Remarks on the Nature of Muhammadanism [On Paradise]

6.— ON PARADISE

As we have found the grossest materialism prevailing in all that has hitherto been extracted from the traditions, so we meet with still more of it in the traditions describing the Behesht or paradise of the Muhammadans. All is but sensual enjoyment there. It is already in the Koran described luxuriously enough, but the authors of the traditions have done all in their power to make it still more agreeable to the senses, and have gone in the description of its pleasures beyond all bounds, as will be seen by the following extracts.

The author of Haq ul Yakin, in the 15th chapter of his book, begins the description of the Muhammadan paradise with these words:—“Paradise is the mansion of perpetuity and rest; there is no death, there they do not get old, there are no blind no deaf, there is neither pain nor sickness, nor any other kind of distress, neither envy nor strife, there are no poor or needy; whatever

a man’s soul may desire and whatever may delight the eye, this is prepared there for him, and he never shall go out of it.” Again: “It is related, according to a true tradition, that Abu Bazir said to his highness the Imám Jáfer: O son of the prophet of God, relate to me some of the things and enjoyments of paradise to make me long for it. He said, O Abu Muhammad, verily the scents of paradise are smelled at a distance of a thousand years’ journey, and to the lowest of the people of paradise they give so much, that if all men and gins should come to his dwelling, and eat of his food and drink of his wine, there would be enough for all of them, and still his stock would remain undiminished. And when the meanest of the inhabitants of paradise enters it, he sees three gardens before him, and entering the lowest, he finds there wives, and servants, and rivers, and fruit as much as God will. Then after having offered up his praise and thanksgiving to God, they tell him to look upward when he beholds many more of the gifts of God than in the former garden, and in the third garden still more than in the second; and abounding in joy he says: Thou, O Lord, art worthy of praise, for Thou hast saved me from the fire, and placed me in these paradises. I said, Tell me more, that my desire may increase. He said, O Abu Muhammad; there is a river on both banks of which grow maidens out of the earth. When one of the believers passes by one of these mai-

dens, and she pleases him, then he plucks her up, and the Almighty causes another to grow in its place. Abu Bazir said, Pray tell me more. He said, God will in paradise bestow on every believer 800 girls and 4000 wives and 2 Húris.* These girls remain always virgins, and the Húris, the girls with the black eyes, have been created from the luminous earth of paradise. Their body is shining through their seventy dresses, and their heart is a looking-glass for the believer, in which, on account of its exceeding purity and clearness, he can see his face.” (Ain ul Hayát, leaf 167.) In another tradition it is affirmed, that Muhammad informing Ali of the things in paradise said, “There are halls, and upon these halls are rooms and other still larger halls, and under them flow the rivers of paradise. He said, For whom have these halls been built, O prophet of God? His majesty said: O Ali, these halls has God built for his friends of pearls and precious stones. Their ceilings are of gold, and adorned with silver. Every hall has a thousand doors of gold, and every door has an angel as door-keeper. And in these halls are spread the finest carpets of silk and brocade of different colours; and between the carpeting they have put of the musk and amber and camphor of paradise. When the believer enters these dwellings they put a kingly crown on his head, and round the crown they place a wreath of pearls and rubies, and clothe him with seventy

* In other places it is said that they receive seventy Húris.

fine cloths of different colours, bordered with borders of gold and silver, and decorated with pearls and rubies. When the believer sits down on his throne, it shakes and jumps up for joy; and when the believer has seated himself, then the angel, who is the superintendent over his gardens, begs leave to enter to present his congratulations for the mercies of God bestowed upon him. Then the maid and men-servants of the believer tell him, Stop here awhile, for the friend of God has been pleased to recline on his throne, and one of his Húris is going to wait on him; wait here till the friend of God has seen her. Then the Húri comes forth from her tent, and walks towards the throne of the believer, accompanied by her maid-servants, and wearing seventy dresses adorned with rubies and pearls and emeralds. Her dresses are coloured with musk and amber, on her head she wears a precious crown, and her shoes are of gold, inlaid with rubies and pearls. When she comes near the friend of God he intends to get up out of affection to her, but she says: O friend of God, this is not a day of trouble for you, do not get up. I am for thee and thou for me; then they embrace one another for 500 years without getting tired of each other. The Almighty sends then a thousand angels to congratulate him on his arrival in paradise, and to marry the Húri to him; and when they arrive at the first door of the paradise of the believer, they say to the angel who is the keeper of this door, Go and inform the friend of God,

