In Qur’an, garden is depicted as a beautiful heaven, which filled with greenery and flowing water, with adorable flowers and trees, with mild winds and peaceful grasses. This place, garden, is the ideal place for every Allah believers. In the garden, they can get the rewards. They can receive pleasure and mercy. Most important thing is they can found the peaceful life in this garden. In a word, the garden in Qur’an can be served as a heaven as that in Christian’s minds. The feast depicted in the Qur’an is included plenty of food and drink. Good and clean things are made of something lawful. The word “lawful”  is that the things they have learned from or catch from by themselves with their knowledge. In this case, feast is about the law which restricts believers what food they should eat or not.

The Ramayana and the Odyssey are two stories of the same fate. In both stories a heroic protagonist fights against odds to restore his happiness and return home. In both stories the antagonists are separated from their homes and wives during some point and must travel while seeking the help of others to be reunited with their beloved ones and return to their lands and rule. Several circumstances obviously differ, as both stories are depicted from separate regions and represent diverse ventures to be of entertainment towards their respective audiences however their essence in plot is one in the same. The final examples being both have a happy ending before the antagonist slay their enemies and ruling their land.

By Xhozef Lumaj

Consider the depiction of justice and mercy throughout the sections of the Qur’an found in the anthology.

What you see mentioned frequently is the idea that God is very forgiving. This is depicted as we see the various ways God allows people to atone for their ‘sins’. At one point in the narration, several methods of making amends for breaking an oath are mentioned; from feeding the poor to fasting for three days. What it seems like is that the narrative gives its followers as much options as possible to be devout. It also mentions that those who don’t believe are sent to follow other messengers, or other religions. The sense of justice seems to go along with the thought that as long as you follow the word of the Qur’an, you’re right, and if you don’t believe the word of ‘Him’, you will be punished.

How is the sanctity of marriage bond portrayed throughout the narrative?

From what I can tell, women carry much more of the burden in marriage than men do. From the beginning of the narrative you can tell men have a much more relaxed role in the relationship, as the king, Dasharatha, had multiple wives. Moreover, he had children with all of these wives, while they all had to remain faithful to him. Where the roles in marriage really caught my attention, however, when Rama said in Ayodhya 19-20, “I will gladly give away… Sita (his wife)… [for] my father’s command.” This may have been meant to display his loyalty for his father, but it reveals something more about the way marriages were set up in his time. Furthermore, he goes on in Ayodhya 24-25 to say to his mother, “… this is the eternal religion. To a woman her husband is verily god himself… if she does not serve her husband, [she] is deemed to be a sinner.” This paints a clear picture of how women had to respect the binding of marriage to their husbands, while the husbands enjoyed the comfort of whomever they pleased.

I believe the story of Joseph is told as a form of confirmation to when believing and trusting in the faith of god will lead to bliss and tranquility. Joseph went through hardship after hardship however he was able to make it through all of it and his faith grew as he persisted through his journey of life. Joseph constantly chose to the do most righteous act in faith that god wanted him to do so. For example when the women of the city of Egypt where the wife of his master dwelled, he was willing to yield to them unless the lord protected them from their treachery and god responded. His persistent faith eventually lead him to harmony and the entire story is based on his example of faith and how if people were to follow his example they to could have the same end result.

By Xhozef Lumaj