Fellow Muslims and Dear non-Muslims: If you had a choice between....?

Question

Eternal bliss ( which would take a lot of hard work, and a number of tests) to go through

or

Something which is, lets say.. moratal pleasure.. which lasts only for a while.. which would you choose and why?

Are you trying to live up to the answer you chose?

Or does the faculty of not knowing stop you in your tracks. By this I mean.. since we are aware of pleasures that make us happy for a while, and not aware of eternal bliss.. yet... Does the notion of not knowing eternal bliss, stop you from attaining it.

I know many of you would question what eternal bliss is.. but I believe I can attain it if I am a good human being, which is a good representative of Islam. But what if, for those who don't believe... eternal bliss or paradise were to become obvious..

would you work hard to achieve it?

Peace&Love

Answer 1

Praise be to Allaah.

A great question, sister,

As you said anyone who has a normal FAIR mind would say and choose the eternal bless, and as we all know you can't get an A+ in a subject that you study through playing vedio games, but you should study as hard as you can and spending lots of nights without sleeping ... this was the first thing ....

The second thing I'd like to say that ... we all should ask ourselves why do we live ?? what's the purpose of our lives??

Allaah says (interpretation of the meanings):
"- The mutual rivalry for piling up (the good things of this world) diverts you (from the more serious things),
- Until ye visit the graves.
- But nay, ye soon shall know (the reality).
- Again, ye soon shall know!
- Nay, were ye to know with certainty of mind, (ye would beware!)
- Ye shall certainly see Hell-Fire
- Again, ye shall see it with certainty of sight!
- Then, shall ye be questioned that Day about the joy (ye indulged in!). "

[At-Takathur 102: 1-8]

This is it ... We don't just live to eat, grow up, get married, have children and then die ... This is exactly what animals do, where's the speciality of human race in that??

This world is the place of striving and the Hereafter is the place of reward or punishment, where the believers will be rewarded with Paradise and the disbelievers will be punished with Hell.

Paradise is good and none but those who were good will enter it. Allaah is Good and accepts nothing but that which is good. So the way of Allaah with His slaves is to test them with calamities and tribulations, so that the believer may be known from the kaafir and so that the truthful may be distinguished from the liar, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Do people think that they will be left alone because they say: ‘We believe,’ and will not be tested.

And We indeed tested those who were before them. And Allaah will certainly make (it) known (the truth of) those who are true, and will certainly make (it) known (the falsehood of) those who are liars, (although Allaah knows all that before putting them to test)”

[al-‘Ankaboot 29:2-3]

Victory and success cannot be achieved except after tests which will bring the good forth from the evil and tell the believer apart from the kaafir, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Allaah will not leave the believers in the state in which you are now, until He distinguishes the wicked from the good. Nor will Allaah disclose to you the secrets of the Ghayb (Unseen)”

[Aal ‘Imraan 3:179]

Among the trials with which Allaah tests His slaves in order to distinguish the believers from the disbelievers is that which He mentions in the aayah (interpretation of the meaning):

“And certainly, We shall test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but give glad tidings to As-Saabiroon (the patient).

Who, when afflicted with calamity, say: ‘Truly, to Allaah we belong and truly, to Him we shall return.’

They are those on whom are the Salawaat (i.e. who are blessed and will be forgiven) from their Lord, and (they are those who) receive His Mercy, and it is they who are the guided ones”

[al-Baqarah 2:155-157]

So Allaah tests His slaves, and He loves those who are patient, and gives them the glad tidings of Paradise.

I ask Allah to guide the humanity to the true straight path; the path of light; the path to the greatest reward .... AL JANNA. Ameen

Answer 2

Tough to answer sister. Earthly bliss or happiness itself is so hard to attain. Ideally one would prefer to choose Eternal Bliss over the other. As for my opinion, I'd rather work on perfecting the path to happiness first whilst hoping that that Eternal Bliss would follow via the way I live my life towards that path of earthly happiness.

Answer 3

Like any other normal human I'm sometimes attracted to moratal pleasure and easy life .. But I remember:

"Everyone that is thereon will pass away; There remaineth but the Countenance of thy Lord of Might and Glory. " 55: 26 - 26.

So I choose the Eternal bliss.

Peace and Love.

Answer 4

Dear Moonlit Muslima,

I have known bliss many times, mostly in my later years (30's & 40's).

- My little girl sleeping with her head in my lap as we take a long bus ride home at night,

- sitting on the massive rocks on the shore of Lake Ontario, watching the sun rise, listening to the waves and feeling the breeze in my hair,

- wiling away an entire day with brush and canvas, turning white space into my own personal expression of joy,

- sitting up until the early hours wrapping presents for Christmas,

All these things are my bliss, not to be brushed aside by me as fleeting moments but to be cherished by me as brilliant pieces of life. This is the bliss of me as an agnostic.