that the Lord of the universe has sent us to congratulate him on his arrival in paradise. He then tells it to the next door-keeper, and he again to the next till it reaches the last, who says to him, The messengers of God the Almighty are standing at thy door; they are 1000 angels, sent by God, to congratulate you; then he gives orders to let them come in. Then they come in every one at one of the doors of the hall, and deliver the mission of their Lord. And to this refer the words of the Koran where it is said: The angels come in to them at every one of the doors of their houses, and say, The peace of God be with you.” (Ibid. leaf 169.) Again, “Muhammad said: The castles and enclosures of paradise are built of bricks, of which one is of gold, another of silver, and again another of ruby; and instead of mortar musk is used, and the turrets of the castles are of red, green and yellow rubies.” (Ibid. 171.) Again “Ali asked Muhammad, When they have entered paradise, what is their employment there? He answered, They sit in the boats and take pleasure-trips on the two large rivers. The boats are of rubies, and the oars of pearls; and in those boats are angels of light, and their clothes are green.” (Ibid. 171.) Again at another place it is said: “The fruits are so near unto them, that any one of the fruits for which the believer feels a desire, he can take with his mouth, without being obliged to move, though he may be reclining on his couch. Verily the different kinds of fruits shall begin to

speak and call out to the friend of God: Take and eat me first.” And “Muhammad said, There is not one of the believers who has not many gardens, some with high trees, and others with trees bending down to the earth. He is blessed with rivers of wine, and with rivers of water, and of milk, and of honey. And if the friend of God wishes to take any food, without his ordering it, they bring him immediately what he wishes.* Sometimes he is engaged in private conversation with his brother believers; sometimes they go and call upon one another, and walk in their garden to enjoy the air of paradise, which is like the air between the dawn of the morning and the rising of the sun, only much more agreeable; and sometimes he is in the company of his wives, awhile with the Húrí, and awhile with the wife of this world. And sometimes when reclining on his couch, he gets struck by a sudden beam of light. He asks then his servants whence this beam of light came? They say, This is the light of one of thy Húrís, which thou hast not yet seen; she has put her head out of her tent, and looked towards thee with great love and desire for thee and when she saw thee reclining on the couch, she smiled out of great love and joy,

* According to other traditions, the Muhammadans say, that their meals in paradise consist of a hundred dishes, and that wine is handed round by fair youths of which they may drink without bounds, as it neither inebriates nor produces a headache.

and the beam which thou hast seen, and the light which did surround thee, was from the whiteness, and pureness, and beauty of her teeth. Then the friend of God says; Allow her to leave her dwelling and to come to me. Then thousands of men and maid-servants run and bring the tidings to the Húrí, and she comes out of her tent dressed with seventy of the finest dresses, through which her legs can be seen, and adorned with pearls and rubies. Her height is seventy cubits, and the breadth of her back ten cubits. She presents him, in approaching him with plates full of precious stones; and then they remain together for a long time, without getting tired of one another.” (Ibid. leaf 170.) Just as the fruits of paradise reach down to the believer’s mouth, so the fowls flying about in paradise come down roasted and boiled upon the believer’s plate the moment he wishes for them, as mentioned in the following tale. It is related that Muhammad said, “Verily there are birds of different kinds in paradise, every one as large as a camel, flying about in the fields of paradise; as soon as one of the friends of Muhammad desires to eat one, they come immediately down before him, the feathers plucked off and ready dressed without the need of fire, one side roasted and the other side boiled; and when he has eaten as much as he wanted, and said, Alhamdu liilah rab ul álamin, that is, Praised be God, the Lord of the universe, then the bird gets quickened again, and flying up into the air, he

