This blog continues the series of studies looking at references to the Garden(s) of Paradise, as depicted in the Qur’an. Our last blog on this matter was on December 1.
The next relevant passage is 16:30-32 (Yusuf Ali):
To the righteous (when) it is said, “What is it that your Lord has revealed?” they say, “All that is good.” To those who do good, there is good in
this world, and the Home of the Hereafter is even better and excellent indeed is the Home of the righteous,-Gardens of Eternity which they will enter: beneath them flow (pleasant) rivers: they will have therein all that they wish: thus doth Allah reward the righteous,-
(Namely) those whose lives the angels take in a state of purity, saying (to them), “Peace be on you; enter ye the Garden, because of (the good)
which ye did (in the world).
Clearly, the “righteous” or “pious” are those who value Qur’anic revelation as “good”, as indeed a genuine revelation from God. In accord with this, ‘doing good’ is doing that which is required by the Qur’an and all who live this way will experience Allah’s blessing in this world and the next. In the Hereafter awaits their “home”, a far more excellent home than any they presently enjoy. This home is paradise, the “Gardens of Eternity” (some translators render this alternatively “Gardens of Eden”). The typical Qur’anic description of paradise follows, a well-watered place – something that would have meant a great deal to those more used to hot, arid climes.
Death occurs when angels take lives. In the case of the righteous their lives are taken “in a state of purity”, which begs the question as to what is meant by “purity” and, for that matter, impurity. At death the angels will address faithful Muslims and greet them with the blessing of peace, inviting them to enter the Garden of Paradise because of the good they have done in the world.
The previous verses (vv26-29), have concerned the terrible fate that awaits those who plot against Allah’s way, against Islam. These are those who attribute partners to Allah – a clear denouncement of Christians. Christians will be utterly humiliated on the Day of Resurrection.
Then, on the Day of Judgment, He will cover them with shame, and say: “Where are My ‘partners’ concerning whom ye used to dispute (with the godly)?” Those endued with knowledge will say: “This Day, indeed, are the Unbelievers covered with shame and misery (v27).
When the angels take the lives of Christians they will be in a state of wrong-doing. They may protest that they did not know they were doing anything wrong, but this will not spare them. Instead, they will be told to enter the Gates of Hell and that they deserve to do so on account of their arrogance:
“So enter the gates of Hell, to dwell therein. Thus evil indeed is the abode of the arrogant” (v29).
These verses make it plain that Islam is a works-religion, while making acceptance of the divine authority of the Qur’an as an essential pre-requisite for entering Paradise. The doctrine of the Trinity, as inadequately understood by Muhammad, is treated with derision. The Qur’an teaches that it is an abomination to hold this view, so serious a matter of shirk that those who believe in this will face the full venting of Allah’s wrath and eternal shame and misery.
By contrast with this perspective Peter opens his first epistle by indicating how integral each member of the Trinity is to the work of salvation, a redemption based on the work of God not, as per Islam, human achievement:
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance (1 Peter 1: 1-2).
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Posted December 22, 2009
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