the life after death..- are we all equal?

[Gharib]

Thanks Esalem!
The BELIEVERS Surah 23 states

'Blessed are the believers, who are humble in their prayers; who avoid profane talk, and give alms to the destitute; who restrain their carnal desires (except with wives and slave-girls, for these are lawful to them) and do not transgess through lusting after other women; who are true to their trusts and promises, and diligent in their prayers. These are the heirs of paradise; they shall abide for ever'

This is why I wonder whether any women are included. It suggests that it is hard to get to paradise whether you accept Allah or not.

i see, i think you believe that paradise is only for the men right?

paradise is for both men and women, that verse that you have quoted is not speaking directly about men, the human, but the character, the way of life, those who practice those things will enter paradise. the Qur'an quite often speaks of women when it also speaks of men, you can see in many verses where it says 'believeing men and believing women'

here is a verse that includes both men and women as the people of paradise:
The Noble Qur'an - Al-Mu'minun 23:8-11

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial]Those who are faithfully true to their trusts and to their covenants; And those who strictly guard their (five compulsory congregational) prayers (at their fixed stated hours). These are indeed the inheritors. Who shall inherit the Firdaus (Paradise). They shall dwell therein forever.[/FONT] ​

also in a hadith it says that Allah sent Gabriel to Muhamed (saws) to give glad tidings to his wife Khadija (ra) of a house in paradise before she died. women do enter paradise and they will have far more beauty than men so much so that in some hadith that i have heard it states that some men will stare at their wives for a very long time just admiring their beauty, in another it states that they will be more white and will have a shine so strong that even the sun will look as if it is dark compared to the women of paradise.

these are some of the hadith:

Narrated 'Aisha radhiya Allaahu anha: I did not feel jealous of any of the wives of the Prophet as much as I did of Khadija (although) she died before he married me, for I often heard him mentioning her, and Allaah had told him to give her the good tidings that she would have a palace of Qasab (i.e. pipes of precious stones and pearls in Paradise), and whenever he slaughtered a sheep, he would send her women-friends a good share of it. [Sahih al-Bukhari]

Narrated Abu Huraira: Jibreel (Gabriel) came to the Prophet and said, 'O Allaah's Apostle! This is Khadija coming to you with a dish having meat soup (or some food or drink). When she reaches you, greet her on behalf of her Lord (i.e. Allaah) and on my behalf, and give her the glad tidings of having a Qasab (palace in Paradise) wherein there will be neither any noise nor any fatigue (trouble).' [al-Bukhari]

in islam both men and women fast, so this hadith applies to both:

Hadith - Sahih Bukhari 4:479, Narrated Sahl bin Sad

The Prophet said, "Paradise has eight gates, and one of them is called Ar-Raiyan through which none will enter but those who observe fasting." The Prophet also said, "If a person spends two different kinds of something (for Allah's cause), he will be called from the gates of Paradise." ​

Hadith - Transmitted by Tirmidhi, Narrated Umm Salamah

The Prophet said: If a woman dies while her husband was pleased with her, she will enter Paradise.​

Hadith - Sahih Bukhari 8.481, Narrated Sahl bin Sad

Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever can guarantee (the chastity of) what is between his two jaw-bones and what is between his two legs (i.e. his tongue and his private parts), I guarantee Paradise for him."​

It is written that Abraham worshipped a God called El. This is almost certainly Allah. But some think this is really Elle (She) and that this is why there was a statue of the Supreme Mother Goddess in the Kaaba at one time. In India for example there was a religion to the Mother Goddess, and all over the world, but it was later superceded by the Gods she gave birth to. I do not wish to be offensive in any way but it worries me how so many religions exclude women.

i understand what you mean, but you must understand that men and women are different, the world can call them equal as much as it wants, but by nature we are different. men can only do what god made them for and women can only do what they were created for. what i mean is, look at the very fact that 1 woman can have an effect on 1000 men, while 1000 men can't have an effect on one woman. in islam both men and women are equal in their own way. the only thing that makes men superior to women and vice versa is their piety. many women will have a better place in paradise than those men who were less pious.