glories himself above the other birds of paradise, and says, Who is like me, for of me has the friend of God eaten by His permission.” (Hayat ul Kúlúb, vol. ii. leaf 107.) After all the believer offers up all his thanks and prayers to God for all these unbounded enjoyments. “His majesty said: when they have received all they want, and enjoyed the delights of eating and drinking and of the company of their Húrís and wives, after having done with this, they offer up the praise of God by saying, Alhamdu lillah rab ul álamin.” (Ain ul Hayát, leaf 170.) As the Muhammadans eat so much in their paradise, they tell us, “That his majesty said: the people of paradise are not subject to any of the natural evacuations of the body, but all is removed by perspiration, which smells better than musk.” (Ibid. leaf 170.) Another pleasure in paradise consists in the wonderful tree, called Tuba, which is described in the following manner: “Tuba is a tree in paradise, the trunk of which is in the house of his majesty the prophet, and there is no believer in whose house is not one of its branches, and there is nothing he may wish for which he cannot get from this branch. If a swift horse gallops for a hundred years it will not get out of its shade, and if a crow flies up from its bottom, it will grow white with age before it reaches the top. From the top of the tree grow forth fine dresses, and from the bottom proceed horses with saddles and bridles and endowed with wings, and free from the incon-

venience of evacuations. The friends of God mount them, and fly about on them in paradise to whatever place they wish.” (Haq ul Yakin, leaf 204.)

These are specimens of the Shíá traditions about the nature of their paradise. There are many more traditions of a similar kind, some of which are however of such a nature that common propriety would not allow the mention of them, and even in these mentioned we have been obliged to have recourse to alterations and omissions. We shall now give also a few extracts from the Súnní traditions, to show that they are no better than those of the Shíás. It is said “If a woman of the women of paradise were to come down upon earth, verily she would give splendour to everything between heaven and earth, and would fill everything between them with a sweet smell.” Again, “Verily there is a tent for a Musalmán in paradise of one pearl, its interior empty, its breadth 120 miles, and in every corner of it will be his wives; and they will not see each other; and he will go round to each of them to enjoy their company: and there are two paradises with silver vessels, and every other thing of silver; and there are two paradises with everything of gold in them; and there is no curtain between men and their beholding their Cherisher, except the mantle of glory and greatness.” Again, “Asmaa said: I heard his majesty say, a man on horseback might

ride under the branches of Sidrat ul muntaha* for a hundred years: in it are moths† of gold, and its fruit is like water-pots. And there is a river in paradise, the water of which is whiter than milk, and sweeter than honey, and on it are birds whose necks are like the necks of camels; they are fat and plump, and the eaters of those birds are plumper and fatter than they. A man said, Are there horses in paradise? His majesty said, Verily, if God brings you into paradise, you will no sooner wish to ride upon a ruby horse, which will fly away with you to any part of paradise you may wish to go, than he will be given to you. Another said, O messenger of God! are there camels in paradise? His majesty said: If God takes you into paradise, there will be everything for you which your senses can desire, and which can delight your eye.” In another tradition it is said: “Verily there is a bazar in paradise, in which there is no buying or selling except good figures of men and women: then when men or women wish for good figures, they enter it, and become handsomer than before.” And again it is related, that Sayad ibn Musaib said to Muhammad, “O messenger of God! shall we see our Cherisher? He said, Yes, do you doubt about seeing the sun? We said, No. His majesty said, In like manner you will not doubt of seeing

* This is another tree besides the Tuba already mentioned.

† These moths, as some say, are a kind of angels, with wings like gold.

your Cherisher, and not one will be there but will speak to God without an instructor. Then God will remind him of his sins; and the man will say, O my Cherisher! did you not pardon my sins? and He will say: Yes, I forgave you, and it is by my boundless kindness that you have arrived at this eminence. Then whilst the people of paradise are in this situation, a cloud will come above them, and rain down perfumes upon them, such as they had never met with before: and our Cherisher will say: Stand up and go towards the thing which I have prepared for you. Then we shall come to a bazar where angels are assembled, and shall see such things as eyes never beheld, nor ears heard, or the like of which ever passed into the heart and mind*; and we shall be given everything we wish. After that we shall return to our habitations, and our wives will meet us, and say; you are welcome. And every woman will say to her man: Verily you are become handsomer than before: and we shall say to them, Verily we sat with our Cherisher to-day, who is the maker of all things beautiful, and this beauty which we have obtained is fitting for us.” Mishcát ul Masabíh, vol. ii. pp. 620-627.

