{"id":165013,"date":"2022-05-05T14:30:29","date_gmt":"2022-05-05T14:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/?p=165013"},"modified":"2022-05-05T14:30:30","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T14:30:30","slug":"will-people-get-bored-in-paradise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/?p=165013","title":{"rendered":"Will People Get Bored in Paradise?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Spahic Omer<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the\ncharges often levelled against Islam is that the inhabitants of Paradise\n(Jannah) will get bored eventually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people yet\ngo further and remark sarcastically that the condition of Hell will be better,\nfor all the fun and pleasure-loving persons will be there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To such people,\neternity, coupled with monotony and ennui, spells a misadventure. It means\ndullness and boredom from which there will be neither relief nor escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently a\nstudent of mine approached me and said that he often hears about these things,\nbut was not so sure how to respond in a convincing way, if needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My reaction was\ntripartite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, having\ngrown up in a Communist milieu, the slur sounded familiar to me. I myself have\nheard it many times. It was a line of attack against Islam and its worldview,\nespecially by youth who fantasised but about unbounded materialistic delights\nand indulgences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, based\nsolely on the instantaneous reaction of my heart and my emotions, I commented\nthat saying such a thing was an absurdity – yet stupidity – that could be\nconcocted only by the corresponding absurdities of the ideologies of atheism,\nhedonism and nihilism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These\nideologies and their shallow worldviews managed to hijack and destroy all\ncommon sense and wisdom, and in the name of knowledge and erudition, subtly\nserve the opposites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One wonders who\nor what gave these people a licence to speak about something they do not\nbelieve in, and to talk about something they do not even regard as plausible.\nThey cannot use their own standards and arbitrate thus a realm where a\ncompletely different set of standards is supposed to rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Certainly, it\nis grossly inappropriate for the worshippers of the Idols of the Mind (to\nborrow Francis Bacons expression) to meddle in the most advanced matters of\nthe worshippers of the Creator and Lord of life and its inestimable worlds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the same\ntoken, it is unfitting for such as are trapped in the recesses of Platos Cave\nto try to intercede in and weigh up the most sophisticated ontological, as well\nas intellectual-cum-spiritual, dimension of Islam, which transcends not only\nthe hollowness of the Cave, but also the expanses of the physical existence\ntaken as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The law of\nproportionality<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third, rationalising the matter, it could be said that it all boils down to the law of proportionality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almighty Allah\ninforms us that the life in Paradise (Jannah) is eternal, and that the width of\nParadise is that of the heavens and of the earth, that is to say, of the entire\nuniverse (Alu \u02dcImran, 133).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To most\nscholars, the latter is to be understood literally. However, some believe that\nthe Quranic words \u0153as wide as the heavens and the earth\u009d are to be taken\nmetaphorically, in the manner that Paradise is so vast that the best thing to\ndo is to compare its extensiveness with the extensiveness of the universe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And since the\nsize of the universe is unknown to man, in realistically, together with worldly\ninfinite, terms the width of Paradise is likewise implied thereby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, man is\nable to speak only about a small observable portion of the universe. Even that\nis expressed in billions of light years (one light year is about 9 trillion\nkilometres).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to\nNASA, \u0153the universe is a big, big place. No one knows if it is infinitely large, or even\nif ours is the only universe that exists. And other parts of the universe, very\nfar away, might be quite different from the universe closer to home.\u009d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hence, the infinity of time calls\nfor the \u0153virtual infinity\u009d of space, which in turn calls for the \u0153infinity\u009d of\neverything else associated with Paradise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last two modes of infinity are\nrather allegorical, highlighting the perfection, intensity and size of Paradise\nas contrasted with the imperfection and smallness of this fleeting worldly\nlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accordingly, infinite will be the\nranges and varieties available in Paradise as well, due to which its\ninhabitants will never run out of choices. Alternatives and selections will be\nnever-ending, ruling out the prospect of routines in the terrestrial sense of\nthe concept. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing in Paradise will be common,\nusual, or mundane. Rather, everything will be ever exceptional, blissful and\nimpeccable. Everything will be exhilarating and original. If the principle\n\u0153theres nothing new under the sun\u009d governs this world, the opposite is true in\nrelation to the Hereafter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As per a verse in the Quran\n(al-Baqarah, 25), whenever the residents of Paradise are provided with a\nprovision of fruit therefrom, they will say that they were provided with the\nsame thing before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, they will be told that things\nare given to them in resemblance; which means, saying that the fruit is the\nsame as what they were given before \u201c either in this world or in Paradise \u201c is\nwhat would seem to people. Colours and shapes may be the same, but tastes will\nalways be different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why it is an Islamic\nstatement of belief that nothing in Paradise resembles anything in the life of\nthis world, except in name. Essences are completely different. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, therefore, since routines and\nmonotonous repetitions are non-existent in Paradise, so are boredom, ennui and\nweariness. Moreover, since the life of Paradise is the only genuine life, and\nits purpose, value and happiness the only genuine purpose, value and happiness,\nits people will never – and can never – get tired of the truth, ultimate\nreality and authenticity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allah says that in Paradise people will have whatever their souls desire, whatever they ask for\n(Fussilat, 31), and whatever delights their eyes (al-Zukhruf, 71), abiding\neternally therein (al-Anbiya, 102).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allah also says\nthat \u0153no soul knows what has been hidden for them of comfort for eyes (in\nParadise) as reward for what they used to do\u009d (al-Sajdah, 17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prophet\nMuhammad (pbuh) further added that in Paradise are bounties which no eye has\nseen, no ear has heard, and no human heart (mind) has ever perceived (Sahih\nal-Bukhari).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same\nvein, the Prophet (pbuh) said that in Paradise a man will be given the strength\nof a hundred men to enjoy the given pleasures (Jami al-Tirmidhi), and his\nheight will be sixty cubits (about 30 meters) (Sahih al-Bukhari).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, the\nresidents of Paradise will be primed for their eternal home. They will have what it takes\nto make the most of what is presented to them. There will be no incongruity of\nany kind or degree. Infinitude is the word for Paradise and everything connected\nwith it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The people of Paradise are meant for\nParadise. They are created for each other. Once united, the intended order of things,\nmeanings and experiences is thus established once and for all. A person\ndiscovers and finds himself in Paradise. He is himself only when he is admitted\ninto it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Paradise people will happily\ndeclare: \u0153It is He who has granted\nus, through His favour, an everlasting dwelling wherein we shall experience no\nhardship nor any fatigue\u009d (Fatir, 35). Nobody in Paradise will ever desire any\ntransfer from it, or any change to it (al-Kahf, 108).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only in Paradise a person feels at\nhome. Paradise as the Abode of Peace (supreme happiness and joy) is what a\nperson ever yearned for, consciously or otherwise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paradise, therefore, is at once the\nexemplification and end of all longings and desires. It gives sense to life and\nits perennial struggles. A persons life in Paradise becomes an epitome of\nfaultlessness and fulfilment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all, what else to expect from\na life in close proximity to Almighty Allah, and from a life that has been\nconceived and created exclusively for the purposes of heavenly delight and\npleasure by Him who is the All-Mighty, the Majestic, the Most Generous, the\nMost Loving and the Source of All Goodness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What else to expect, furthermore, from Him who is Beautiful and who loves and is the source of all beauty, and who is Perfect and Pure and who loves and is the source of all perfection and purity.***<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Assoc. Prof. Dr. Spahic Omer is an academic in the Department of History and Civilisation, AHAS KIRKHS. The views expressed here are those of the author\/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of IIUMToday.<\/em>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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