Topic: Mates, Spouses
View Aspects
وَبَشِّرِ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ أَنَّ لَهُمْ جَنَّٰتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَٰرُ ۖ كُلَّمَا رُزِقُوا۟ مِنْهَا مِن ثَمَرَةٍ رِّزْقًا ۙ قَالُوا۟ هَٰذَا ٱلَّذِى رُزِقْنَا مِن قَبْلُ ۖ وَأُتُوا۟ بِهِۦ مُتَشَٰبِهًا ۖ وَلَهُمْ فِيهَآ أَزْوَٰجٌ مُّطَهَّرَةٌ ۖ وَهُمْ فِيهَا خَٰلِدُونَ
3:16, 134, 196, 199; 4:14, 58, 123; 5:13, 86; 7:44; 9:72, 89, 100; 10:10; 13:36; 22:15, 24; 25:11; 2:18; 47:16; 58:23; 61:13; 64:10.
3:16; 4:58.
古兰经» 教导说, 每一种被创造出来的东西, 为了它充分的发展都需要一个配偶。天园中, 正直的男女将有纯洁的配偶来完成他们的精神发展, 成全他们的幸福。他们将成为哪种配偶, 只是在后世才能真正认识。
这节经文简单描绘了信教者后世将受得的酬报。批评伊斯兰教的人对这一描绘提出了各种各样的异议。这种批评的基础是, 完全误解了伊斯兰教对后世赐福的教导。«古兰经» 着重地声言人们是无法知道那些赐福的性质的 (32:18)。相传穆圣曾经说过: “没有眼睛看到过它们, 也没有耳朵听到过它们, 也没有人们的头脑能想象它们” (布哈里)。自然会产生这样一个问题:为什么后世赐福的名称要用这个世界的物质东西来称呼?这是因为 «古兰经» 中的话不是仅对智力高的人们说的, 因此要用大家都能懂得的简单的语言。在描绘后世赐福时, «古兰经» 中用的一般都是这个世界上看来是好的东西的名称, 并告诉信教者他们将在后世以较好的形式来得到所有这些东西。为了显示这种重要对照, 才使用熟悉的用词, 否则, 在今世欢乐与来生赐福之间就会没有共同的东西。而且, 根据伊斯兰教教义, 将来的生命在这种意义上并不是精神的, 即:并不只是由内心状态组成的, 即使在将来的生命, 人的灵魂也还有一个身体, 不过那个身体不是物质的。人们可由梦境形成一些这种观念。一个人在梦中见到的许多景象不能称为内心的或纯精神的, 因为在那种状态下他也有身体。有时发现他自己在流着河水的天园中, 吃着果实、喝着牛奶。很难说梦中的情况只是内心的状态。在梦中快活地喝着牛奶, 无疑是一种经验, 但没有人能说这是他在这个世界上喝的物质的牛奶。来生的精神幸福不会只是我们今世享受的主的馈赠的主观现实。我们今生有的东西仅是人们在来生将看到的主的真实馈赐的一种表现。此外,”天园” 代表信仰,”河流” 代表善行。天园无河流则不能旺盛, 信仰也不可无善行。因此, 为达到灵魂的拯救, 信仰与善行不可分离。在后世, 天园将提醒信教者们今生的信仰而河流将提醒他们的善行。他们会知道, 信仰与善行不是徒劳的。如果从 “这是我们以前受赐的” 这句话中得出结论说: 在天园中信教者将会得到他们在今生享受的这样的果实, 那是错误的。因为, 正如已说明了的那样, 这两种赏赐并不是等同的。后世的果实, 实际上是他们自身信仰品质的形象。当他们在吃这些果实时, 他们立刻认识到也记起这是他们今生信仰的果实; 他们为了感激这种情况, 就说: “这是我们以前受赐的。” 这句话也可意味着,”这是过去答应给我们的东西。”
تَجْرِیْ مِنْ تَحْتِھَا الْاَنْھٰرُ سے مراد یہ ہے کہ وہ نہریں ان باغوں سے تعلق رکھتی ہیں اور یہ ظاہر ہے کہ جس شخص کا باغ ہوگا اس میں بہنے والی نہر بھی اسی کی ملکیت ہوگی۔ پس تَجْرِیْ مِنْ تَحْتِھَا الْاَنْھٰرُ کے الفاظ رکھ کر یہ بتانا مقصود ہے کہ جنت میں بہنے والی نہریں مومنوں کی ملکیت ہوں گی۔
اَزْوَاجٌ جوڑے یعنی ایسے وجود جن کے ساتھ مل کر ان کی تمام ترقیات اور تمام آرام مکمل ہوں گے۔ قرآن کریم سے معلوم ہوتا ہے کہ سوائے ذات باری کے ہر چیز ایک جوڑے کی محتاج ہے۔ اس قاعدہ کے تحت جنتی بھی جوڑے کے محتاج ہوں گے خواہ مرد ہوں خواہ عورتیں۔ باقی رہا یہ سوال کہ وہ جوڑے کس قسم کے ہوں گے یہ تفصیل اللہ تعالیٰ کے علم میں ہے انسان اس کو تفصیلاً اسی وقت معلوم کرے گا جب وہ جنت میں جائے گا۔
3:16, 134, 196, 199; 4:14, 58, 123; 5:13, 86; 7:44; 9:72, 89, 100; 10:10; 13:36; 22:15, 24; 25:11; 2:18; 47:16; 58:23; 61:13; 64:10.
3:16; 4:58.
The Qur’an teaches that every created thing stands in need of a mate for its full development. In Paradise righteous men and women will have pure mates for perfecting their spiritual development and completing their happiness. What kind of mates these will be, will be realized only in the Hereafter.
