those verses are from qaSidah bad'a al-amali of mawlana ali al-uushi, a very famous aqidah text which was a required to be memorised by scholars in previous times. among its many commentaries, the one by ali al-qari, Daw al-ma'ali is very good and highly recommended.
video: What is God's Judgement? question: ...in islamic philosophy, how do we look both judgement and eternal life. let us start with judgement. what happens? ---- judgement. as nasr says: "Judgement by God in islamic thought, involves first of all our life in this world. God Judges what we do..." [which is fine. but he immediately becomes apologetic and says we share this with christianity and judaism and thereafter it is downhill all the way - pandering to his perennialist philosophy.] ------ in islam, there is judgement day. yes, christianity and judaism also speak of it - as they arise from the true religion which we believe were corrupted, later (and therefore are false in today's world). only islam is the true religion. [sorry nasr, for the self-righteousness; i am not a hypocrite.] God judges you according to your relation with Mustafa SallAllahu alayhi wa sallam. anyone who does not follow him will go to hell. after the coming of RasulAllah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam - all previous religions are abrogated. --- what happens is that after the second trumpet, people will rise from their graves. Allah ta'ala who gave you bodies in this world - from a infitisemal sperm made you grow into a full human, some seven feet tall; will give life to those rotten bones, and destroyed bodies. your scattered remains will be brought together and you will rise from the dead. people will be driven to the Stand where they will be judged. we muslims believe that from the initial horrors of Judgement day and chaos - RasulAllah sallALlahu alayhi wa sallam will release everyone - this is general intercession. thereafter he will intercede for sinners among his followers. companions of the prophet, saints and scholars will all intercede - via RasulAllah SallALlahu alayhi wa sallam for sinful and wretched acquaintances on that day. ------ we believe that there is a final day, the last day and the day when THIS world will end. there are various descriptions about how the end comes about, its signs and so forth, but we will not get into that here. that is a different question. and after this world ends - there remains nothingness except for the existence of Allah ta'ala who Remains - He is Baaqi. thereafter, Allah ta'ala will command His angel to blow the trumpet; and this is when people will rise from their graves with their bodies. there is detailed discussion on the manner of this rising, and ignoring minor disagreements, all sunni ulama agree that they rise from their graves and will be ushered to give account. there will be Scales - on which good deeds and bad deeds will be weighed. people will be given their deed-books; pious people in their right hand, some in their left and some in their hands behind their back in their wrested arms. they will pass over the bridge - and those who fall will fall in hell; some will pass like lightning and some others running, walking and some muslims will pass crawling. RasulAllah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam will interecede and help us in all these places; as the great islamic scholar mawlana ahmad rida has said: aaj le unki panah aaj madad maang un se kal na maneNge qiyamat meiN agar maan gaya ------------------- only muslims will attain salvation. therefore, if you hope for salvation, you must become a muslim. ------------------- the Mercy of Allah is infinite and He shall forgive whom He Wills, but He has Himself promised that He will not forgive polytheists and kuffar. and we know that He will not renege on His Divine Promise. Allah ta'ala knows best.
video (Arguing God from Being) @1.25. question: does that distinction in islamic philosophy help us to understand God or how God created the world, more richly. [in response to nasr's statement: within the philosophical mind the essence and existence can be separate] ---- [haven't caught the previous question, so don't know where this is coming from but assuming from nasr's reply it is something to do with existentialism as nasr asserts @1.35: "a thing in itself has no existential effect it does not exist" and related to the ontological argument for the existence of God] well, we believe that God exists. from the fundamental premise (disregarding sophistic arguments) we exist. use occam's razor and shave out the unnecessary growth of meaningless arguments such as 'what does existence mean?' Haqiqatu'l ashyaa' thabitah. so we 'exist' as is commonly understood. and we will cease to exist,sometime in the future. indeed, prior to our coming into existence, we were non-existent. thus the quiddity of our 'being' is can or cannot exist; and it can be brought into existence and annihilated. all such beings are "contingent" dependent on something - someone's will, or some cause that brings us into existence. let us call this kind of being C. there are things that CANNOT exist, we will term this M. because if they existed, they CAME into existence and/or can be annihilated - which is C, as described above. OR they would either be existing without a beginning or an end; without a cause for existence or prospect of annihilation, which is absurd because M cannot exist. we shall denote this being W. by definitions, C, M and W are all mutually exclusive. now, that which CANNOT exist is M. if it existed eternally it would be W. it is not W, therefore it is either M or C. if it could exist contingently it would become C. it is not C, therefore it is M. --- in islamic belief, we believe that God is not contingent - because He has always existed and cannot be annihilated - he cannot be M nor C. therefore He has always existed. [the problem here is how do you KNOW that He exists; which is another argument about which nasr touched upon - that we know Him by His Actions; who brought this into existence? someone who was existing from pre-eternity etc. obviously, sub-problems in philosophy arise and are answered, but we never intended this to be a comprehensive discussion of wujud; imam sanusi has extensively described these terms and explained them]. --- we muslims believe that God is omnipotent and omniscient; He exercises His Absolutely Free Will and does what He pleases. He is the Creator and He is True; His Word is True. There is absolutely no possibility of falsehood in His Speech. In His Speech, He has said: He is Perfect. His choice (because only He has true and absolute choice) for anything is Perfect. ---- Allah ta'ala knows best.