The lovely man who gave my the Koran took me to Mosque with his sons and then we went to his home after prayers where his wife and daughter cooked us a wonderful meal. I have been to a Synagogue and seen there how the women are separated also. Christians have only recently allowed women to be priests but not if they are Catholic. It is puzzling isn't it when they are so obviously superior to men in almost every respect.

that must have been a nice experience. oh that food, i'm hungry right now, i can't get it out of my head how nice that meal would have been. lol.

basically you are saying that why in islam as well as almost all religions women don't have the same role as men, is that sort of correct?

I think the faith of Abraham is also the faith of the Jews and Jesus, hence Christians. We use the word God but this means the one God who created the world. Surely therefore this is Islam. We do not say there is another God, just the angels and a Devil. We are all imperfect.

i see your point, but, in christianity it says that this one God had a son, or came to earth in the form of a human, in islam we do not consider that God as the one God.
the roots for out beliefs might be from that one God, but somewhere someone has gone wrong.

We should also note that the Greeks called the Nature God 'all' or Pan. I think nature is a good name for God. The Egyptians called Gods the 'Neters'. But nature is often seen as Mother Earth and female. Surely there is some truth in all the above and assuredly we all have the best 'intentions' which as you say are all that count with God.

earth, has no gender. mother earth is just an expression. god too has no gender, but we reffer to god as 'He' for language purposes or gramatical purposes, in my native language, we do not have the word, it. so for us everything has to be called either, he or she.

Have a nice weekend all.

thank you, you too have a nice week.

 

[reve]

Eselam thank you for your brilliant reply. I am so pleased there are women in Paradise! My experience in life has taught me not to discuss my other wives with any of them. They will all want bigger and better houses in Paradise than the others. You are an excellent ambassador for Islam. Gabriel is very important. Can you say more about this angel?

 

[Gharib]

i apologise for my delay reve, i had something come up so i haven't had the time to reply.

regarding Gabriel, i personally do not know very much about it (angels are genderless but it is ussualy refered to as he) but i will post to you what i know.

i hope you don't mind me posting links for you to go look at.

http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/41/

Some hadith regarding Gabriel:

The Messenger of Allah (Peace & Blessings of Allaah be upon Him) said, describing Jibreel:
"I saw Jibreel descending from heaven, and his great size filled the space between heaven and earth." (Reported by Muslim, no. 177)

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "If Allah loves a person, He calls Gabriel saying, 'Allah loves so and-so; O Gabriel! Love him.' Gabriel would love him and make an announcement amongst the inhabitants of the Heaven. 'Allah loves so-and-so, therefore you should love him also,' and so all the inhabitants of the Heaven would love him, and then he is granted the pleasure of the people on the earth." (Book #54, Hadith #431)

Gabriel is one of the 4 angels with the highest ranking from among the angels. Gabriel was the medium through which Allah would communicate with his prophets on earth, peace be upon them all. in other words, Gabriel is the messenger of Allah to the prophets peace be upon them.
everything that the prophets learned and taught their people was from what Gabriel would teach them with the permission of Allah.

Gabriel and all other angels do not enter a house that has a dog or pictures in it (as reported in Bukhari).

Muhamed (peace be upon him) saw Gabriel in his real angel form only twice, once on the first night of revelation in the cave of Hira and once when he made his night journey. once the horn has been blown by Israfil (israfeel) and all the creatures are dead, the 4 highest ranked angels will still remain alive untill Allah wills them to die. Gabriel will be the second last Angel that will taste death. as Allah and his Prophet (peace be upon him) have said that all things will taste death that includes the angels and the devils as well as what is on earth.

that is all i know, i can't seem to find much more on him, maybe i'm just not looking in the right places. let me know if you wish to know more, i will keep looking until i find something if Allah wills.