This verse gives a brief description of the rewards which the believers will have in the next world. Critics of Islam have raised all sorts of objections to this description. The criticism is based upon a complete misunderstanding of the Islamic teaching about heavenly blessings. The Qur’an emphatically declares that it is beyond human mind to comprehend their nature (32:18). The Holy Prophet is reported to have said: "No eye has seen them, nor has any ear heard of them, nor can the mind of man conceive of them" (Bukhari). The question naturally arises, why have the blessings of Heaven been given the names used for material things in this world? This is because the address of the Qur’an is not merely to those people who are intellectually advanced. Therefore, it has used simple words which can be understood by all. While describing the heavenly blessings, the Qur’an has used the names of things generally looked upon as good in this world, and believers are told that they would get all these thi
3:16, 134, 196, 199; 4:14, 58, 123; 5:13, 86; 7:44; 9:72, 89, 100; 10:10; 13:36; 22:15, 24; 25:11; 32:20; 47:16; 58:23; 61:13; 64:10.
3:16; 4:58.
Important Words:
بشر (give glad tidings) is derived from بشر (bashshara), i.e. he gave glad tidings, which again is derived from بشر(bashara). They say بشر i.e. he laid bare its skin. Thus البشرة means, the outer and visible part of the skin. So بشر(bashshara) means, he gave or imparted news which changed the colour of the listener. The word has generally come to be used in connection with good or happy news. But it is also sometimes used in connection with bad news (e.g. 3:22). بشیر means, one who announces good news to a people or a person. All Prophets are spoken of as بشیر and نذیر i.e. givers of good news to those who believe in them and givers of bad news to those who reject them (Aqrab & Mufradat).
الصالحات (good works) is the plural of الصالحة which is derived from the verb صلح (the opposite of فسد) meaning, he or it became good or suitable and proper. ھذا الشیء یصلح لك means, this thing is suitable to you or is fit or meet for you (Aqrab). So الصالحات would be used about all those deeds and actions which are not only good intrinsically but are also meet and suitable. See also under 2:12.
جنات (gardens) which is the plural of جنة (a garden) is derived from جن meaning, it veiled, concealed, or covered a thing. So جنة means, any garden having trees by which the ground is covered or concealed; an orchard or garden having luxuriousness and denseness of verdure (Aqrab & Lane). Heaven has been called جنة or garden, because: (1) the mercy of God will 'cover' its dwellers just as trees in an orchard cover the ground thereof; or (2) because the blessings of Heaven are 'hidden' from the eyes of man"; or again (3) because Heaven is like a garden in which the trees represent good faith and the streams good actions.
الانھار (streams) is the plural of نھر (nahr) or نھر (nahar). They say نھرالماء i.e. the water flowed on the earth and cut out a channel for itself. Thus نھر (nahr) or نھر (nahar) means, a channel through which a stream or a river flows; a stream or river itself. نھر (nahar) also means, abundance (Aqrab).
ازواج (mates) is the plural of زوج which signifies, anything that is one of a pair or couple; it does not mean a pair but only one of a pair, whether male or female (Aqrab). The word زوج also means, a comrade (Lane).
خالدون (shall abide) is derived fromخلد which means, he remained and lived on. خلدبمکان means, he stayed or abided in a place. خلود means, staying on, or living without change or deterioration for a long time but not necessarily forever (Aqrab & Mufradat).
Commentary:
This verse gives a brief description of the rewards which the believers will have in the next world.
Critics of Islam have raised all sorts of objections to this description. They say that: (1) The promise of such rewards is only an appeal to greed and a faith based upon greed is not worth the name. (2) The Quran promises material rewards to the believers and this is objectionable. (3) If the rewards of the next world are going to be material, then it must be supposed that the same body which one has in this life will be resurrected after death and this is against all reason, because this body perishes and the particles of one body are used in the making of several other bodies. To whom and to how many will then the same body be given in the next world? (4) Believers are promised wives in Heaven which shows that sex relations will continue in the next world. An appeal to sex is very objectionable for spiritual ends. Sex relations are necessary only for the continuation of the race in this world. Why should there be such a thing in the next? (5) The Quranic Paradise appears to be a place of luxury and sensual pleasures. There is thus nothing spiritual about the Islamic conception of the next life.
This criticism is based on a failure to understand the real Islamic teaching. The Quran has made it clear that in this life it is not possible for man to comprehend the nature of the rewards of the next. It says: No soul knows what joy of the eyes is kept hidden for them, as a reward for their actions (32:18). That is to say, whatever the Quran says about Heaven and Hell is only metaphorical. The descriptions are not to be taken in the sense in which they are ordinarily taken in this world. The Holy Prophet says of the blessings of the next world: "No eye has seen them, nor has any ear heard of them; nor can the mind of man form any conception of them" (Bukhari). If the blessings of the next life are to be like the joys of this life, we should be able to form some idea of them, no matter how remote they may be. The blessings of the next life, therefore, must be quite different from the blessings of this life.
At another place in the Quran we read: The similitude of the Heaven promised to the God-fearing is that through it flow streams; its fruit is everlasting, and so is its shade. That is the reward of those who are righteous, and the reward of the disbelievers is Fire (13:36). Now the fruit of this world is not everlasting, so in order to be everlasting the fruit of the next world as well as its streams will have to be taken as something other than material. Again we read: A similitude of the Paradise promised to the righteous: Therein are rivers of water which corrupts not; and rivers of milk of which the taste changes not; and rivers of wine, a delight to those who drink; and rivers of clarified honey (47:16). There is nothing material in this. About the wine of Heaven we read: Wherein there will be no intoxication, nor will they be exhausted thereby (37:48). Again, And their Lord will give them to drink a beverage that is pure (76:22). Thus, wine in Heaven will not only be pure itself but will purify the drinkers as well. Elsewhere the Quran says that the pure wine of Paradise will be tempered with Tasnim (83:28), which means 'abundance' and 'height '. In the cup of wine that will pass from hand to hand in Heaven God says there will be neither vanity nor sin (52:24). As against this, the wine of this world is described in the Quran as: Wine and the game of hazard and idols and divining arrows are only an abomination of Satan’s handiwork. So shun each one of them that you may prosper. Satan desires only to create enmity and hatred among you by means of wine and the game of hazard and to keep you back from the remembrance of Allah and from Prayer (5:91, 92). This proves that the wine of the next world is quite different; it is pure and purifying and nothing material.
