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 March 12.
The next relevant passage is from Surah 40:40-41 (Yusuf Ali):
40: “He that works evil will not be requited but by the like thereof: and he that works a righteous deed – whether man or woman – and is a Believer such will enter the Garden (of Bliss): Therein will they have abundance without measure.
41: “And O my people! How (strange) it is for me to call you to Salvation while ye call me to the Fire!
In context the speaker is an unidentified Egyptian who embraces the teaching of Moses – teaching which in the Qur’an is deemed to concern the promotion of Islam. In verse 34 he reminds the Egyptians how they doubted the Islamic message of Joseph when Allah sent him to them. In other words, history is repeating itself. The passage goes on with Pharaoh (Fir’aun) calling on Haman (implying confusion concerning biblical traditions given that Haman was second-in-command to another ancient ruler, but Persian, at a much later point in history, as in the book of Esther) to build him a tower reaching to the heavens by which the Pharaoh might “mount up” to the god of Moses (added confusion on Muhammad’s part, now misplacing the Tower of Babel tradition), whom Pharaoh calls a liar. In this context the unidentified Egyptian Muslim calls upon the Egyptians to follow him, presenting himself as the guide to the way of Islam. No attempt is made to explain why an apparent nobody should have any credibility. Apparently, it is sufficient that he is a Muslim exhorting others to embrace Islam. Anyway, it is in this context that this apparent nobody, who evidently meets opposition from Egyptians, assures his hearers that if they reject Moses’ supposedly Islamic message they will perish, while those who accept it, that is, working ‘a righteous deed’, will enter the Garden of Paradise.
It is significant to note how limited the Islamic concept of salvation is, merely involving the enjoyment of unlimited abundance in Paradise. By contrast God’s plan of salvation in the Bible is cosmic in its proportions, going far beyond rescuing individuals from eternal destruction and involves the formation of Christlike character and beyond that the creation of a new heavens and a new earth.
Posted May 1, 2011
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