Islam and Paradise

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This is a question directed mostly to Muslims but open to anyone to comment.

I have been listening to lectures by the Islamic Philosopher, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, an immensely wise man. He stated that in Islamic belief nothing created can be the same as the Creator, therefore ‘the world is the world’ and can be no other way, it was bound to contain suffering etc. My question is that if this is true how can paradise exist following death.

Many thanks,

Richard.
 
rweidn said:
This is a question directed mostly to Muslims but open to anyone to comment.

I have been listening to lectures by the Islamic Philosopher, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, an immensely wise man. He stated that in Islamic belief nothing created can be the same as the Creator, therefore ‘the world is the world’ and can be no other way, it was bound to contain suffering etc. My question is that if this is true how can paradise exist following death.

Many thanks,

Richard.
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It would seem that this is a logical error on their part, but I’m curious as to how they answer.
 
At least in Christendom, the universe or cosmos is also not “the same as the Creator.” This is not the same as saying it causes suffering.

ICXC NIKA
 
I’m glad you benefited from Hossein Nasr. I have a copy of the Study Qur’an, which was co-authored by him. It’s got a lot of depth. I don’t think I understand the question, but I’ll give it a shot.

Paradise is Paradise because God is there. If Paradise was a garbage dump with God in it, it would still be worthy of being called Paradise. The reason why Paradise can exist without suffering is because suffering comes from attachment to temporary things and that includes, but is not limited to, sinful activities (like an attachment to lying or stealing). One of Allah’s names is ‘Al-Salam’, which roughly translates to “the Source of Peace”, so when you surrender yourself to Him, you experience peace. Attachment to something other than Allah is temporary and is bound to fade.

Paradise does not exist on Earth – it’s a separate realm, just like Hell is a separate realm. They both exist, but on a different kind of existence. They’re not bound by space and time, nor do they decay over time.
 
Would you be able to link a particular lecture?

What Hossein Nasr usually tries to argue against is: “why can’t God create something as good as himself? Why is there evil if there is a good God?”.
What he answers is that only the supreme principle (God) can be called absolutely good. God cannot create anything as absolutely good as himself without that creation being another supreme principle beside himself (God cannot create another God).

Hossein Nasr says that creation implies a kind of separation or privation from that supreme principle (since it cannot be the same as him). At the lowest level of creation (where we are now), this separation manifests itself as evil. Our task now being to overcome this evil by first realizing we are in a state of privation, then working to overcome it. As we draw closer to God, the evil lessens until we fully united to him.
 
Seyyed Hossein Nasr - Why does evil exist ?

Google the above - I think that was it.
 
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