The blessings of Heaven have indeed nothing in common with their counterparts of this world except the name. Ibn ‘Abbas, the Prophet’s cousin, also says the same thing (Jarir).
Now the question arises: Why have the blessings of Heaven been given the names used of material things in this world? This is so because Islam is meant for all kinds of people. It does not address only the intellectually advanced but also all others. Therefore it uses simple words which can be understood by all. The disbelievers used to say that the Prophet disallowed the good things of the world, and his followers were thus deprived of all blessings. Therefore, while describing the blessings in store for the Muslims, God used the names of things generally looked upon as good in this world and told the believers that they would get all these things in a better form. The water of this world spoils, but believers would have water in the next which will not spoil. Gardens are blessings but they decay; so believers will have gardens which will last forever. The unbelievers drank intoxicating wine which made them drunk and which dulled their senses; but the wine which the believers will get in Heaven will be pure and purifying. It is to bring out this important contrast that familiar words are used; otherwise there is nothing common between the delights of this world and the blessings of the next.
It may be added here that, according to Islam, the next life is not spiritual in the sense that it will just consist of a mental state and nothing else. Even in the next life the human soul will have a kind of body; only, it will not be material. One can glean some idea of this from the phenomenon of dreams. The Quran says: Allah takes the souls of human beings at the time of their death; and (He also takes the souls of), those that have not died, during their sleep. Then He retains those against which He has decreed death, and sends (back) the others till an appointed term. In that surely are signs for a people who reflect (39:43). Death and sleep resemble each other, the difference being that whereas in death the human soul is completely and permanently severed from the body, in sleep the severance is only temporary and partial. Now the scenes which a man witnesses in a dream cannot be called purely mental or spiritual, because he has a body also in his dreams and finds himself sometimes in gardens and streams, and eats fruits and drinks milk. It is hard to say that the contents of dreams are only mental states. The milk enjoyed in a dream is no doubt a real experience, but no one can say that it is the material milk found in this world. Dreams have a meaning of their own. For instance, eating mangoes in a dream symbolizes a righteous child or a righteous heart; eating grapes signifies love and fear of God; and eating bananas, a good and lawful subsistence which is also easy of attainment. In short, the spiritual blessings of the next life will not be a mere subjective realization of the gifts of God with which we become familiar in this world. As a matter of fact, what we enjoy here is just a representation of the real and true gifts of God which man will find in the next world.
Again, gardens represent faith; and streams, good actions. Gardens cannot prosper without streams, nor faith without good actions. Therefore faith and actions are inseparable for the attainment of salvation. In the next world, gardens will remind the believers of their faith in this life and streams will remind them of their good works. They will know, then, that their faith and good works have not gone in vain.
The flowing of streams or rivers beneath the gardens also implies that every person in Heaven will have a free and unrestricted enjoyment of his portion. In this world, a single stream often serves several gardens and there is the possibility of a quarrel over it; but in Heaven each garden will have its own stream exclusively meant for itself. See also 10:10.
It is wrong to conclude from the words, This is what was given us before, that in Heaven the believers will be given such fruit as they will have enjoyed in this world, because, as already explained, the two are not the same. The fruit of the next world will, in fact, be the image of the quality of their own faith. When they will eat it, they will at once recognize and remember that it is the fruit of the faith they had in this world; and it will be out of gratitude for this that they will say: This is what was given us before.
The expression rendered as, was given us, may also mean, 'was promised us'; and in this sense it would mean, this is what was promised to us in the world.
The word متشابھا (mutually resembling) refers to the resemblance between the acts of worship performed by believers in this world and the fruits thereof in Heaven. The acts of worship performed in this life will appear to believers as fruit in the next. The more sincere and the more appropriate a man’s worship, the more will he enjoy his portion of the fruit in Paradise and the better in quality will it be. It, therefore, lies in one’s own power to improve the quality of one’s fruit as one likes.
The expression, mutually resembling, also implies that in Paradise one spiritual food will completely harmonize with the other, so that the possibility of spiritual disease will be eliminated altogether. It also means that the food in Heaven will be suited to each and every individual and to his stage of progress and degree of development.
The words, they will abide, signify that the believers will go on abiding in Heaven and will not be subject to any change or decay. Man dies only when he cannot assimilate food or when someone kills him. But since the food of Paradise will be perfectly suited to every individual and since man will have pure and peaceful companions, death and decay will automatically disappear.
The Faithful will also have pure mates in Heaven. A good wife is a joy and a comfort. The Faithful try to have good wives in this world, and they will have good and virtuous company in the next. Yet these joys of Heaven are not physical.
A typical Christian comment on this subject is made by Sir William Muir: "It is very remarkable that the notices in the Coran of this voluptuous paradise are almost entirely confined to a time when, whatever the tendency of his desires, Mohammad was living chaste and temperate with a single wife of three score years of age. It is noteworthy that in the Medina Surahs, that is, in all the voluminous revelations of the ten years following the Hegira women are only twice referred to as constituting one of the delights of paradise and on both occasions in these simple words: 'And to them (believers) there shall be therein pure wives'. Was it that the soul of Mohammad had at that period no longings after what he had then to satiety the enjoyment of? Or that a closer contact with Jewish principles and morality repressed the budding pruriency of the revelation, and covered with merited confusion the picture of his sensual paradise which had been drawn at Mecca?" (Muir, page 76).
