The greatest favour to be conferred on the dwellers
of Paradise is the seeing of God, and everyone endowed
with a refined awareness will, undoubtedly, find the
longing for it embedded in his heart. It is but
natural for the bondsman who is enjoying countless
blessings of the Lord in this world and will be
rewarded in Heaven with immeasurably greater boons to
feel an earnest desire to see the Beneficent and the
Merciful Lord who created him and was showering on him
His exquisite gifts. There will, of course, remain a
feeling of non-fulfillment in him if he is never
blessed with the stupendous spectacle and the Almighty
will, indeed, not keep the bondsman unfulfilled whom
he will, by His Grace, allow to enter Paradise.
The Quran has given to the Faithful the Tidings of
this unique favour and the Holy Prophet, too, has
mentioned it and all the Muslims have believed in it
implicitly. Some people, however, who are given to
imagine about the Hereafter on the basis of what they
see in the world around them and regard the limited
knowledge vouchsafed to them here to be the last word
in that direction repudiate the possibility of it on
the ground that it does not stand to reason. They
argue that only a thing that exists in a material form
and has colour or surface can be seen by the human
eye, and that, too, when it is placed in front of the
viewer and within a certain distance. Since God has
neither form nor substance, nor is He contained in
space and time, the question of seeing Him does not
arise. But this line of reasoning, ostensibly, is
inane and puerile. Had the conviction of the Believers
been that God will be seen with these very eyes [of
the present world] which can observe only material
objects and things having colour or dimension, the
viewpoint of dissenters could have some validity. But
neither the Quran nor the Traditions say so, nor is it
the creed of the faithful Believers.
The people of the Sunnah and of the way of the
Companions functioning as a body [Ahl-i-Sunnat wal
Jamaat] who, in adherence to the precepts of the
Quran and the Traditions, believe that the bondmen
worthy of the magnificent favour will see God in
Heaven also take it for granted that He will bless the
dwellers of Paradise with powers and faculties that
have not been given to anyone in this world, one of
which is that the vision that will be granted to them
will not be as weak and limited as that of our eyes in
the present existence and it is with these eyes that
the fortunate bondmen will see the Lord who possesses
neither form nor colour nor dimension.
If the skeptics are still doubtful about the seeing of
God, on account of its logical unfeasibility, they
should pause and ponder whether God sees His creatures
or not. In case perception was possible only with the
means and under the circumstances that were peculiar
to us, He must, of necessity, be incapable of seeing
anything for He had neither eyes nor were the
creatures placed in a particular position in respect
of Him. Thus, those who believe that God sees without
eyes and in all directions at the same time, and even
things we cannot perceive by the eye in any case and
by any means, ought to have no misgivings. Relying to
the utmost on the tidings contained in the Quran and
the Traditions, they should assume that the Almighty
will, by His Power and Benevolence, grant them eyes in
the Hereafter which will enable them to take joy in
the marvelous spectacle of His Own adored Self.
In the Quran the truthful Believers have been given
the cheerful assurance that, some faces that Day will
beam [in brightness and beauty] looking towards their
Lord. [lxxv : 22-23]. As against it, the deniers of
Truth have been warned : Nay, but surely on that Day
they will be covered from their Lord [and prevented
from seeing Him.] (lxxxiii : 15).
(118) It is related by Suhaib Rumi that the Apostle of
God said: When the dwellers have arrived at Heaven
God will inquire from them thus, Do you want that We
may grant one more favour to you [i.e., bestow upon
you a blessing in addition to what you have already
received]? The bondmen will answer, Thou hast
illumined our faces [i.e., made us successful and
given us beauty and dignity], and saved us from Hess
and granted us Paradise. [What more can we want]? The
veil will then be lifted [i.e., the scales will fall
from the bondmens eyes] and they will be able to see
God unhindered. Thus, their state will be [and they
will feel] that the seeing of God surpassed all other
favours that had been conferred on them till then,
After it, the Prophet recited the following verse from
the Quran: For those who do good is the [best] place
[i.e., Heaven] and more thereto [i.e., the seeing of
God]. (x : 27).
Commentary.-The falling of scales from the eyes, in
the above Tradition, means that the dwellers of
Paradise will, all of a sudden, be endowed with a
vision that will enable them to see the Lord.
(119) Jarir bin Abdullah narrated that one night we
were sitting with the Prophet [that he chanced to]
look at the moon. It was the fourteenth night of the
month [and the full moon was shining in the sky]. The
Prophet, then, turned towards us and said, Surely,
you will see the Lord as you are seeing the moon. You
will have to make no special effort to see Him, nor
will there be any other difficulty. So, if you can do
this that you allow nothing to prevail over the
prayers before the rising and the setting of the sun
[i.e., no occupation, entertainment or lethargy could
divert your attention at the time of these prayers],
you must do so. [God willing, you will, then
certainly, be blessed with the seeing of the Lord].
After it, the Prophet recited this verse from the
Quran : And celebrate the praises of thy Lord ere the
rising and the setting of sun. (xx : 130)
-Bukhari and Muslim
Commentary.-When a large number of persons collect
with the object of seeing a beautiful thing and
everyone is anxious to catch a glimpse of it there,
generally, takes place a rough struggle among them and
it becomes very difficult to see it properly but with
the moon the position is that millions of people can
see it at the same time, calmly and without any
trouble. The Prophet has made use of this everyday
experience to show how countless bondmen will be able
to see God in Heaven without the least difficulty.
In the end the Prophet has drawn attention to an act
which is particularly efficacious in making the
bondsman worthy of the unique favour, i.e.,
headfulness for the Fajr and Asr prayers to the
extent that no activity or diversion could ever come
in the way.
Though five obligatory prayers are prescribed to the
Believers, it is evident from the Quran and the Sunnah
that the Fajr and Asr prayer-services possess a
special significance.
(120) Abu Razeen Uqaili narrated to us that one day
he said to the Prophet, O Apostle of God! Will
everyone of us see the Lord singly [i.e., without a
rush] on the Last Day? Yes, the Prophet replied.
He will. Uqaili, asked, Is there a sign or
likeness of it [in this world] too? The Prophet said,
O Abu Razeen! Does everyone of you not see the moon
on the fourteenth night of each month, wherever he is,
by himself and without a tussle? Of course, replied
Uqaili. We all so see the moon like that. The
Prophet, thereupon, remarked, It [the moon] is an
ordinary creature among the creatures of the Lord
while the Lord is Most High, the Majestic.
-Abu Dawood
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Something is new at Yahoo! Groups. Check out the enhanced email design.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/SISQkA/gOaOAA/yQLSAA/TXWolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
***************************************************************************
{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom
(i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue
with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone
astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy
Quran-16:125)
{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in
His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites
(men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I
am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if
Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of
camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever
calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who
follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended:
http://www.islamonline.net
http://www.islam-guide.com
http://www.prophetmuhammadforall.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in
any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved
otherwise.
If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily
digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your
mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the
title "change to daily digest".
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islamcity/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
