Cercatore’s Congeries

Peace and Blessings Everyone

So, today, while I was amazed after finding a scientifically valid and amazing fact in Surah Rahman, I read the following:

 But for such as fear the time when they will stand before (the Judgment Seat of) their Lord, there will be two Gardens-

 Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?-

 Containing all kinds (of trees and delights);-

 Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?-

 In them (each) will be two Springs flowing (free);

 Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?-

 In them will be Fruits of every kind, two and two.

 Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?

 They will recline on Carpets, whose inner linings will be of rich brocade: the Fruit of the Gardens will be near (and easy of reach).

 Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?

 In them will be (Maidens), chaste, restraining their glances, whom no man or Jinn before them has touched

So, first I got angry. What is this entire deal with men being rewarded with chaste women? Women are not sex objects, seriously. Do you expect me to abide by any such statements? Sheesh! Am I missing something out here? What about women? What do they get? 

Then I thought: Hmm! God who created two Easts and two Wests, cannot be unfair or unjust. If this is the Holy text, the word of God, then I will believe it as long as it makes sense to me.

Off to Google! After a bit of research, luckily, I found the answer.

The Muslim Men Are Promised Hoors but What do Muslim Women Get In Paradise?
By: 
Bassam Zawadi (http://www.answering-christianity.com/bassam_zawadi/index.html)

I made this article very concise. Most of the information could be obtained by going to the links shown below at the end of the article. This article is for Muslims who want to deal with Islamophobes who keep on attacking the fact that men are promised Houris in paradise and women get nothing special.

First of all it is untrue that Muslim men are the only ones that get companions in heaven (refer to the second link, which is Dr Zakir Naik’s website). The main reason why the Quran and hadith are stressing the fact that men will get virgin girls is because it more appealing to men than promising virgin men to women. Men are more sexually active and therefore are facing a lot of difficulty (especially in the teenage years) to remain chaste. (My perspective: Women do not care if the man is virgin or not. I mean, whatever!) There are a lot of temptations in this world. That is why that Allah keeps promising these virgin girls who are more superior to the women of this world to those that remain patient and steadfast. That way, this motivates the unmarried men to remain chaste and be patient because they know they have something better waiting for them in the next life. Because if they do not get it legally in the next life then they would get it illegally in this life.

These are some verses that show the equality that men and women receive when it comes to attaining the rewards of paradise.

Surah 3:195
So their Lord accepted their prayer: That I will not waste the work of a worker among you, whether male or female…

Surah 4:194
And whoever does good deeds whether male or female and he (or she) is a believer — these shall enter the garden, and they shall not be dealt with a jot unjustly.

Surah 16:97
Whoever does good whether male or female and he is a believer, We will most certainly make him live a happy life, and We will most certainly give them their reward for the best of what they did.

Surah 33:35
Surely the men who submit and the women who submit, and the believing men and the believing women, and the obeying men and the obeying women, and the truthful men and the truthful women, and the patient men and the patient women and the humble men and the humble women, and the almsgiving men and the almsgiving women, and the fasting men and the fasting women, and the men who guard their private parts and the women who guard, and the men who remember Allah much and the women who remember — Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a mighty reward.

Surah 36:56
They and their wives shall be in shades, reclining on raised couches

Surah 39:34
They will have with their Lord whatever they desire; that is the reward of those who do good.

Surah 43:70
Enter the garden, you and your wives; you shall be made happy.

Source

Hmm! equal award. Sounds fair to me. Perhaps the idea behind this all is companionship in Jannah in return for restrain from evil deeds in this world. 

Note that Surah Rahman first mentions all other rewards such as gardens, flowing springs, fruits, carpets etc. first and then, at the very end, makes a mention of the hoors.

Now, a Christian man once commented how suicide bombers think that they will go to Jannah and wed the hoors (virgin women) in return for the bombing. 

Ok, this is a totally twisted and psychotic viewpoint. Well, first off, suicide is considered haram in Islam. One who kills him/herself is going straight to hell and there he/she will repeat this same act forever. <Scary!> Secondly, killing innocent people is considered extremely wrong in Islam. Suicide bombers do exactly that. Thirdly, nobody gets any kind of rewards for killing oneself and killing innocents. Such people go straight to hell. PERIOD.

Bottom line: Do good deeds in this world and get rewards in the Jannah. Both men and women will get equal reward, whatever the form, since they are spiritually equivalent beings. And quite frankly, while a good and pious Muslim man/woman engages in good deeds in this world, the idea of getting mates in the Jannah is far removed from their heads. The reason is that their mind is usually pre-occupied with other rewards that are promised. For example, flowing springs and fruits of every kind. Now, I would want those. And oh, a big black horse to ride and a first-class tour of the entire universe. InshaAllah! I mean once in Jannah, people may have whatever they desire.

Peace and Blessings

I was reading the Quran in the morning, “Surah Rahman”, and came across this thought-provoking verse.

“(He is) Lord of the two Easts and Lord of the two Wests:”  [Al-Qur’an 55:17]

Two Easts and Two Wests? Hmm! I never heard of that. Perhaps there is another Earth. This notion circulated in my brain as I googled this verse. And I found out that this statement is scientifically valid. After reading the following explanation, I feel sure that a man, Mohammad (peace be upon him) could not have composed the Quran himself. The scientists found out these details after comprehensive research. Mohammad (peace be upon him) simply did not have the knowledge, equipment, experience etc. to figure this out:

Question:
It is mentioned in one verse of the Qur’an that Allah is the Lord of two Easts and two Wests. How can you explain this verse of the Qur’an scientifically?

Answer:

1. Qur’an mentions Allah is the Lord of two Easts and two Wests

The verse of the Qur’an which refers to Allah being the Lord of two easts and two wests is the following verse from Surah Ar-Rahman:

“(He is) Lord of the two Easts and Lord of the two Wests:”
[Al-Qur’an 55:17]

In the original Arabic script, the words east and west have been used in the dual form. It implies that Allah is the Lord of two easts and two wests.

2. Allah is the Lord of both the extremes of East and West

The science of geography tells us that the sun rises from the east, but the point of sunrise keeps shifting throughout the year. Only on two days of the year known as ‘equinox’, does the sun rise exactly from due east. On the remaining days, it rises either from a little north or a little south of due east. During summer solstice the sun rises from one extreme of the east and during winter solstice it rises from the other extreme. Similarly, the sun sets in one extreme of the west in summer solstice. It sets in the other extreme of the west in winter solstice. This phenomenon can be easily seen in Bombay or any other city, by people living in certain areas, or in tall skyscraper buildings, from where the rising or setting of sun can be seen. They are able to notice that during the summer solstice the sun rises from one extreme of east and during winter solstice it rises from the other extreme of east. In short, through out the year, the sun keeps rising from different points of the east and sets on different points of the west. Thus when the Qur’an refers to Allah as the Lord of two easts and two wests, it means that Allah is the Lord of both the extremes of east and both the extremes of west.

3. Allah is the Lord of all the points of the East and West

Arabic language has two types of plurals. One is the dual plural i.e. the plural that implies the existence of two. The other is the plural for more than two, i.e. three and above. In Surah Rahman verse 17 the Arabic words used are mashriqaini and magribaini which are in dual plural and therefore imply two easts and two wests.

You can read the full post here.

The interpretation by commentator Abdullah Yusuf Ali is as follows:

“The two Easts are the two extreme points where the sun rises during the year, (between the summer solistice and the winter solistice) and includes all the points between. Similarly the two Wests include the two extreme points of the sun’s setting and all points between.”

You can read the full post here.