It is amazing how these Christian critics with pretensions to culture and learning will draw on sheer speculation to attack the honour of a Teacher who is held in the deepest reverence and devotion by many millions of men and women all over the world. They seem emboldened to do so, because Christians today hold political sway over the Muslims. A few centuries of power have made them forget that Muslims ruled over Christendom for a full 1,000 years, and during this time they never said anything unbecoming about Jesus. They respected Christian susceptibilities when Christians were quite unprotected and were much weaker than Muslims are today. Would to God Christians did not feel so elated!
Sir William conveniently ignores the fact that there are other things besides women which are mentioned in the Meccan chapters and to which there is no reference in the Medinite chapters. We read in the Meccan chapters that there will be wine, honey and rivers of milk in Paradise. Was the Holy Prophet deprived even of these things at Mecca that he should have compensated himself by imagining them in Paradise? Nothing could be more absurd than this. Personally the Holy Prophet was much better off at Mecca than he was at Medina. His rich wife Khadijah was then alive and she had placed all her wealth at his disposal. By the time he reached Medina, most of this wealth had been spent in good works and the Holy Prophet was left a poor man with little to live on. If the picture of Paradise was an imaged compensation for his wants, it should have emerged at Medina instead of at Mecca.
Supposing Sir William is right, cannot critics of Christianity say justifiably that Jesus imagined himself the king of the Jews because he was persecuted everywhere? Could they not also say that as Jesus saw nothing of sex life in this world, he remained obsessed with the idea of a second advent and imagined himself a bridegroom taking no less than five virgins for wives? In the words of the New Testament, he is reported to have said: "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For the foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps…And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, Peradventure there will not be enough for us and you: go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut" (Matt. 25:1-10). A bridegroom surrounded by a bevy of virgins—is not this the Heaven of Jesus’ imagination?
But to revert to the subject; the disbelievers at Mecca used to taunt the Muslims about their poverty, saying they had nothing of the good things which they had, so God took over their own phrases and said that the rewards which believers would have in Paradise would be even better. When Islam was established at Medina, the disbelievers gave up their taunts. So God also dropped the earlier descriptions of Paradise. The descriptions in their deep significance, however, hold for all time.
At Mecca, moreover, it was necessary to explain and emphasize the basic belief of Islam. Therefore, greater detail of doctrine is found in the Meccan chapters, and as Paradise, the abode of believers in the afterlife, is an important item of belief, it is dealt with in detail in them. At Medina, on the contrary, practical matters like personal ethics and social legislation became more important. Therefore, greater attention was given to them in the Medinite chapters. The Meccan Surahs also abound in descriptions of Hell. What are they a compensation for?
Sir William Muir also suggests that the Holy Prophet changed his views about Paradise under the influence of the Jews and the Christians of Medina. But he forgets that the stock criticism made by Christian writers is that some Christian slaves had taught the Holy Prophet the Christian scriptures, the substance of which was incorporated in the Quran. Sir William himself alleges that the Holy Prophetlearnt Christianity from Suhaib, a Roman slave at Mecca (The Life of Mahomet, p.67). If the Holy Prophet at Mecca already knew the Christian teachings, he need not have waited for their influence until his arrival at Medina. In point of fact, in the Jewish and the Christian scriptures, there are no descriptions of Paradise. The Jews and the Christians have remained so engrossed in the affairs of this life that their Books do not say much about the life to come. The promises made by their Prophets about the next life have always been taken by them to pertain only to this life. It cannot be imagined that anybody could be influenced by such a teaching.
b
3:16, 134, 196, 199; 4:14, 58, 123; 5:13, 86; 7:44; 9:72, 89, 100; 10:10; 13:36; 22:15, 24; 25:11; 2:18; 47:16; 58:23; 61:13; 64:10.
c
3:16; 4:58.
29T
古兰经» 教导说, 每一种被创造出来的东西, 为了它充分的发展都需要一个配偶。天园中, 正直的男女将有纯洁的配偶来完成他们的精神发展, 成全他们的幸福。他们将成为哪种配偶, 只是在后世才能真正认识。
29U
这节经文简单描绘了信教者后世将受得的酬报。批评伊斯兰教的人对这一描绘提出了各种各样的异议。这种批评的基础是, 完全误解了伊斯兰教对后世赐福的教导。«古兰经» 着重地声言人们是无法知道那些赐福的性质的 (32:18)。相传穆圣曾经说过: “没有眼睛看到过它们, 也没有耳朵听到过它们, 也没有人们的头脑能想象它们” (布哈里)。自然会产生这样一个问题:为什么后世赐福的名称要用这个世界的物质东西来称呼?这是因为 «古兰经» 中的话不是仅对智力高的人们说的, 因此要用大家都能懂得的简单的语言。在描绘后世赐福时, «古兰经» 中用的一般都是这个世界上看来是好的东西的名称, 并告诉信教者他们将在后世以较好的形式来得到所有这些东西。为了显示这种重要对照, 才使用熟悉的用词, 否则, 在今世欢乐与来生赐福之间就会没有共同的东西。而且, 根据伊斯兰教教义, 将来的生命在这种意义上并不是精神的, 即:并不只是由内心状态组成的, 即使在将来的生命, 人的灵魂也还有一个身体, 不过那个身体不是物质的。人们可由梦境形成一些这种观念。一个人在梦中见到的许多景象不能称为内心的或纯精神的, 因为在那种状态下他也有身体。有时发现他自己在流着河水的天园中, 吃着果实、喝着牛奶。很难说梦中的情况只是内心的状态。在梦中快活地喝着牛奶, 无疑是一种经验, 但没有人能说这是他在这个世界上喝的物质的牛奶。来生的精神幸福不会只是我们今世享受的主的馈赠的主观现实。我们今生有的东西仅是人们在来生将看到的主的真实馈赐的一种表现。此外,”天园” 代表信仰,”河流” 代表善行。天园无河流则不能旺盛, 信仰也不可无善行。因此, 为达到灵魂的拯救, 信仰与善行不可分离。在后世, 天园将提醒信教者们今生的信仰而河流将提醒他们的善行。他们会知道, 信仰与善行不是徒劳的。如果从 “这是我们以前受赐的” 这句话中得出结论说: 在天园中信教者将会得到他们在今生享受的这样的果实, 那是错误的。因为, 正如已说明了的那样, 这两种赏赐并不是等同的。后世的果实, 实际上是他们自身信仰品质的形象。当他们在吃这些果实时, 他们立刻认识到也记起这是他们今生信仰的果实; 他们为了感激这种情况, 就说: “这是我们以前受赐的。” 这句话也可意味着,”这是过去答应给我们的东西。”