 

[reve]

I have very little time today but thank you for this illuminating reply. I know only a little about Gabriel from the Book of Enoch. I think he is very important as he dictated the rules followed by most of this world. However are we all equal after death? It is an interesting question quite beyond religion. Some are buried some burned or consumed. That is different. Some have services masses and prayers offered others none. Flowers coffins mourners. Theat they all have to leave their worldly possessions is one equality. But what they have done for Creation will vary enormously, their karma. So what they have to face will also vary. Christians are lucky. When they get to that stage they just say they are Christians and get passed through. It goes down on the account of Christ, their karmic debt (must be like the UK deficit by now). I feel I can say that as my father was a Christian priest and I have studied this for many years. But we do not all have some one who will guarantee us. Ther Ancient Egyptians (the earliest ones anyway) only believed that the Pharaoh got to their heaven, he being a God. The rest of us would suffer somewhere. Like a Catholic Purgatory. Have you ever tried to talk to your 'self at the end of your life' when your whole life passes before your eyes? Or perhaps after that? There is the answer that you can trust about equality after death. Test the answer by asking about other things in your life. If they then happen that might make it more interesting. I am convinced that we are not all equal then, but we could be if we took some good advice on what we need to do to live our best possible life. The problem I have is who to believe - Gabriel, Genesis, Gospels, Vedas, Me or common sense. It seems to test the best brains of this world. I need to know more about Gabriel and who else he appeared to. I think Edward Talbot and John Dee claimed to converse with him. Sorry if I ramble on as I age. I do not have a dog anymore about the only good thing about that that i can think of is that Gabriel might come round when I take the pictures down. I can quite believe that too, our dogs would growl at all sorts of things they could see which we could not. It seems from what you say that he does enter houses. Do you think the other nations have other names for him?

 

[Gharib]

I have very little time today but thank you for this illuminating reply. I know only a little about Gabriel from the Book of Enoch. I think he is very important as he dictated the rules followed by most of this world. However are we all equal after death? It is an interesting question quite beyond religion. Some are buried some burned or consumed. That is different. Some have services masses and prayers offered others none. Flowers coffins mourners. Theat they all have to leave their worldly possessions is one equality. But what they have done for Creation will vary enormously, their karma. So what they have to face will also vary. Christians are lucky. When they get to that stage they just say they are Christians and get passed through. It goes down on the account of Christ, their karmic debt (must be like the UK deficit by now). I feel I can say that as my father was a Christian priest and I have studied this for many years. But we do not all have some one who will guarantee us. Ther Ancient Egyptians (the earliest ones anyway) only believed that the Pharaoh got to their heaven, he being a God. The rest of us would suffer somewhere. Like a Catholic Purgatory. Have you ever tried to talk to your 'self at the end of your life' when your whole life passes before your eyes? Or perhaps after that? There is the answer that you can trust about equality after death. Test the answer by asking about other things in your life. If they then happen that might make it more interesting. I am convinced that we are not all equal then, but we could be if we took some good advice on what we need to do to live our best possible life. The problem I have is who to believe - Gabriel, Genesis, Gospels, Vedas, Me or common sense. It seems to test the best brains of this world. I need to know more about Gabriel and who else he appeared to. I think Edward Talbot and John Dee claimed to converse with him.

What we go through after we die is dependent on what we did during living. In that sense no we are not equal. The Islamic belief as to what happens after we die is that 2 questioning angels come to the grave and ask the person 3 questions if he answers rightly he is of the people of paradise if answered wrong he is of the people of hell. You can read about it here:
Islam Question and Answer - Three questions in the grave

Sorry if I ramble on as I age. I do not have a dog anymore about the only good thing about that that i can think of is that Gabriel might come round when I take the pictures down. I can quite believe that too, our dogs would growl at all sorts of things they could see which we could not. It seems from what you say that he does enter houses. Do you think the other nations have other names for him?

i personally don’t know what dogs bark or growl at for no reason (as it seems to us since we don’t see what they do) but god knows best. By other nations do you mean previous civilizations? Even if not other civilizations, i have to be honest with you, i have no idea. I don’t know many languages to be able to answer that question.

Sorry for the late reply. Have a nice weekend.

 

[chinu]

the life after death..- are we all equal?

No.


_/\_
Chinu