Paradise On Earth...?

[Andrew Brown]

Just kinda curious. So, evidently Muhammad was the " seal " of the prophets ? Hmm... okay, I can accept that. BUT... I've read in the Holy Quran ( more than once ) that it is possible to reach " Paradise " while still on Earth. I have a quote too:

Chapter 89: The Daybreak

22: And thy Lord comes with angels, ranks on ranks;

23: And hell is made to appear that day. On that day
man will be mindful, and of what use will being mindful be then?

24: He will say: O would that I had sent before for ( this ) my life!

25: But none can punish as He will punish on that day.

26: And none can bind as He will bind on that day.

27: O soul that art at rest,

28: Return to thy Lord, well-pleased, well-pleasing.

29: So enter among My servants,

30: And enter My Garden!



30a. The concluding verses of this chapter refer to the highest stage of the spirtual development of man, the stage in which he rests contended with his Lord, and finds his quietude, his happiness and his delight in Him. This is the heavenly life. It has already been noted -- see 12:53a and introductory note to ch. 75 -- that the Holy Qur'an recognizes three stages in spiritual develpoment, the ammarah or the animal stage ( 12:53 ), the lawwamah or the human stage ( 75:2), and the mutma'innah or the heavenly or spritual stage, mentioned here. At this last stage, the pure and perfect sincerity, truth and righteousness of a person are rewarded by Almighty God by granting him a heaven on this earth. All others look to a prospective paradise, but he enters paradise in this very life. It is at this stage, too, that a person realizes that the prayers and worship which at first appeared to him as a burden are really a nourishment on which the growth of his soul depends, and that this is the basis of his spirtual development. The spirit-- which resist the evil tendencies, or to blot them out wholly, and too infirm to establish a man upon the principle of virtue with firmness -- now reaches a stage of development in which its efforts are crowned with success. The state of struggle with sinful propensities passes away, an entire change comes over the nature of man, and the former habits undergo a complete transformation.



So... my question is: If it is possible to reach " Heaven " on " Earth " then wouldn't you be something like a prophet ? Obviously you would have been chosen for some greater purpose than just your average person, right ? And, obviously, there must be some people on this Earth who have reached Paradise while still on Earth... otherwise I don't understand why that would be in the Holy Quran ?


So... not really trying to start some heated debate... just something that I have been thinking about for a while now.


Thanks.

 

[Gharib]

no there is no paradise or hell on 'earth' in islam, to better understand those verses please go to the following PDF link and you can read the commentary of Ibn Kathir of Chapter 89, to read just the verses you have quoted go to page 14 of the PDF link.

if that doesn't answer your questions then i will be glad to take a better look into what you mean.

edit: sorry i forgot to post the link,

http://www.quran4u.com/Tafsir Ibn Kathir/PDF/089 Fajr.pdf

 

[muslim-]

Is this from a "Muhammad Ali" commentary? If so, this is a Qadyani/Ahmadi translation, and by consensus of Muslims, they are not Muslim, nor do they believe that prophet Muhammad peace be upon him is the final prophet. Their writings are full of what we perceive as superstitions, and no knowledge is to be taken from them (notice how the verses have nothing to do with "heaven on earth") , as they are certainly not Muslim.

Sunnis Sufis Shias whatever all agree on this and don't recognize them as Muslim at all.

I second what eselam said, Ibn Katheer commentary is a more traditional authentic one. (its not a Quran translation, however, its a commentary.)

Also, I agree with what he said, and no Muslim has ever said that theres a heaven on earth, rather the contrary, as this is mentioned in various texts from Quran and Sunnah.

 

[Shia Islam]

So... my question is: If it is possible to reach " Heaven " on " Earth " then wouldn't you be something like a prophet ? Obviously you would have been chosen for some greater purpose than just your average person, right ? And, obviously, there must be some people on this Earth who have reached Paradise while still on Earth... otherwise I don't understand why that would be in the Holy Quran ?


So... not really trying to start some heated debate... just something that I have been thinking about for a while now.


Thanks.

Excuse me to reply to the quoted part of your post as I did not read your full post. (sorry )

Paradise on Earth ! How nice is this expression!!

islam came to bring happiness to human in this life and in the hereafter.

So what paradise is? It's to be in peace with your inner self and to be certain that God is pleased with you. it is to feel God's love in your heart, to be close to him, and to feel how this world is under his full control...Once you reached this stage, you are in Paradise, even if the whole world will turn into hell!

One man asked imam Jaffer al sadiq (the 6th imam in Shia Islam, who is also the teacher of many Sunni scholars including Abu Hanifa), to pray for him so that he will be admitted to paradise?

Figuratively, imam Jaffer al sadiq peace be upon him said: I'll pray for that that you not taken out of paradise (I.e. Currently you are in paradise ). The imam added that Our Wilayat (following us as truly imams appointed by god) is the paradise.

On the other hand, Quran teaches that the future is for Islam, where it wil reach every corner of earth. And Muslims in general -not only Shiites - believe in Imam Mahdi who will bring justice to earth...he will start a new era in human history on earth ...that would be the real paradise on earth!