Hell? I think not!
I was at a halaqa earlier this evening with my university's Muslim Students Association (MSA), and we were discussing a passage from the Qur'an (Surat al-Baqarah, Verses 30-38). Our discussion actually covered a wide range of material, so I won't even try to review everything; such a task would be herculean, to say the least. However, there was one point that kinda stuck with me: One participant made the comment that the world we were in was, in fact, hell.
This is an idea that I've heard repeated many times in various contexts. Supposedly, how it goes it that the world has so many problems (war, genocide, oppression, famine, poverty, sickness, pollution, natural disasters, etc., etc.) that it, in fact, is synonymous with hell--rather than hell being some kind of scary place that you go to after death to be punished for being bad in life. I can see where they are coming from, the people who argue that, but I don't know if I buy it. A debate about the theological validity of such a proposition is beyond the scope of a mere blog post, but I can challenge it on a more concrete level.
Quite simply: I don't think this world could be characterized as "hell" at all! On the contrary, I think it's a pretty darned awesome world!
I mean, of course there are all the things I mentioned. The past century saw such horrors as the regimes of Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, just to name a few; no one can deny the evil that was done, it was so terrible! Many died, while others lived but suffered. Those crimes against humanity will live on in infamy....
But only for so long! For all they did, the world has already healed drastically and has somewhat moved on--not completely, but certainly to an impressive extent. To the majority of humankind, Hitler and Stalin and Mao are just losers, basically. No renown, no glory, no nothing. Give it a few centuries, and they'll likely become a distant memory, to the extent that's possible.
Now, contrast these individuals to the Messengers of Islam (peace be upon them). Hitler, Stalin, and Mao may have been a big deal in their time, and are today, but they're really kinda pathetic compared to the Messengers. Jesus and Muhammad, for example, have legacies lasting 1400-2000 years after they lived, legacies that touch every corner of the earth. They may have had much less power and resources (particularly Jesus), but their impacts upon the course of human history easily dwarfs that of the mega-tyrants of the last century. Jesus' and Muhammad's basic goodness and moral examples, and those of their followers, radiated out from them like pure light, touching and transforming everything in their path.
Hitler was known as a skilled orator, in his day, but what if he had confronted any Messenger in a battle of wits? Surely, no more than one of Jesus' famous one-liners would have been necessary to completely floor him. Messengers from Allah (swt) generally don't need many words to answer their opponents. Furthermore, who will remember Hitler's speeches millenia from now? Or even just centuries? Some historians, perhaps. Yet Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" and Muhammad's last sermon are as dear to us today as they were to their contemporaries back in the day, and they are constantly read by everyone from the highly-trained religious scholar to the simple family (wo)man.
Though Jesus and Muhammad, and the other prophets, peace be upon them all, are no longer with us physically...their goodness lives on. You can see it all around, if you open your eyes. Every bit of goodness is like a blooming flower, made of pure white light, shining brightly. The Episcopalian group that I participated in when I first started grad school and the MSA that I became involved with after embracing Islam are both excellent examples of this goodness -- people just getting together to worship God and enjoy themselves. Another example would be the number of delightful individuals you encounter on a daily basis, the ones whose mere presence offers comfort and makes you smile; it's as if God himself put them in your path, knowing you'd need them, eventually.
For all the social ills I mentioned earlier, each is matched by numerous committed and caring individuals determined to ease suffering and find solutions. There are peace groups opposing the U.S. war in Iraq and the Israeli occupation of Palestine, relief groups trying to rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and medical groups working on the HIV/AIDS crisis in sub-Saharan Africa. The goodness is everywhere, if one can only see it. How such a world could be "hell" is beyond me!
Wasalaam
This is an idea that I've heard repeated many times in various contexts. Supposedly, how it goes it that the world has so many problems (war, genocide, oppression, famine, poverty, sickness, pollution, natural disasters, etc., etc.) that it, in fact, is synonymous with hell--rather than hell being some kind of scary place that you go to after death to be punished for being bad in life. I can see where they are coming from, the people who argue that, but I don't know if I buy it. A debate about the theological validity of such a proposition is beyond the scope of a mere blog post, but I can challenge it on a more concrete level.
Quite simply: I don't think this world could be characterized as "hell" at all! On the contrary, I think it's a pretty darned awesome world!
I mean, of course there are all the things I mentioned. The past century saw such horrors as the regimes of Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, just to name a few; no one can deny the evil that was done, it was so terrible! Many died, while others lived but suffered. Those crimes against humanity will live on in infamy....
But only for so long! For all they did, the world has already healed drastically and has somewhat moved on--not completely, but certainly to an impressive extent. To the majority of humankind, Hitler and Stalin and Mao are just losers, basically. No renown, no glory, no nothing. Give it a few centuries, and they'll likely become a distant memory, to the extent that's possible.
Now, contrast these individuals to the Messengers of Islam (peace be upon them). Hitler, Stalin, and Mao may have been a big deal in their time, and are today, but they're really kinda pathetic compared to the Messengers. Jesus and Muhammad, for example, have legacies lasting 1400-2000 years after they lived, legacies that touch every corner of the earth. They may have had much less power and resources (particularly Jesus), but their impacts upon the course of human history easily dwarfs that of the mega-tyrants of the last century. Jesus' and Muhammad's basic goodness and moral examples, and those of their followers, radiated out from them like pure light, touching and transforming everything in their path.
Hitler was known as a skilled orator, in his day, but what if he had confronted any Messenger in a battle of wits? Surely, no more than one of Jesus' famous one-liners would have been necessary to completely floor him. Messengers from Allah (swt) generally don't need many words to answer their opponents. Furthermore, who will remember Hitler's speeches millenia from now? Or even just centuries? Some historians, perhaps. Yet Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" and Muhammad's last sermon are as dear to us today as they were to their contemporaries back in the day, and they are constantly read by everyone from the highly-trained religious scholar to the simple family (wo)man.
Though Jesus and Muhammad, and the other prophets, peace be upon them all, are no longer with us physically...their goodness lives on. You can see it all around, if you open your eyes. Every bit of goodness is like a blooming flower, made of pure white light, shining brightly. The Episcopalian group that I participated in when I first started grad school and the MSA that I became involved with after embracing Islam are both excellent examples of this goodness -- people just getting together to worship God and enjoy themselves. Another example would be the number of delightful individuals you encounter on a daily basis, the ones whose mere presence offers comfort and makes you smile; it's as if God himself put them in your path, knowing you'd need them, eventually.
For all the social ills I mentioned earlier, each is matched by numerous committed and caring individuals determined to ease suffering and find solutions. There are peace groups opposing the U.S. war in Iraq and the Israeli occupation of Palestine, relief groups trying to rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and medical groups working on the HIV/AIDS crisis in sub-Saharan Africa. The goodness is everywhere, if one can only see it. How such a world could be "hell" is beyond me!
Wasalaam
posted by Chris @ 8:03 PM
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