| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
Islam teaches that Jesus (Isa, in Arabic) was not the son of God, but he was a prophet. According to Islam Isa never died and he was not crucified; instead he was raised into heaven still physically alive, where he lives now. At the time appointed by Allah, Isa will physically return to the world, end all wars, and usher in an era of peace, a messianic era. There is a hadith that states that upon the return of Jesus ('Isa), he will abolish Christianity, smash all crosses, and kill every pig.[1]
Islamic descriptions of Jannah ( Heaven) are couched in the language of physical pleasure, sometimes interpreted literally, sometimes allegorically. Heaven is most often described as a cool, well-shaded, and well-watered garden. The rewards of the righteous are also described in explicitly physical terms; they include unlimited food and drink (including alcohol, which is forbidden to Muslims), enormous palaces staffed with multitudes of servants, and perfect, perpetually-virgin spouses (see houri).
In recent decades, this belief has been stressed by some organizations, such as HamasHamas acronym of Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah ( Arabic: Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas is also Arabic for 'zeal' or 'courage') is a Palestinian Islamist paramilitary and political organization, regarded by some as a militant organization and by o and al-QaedaAl-Qaeda ( Arabic: #x627;لقاعده "the foundation" or "the base") is a militant Islamist organization founded by Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in 1988 to expand the mujahideen resistance movement against the Soviet occupa, as a way to induce teenage males to become suicide bombersA suicide bombing is a bomb attack on people or property, committed by a person who knows the explosion will cause his or her own death (see suicide). Historically the term has been used by Western media as far back as World War II in reference to the act. The excessive stress on this belief is seen by moderate Muslims as a deviation from the traditional Muslim emphasis that it is only the five pillars of faithThe religion of Islam consists of faith (, imn and practice (, din . The Five Pillars of Islam is the term given to the five most fundamental aspects of Islam. For the Sunni sect, the Five Pillars (Arkan-al-Islam) are the five most important obligations o that bring one to Heaven.
Those Muslims who do not inherit heaven will be punished with a temporary stay in hell, and will go to heaven later as long as there is "one atom of faith in their hearts" as stated by the Prophet Muhammed. Muslims also believe that people who do not accept the Prophet Muhammed after hearing his message, will receive eternal damnation in hell; just as those who did not believe in Jesus and Moses at their respective periods after hearing of their messages will also receive eternal damnation in hell.
The descriptons in the Qur'an of punishment for unbelief are, like the descriptions of Heaven, physical and graphic. Skin is burned off the person's body and then they are given new skin so it can be burned off again. Boiling water is poured down people's throats and it rips their bowels apart. