The Realm of Souls or the True Abode? A Refutation of False Afterlife Conceptions through Al-Baqarah 25
The Realm of Souls or the True Abode?
A Refutation of False Afterlife Conceptions through Al-Baqarah 25
Prepared by: Abdullah Kuloğlu
Qur’anic Verse:
Surah Al-Baqarah (2:25):
"And give good news to those who believe and do righteous deeds, that for them are Gardens beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they are provided with fruit therefrom as provision, they will say, ‘This is what we were provided with before.’ It is given to them in resemblance. And they will have therein purified spouses, and they will abide therein eternally."
Introduction: Revelation or Philosophy?
The Qur’an portrays the afterlife with both its spiritual and physical dimensions. However, some distorted belief systems—particularly post-Pauline Christianity and certain Islamic philosophers—reduce the afterlife to a realm of pure spirits or reduce Paradise to symbolic and metaphorical abstractions. This essay aims to expose how these views, whether theological or philosophical, are directly contradicted by the explicit declarations of the Qur’an.
I. The Christian Vision of the Afterlife: Spiritual Salvation, Escape from the Body, and Monasticism
A Historical Root: Hellenistic Philosophy Over Revelation
It must be clearly stated: many of the spiritualized, body-denying doctrines that dominate Christian theology were not derived from the teachings of Jesus but were instead heavily influenced by Greek philosophy—especially Platonism. Plato’s concept of the soul as a pure, eternal substance trapped in a corruptible, material body became the backbone of Christian metaphysics. Thus, what eventually shaped Christian views on salvation, resurrection, and paradise was not divine revelation, but philosophical speculation dressed in theological robes. In this sense, much of Christian dogma was less a continuation of the Gospel and more a synthesis of Hellenistic thought imposed upon it.
a. Original Sin and Salvation Doctrine: Christianity, especially in its post-Pauline form, teaches that Adam's sin is inherited by all his descendants. Human beings cannot be saved by their own deeds. Salvation is only attainable through faith in Jesus Christ, who, as the Son of God, died on the cross as atonement for humanity's sins.
b. The Soul's Eternity, the Body's Insignificance: In this theology, the soul is the essence; the body is corruptible and irrelevant. Paradise is entered by the soul alone, not by the body. Its pleasures are not physical but abstract and spiritual.
c. Monasticism and Worldly Renunciation: This worldview gave rise to extreme ascetic practices. Monks idealized a life akin to angels—free from marriage, food indulgence, and pleasure. Celibacy, fasting, and denial of worldly life became spiritual ideals.
d. Qur'anic Refutation through Al-Baqarah 25: This verse decisively dismantles the above notions:
Paradise is described with tangible, sensory delights—fruit, purified spouses, and eternal habitation.
It affirms that worldly pleasures are not inherently evil but become purified and elevated in Paradise.
It declares that humans will enjoy Paradise with both body and soul.
e. Summary: The Christian ascetic ideal contradicts both the natural human disposition (fitrah) and the metaphysical balance revealed in the Qur’an. Salvation in Islam is rooted in both faith and righteous deeds. Paradise is not symbolic but real, eternal, and fitted to the whole human being—body and soul.
II. Theological Deviation: Seeking Angelhood Is a Devaluation of Humanity
a. Angels Prostrated to Adam (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:34): The angels were commanded to prostrate to Adam, affirming his elevated status. This act symbolizes the honor bestowed upon the human being as the divinely appointed vicegerent on Earth.
b. Monasticism: An Imitation of Angels: Christian monasticism took angels as the model for ideal human life. However, the Qur’an sees this not as virtue but as deviation from human nature.
c. Symbolism and Denial: Some attempted to reduce the angelic prostration to symbolism or sequence of creation, avoiding its theological implications.
d. The Qur'anic Ideal: Remain Human, Purify the Self: God did not command humans to become angels. Rather, He ordered the angels to bow to the human. The goal is to remain human, but with a purified, elevated soul in harmony with one’s bodily existence.
e. Conclusion: Whereas monastics sought to become angels, the Qur'an honored man as man. The true aim is not escape from the body, but its sanctification.
III. The Modern Inversion: Ruin Paradise, Glorify the World
Today, Western secularism—heir to Christian theology—inverts monasticism: once pleasures were shunned in God's name, now they are indulged in the name of God’s mercy.
"There is no sex or food in Paradise? Then let us enjoy all of it here."
"God is love; He forgives everything."
This mentality corrupts the doctrine of salvation and reduces religion to pleasure management.
Churches perform same-sex marriages.
Confession absolves all, even criminal deeds.
Hedonism is sanctified through religious slogans.
But the Qur'an clarifies:
Paradise has both spiritual and bodily rewards.
Earthly pleasures, in their purified form, are promised in the Hereafter.
IV. Avicenna's Rationalist Deviation: Spiritual Paradise, Eternal Cosmos
a. God as First Cause, Not Willful Creator: Avicenna describes God as the Necessary Being, from whom the universe emanates by logical necessity, not by choice or will.
b. The Problem of an Eternal World: If the universe eternally flows from God, it was never created, and there can be no end. Resurrection, judgment, and cosmic annihilation lose all meaning.
c. Paradise as Intellectual State: Heaven becomes an intellectual satisfaction, not a physical experience. Hell becomes ignorance, not torment. This is entirely inconsistent with Qur'anic teachings.
d. Internal Contradictions: He claims the world is both contingent (needing a cause) and eternal (uncreated). But a being cannot be both. This is not rationalism; it is a philosophical illusion.
e. Qur'anic Reality:
The world was created from nothing.
It will end (Qiyamah).
People will be resurrected with bodies.
This is affirmed in numerous verses (Yasin 78-79, Qiyamah 3-4, Zumar 68).
f. Verdict: Avicenna's system is not philosophy but restriction of reason within flawed metaphysics. Qur'anic afterlife is not an abstract metaphor—it is a physical, spiritual, and eternal reality created by the will of God.
V. Appendix: Elmalılı Hamdi Yazır on "Ibda" (Creatio ex Nihilo)
Elmalılı defines “ibda” as the creation of something unprecedented—without model, precedent, or material basis. This distinguishes Allah as al-Badi'—the Originator who brings into existence from absolute nothingness.
True ibda is not based on imitation or modification of prior forms.
Nothing can come into existence by itself (tekawwun bi-zatihi); everything needs a fa’il (efficient cause).
Material and formal causes are insufficient; only the Creator can bring into being.
Key Theological Conclusions:
Creatio ex Nihilo (Ibda) is the Purest Act of Divine Will: No template, no matter—just Allah’s command “Be!” (Kun) and it is.
No entity can exist on its own: Every creature, concept, and law owes its existence to Allah.
Causal chains are not autonomous: They function only by divine decree and continual creation.
Avicenna’s rationalist causality collapses before the necessity of Divine Will.
As Elmalılı notes:
“A being cannot create itself. True creation necessitates a Creator who is not subject to time, form, or need.”
This aligns precisely with the Qur’an’s continuous stress: creation, recreation, and resurrection are acts of Allah’s irada (will), not natural necessity.
Final Reflection:
Western theology and Islamic philosophy, when divorced from revelation, fall into extremes—either denying the body or glorifying it without sanctity. The Qur’an, through verses like Al-Baqarah 25, restores the balance: eternal life is a divine gift to the whole human being, spiritual and physical, as Allah created and honored him.
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