وَعَبْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ الَّذِي كُنْتُمْ تُوَدُونَ That is also the jannat mention of this word. These are comparative terms. They should be understood in the comparison of that, mentioned in that particular text. There, where the Prophet ﷺ tells us that this world is like a prison to a believer and like a heaven to a non-believer, he refers to the freedom of action. In Jannah, you will do whatever you please and you will not be forbidden from any trees. But on this earth, you are forbidden from eating the fruit of certain trees.
So, you are in prison because you are restricted. And not only one tree, in fact, according to the do-nots of the Holy Quran, there are hundreds of things which are forbidden. And for every order, do’s, there is a counter-do-not. So, in fact, all the 700, some, roughly there are 700 do’s and do-nots in the Holy Quran, every one of them becomes a do-not. Some directly and some as a shadow, do-not of a do. So, in that cases, for a moment to live a life of such restrictions is not an easy job. Restrictions are put upon you as to, apart from them, you know, as to get up at a certain time in do’s as well.
To behave in certain manner, to eat in certain manner, to see to it that you don’t eat that and eat that, and also, do not misappropriate and behave like this to your parents and elders, and like this to your juniors, your children and so on. And be watchful of what you send for the future generation or for the life to come and so on. There are 101 things in the Holy Quran and in traditions which restrict the life of a believer. So, in that sense, he is living in a prison. And that living in prison is of his own volition. He could break the prison walls if he so chose, but he does not. While a non-believer, a non-conformist does as he pleases. He can kill anybody, he can take his revenge as he pleases, he can usurp other people’s money or rights, and enjoy himself as he thinks.
So, it is like a heaven to him, because in heaven it is said, whatever you desire, you can do there. You have total freedom. So, in this sense, these comparisons should not be extended to the entirety. Only they are comparisons in certain short spheres. When the Holy Quran tells us of the heaven of the women, it means that they love Allah so much, that to abide by his wishes or his desires or his injunctions or orders is their pleasure or becomes ultimately their pleasure. And those things which appear as restrictions to the outside observer do not remain any more restrictions. They become pleasure.
Moreover, after a while living in certain restrictions, you also acquire a taste for those restrictions. Like it happens in civilization. What is civilization against beastliness? A number of restrictions. It breaks down to this. In the world of beasts, there are no restrictions. In the world of civilization, there are certain restrictions, even as to how you should put your fork and where you should put your knife and how you should use them. And if you don’t do that, then you are looked down upon. So, there are more restrictions put by civilization on assimilized people than perhaps by a religion.
But because people get used to them and they have acquired that taste, so that becomes a heaven to the civilized people. While to begin with, when you begin to teach children how to behave civilly, it is a hell for them. Have you not seen children, you know, rebelling against their parents? You are interfering with their lives, you should do this and should do that and should not do this and should not do that. To begin with, they thoroughly, I mean, disapprove of what is being done to them. But once they grow up and they are used to these things, then they take pride. And they look down upon those who enjoy a sort of freedom as compared to them.
So, it is all a world of comparisons and relativity. The hell becomes a heaven for the people and the heaven becomes a hell ultimately for those who think they are in heaven. So, those who really believe in Allah and act according to His desires, His wishes, not only orders, but I am intentionally using the word wishes. They want to do it, ultimately, once they are trained. The same world of restrictions becomes a world of pleasure for them and that is when they receive their heaven.
