Paradise and, based upon these descriptions,"try to imagine this
perfect place. But before we do this, let's look at a few important
points. In today's societies, many people have erroneous ideas and
impressions intheir conscious and subconscious minds. As such
obstacles cause them to formulate a mistaken view, we must describe
some basic Islamic concepts whose meanings have departedfrom their
original understanding.
With this in mind, we first have to distinguish between "blessing"
and"dissipation."
In the following pages, we will see that the Qur'an describes Paradise
as an extremelyluxurious and magnificent place, and that life therein
is as comfortable and attractive as it can be.
However, to many people today, such a life is not so much "Islamic" as
it is a natural outcomeof being alienated from Allah and religious
moralteaching.
So, because of this erroneous understanding that dominates society,
very many people think that a comfortable, luxurious,and ostentatious
life, and all that goes along with it, are "un-Islamic." They see such
things as expensive clothes, rich food, entertainment, dinner parties,
magnificently appointedhouses, d�cor, and valuable art works as
belonging to ignorant people cut off from theirreligion. They usually
calla life filled with these things "dissolute," and criticize those
who give this society its name as"living undisciplined lives of
dissolution." The word "dissolution" (safahat) comes from theArabic
safih, and can be translated as "a lack of discipline, overindulgence,
a weakness of mind that comes from living an irresponsible life of
wealth and comfort."
Here, we encounter a false understanding thatmust be corrected. The
life of Paradise that Allahhas been pleased to choose for His
servants, as well as a life that contains every kind of luxury,
comfort, and ostentation, is also the most beautiful and noble way of
life, one that conforms as closely as possible to religious moral
teaching.
A false definition of dissolution opens the way to misunderstanding.
Dissolution, or rebellion against Allah through a lack of discipline
and overindulgence, is a condition of the human mind. People are not
dissolute because of their clothes, ostentatious houses, aesthetic
environments, or material wealth. Rather, the problem is intheir
minds.
The natural result of this situation is this: If people have a
Qur'anic morality and a strong faith, they can live among the richest
opulence imaginable without ever becoming dissolute. On the contrary,
because they view everything they encounter according to the Qur'anic
criteria and moral teaching, they see all of the beauty surrounding
them as a blessing. In other words,they realize that all of these
things are gifts from Allah. So, if Muslimsknow that Allah has given
all of the surrounding riches, beauty, opulence, and magnificence,
naturally they thank our Lord for what He has provided. This is, after
all, why all blessings have been created.
If we applied this general way of thinking to our present society, we
would have to say that those who live a dissolute life and turn away
from Allah's commands have gone astray, because they do not see that
all of their possibilities are blessings from Him. If they saw these
things as blessings, this understanding would lead them to give
thanksto Allah. And then, they would use these blessings as Allah
intended them to be used: avoiding waste and using them in a
waypleasing to Him.
So, wealth can be defined in two ways. Some rich people are believers
who consider all of their possessions tobe blessings from Allah, while
other rich people go astray by consideringall of their possessions
astheir own, forget Allah, and fall into dissolution. However, the
model thatAllah has proposed for all of His servants is wealth, as
mentioned in the first model above. Wealth and poverty are tests for
believers. Although some believers may be tested by poverty, Allah
commands: "We desired to show kindness to those who were oppressed in
the land, and to make them leaders and inheritors" (Surat al-Qasas,
5). This might happen in the world, but it certainly will happen in
the afterlife.
Therefore, it would be very wrong for Muslims to find fault with
grand, luxurious, and opulent lives. Muslims must not shun such people
and regard them with disdain, because, after all, all material things
in this life (e.g., fine clothes, delicious food, magnificent homes
and works of art) were created for Muslims, as we read in Surat
al-A'raf,32:
Say: "Who has forbiddenthe fine clothing that Allah has produced for
His servants and the good kinds of provision?" Say: "On the Day of
Rising, such things will be exclusivelyfor those who had faith during
their life in the hereafter�"
The Qur'an gives the example of Prophet Sulayman (as), to whom Allah
gave great wealth. In fact, it describes thesepossessions, as well as
his opulent palace and works of art, in Surah Saba', 12-13 and Surat
an-Naml, 44.
The important thing here is that Sulayman (as) gave thanks to Allah
amid all of these magnificent possessions,for he knew that they were a
mercy from our Lord. By relating his words: "Truly do I love the love
of good with a view to the glory of my Lord" (Surah Sad, 32), the
Qur'an draws our attention to his deep understanding.
This example shows us that the love of possessions, defined here as
"the love of good," is legitimate as long as it is a means to praise
Allah. No doubt, believers who have this kind of love will not
hesitate to use their possessions as Allah directs. Possessions are
ablessing belonging to Allah, and so those who have them will use them
as Allah commands.
But if possessions are not seen as a blessing, dissolution sets in.
The Qur'an gives many examples of how deviators understand the meaning
of riches. One of the clearest examples is that of Qarun, a rich man
who"gloated" (Surat al-Qasas, 76) and said: "I have only been given it
because of the knowledge I have" (Surat al-Qasas, 78). Sucha love of
possessions cannot bring people close to Allah; rather, it diverts
them from His way and alienates them from faith. The Qur'an describes
this type of love as:
Truly man is ungrateful to his Lord, and indeed he bears witness to
that. Truly he is fierce in his love of wealth. (Surat al-'Adiyat,
6-8)
So, for this reason Muslims must view wealth according to the Qur'an's
criteria and pursue it only to please Allah and serve Islam. They must
desire all of Allah's blessings, becauseall blessings of this earthly
life have been created for those faithfuland sincere servants who
exert every effort to please and serve Allah. We have to be
continually thankful for these blessings and follow Sulayman's (as)
example: "What an excellent servant! He truly turned to his Lord"
(Surah Sad, 30).
Those who live according to the real spirit of the Qur'an's moral
teachings and adopt the point of view described above will be deemed
"worthy and qualified" to enter Paradise, which possesses, as one of
its most salient characteristics, eternal splendor and dazzling wealth
and beauty. People who think and feel like Sulayman (as), who said:
"Truly do I love the love of good with a view to the glory of my Lord"
(Surah Sad, 32) amid all of this beauty, are believers.
Since this is how believers will think in Paradise, their true home,
they must establish this point of view in this world, which is no more
than a preparation for the world to come. Far from regarding wealth,
beauty, and splendor as dissolution, believers must know that every
blessing is a mercy from our Lord, recognize its value, learn to enjoy
it, and be thankful.
The blessings of Paradisethat we will look at in the following pages
must be examined from this point of view.
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