2
تَجْرِیْ مِنْ تَحْتِھَا الْاَنْھٰرُ سے مراد یہ ہے کہ وہ نہریں ان باغوں سے تعلق رکھتی ہیں اور یہ ظاہر ہے کہ جس شخص کا باغ ہوگا اس میں بہنے والی نہر بھی اسی کی ملکیت ہوگی۔ پس تَجْرِیْ مِنْ تَحْتِھَا الْاَنْھٰرُ کے الفاظ رکھ کر یہ بتانا مقصود ہے کہ جنت میں بہنے والی نہریں مومنوں کی ملکیت ہوں گی۔
3
اَزْوَاجٌ جوڑے یعنی ایسے وجود جن کے ساتھ مل کر ان کی تمام ترقیات اور تمام آرام مکمل ہوں گے۔ قرآن کریم سے معلوم ہوتا ہے کہ سوائے ذات باری کے ہر چیز ایک جوڑے کی محتاج ہے۔ اس قاعدہ کے تحت جنتی بھی جوڑے کے محتاج ہوں گے خواہ مرد ہوں خواہ عورتیں۔ باقی رہا یہ سوال کہ وہ جوڑے کس قسم کے ہوں گے یہ تفصیل اللہ تعالیٰ کے علم میں ہے انسان اس کو تفصیلاً اسی وقت معلوم کرے گا جب وہ جنت میں جائے گا۔
a
3:16, 134, 196, 199; 4:14, 58, 123; 5:13, 86; 7:44; 9:72, 89, 100; 10:10; 13:36; 22:15, 24; 25:11; 32:20; 47:16; 58:23; 61:13; 64:10.
b
3:16; 4:58.
32
Important Words:
بشر (give glad tidings) is derived from بشر (bashshara), i.e. he gave glad tidings, which again is derived from بشر(bashara). They say بشر i.e. he laid bare its skin. Thus البشرة means, the outer and visible part of the skin. So بشر(bashshara) means, he gave or imparted news which changed the colour of the listener. The word has generally come to be used in connection with good or happy news. But it is also sometimes used in connection with bad news (e.g. 3:22). بشیر means, one who announces good news to a people or a person. All Prophets are spoken of as بشیر and نذیر i.e. givers of good news to those who believe in them and givers of bad news to those who reject them (Aqrab & Mufradat).
الصالحات (good works) is the plural of الصالحة which is derived from the verb صلح (the opposite of فسد) meaning, he or it became good or suitable and proper. ھذا الشیء یصلح لك means, this thing is suitable to you or is fit or meet for you (Aqrab). So الصالحات would be used about all those deeds and actions which are not only good intrinsically but are also meet and suitable. See also under 2:12.
جنات (gardens) which is the plural of جنة (a garden) is derived from جن meaning, it veiled, concealed, or covered a thing. So جنة means, any garden having trees by which the ground is covered or concealed; an orchard or garden having luxuriousness and denseness of verdure (Aqrab & Lane). Heaven has been called جنة or garden, because: (1) the mercy of God will 'cover' its dwellers just as trees in an orchard cover the ground thereof; or (2) because the blessings of Heaven are 'hidden' from the eyes of man"; or again (3) because Heaven is like a garden in which the trees represent good faith and the streams good actions.
الانھار (streams) is the plural of نھر (nahr) or نھر (nahar). They say نھرالماء i.e. the water flowed on the earth and cut out a channel for itself. Thus نھر (nahr) or نھر (nahar) means, a channel through which a stream or a river flows; a stream or river itself. نھر (nahar) also means, abundance (Aqrab).
ازواج (mates) is the plural of زوج which signifies, anything that is one of a pair or couple; it does not mean a pair but only one of a pair, whether male or female (Aqrab). The word زوج also means, a comrade (Lane).
خالدون (shall abide) is derived fromخلد which means, he remained and lived on. خلدبمکان means, he stayed or abided in a place. خلود means, staying on, or living without change or deterioration for a long time but not necessarily forever (Aqrab & Mufradat).
Commentary:
This verse gives a brief description of the rewards which the believers will have in the next world.
Critics of Islam have raised all sorts of objections to this description. They say that: (1) The promise of such rewards is only an appeal to greed and a faith based upon greed is not worth the name. (2) The Quran promises material rewards to the believers and this is objectionable. (3) If the rewards of the next world are going to be material, then it must be supposed that the same body which one has in this life will be resurrected after death and this is against all reason, because this body perishes and the particles of one body are used in the making of several other bodies. To whom and to how many will then the same body be given in the next world? (4) Believers are promised wives in Heaven which shows that sex relations will continue in the next world. An appeal to sex is very objectionable for spiritual ends. Sex relations are necessary only for the continuation of the race in this world. Why should there be such a thing in the next? (5) The Quranic Paradise appears to be a place of luxury and sensual pleasures. There is thus nothing spiritual about the Islamic conception of the next life.
This criticism is based on a failure to understand the real Islamic teaching. The Quran has made it clear that in this life it is not possible for man to comprehend the nature of the rewards of the next. It says: No soul knows what joy of the eyes is kept hidden for them, as a reward for their actions (32:18). That is to say, whatever the Quran says about Heaven and Hell is only metaphorical. The descriptions are not to be taken in the sense in which they are ordinarily taken in this world. The Holy Prophet says of the blessings of the next world: "No eye has seen them, nor has any ear heard of them; nor can the mind of man form any conception of them" (Bukhari). If the blessings of the next life are to be like the joys of this life, we should be able to form some idea of them, no matter how remote they may be. The blessings of the next life, therefore, must be quite different from the blessings of this life.