@5.30 the second question (video:Eternal Life is Like What) question: in the islamic paradise, do we lose our personality, and merge into some cosmic consciousness that some religions teach? --- no. we remain individuals. and as individuals we will retain our memories from the previous world - this world we live in now. people will identify each other like they do now, and even retain those relations. those married in this world will be spouses in the paradise. if a woman married many men (after consecutive widowhood/divorce), there are various opinions; according to some (following the narration of a companion), they will be with their last married man; and according to some others, she will get to choose whom to live with in paradise. note however that the wife independly goes to heaven or hell regardless of her husband. each person will pay for their own deeds. --- there are a number of metaphysical and philosophical theories, abstract language by sufis for certain states (obviously, experience cannot be described in words). thus, if two people in love meet after a period of separation, the joy that they experience is described according to their vocabularies - whether bland or exquisite and eloquent; according to their learning and powers of language. the love and their happiness is real irrespective of how it is described; to wit: "..as if i was drowned in a sea of happiness without a shore and you were the only floating log to which i latched on to; drowning in happiness is not undesirable, but latching on to you is far more desirable.." --- paradise is real and physical. people will be with their bodies and the pleasure is also real. punishment and pain is also real. consciousness of our past life is also real - much like a video replayed. [surah a'araf below:] Allah ta'ala knows best.
the verse that you quoted, 29 of Surah Kahf, has been used by the perennialists (i'm pretty sure jifry too) in many wrong perennialist contexts.
question:eternal life is the promise of most religions. what is eternal life, like, in islam? --- in islam eternal life is both physical and beyond-physical experience. to put it simply, you die - and you go into a transit stage, which we term as 'barzakh'. when you die, you exit from this temporal and physical world. THIS physical world. we believe that the soul is removed and not destroyed when you die. so depending upon your actions and state of exit (when you died) you will experience comfort or torment. there is discussion on this by various theologians and scholars on the nature of 'existence' in this transit state (barzakh). regardless, some scholars have explained it with an analogy - like the pleasure or fear or pain you experience in your dreams, which within that context is real; a similar pleasure or pain is experienced in barzakh - the soul experiences it. therefore, regardless of your being buried or incinerated and ashes scattered (which is the physical body - physical as in we understand in this world) the soul experiences the torment. a quick aside: we muslims believe that if you die as a muslim you will attain salvation; and if you die as a kafir - may Allah ta'ala forbid - you will go to eternal punishment. even as muslims, if you are a pious person you have a better chance to escape punishment; and if you are a sinner, you will suffer or will be pardoned or sought pardon for (by intercessors - shafa'ah). regardless, judgement is only with Allah ta'ala - and we cannot say for certain who gets what; however, Allah ta'ala has made a promise that He will forgive and give paradise to muslims; and he will punish wrongdoers and kafirs. kafirs, or disbelievers in islam will remain in hell forever; whereas sinners among muslims will be eventually forgiven and no muslim will ever remain in hell. wa marjuwwun shafa'atu ahli khayrin li aS'Habi'l kabayiri ka'l jibaali intercession of pious folk is hoped, expected for sinners - with enormous sins like the mountains wa dhu'l eemani laa yabqa muqeeman bi-shu'mi'dh dhanbi fi daari'shti'aali and those with faith will never stay forever in the dwelling of blaze, on account of their sins --- this state of barzakh abides until judgement day. obviously, depending upon your state, you will be in barzakh - and the judgement day has already commenced for the departed (from this world) at the moment of their departure (death) and as they enter the transit stage. wa li'l kuffari wa'l fussaqi yuqDaa `adhabu'l qabri min suu'yi'l fi`aali for kafirs (disbelievers) and sinners, there shall be punishment in grave (that is barzakh, transit) for their actions ---- after judgement on that Final Day, people will go to heaven (paradise) and hell according to their actions and beliefs. those who are muslims will eventually be taken out of hell and sent to paradise. kafirs or disbelievers (including jews and christians) will remain in hell forever. [with apologies to yaqubi sahib for not heeding his advice - but nobody pays me money anyway for this]. li-ahil'l khayri jannatun wa nu'maa wa li'l kuffari idraku'n nakaali for the pious, there is paradise and comfort and for disbelievers, a painful torment wa la yafna'l jaHeemu wa la'l