering Islam team section.

Contradictions and History of Corruption in the Bible.

Islam and the Noble Quran - Questions and Answers.

The 70 Houris (virgins) for men, who will live like kings, in Heaven is actually supported by the Bible!

Bassam Zawadi's Rebuttals section.

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