This is the paradise or heaven of the Musalmáns, but such a heaven cannot be the heaven of

* What an application and misconception of the beautiful and spiritual passage of Scripture; 1 Cor. ii. 9. But this affords another specimen of the gross corruption of scriptural expressions and ideas by Muhammad and his followers.

a holy God, nor the place of eternal bliss for a holy soul. It would be blasphemy to attribute it to God, and it would be hell for a sanctified spirit. Though the Muhammadans have not, like the heathen, made for themselves a god after their own lusts—from this they were prevented by the light they borrowed from Scripture—they have at least made a heaven for themselves after their own inclinations, and according to the lust of their corrupted hearts. But by doing so they have given another proof that they know nothing of the holy God, nor of holiness and purity of heart. It is true God is mentioned in several of the traditions treating on paradise, and His praise and adoration is spoken of as a part, and according to some traditions, even as the highest happiness of heaven: but nowhere is this brought forward as the principal or the only source of eternal felicity; on the contrary, it is but slightly mentioned and immediately passed over, so that the gross sensual enjoyments form everywhere the prominent part, and appear as the principal subject of their paradise’s bliss. Some of the Muhammadans feel indeed, that such a paradise is in the highest degree unworthy of God, and altogether incompatible with the spiritual happiness and enjoyment wanted by man’s eternal spirit; and they say therefore, that, what is said in the Koran and their traditions about paradise must be taken spiritually: but it is clear that neither the passages of the Koran nor these traditions allow of

such a rendering. The orthodox belief therefore is, as well among the Shíás, as among the Sunnís, that what is said in the Koran and in the traditions of their paradise is to be taken literally. The author of the Haq ul Yaqin says, leaf 157, that resurrection, paradise and hell must be understood literally and materially; and then goes on to say, that though in the present state man would not be able, on account of the weakness of his spirit, to unite those sensual enjoyments with the spiritual ones, yet in the next world God will bestow this power on the believers, and that in this union of both consists the perfection of bliss and happiness.

These extracts fully justify the assertions we made at the beginning. They show clearly how foolish the Muhammadans have become, when thinking themselves wise. In their pride they rejected the wisdom and the power of God revealed in the cross of Christ, and embraced a system of Deism, but this gave neither light nor power to save them from sinking into the most appalling errors and the grossest superstition. It is true that in the Koran as well as in their traditions, many a truth and many a good moral precept is contained; but it need not be again stated, that all that is good and true in their religion, has been borrowed from the Jews and Christians, that is, from the Holy Scriptures. But as they did not receive the whole divine truth and rejected Christ, this portion, thus separated from the fountain of

life, could neither enlighten nor save them. It is true that the extract we have made from their traditions, is a partial one; and that we have presented only one side, and even the worst. But this was just our object, for the fair side of Muhammadanism has been presented often enough, and sometimes even with the intention to darken the mid-day sun of Christian revelation. This, where it did not originate in hatred of the truth, may in some cases have been occasioned by an imperfect knowledge of Muhammadanism, from being acquainted only with one, namely, with its fair side. But whoever sees also the dark side now presented, even though he may reject Christianity, will still never attempt to compare Muhammadanism with the pure and divinely sublime doctrines of our holy faith. If the Koran had not already refuted itself and the religion founded upon it, these traditions would certainly do it fully. They must force upon every thinking mind a conviction, as clear as midday, that a religion containing such stories, tales and doctrines cannot possibly be a divine one, however many good things it may otherwise contain. These traditions afford, therefore, only an additional proof of the truth, that error as well as truth requires only to be known and brought to light, to be recognised as such. There are indeed many powerful arguments by which truth may be established and error disproved; but yet the strongest argument for the one and against the other is found within

man’s own heart. As the eye is created for the light, so is man’s spirit for truth; and as soon as the soul is alive to its spiritual wants, as soon as the eye within is opened and the light of divine truth brought near, man will recognize it as such and believe in it, if love of sin does not lead him to wilful opposition and rejection. These wants the Muhammadans too have within their spirits, but the light of divine truth did not in former ages shine upon them in its original and heavenly splendor; it was badly reflected and greatly darkened by the ignorance and ungodly conduct of the Jews and Christians around them. What is now required is, that the light of the Gospel, reflected in the consistent walk and conversation of true believers, may be made to shine upon them in its unadulterated heavenly splendor. This alone can break their bonds, convince them of their errors, lead them to the truth, and induce them to accept the salvation offered in the Gospel.

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