Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Nikki R. Keddie, “Pan-Islam as Proto-

Nationalism,” Journal of Modern History 41, no. 1 (March 

1969): 17–28; Saad S. Khan, Reasserting International 

Islam: A Focus on the Organization of the Islamic Con-

ference and Other Islamic Institutions (Karachi: Oxford 

University Press, 2001); Jacob Landau, The Politics of 

Pan-Islam (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990).

paper

  See 

books

 

and

 

bookmaking

.

paradise

 

(Arabic: 

janna; Persian: firdaws)

Islamic beliefs about paradise are based partly on 

biblical motifs found in the book of Genesis and 

in later Jewish and Christian writings. They also 

reflect indigenous Arabian ideas and some Per-

sian influence. Muslims conceive of paradise as a 

verdant 

garden

 of bliss where people are able to 

meet with loved ones, God, the 

angel

s, and other 

spiritual beings. Paradise is the primordial garden 

of  a

dam

 

and

  e

ve

, where the first human beings 

met with God, the angels, and s

atan

. In this best 

of possible worlds the first two humans went 

without thirst and ate the fruits of the garden 

until Satan tempted them to eat fruit from the one 

tree that God had forbidden to them (Q 2:35–36; 

20:117–123). When they did this, God expelled 

them into the lower world of mortal existence. 

When Adam repented for what he had done, God 

forgave him and promised that he and his kind 

would be able to return to it in the 

aFterliFe

 if 

they are judged to have been among the righteous 

after the resurrection. Islamic lore also indicates 

that the perfumed plants and precious jewels that 

people enjoy in this world originated in paradise 

and that God allowed Adam to enjoy them in his 

worldly existence. One jewel that originated in 

paradise was the b

lack

 s

tone

, originally a white 

sapphire that some early Muslim writings say 

g

abriel

 gave to Adam. (It later turned to black 

because of human impurity.) Even the k

aaba

 is 

said to have come from paradise.

The afterlife paradise is described in great 

detail in the q

Uran

 and other Islamic writings. 

According to the Quran it is a great, gated garden 

or park that is permeated by the scent of musk, 

camphor, and ginger. It is graced with fountains, 

and abundant rivers of water, milk, honey, and 

wine flow through it (Q 47:15). Its inhabitants 

wear luxurious clothing and dwell in beautiful 

mansions furnished with couches, carpets, and 

household goods made of gold and silver (Q 9:72; 

35:55–58; 88:10–16). There they gather with loved 

ones and the angels, and they are served food and 

drink by handsome youths and beautiful young 

women (sing. 

hoUri

) (Q 43:71; 76:15–22). The 

specially blessed will even be able to meet with 

God, though theologians and Quran commenta-

K  546  

paper

---

tors debated whether or not they would actually 

be able to see him. h

adith

 literature describes 

paradise as having eight gates, each named after 

a different virtue. Some accounts speculate that 

there may actually be eight paradises, not just 

one. Each one would have its own name, taken 

from the Quran, such as dar al-salam (House of 

Peace), jannat al-khuld (Garden of Eternity), and 

jannat Adin (the Garden of Eden). The hadith also 

elaborate on the nature of life in paradise: people 

will have beautiful bodies, they will never age, and 

they will be able to enjoy carefree sexual relations. 

The quranic paradise is the exact counterpart of 

hell, which is a multileveled realm of 

Fire

, pain, 

and suffering.

Ideas of paradise inspired rulers, writers, 

artists, and architects, enriching the heritage 

of Islamicate civilization. The grand mosque 

of  d

amascUs

, the Alhambra palace in g

ranada

(Spain), and royal garden pavilions in Iran were 

decorated with paradisal motifs. The capital of the 

a

bbasid

 c

aliphate

 (8th–14th centuries), b

aghdad

,

was regarded as an earthly paradise, as reflected 

in its alternate name, Madinat al-Salam (City 

of Peace), alluding to dar al-salam, one of the 

quranic names of paradise. Persian and Turk-

ish manuscripts depicting Muhammad’s n

ight

J

oUrney

 

and

  a

scent

 include scenes of paradise 

and the fire. The garden grounds of the exquisite 

Taj Mahal of Mughal India (17th century) were 

designed according to the four-garden (chahar 

bagh) plan of Persian royal gardens, wherein 

the waterways represented the four rivers of 

paradise. Also, many Muslim homes and palaces 

bear inscriptions and decorations that create a 

symbolic relationship between the abodes of this 

world and those of the afterlife.

See also 

eschatology

; 

hoUses

; 

martyrdom

; p

er

-

sian

 

langUage

 

and

 

literatUre

.