The greatest favour
to be conferred on the dwellers of Paradise is the seeing of God, and
everyone endowed with a refined awareness will, undoubtedly, find the
longing for it embedded in his heart. It is but natural for the bondsman
who is enjoying countless blessings of the Lord in this world and will
be rewarded in Heaven with immeasurably greater boons to feel an earnest
desire to see the Beneficent and the Merciful Lord who created him and
was showering on him His exquisite gifts. There will, of course, remain
a feeling of non-fulfillment in him if he is never blessed with the
stupendous spectacle and the Almighty will, indeed, not keep the bondsman
unfulfilled whom he will, by His Grace, allow to enter Paradise.
The Quran has given to the Faithful the Tidings of this unique favour
and the Holy Prophet, too, has mentioned it and all the Muslims have
believed in it implicitly. Some people, however, who are given to imagine
about the Hereafter on the basis of what they see in the world around
them and regard the limited knowledge vouchsafed to them here to be
the last word in that direction repudiate the possibility of it on the
ground that it does not stand to reason. They argue that only a thing
that exists in a material form and has colour or surface can be seen
by the human eye, and that, too, when it is placed in front of the viewer
and within a certain distance. Since God has neither form nor substance,
nor is He contained in space and time, the question of seeing Him does
not arise. But this line of reasoning, ostensibly, is inane and puerile.
Had the conviction of the Believers been that God will be seen with
these very eyes [of the present world] which can observe only material
objects and things having colour or dimension, the viewpoint of dissenters
could have some validity. But neither the Quran nor the Traditions say
so, nor is it the creed of the faithful Believers.
The people of the Sunnah and of the way of the Companions functioning
as a body [Ahl-i-Sunnat wal Jama’at] who, in adherence to the
precepts of the Quran and the Traditions, believe that the bondmen worthy
of the magnificent favour will see God in Heaven also take it for granted
that He will bless the dwellers of Paradise with powers and faculties
that have not been given to anyone in this world, one of which is that
the vision that will be granted to them will not be as weak and limited
as that of our eyes in the present existence and it is with these eyes
that the fortunate bondmen will see the Lord who possesses neither form
nor colour nor dimension.
If the skeptics are still doubtful about the seeing of God, on account
of its logical unfeasibility, they should pause and ponder whether God
sees His creatures or not. In case perception was possible only with
the means and under the circumstances that were peculiar to us, He must,
of necessity, be incapable of seeing anything for He had neither eyes
nor were the creatures placed in a particular position in respect of
Him. Thus, those who believe that God sees without eyes and in all directions
at the same time, and even things we cannot perceive by the eye in any
case and by any means, ought to have no misgivings. Relying to the utmost
on the tidings contained in the Quran and the Traditions, they should
assume that the Almighty will, by His Power and Benevolence, grant them
eyes in the Hereafter which will enable them to take joy in the marvelous
spectacle of His Own adored Self.
In the Quran the truthful Believers have been given the cheerful assurance
that, some faces that Day will beam [in brightness and beauty] looking
towards their Lord. [lxxv : 22-23]. As against it, the deniers of Truth
have been warned : Nay, but surely on that Day they will be covered
from their Lord [and prevented from seeing Him.] (lxxxiii : 15).
(118) It is related by Suhaib Rumi that the Apostle of God said: “When
the dwellers have arrived at Heaven God will inquire from them thus,
‘Do you want that We may grant one more favour to you [i.e., bestow
upon you a blessing in addition to what you have already received]?’
The bondmen will answer, ‘Thou hast illumined our faces [i.e.,
made us successful and given us beauty and dignity], and saved us from
Hess and granted us Paradise. [What more can we want]?’ The veil
will then be lifted [i.e., the scales will fall from the bondmen’s
eyes] and they will be able to see God unhindered. Thus, their state
will be [and they will feel] that the seeing of God surpassed all other
favours that had been conferred on them till then,’ After it,
the Prophet recited the following verse from the Quran: For those who
do good is the [best] place [i.e., Heaven] and more thereto [i.e., the
seeing of God]”. (x : 27).
Commentary.-The falling of scales from the eyes, in the above Tradition,
means that the dwellers of Paradise will, all of a sudden, be endowed
with a vision that will enable them to see the Lord.
(119) Jarir bin Abdullah narrated that “one night we were sitting
with the Prophet [that he chanced to] look at the moon. It was the fourteenth
night of the month [and the full moon was shining in the sky]. The Prophet,
then, turned towards us and said, ‘Surely, you will see the Lord
as you are seeing the moon. You will have to make no special effort
to see Him, nor will there be any other difficulty. So, if you can do
this that you allow nothing to prevail over the prayers before the rising
and the setting of the sun [i.e., no occupation, entertainment or lethargy
could divert your attention at the time of these prayers], you must
do so. [God willing, you will, then certainly, be blessed with the seeing
of the Lord]. After it, the Prophet recited this verse from the Quran
: And celebrate the praises of thy Lord ere the rising and the setting
of sun.” (xx : 130)
-Bukhari
and Muslim
Commentary.-When a large number of persons collect with the object of
seeing a beautiful thing and everyone is anxious to catch a glimpse
of it there, generally, takes place a rough struggle among them and
it becomes very difficult to see it properly but with the moon the position
is that millions of people can see it at the same time, calmly and without
any trouble. The Prophet has made use of this everyday experience to
show how countless bondmen will be able to see God in Heaven without
the least difficulty.
In the end the Prophet has drawn attention to an act which is particularly
efficacious in making the bondsman worthy of the unique favour, i.e.,
headfulness for the Fajr and ‘Asr prayers to the extent that no
activity or diversion could ever come in the way.
Though five obligatory prayers are prescribed to the Believers, it is
evident from the Quran and the Sunnah that the Fajr and ‘Asr prayer-services
possess a special significance.
(120) Abu Razeen ‘Uqaili narrated to us that one day he said to
the Prophet, “O Apostle of God! Will everyone of us see the Lord
singly [i.e., without a rush] on the Last Day?” “Yes”,
the Prophet replied. “He will”. ‘Uqaili, asked, “Is
there a sign or likeness of it [in this world] too?” The Prophet
said, “O Abu Razeen! Does everyone of you not see the moon on
the fourteenth night of each month, wherever he is, by himself and without
a tussle?” “Of course,” replied Uqaili. “We
all so see the moon like that.” The Prophet, thereupon, remarked,
“It [the moon] is an ordinary creature among the creatures of
the Lord while the Lord is Most High, the Majestic.”
-Abu
Dawood