jinaanu wa la ahluuhuma ahlu'ntiqaali neither will hell extinguish nor paradise be annhilated nor will their dwellers move out (after the final muslim is removed from hell) that is, eternal life is physical in what we understand and extra-physical in things which we do not understand IN THIS world. so there will be fruits and pure wine; houris and pure wives; gardens and palaces and soft mattresses upon which they will recline. they (paradise-dwellers) will be tall and handsome - every one of them; they will all be around 33 years of age; they will never experience any discomfort, pain, sickness or death. they will never feel sadness or melancholy or boredom. they will never have bad traits and their hearts and souls will be cleansed from all evils: jealousy, hatred, cruelty, covetuousness; and their hearts will be pure and lightsome. except for the hair of their heads and their eyelashes and brows, nobody will have any hair anywhere (except for sayyiduna aadam who will have a beard). they will have lightsome and beautiful bodies. there will be no excreta - and everything that we shall eat will be digested and will be disposed in the manner of a burp which smells like mouth freshner (unlike smelly burp in this world). women will not suffer menstruation or any such thing. there will be nothing dirty or despicable in paradise. they will wear green garments of heavenly silk and satin; they will wear bracelets of gold and recline on cushions in abiding shade and beautiful gardens. there will be palaces with thousands of rooms and market-places where people of paradise will go to enjoy. [a hundred years ago, this would have sounded fantastic, but if you have ever visited a skyscraper or a huge mall like dubai mall or burj-khalifah, you can understand things by analogy; people go about in 'markets' and 'shops' for recreation, amusement] some people will wish to till the fields (as it was their favourite activity on earth) and they will be allowed to do so; some people will wish for children and they will get children without the associated pain and discomfort. in paradise are things that no eye hath set upon, nor any ear heard of, nor has it been imagined by any human. (apart from all that you can imagine and you have heard of.) and beyond all these rewards is the Divine Vision - of seeing Allah ta'ala. how? we do not know the modality, but we shall see, in sha'Allah. the mutazilis among other heretics, denied that we can see Allah ta'ala. this is the greatest of all rewards - seeing Allah ta'ala. yarahu'l mu'minuna bi ghayri kayfin wa idrakin wa Darbin min mithaali and believers will see Him without the 'how' (modality) and nor can it be comprehended, nor a similitude given fa yansawna'n nayima idha ra-awhu fa ya khusraana ahli'l iytizaali and when they see Him, they will forget all other comforts (of paradise) and alas! what a great loss for the people of iytizal (the mutazilis) --- the kafirs and sinners will burn in hell. there are various levels in hell and the topmost, which is for sinning muslims will eventually be emptied - and the reports or allusions to "finally fire will extinguish and grass will grow" probably indicates this level. Allah ta'ala knows best. the worst offenders, hypocrites and oppressors like fir'awn, iblis and the rest will be in the deepest pits of hell. and they will all suffer various torments; and when they scream for water, they will be served boiling water, a viscous fluid [muhl] that will singe their faces. those in hell will also have grown in size and their enormous bodies will suffer enormous punishment. [muhl is variously described as oily fluid, or vomit and blood, or molten metal of iron and lead.] forever and ever and ever after. al-iyadhu billah. ---- atheists, and non-muslims may laugh or dismiss or claim that it is unjustified or that it is not fair or whatever their 'morality' might lead them to say. and our response is: 'do you believe in this hell? if you do, then it is your choice - to go there and remain forever or become true muslims and escape an eternity of punishment. if you do not, why are you upset here? just wait until you see.' [surah mutaffifin] jo na maane aap saqar gaya kahiN nuur hai kahiN naar hai whoever doesn't listen, accept will go to hell there is fire on one side and light on another. but unlike modern apologists, i will not tell you that you will escape hell even if you remain on your religion. islam is the only way to salvation. it is for you to choose: Allah ta'ala knows best.
many people take our criticism to be out of jealousy or ill-will. and to illustrate the foolishness and hypocrisy of perennialist scholars such as hossein nasr and his sidekicks such as hamza yusuf, i will attempt to put myself in their shoes and make an attempt to answer. in this video, a presenter puts a few questions to nasr, who dodges direct answers (it is incredible that nasr doesn't know) and tries to befuddle facts and says things in a equivocal manner such that any muslim critic can be given an explanation - a valid ta'wil - and the unsuspecting non-muslim takes through his own prism and assumes that islam is nasr's explanation. wa billahit tawfiq.
