The Destiny of Humanity - Part 2
In the opening verses of the second chapter of the Qur’an, Surah Al Baqrah, Allah divides mankind into three types believers, disbelievers and hypocrites. After detailing each one’s traits and characteristics Allah invites all of mankind to worship him, the creator of the heavens and the earth. Then Allah lays down a challenge for the arrogant ones to produce a book similar to the Holy Qur’an if they are still in denial, and of course they failed miserably. Then Allah makes things very clear, that after death all people will enter one of two eternal abodes, Paradise or Hell.
The rewards of the righteous believers
After mentioning the torment that Allah has prepared for His miserable enemies who disbelieve in Him and in His Messengers, He mentions the condition of His happy, loyal friends who believe in Him and in his Messengers, adhere to the faith and perform good deeds.
The very first delight that the believer will enjoy is his housing, he will be given palaces, castles in which rivers flow. The believer will live like a real king and Queen. Then after hearing about the beauty of one’s residence, Allah informs them they will receive fruits, fruits that carry the same name as the fruits of this world but the taste and look of them in Paradise will be far superior beyond imagination. So, residence, food and then the third delight and that is the pleasure of the women which Allah has prepared for men in Paradsie.
The women of paradise
Allah describes the women as pure women meaning pure from menstruation, relieving the call of nature, urine, spit, semen and pregnancies – as mentioned by Mujhaid.
We find further descriptions of al-hoor al-‘iyn (Women of Paradise) in other verses of the Qur’an in which Allah describes them as:
“And there will be Hoor (fair females)with wide lovely eyes. Like unto preserved pearls.” [56:22-23]
“(In beauty) they are like rubies and coral.” [55:58]
“Verily, we have created them (maidens) of special creation. And made them virgins. And loving (their husband only), (and) of equal age.” [56:35-37]
“therein (Gardens) will be khairaaatun-Hisaan [fair (wives) good beautiful]” [55:70]
Evidence of Allah’s Ability
In verse 29, Allah informs us that he created all things, and all his creation is for mankind. This affirms the beautiful name of Allah that he is the creator and provider. All things come from him and all things depend on him. After creating everything Allah informs us that he turned towards the heavens, Istawa, to rise above. So, a Muslim must believe that the Al mighty is above His Throne, that His throne is above the heavens, and that He is distinct from his creation (meaning, not incarnate). Without any doubt Allah is above is creation. This is proven through many verses of the Qur’an, Sunnah and consensus of the successors.
Proof from the Qur’an
“Exalt the name of your Lord, the Most High” [87:1]
“They fear their Lord above them” [16:50]
“And He established Himself above the Throne” [7:54]
And the meaning of this verse is mentioned seven times in the Quran.
“To Him ascends good speech.” [35:10]
“Rather, Allaah raised him to Himself” [4:158]
“Do you feel secure that He, who is over the heaven (Allaah) …” [67:16]
Proof from the Sunnah
In a Hadeeth on the authority of Mu‘aawiyah ibn Al-Hakam As-Sulami in the story in which Mu‘aawiyah hit his slave-woman, the Prophet , asked her where Allaah The Almighty was and she said that He was in the Heavens. Then he asked her who he was, and she answered that he was the Messenger of Allaah The Almighty. The Prophet then remarked that she was a true believer. This indicates that he approved of her answer. [Muslim]. [Here, ‘in’ the heavens means above the heavens]
On the authority of ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr ibn Al-‘Aas and his father, the Prophet commanded us to have mercy upon those on earth so that He who is in the heavens would have mercy upon us. [Abu Daawood, At-Tirmithi]
How to deal with the concept of Istiwa
A believer may be very inquisitive and want to ask further questions about ‘how’ Allah ascended and ‘how’ Allah does this and that. But the believer must draw a line in his questioning as there some things we will never fully comprehend. If Allah said so, then it is as he said so without asking ‘how’.
Imam Malik was in a gathering explaining this very verse, and an inquisitive student stood up and asked Imam Malik, “How does Allah ascend, istawa?” Imam Malik’s face became red, and he said the following:
“Istawa, is well known, the how is unknown, and we must believe in it, and questioning these matters is an innovation.”
Upon which he kicked out this questioner seeing him as a trouble maker, a spreader of fitnah.
The Earth was created before Heaven
One of the great mufassir of the Qur’an,Mujahid, mentioned that verse 29, indicates that the earth was created before the Heaven. And he further supports his argument by referring to Surah Fussilat
“Ask ˹them, O Prophet˺, “How can you disbelieve in the One Who created the earth in two Days? And how can you set up equals with Him? That is the Lord of all worlds. He placed on the earth firm mountains, standing high, showered His blessings upon it, and ordained ˹all˺ its means of sustenance—totalling four Days exactly—for all who ask. Then He turned towards the heaven when it was ˹still like˺ smoke, saying to it and to the earth, ‘Submit, willingly or unwillingly.’ They both responded, ‘We submit willingly.’ So He formed the heaven into seven heavens in two Days, assigning to each its mandate. And We adorned the lowest heaven with ˹stars like˺ lamps ˹for beauty˺ and for protection. That is the design of the Almighty, All-Knowing.” [41:9-12]
This verse testifies to the fact that the earth was created before heaven. For further details on all that has been discussed refer to Islamic Courses Online, there are many great courses to choose from, beginning with ‘The Destiny of Humanity.’
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