THE BANALITY OF PARADISE
I have just read an
extremely comprehensive account of the events of 9/11.* It contains of course
an account of the mindset of those who flew the planes into the World Trade
Centre; one aspect of this mindset being the expectation of immediate entry
into paradise. What struck me most about the images the hijackers had in their
mind was there extraordinary banality. One hijacker muses on being able to lie
on a river bank flowing with honey. Honey, I mean what’s that all about? Honey
is very pleasant on toast or stirred into porridge but I am not sure of the
value of a whole river of the sticky substance. This made me interested in
other aspects of the Muslim view of paradise.
‘To start off, you need
to understand what the rewards in Jannah (Paradise ) are. The Quran says that those who do get into Paradise will be rewarded with blessings that eclipse
anything on earth; unlimited food of your choice, riches, and wishes come true.
Things considered sinful on Earth such as wine will be allowed, and people will
be able to eat and drink all they want and not get full or hungover or sick.
People will be reunited with their friends and relatives, we will all be made
young again, and there will be no anger or pain. Everyone will be given palaces
to live in, and clothing fit for royalty, with luxurious couches and thrones
for everyone. There will be rivers of the purest water, milk, wine, and honey,
all of which are better than any you will find on earth. Those who get to the
highest part of Paradise , Jannah al-Firdaus, will also be able to see Allah
with their own eyes...’[1]
‘…Also, the believers
who make it into Paradise , male and female, are promised beautiful
companions, known as “Houris” in Arabic. The Quran describes them in some detail
as such:
“Serving [the
believers] will be immortal youths with jeweled and crystal cups filled with
the purest wine which will neither give them headache nor hangover, with fruits
and meats of their desire. They will be fair ones with lovely intense eyes like
guarded pearls; A reward for the good deeds of their past life.”
(56:17-24)
“We have created mates for them and made them virgins, matched in age, for the companions of the right hand.” (56:35-38)
“We have created mates for them and made them virgins, matched in age, for the companions of the right hand.” (56:35-38)
“They will be chaste,
restraining their eyes in modesty, never touched by man or Jinn.”(55:56)
“Serving them will be
immortal servants. When you see them, they will look like scattered pearls.”
(76:19)
 |
No DIY in Paradise |
As I say what strikes you
about all this, aside from its puerility and the credulity required to swallow
it, is the extraordinary banality. Anyone who has stayed in a luxury hotel,
especially for prolonged periods of time can testify to the satisfaction of
being waited on hand and foot,[2]
I could manage a few months my self, possibly six at a stretch, but it would
soon begin to pall. Some people I am sure would take to this lifestyle with far
greater ease and be perfectly happy for years on end, but eternity? Even
allowing for a constant companion in love, an endless flow of liquor, which can
be consumed without harmful consequences, sooner or later aren’t you going to
suffer from intolerable boredom. However the promise is that this state of
affairs will be forever, there is to be no release. Sounds a little like hell
to me. Put another way, as Christopher Hitchens once commented, “death is a bit
like being forced to leave the party early”; all that fun will go on in your
absence. This sounds pretty grim but, as he also remarked “imagine being told
you could never leave the party!”
Islam of course shares its
images of the afterlife, with suitable cultural changes,[3]
with Christianity and Judaism. All have similarly banal pictures of eternal
bliss. They all miss the central element that makes existence bearable, which
is the struggle for meaning and purpose. It is friction, resistance and
struggle, debate, discourse and the tensions in the human condition that makes
life interesting. Cut them out and you are left with an empty vessel.
When it comes to depicting
hell both Christians and Muslims, tellingly, do a more convincing, if equally puerile, job.[4]
The fire burns their
skins, changing their colour to black due to its intensity. Jahannam has a
shadow of smoke ascending in three columns, which yields no shade of coolness
against the fierce blaze. Its sparks are described to be as "huge as a
palace."[12] Jahannam is described to have nineteen angels, who will
punish wrongdoers. The leader of these angels, as stated in the Quran, is
Maalik. Hell is perceived to be so deep that if a stone were thrown into it, it
would fall for 70 years – assuming Earth gravity, an Earth-like atmosphere, and
an 89.5 m/s terminal velocity, a distance of about 197,708,364,000 meters, or
about the average diameter of the orbit of the planet Venus – before reaching
the bottom. The breadth of each of Hell's walls are equivalent to a distance
covered by a walking journey of 40 years. According to Muhammad, Maalik is an
angel, very severe and harsh, and he will listen to condemned persons' requests
for remission of their punishments after 1000 years but then deny those
requests as well.
The food of Jahannam
described in Hadith and the Quran includes a bitter thorn plant, Dhari[disambiguation
needed], which does not nourish sinners, along with a tree named Zaqqum. Zaqqum
is described in the Quran as a tree that springs out of the bottom of hellfire;
the shoots of its fruit-stalks are like the "heads of devils" and eating
it is similar to eating molten brass that will boil their insides "like
scalding water". Sinners drink boiling water that will cut their bowels
when they consume it. If they call for relief, they shall be given water
described to be like molten brass, which will scald their faces. Hell is also
filled with venomous snakes/Scorpions and if they were to bite a person, the
person would suffer for 40 years. The residents of Jahannam wear garments of
fire that will scorch them.[13] Along with the physical pain, certain sinners
in hell will be mentally tortured by the guardian of hell, who will remind them
of their misdeeds on earth.[5]
As you can see this
description is Islamic, but it could just have easily come from a Catholic
priest or any number of Christian sects. More modern thinking Christians now
tend to play down the whole idea of Hell. You average C of E[6]
vicar is liable to say if pushed, Hell is merely the agony of never being in
the presence of God. Well if he is anything like the cruel old bastard depicted
in the Old Testament one must be thankful for small mercies.
The disgusting and
pornographically sadistic picture painted here provides a real insight into the
kind of sadism rooted in such religiosity. Salman Rushdie once characterised
Puritanism as the fear that someone somewhere was having a jolly good time.
Such sentiments one can be sure motivated Bin Laden and Mohamed Atta.[7]
In fact given Atta’s
mindset surely a better portrait of paradise for him would be the ability to go
on slaughtering infidels for the rest of eternity? Though perhaps even he might
eventually get bored with such an existence.
It would be nice to think
there was a just a moment, perhaps a mere fraction of a second, just as the
plane crashed into the towers when the realisation hit, oh no I’m not going to
Paradise, I’m just going to disintegrate, there is no after life, it has all been
a load of old bollocks. That would represent some sort of divine justice,
suitably sadistic, a portrait of hell if you will. However I don’t believe in
fairy tales.
[1] http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/72_virgins_in_paradise/
[2] Usually served by
extremely low paid and abused ‘immortal servants.’
[3] Which of course is the
clue that all this hokum is man made.
[4] I understand the Jewish
idea of hell is much softer, not eternal torture but the eqivilant of being
given a good scrubbing clean.
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jahannam
There is some controversy apparently about this entry, though it seems to
conform pretty much to the kind of idea or average Islamic fundamentalist
believes.
[6] Church of England.
[7] Leader of the 9/11
hijackers.
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