At another place in the Quran we read: The similitude of the Heaven promised to the God-fearing is that through it flow streams; its fruit is everlasting, and so is its shade. That is the reward of those who are righteous, and the reward of the disbelievers is Fire (13:36). Now the fruit of this world is not everlasting, so in order to be everlasting the fruit of the next world as well as its streams will have to be taken as something other than material. Again we read: A similitude of the Paradise promised to the righteous: Therein are rivers of water which corrupts not; and rivers of milk of which the taste changes not; and rivers of wine, a delight to those who drink; and rivers of clarified honey (47:16). There is nothing material in this. About the wine of Heaven we read: Wherein there will be no intoxication, nor will they be exhausted thereby (37:48). Again, And their Lord will give them to drink a beverage that is pure (76:22). Thus, wine in Heaven will not only be pure itself but will purify the drinkers as well. Elsewhere the Quran says that the pure wine of Paradise will be tempered with Tasnim (83:28), which means 'abundance' and 'height '. In the cup of wine that will pass from hand to hand in Heaven God says there will be neither vanity nor sin (52:24). As against this, the wine of this world is described in the Quran as: Wine and the game of hazard and idols and divining arrows are only an abomination of Satan’s handiwork. So shun each one of them that you may prosper. Satan desires only to create enmity and hatred among you by means of wine and the game of hazard and to keep you back from the remembrance of Allah and from Prayer (5:91, 92). This proves that the wine of the next world is quite different; it is pure and purifying and nothing material.
The blessings of Heaven have indeed nothing in common with their counterparts of this world except the name. Ibn ‘Abbas, the Prophet’s cousin, also says the same thing (Jarir).
Now the question arises: Why have the blessings of Heaven been given the names used of material things in this world? This is so because Islam is meant for all kinds of people. It does not address only the intellectually advanced but also all others. Therefore it uses simple words which can be understood by all. The disbelievers used to say that the Prophet disallowed the good things of the world, and his followers were thus deprived of all blessings. Therefore, while describing the blessings in store for the Muslims, God used the names of things generally looked upon as good in this world and told the believers that they would get all these things in a better form. The water of this world spoils, but believers would have water in the next which will not spoil. Gardens are blessings but they decay; so believers will have gardens which will last forever. The unbelievers drank intoxicating wine which made them drunk and which dulled their senses; but the wine which the believers will get in Heaven will be pure and purifying. It is to bring out this important contrast that familiar words are used; otherwise there is nothing common between the delights of this world and the blessings of the next.
It may be added here that, according to Islam, the next life is not spiritual in the sense that it will just consist of a mental state and nothing else. Even in the next life the human soul will have a kind of body; only, it will not be material. One can glean some idea of this from the phenomenon of dreams. The Quran says: Allah takes the souls of human beings at the time of their death; and (He also takes the souls of), those that have not died, during their sleep. Then He retains those against which He has decreed death, and sends (back) the others till an appointed term. In that surely are signs for a people who reflect (39:43). Death and sleep resemble each other, the difference being that whereas in death the human soul is completely and permanently severed from the body, in sleep the severance is only temporary and partial. Now the scenes which a man witnesses in a dream cannot be called purely mental or spiritual, because he has a body also in his dreams and finds himself sometimes in gardens and streams, and eats fruits and drinks milk. It is hard to say that the contents of dreams are only mental states. The milk enjoyed in a dream is no doubt a real experience, but no one can say that it is the material milk found in this world. Dreams have a meaning of their own. For instance, eating mangoes in a dream symbolizes a righteous child or a righteous heart; eating grapes signifies love and fear of God; and eating bananas, a good and lawful subsistence which is also easy of attainment. In short, the spiritual blessings of the next life will not be a mere subjective realization of the gifts of God with which we become familiar in this world. As a matter of fact, what we enjoy here is just a representation of the real and true gifts of God which man will find in the next world.
Again, gardens represent faith; and streams, good actions. Gardens cannot prosper without streams, nor faith without good actions. Therefore faith and actions are inseparable for the attainment of salvation. In the next world, gardens will remind the believers of their faith in this life and streams will remind them of their good works. They will know, then, that their faith and good works have not gone in vain.
The flowing of streams or rivers beneath the gardens also implies that every person in Heaven will have a free and unrestricted enjoyment of his portion. In this world, a single stream often serves several gardens and there is the possibility of a quarrel over it; but in Heaven each garden will have its own stream exclusively meant for itself. See also 10:10.
It is wrong to conclude from the words, This is what was given us before, that in Heaven the believers will be given such fruit as they will have enjoyed in this world, because, as already explained, the two are not the same. The fruit of the next world will, in fact, be the image of the quality of their own faith. When they will eat it, they will at once recognize and remember that it is the fruit of the faith they had in this world; and it will be out of gratitude for this that they will say: This is what was given us before.
The expression rendered as, was given us, may also mean, 'was promised us'; and in this sense it would mean, this is what was promised to us in the world.
The word متشابھا (mutually resembling) refers to the resemblance between the acts of worship performed by believers in this world and the fruits thereof in Heaven. The acts of worship performed in this life will appear to believers as fruit in the next. The more sincere and the more appropriate a man’s worship, the more will he enjoy his portion of the fruit in Paradise and the better in quality will it be. It, therefore, lies in one’s own power to improve the quality of one’s fruit as one likes.
The expression, mutually resembling, also implies that in Paradise one spiritual food will completely harmonize with the other, so that the possibility of spiritual disease will be eliminated altogether. It also means that the food in Heaven will be suited to each and every individual and to his stage of progress and degree of development.