I don't know if there is a God, but I can't believe that if there is, He wouldn't be pleased with how I try to create bliss in my life every day, living each day as though it were the best EVER. I know, in my heart that if He exists, he doesn't need me to fill every hour of every day with thoughts of Him and declarations of love and supplication while there are things to do and witness and enjoy of His world.

I don't feel as you do, that's clear. But we're just different, that's all, both believing we will achieve eternal bliss being just who we are.

Peace & Love back.

.

Answer 5

.....Say: "Short is the enjoyment of this world: the Hereafter is the best for those who do right: never will ye be dealt with unjustly in the very least! (Holy Quran:4:77)

No one here enjoys fully. One may wish to eat a hundred cups of Ice-creams, a couple plates of Pizza or biriyani. But might not go more than a few that can fill our belly. Man desires to live as long as possible without death. But death comes to everyone without a warning. How much can one eat. How much one can enjoy. It is all limited. Despite our desire to be young for all times, we all grow older and older. The truth is that, this world is not a place to fulfill one's desires but only a place to fulfill one's necessities while preparing for a real world that is eternal and fulfills the desires of man. Islam permits to use our desires as necessities and gives a limit to all the pleasures of life. So that one can lead a happy life in this world and attain the eternal bliss in the after life and those who transgress the limits of Allah are ruined in this world and the next. The true pleasure is to obey our Creator God and worship Him alone. Worshipping anyone beside Him will be ourself ruining. How can one work for someone and seek its reward from someone else. So work for God Almighty Who is Eternal and Who alone can reward you on the day of Judgement.

But as Lawrance said, myself and most of us, fall into sins because of the weekness of our faith. I wish Allah forgive me for what went of me beyond the border lines. But I try my best keep much of my pleasures for what is with Allah which is eternal.

إلهي لست للفردوس أهلاً *** ولا أقوى على نار الجحيم

فهب لي توبةً واغفر ذنوبي *** فإنك غافر الذنب العظيم

Answer 6

Definitely live your bliss--- as long as your bliss is good and by what god commands in its raw and essential teachings. The eternal life giver definetly made each of us for a purpose which is good and gave us the choices which are set before us for us to live it and find it.

Answer 7

Eternal bliss is a simplistic concept. The human mind is not capable of envisaging timespans much beyond 100 years.

Answer 8

Let's invent a parable in response. Two brothers grew up. The elder looked for a woman he would love and share his life with and who he could appreciate and who would appreciate him. He found a woman. Not a perfect woman. Not an ideal beauty. She laughed too loud sometimes, she wasn't always polite. Sometimes she was moody. But he loved her and married her and grew to love her more and more as time went on. The younger brother looked upon this with contempt. Why love an imperfect woman this way? He wanted the perfect woman so much that his hope turned into certainty that one day he would have her. He decided to marry someone for now because he was stuck until he died in this world, but always remember and look forward to the day when he would die and be rewarded with his real bride.

which brother do you think lived the better life? The one who recognized that his love was flawed and would last only as long as his life or the one who thought he was entitled to perfection someday if he only persevered in waiting for the real life to begin?

Personally I know that the world I live in isn't perfect. but rather than feel contempt for its failings and decide that there must be a better world more suited to my tastes later, I embrace this world and seek to make it a better one while enjoying what it is now. Life isn't deferred for me. This isn't a life to be gotten through in preparation for one I imagine to come. THIS IS MY LIFE! I embrace that. I sorrow to see people who dismiss this life as a mere waiting room until the real fun begins. They are living this life but not appreciating it for what it is.

Answer 9

ofcourse i choose eternal bliss,cuz this is wut i'm workin 4 (en sha Allah) and nothin or no1 can change my mind but Allah ,SWT,
y? cuz i don wanna burn in hell 4 ever while i can live 4 ever in Paradise.
am i tryin 2 live the anser? i'm tryin 2 live it 4 sure.cuz i think all good muslim ppl r tryin 2 do that.
i'd work very hard 2 achieve it,even if i had 2 go 2 Afghanistan or Iraq or Palestine 2 free them .
may Allah reward u 4 this beautiful question.
may Allah guide us 2 the straight path.
here's a star

Answer 10

Dear sister,
I'm Muslim and I want to be a good person not because going to heaven.
I do everything as I can for people and I try to be good person because I ashamed God if I do something wrong. I love God and I can't do Something that makes God angry at me, God is my best friend.I feel him in my heart , in every where. I talk to him and hear his advice. Here on the earth is my heaven. I know GOD sometimes test me, when I do Something wrong I become very sad I feel that GOD is angry with.and this time I feel that I'm in the grave with the worse thing. At this time I excuse him and I try to be good again.
I do not want Gods me to heaven.I like God to love me and help me to be good and help me to love others.
(Sorry if I have grammar problems, it is because I'm studying 3 language together and sometimes I confuse with them.)