People Dress in Heaven According to Islam?

Professor Hasan A. Yahya

In the Islamic Time magazine (Issue 69:p7) The question came to a Muslim Sheikh to give his fatwa. The real question was: Will people be naked in Heaven? If not, what covers their bodies? Sheikh Abdullatif Berri answered among several questions about Islamic belief and different behaviors issues. In his answer he did not give his opinion as someone live in modern times, in fact as all theologians he answered  according to the Holy Qur’an, in four places: Suras of the Cave, (al-Kahf), the Time ( al-Dahr),Pilgrimage ( al-Haj) and the Creator (al-Khaliq). He says that people in Heaven will be wearing silk clothes and adorned with beautiful jewelry of gold and silver as separately indicated in verses 30-31 of Surat al-Kahf (the cave) which reads: “Surely (as for) those who believe and do good, We (God) do not waste the reward of him whose work is goodly. These it is for whom are gardens of perpetuity beneath which rivers flow, ornaments shall be given robes of fine silk and thick silk brocade interwoven with gold, reclining therein  on raised couches ; excellent the recompense and goodly the resting place.”

Till now the sheikh did not say whither these people are men or women. He continues to explain the same story  as shown in Surat al-Dahr (the Time), Q:76:21, which reads: “Upon them shall be garments of fine green  silk and thick silk interwoven with gold, and they shall be adorned with bracelets  of silver.” And finally he brought the third example from Qur’an: al-Haj 22:23) which reads almost the same words as: “Surely Allah will make those who believe and do good deeds enter gardens beneath which rivers flow; they shall be adorned therein shall be in silk.”         

Furthermore,  he brought more of the same in Surat the Creator:35:33, which reads: Gardens of perpetuity, they shall enter therein; the shad  be made to wear therein bracelets of gold and pearls; and their dress therein shall be silk.”

 This is almost a typical answer of theologian, while the sheikh Berri is a Shi’ah Scholar, Sunnah scholars may add some sayings from the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his sirah. Unfortunately, no comments about women or words about them, or those who do bad deeds. Anyway, this is out of the question.

 The repetition of the same meaning in three or four places in Qur’an opens the doubt (among followers of Islam and one-sided Orientals who criticize Islam in general and Qur’an in particular) that the Companions have different copies of Qur’an, and when they were collected from several collector with different educational backgrounds, repetition happened and were put together in Qur’an.  But in my belief, while this point should not be considered as to criticize Qur’an as not changed since its first collection, in fact, repetition confirm that the ayah was revealed, and  it strengthen the fact that the meaning of the same Ayat in different Suras, was revealed in the first place, which means, no matter differences in wording, the meaning still intact. And Qur’an is the revealed words of God, did not change afterward.One

 Fnal note, is the observation about women. In Arabic language the terms (They-and-believers) include both men and women, but women of Heaven have certain qualities as hur al-Ein (The most beautiful). This will be another issue to deal with. (572 words) www.hasanyahya.com