Why does the Qur’an place such great emphasis on gardens and/or feasts?
While many other religions believe that heaven is an enchanted kingdom somewhere in the sky, the muslim community holds the belief that it is similar to that of earth. The Qur’an describes heaven as a garden. The Qur’an describes the garden as a form of reward for those who are faithful. It is described as having rivers of milk and wine and honey and compassing fruits. I found it funny that it is against muslim traditions to consume wine, however it would be available flowing in the form of a river paradise. The garden is seen as the enchanted garden where one would want for nothing. Everything needed for survival would be easily accessible to the faithful followers of the muslim community.
The varying concepts of heaven or an afterlife is one of the most fascinating facets of theology. Gardens, symbolically, are abundant with natural life and a safe enclosure free from the trials and tribulations of human life. They are symbols of purity and salvation, a peaceful retreat from the struggles that an individual has faced on Earth. Similarly, milk, wine, and honey are all considered royal and rich, heavenly rewards for a life lived well on Earth.
I agree. In the Qur’an, drinking wine or alcohol is considered a “haram” which means that it is absolutely prohibited. But in the Qur’an it also says that the wine in the Gardens is different from the wine on earth. The only reason it is prohibited on earth is because it intoxicates, while the wine that is served in the Gardens does not.
In your comment, Kereen, you catch the fine detail that the vision of paradise in certain strands of Islam, is, contrary to many western depictions we have of heaven as a place in the sky (as we have in, for example, Dante), rather a garden. I’m glad you clearly make the contrast, as too many people in the west today have very vague notions about this.
Some of your phrases, as well, Alanna, capture this sense quite tersely: “abundant with natural life”; “safe enclosure”; “a peaceful retreat.”