The words, they will abide, signify that the believers will go on abiding in Heaven and will not be subject to any change or decay. Man dies only when he cannot assimilate food or when someone kills him. But since the food of Paradise will be perfectly suited to every individual and since man will have pure and peaceful companions, death and decay will automatically disappear.
The Faithful will also have pure mates in Heaven. A good wife is a joy and a comfort. The Faithful try to have good wives in this world, and they will have good and virtuous company in the next. Yet these joys of Heaven are not physical.
A typical Christian comment on this subject is made by Sir William Muir: "It is very remarkable that the notices in the Coran of this voluptuous paradise are almost entirely confined to a time when, whatever the tendency of his desires, Mohammad was living chaste and temperate with a single wife of three score years of age. It is noteworthy that in the Medina Surahs, that is, in all the voluminous revelations of the ten years following the Hegira women are only twice referred to as constituting one of the delights of paradise and on both occasions in these simple words: 'And to them (believers) there shall be therein pure wives'. Was it that the soul of Mohammad had at that period no longings after what he had then to satiety the enjoyment of? Or that a closer contact with Jewish principles and morality repressed the budding pruriency of the revelation, and covered with merited confusion the picture of his sensual paradise which had been drawn at Mecca?" (Muir, page 76).
It is amazing how these Christian critics with pretensions to culture and learning will draw on sheer speculation to attack the honour of a Teacher who is held in the deepest reverence and devotion by many millions of men and women all over the world. They seem emboldened to do so, because Christians today hold political sway over the Muslims. A few centuries of power have made them forget that Muslims ruled over Christendom for a full 1,000 years, and during this time they never said anything unbecoming about Jesus. They respected Christian susceptibilities when Christians were quite unprotected and were much weaker than Muslims are today. Would to God Christians did not feel so elated!
Sir William conveniently ignores the fact that there are other things besides women which are mentioned in the Meccan chapters and to which there is no reference in the Medinite chapters. We read in the Meccan chapters that there will be wine, honey and rivers of milk in Paradise. Was the Holy Prophet deprived even of these things at Mecca that he should have compensated himself by imagining them in Paradise? Nothing could be more absurd than this. Personally the Holy Prophet was much better off at Mecca than he was at Medina. His rich wife Khadijah was then alive and she had placed all her wealth at his disposal. By the time he reached Medina, most of this wealth had been spent in good works and the Holy Prophet was left a poor man with little to live on. If the picture of Paradise was an imaged compensation for his wants, it should have emerged at Medina instead of at Mecca.
Supposing Sir William is right, cannot critics of Christianity say justifiably that Jesus imagined himself the king of the Jews because he was persecuted everywhere? Could they not also say that as Jesus saw nothing of sex life in this world, he remained obsessed with the idea of a second advent and imagined himself a bridegroom taking no less than five virgins for wives? In the words of the New Testament, he is reported to have said: "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For the foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps…And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, Peradventure there will not be enough for us and you: go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut" (Matt. 25:1-10). A bridegroom surrounded by a bevy of virgins—is not this the Heaven of Jesus’ imagination?
But to revert to the subject; the disbelievers at Mecca used to taunt the Muslims about their poverty, saying they had nothing of the good things which they had, so God took over their own phrases and said that the rewards which believers would have in Paradise would be even better. When Islam was established at Medina, the disbelievers gave up their taunts. So God also dropped the earlier descriptions of Paradise. The descriptions in their deep significance, however, hold for all time.
At Mecca, moreover, it was necessary to explain and emphasize the basic belief of Islam. Therefore, greater detail of doctrine is found in the Meccan chapters, and as Paradise, the abode of believers in the afterlife, is an important item of belief, it is dealt with in detail in them. At Medina, on the contrary, practical matters like personal ethics and social legislation became more important. Therefore, greater attention was given to them in the Medinite chapters. The Meccan Surahs also abound in descriptions of Hell. What are they a compensation for?
Sir William Muir also suggests that the Holy Prophet changed his views about Paradise under the influence of the Jews and the Christians of Medina. But he forgets that the stock criticism made by Christian writers is that some Christian slaves had taught the Holy Prophet the Christian scriptures, the substance of which was incorporated in the Quran. Sir William himself alleges that the Holy Prophetlearnt Christianity from Suhaib, a Roman slave at Mecca (The Life of Mahomet, p.67). If the Holy Prophet at Mecca already knew the Christian teachings, he need not have waited for their influence until his arrival at Medina. In point of fact, in the Jewish and the Christian scriptures, there are no descriptions of Paradise. The Jews and the Christians have remained so engrossed in the affairs of this life that their Books do not say much about the life to come. The promises made by their Prophets about the next life have always been taken by them to pertain only to this life. It cannot be imagined that anybody could be influenced by such a teaching.
a
3:16, 134, 196, 199; 4:14, 58, 123; 5:13, 86; 7:44; 9:72, 89, 100; 10:10; 13:36; 22:15, 24; 25:11; 2:18; 47:16; 58:23; 61:13; 64:10.
b
3:16; 4:58.
46A
The Qur’an teaches that every created thing stands in need of a mate for its full development. In Paradise righteous men and women will have pure mates for perfecting their spiritual development and completing their happiness. What kind of mates these will be, will be realized only in the Hereafter.
47
This verse gives a brief description of the rewards which the believers will have in the next world. Critics of Islam have raised all sorts of objections to this description. The criticism is based upon a complete misunderstanding of the Islamic teaching about heavenly blessings. The Qur’an emphatically declares that it is beyond human mind to comprehend their nature (32:18). The Holy Prophet is reported to have said: "No eye has seen them, nor has any ear heard of them, nor can the mind of man conceive of them" (Bukhari). The question naturally arises, why have the blessings of Heaven been given the names used for material things in this world? This is because the address of the Qur’an is not merely to those people who are intellectually advanced. Therefore, it has used simple words which can be understood by all. While describing the heavenly blessings, the Qur’an has used the names of things generally looked upon as good in this world, and believers are told that they would get all these thi
وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ سَنُدْخِلُهُمْ جَنَّٰتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَٰرُ خَٰلِدِينَ فِيهَآ أَبَدًا ۖ لَّهُمْ فِيهَآ أَزْوَٰجٌ مُّطَهَّرَةٌ ۖ وَنُدْخِلُهُمْ ظِلًّا ظَلِيلًا
4:123; 13:30; 14:24; 22:24; 2:26.
13:36; 56:31.
The expression, plenteous shade, signifies an atmosphere of peace and calm, free from all pain-giving elements.
4:123; 16:30; 14:24; 22:24; See lso 2:26.
13:36; 56:31.
Commentary:
The word مطھرة (pure) does not literally mean "pure" but "made pure," signifying that the spouses whom pious believers will have in Heaven will be made as highly pure as the environment of Heaven demands.
The expression, pleasant and plenteous shade, signifies an atmosphere of peace and calm, free from all pain-giving element. Elsewhere the Quran says: They will know there (in Heaven) neither extreme heat nor extreme cold (76:14).
b
4:123; 13:30; 14:24; 22:24; 2:26.
c
13:36; 56:31.
a
4:123; 16:30; 14:24; 22:24; See lso 2:26.
b
13:36; 56:31.
531
Commentary:
The word مطھرة (pure) does not literally mean "pure" but "made pure," signifying that the spouses whom pious believers will have in Heaven will be made as highly pure as the environment of Heaven demands.
The expression, pleasant and plenteous shade, signifies an atmosphere of peace and calm, free from all pain-giving element. Elsewhere the Quran says: They will know there (in Heaven) neither extreme heat nor extreme cold (76:14).
a
4:123; 13:30; 14:24; 22:24; 2:26.
b
13:36; 56:31.
620
The expression, plenteous shade, signifies an atmosphere of peace and calm, free from all pain-giving elements.
۞ وَيَطُوفُ عَلَيْهِمْ غِلْمَانٌ لَّهُمْ كَأَنَّهُمْ لُؤْلُؤٌ مَّكْنُونٌ
56:18; 76:20.
غِلْمَان (Ghilman, 青年们) 是 غُلَام (Ghulam, 青年; 仆人; 儿子) 的复数等等。(Lane) 这个词在 «古兰经» 中也用作为 وَلَد (Walad) 的同义词, 意思是儿子 (3:41; 15:54; 19:8; 37:102; 51:29)。وِلْدَان (Wildan, 儿子们) 这词在 «古兰经» 中另外 (76:20) 也用代替 غِلْمَان (Ghilman), 说明在天园中与敬畏的人到处活动的青年将是他们自己的儿子。这节经文也可以指安拉的许诺, 巨大的财富和权力将归穆 斯林以及将伺候他们的成批仆人所有。
یعنی پاکباز۔
56:18; 76:20.
Ghilman (youths) is plural of Ghulam which means, a youth; servant; son; etc. (Lane). The word has also been used in the Qur’an synonymously with Walad in the sense of son (3:41; 15:54; 19:8; 37:102; 51:29). Elsewhere in the Qur’an (76:20), the word Wildan (sons) has been substituted for Ghilman which shows that the youths who will move about in the company of the righteous in Paradise will be their own sons. The verse may also refer to the Divine promise of great wealth and power which was to fall into the possession of the Muslims and to the hosts of servants who were to wait upon them.
56:18; 76:20.
Commentary:
غلمان (youths) is plural of غلام which means, youth; servant; son, etc. (Lane & Aqrab). The word has also been used in the Quran synonymously with ولد in the sense of 'son' (3:41; 15:54; 19:8; 37:102; 51:29). Elsewhere in the Quran (76:20) the word ولدان (sons) has been substituted for غلمان which shows that the youths who will move about in the company of the righteous in Paradise will be their own sons. The verse may also refer to the Divine promise of great wealth and power coming into the possession of the poor Muslims, and to the hosts of servants who were to wait upon them.
d
56:18; 76:20.
1324
غِلْمَان (Ghilman, 青年们) 是 غُلَام (Ghulam, 青年; 仆人; 儿子) 的复数等等。(Lane) 这个词在 «古兰经» 中也用作为 وَلَد (Walad) 的同义词, 意思是儿子 (3:41; 15:54; 19:8; 37:102; 51:29)。وِلْدَان (Wildan, 儿子们) 这词在 «古兰经» 中另外 (76:20) 也用代替 غِلْمَان (Ghilman), 说明在天园中与敬畏的人到处活动的青年将是他们自己的儿子。这节经文也可以指安拉的许诺, 巨大的财富和权力将归穆 斯林以及将伺候他们的成批仆人所有。
3
یعنی پاکباز۔
c
56:18; 76:20.
3946
Commentary:
غلمان (youths) is plural of غلام which means, youth; servant; son, etc. (Lane & Aqrab). The word has also been used in the Quran synonymously with ولد in the sense of 'son' (3:41; 15:54; 19:8; 37:102; 51:29). Elsewhere in the Quran (76:20) the word ولدان (sons) has been substituted for غلمان which shows that the youths who will move about in the company of the righteous in Paradise will be their own sons. The verse may also refer to the Divine promise of great wealth and power coming into the possession of the poor Muslims, and to the hosts of servants who were to wait upon them.
d
56:18; 76:20.
2855
Ghilman (youths) is plural of Ghulam which means, a youth; servant; son; etc. (Lane). The word has also been used in the Qur’an synonymously with Walad in the sense of son (3:41; 15:54; 19:8; 37:102; 51:29). Elsewhere in the Qur’an (76:20), the word Wildan (sons) has been substituted for Ghilman which shows that the youths who will move about in the company of the righteous in Paradise will be their own sons. The verse may also refer to the Divine promise of great wealth and power which was to fall into the possession of the Muslims and to the hosts of servants who were to wait upon them.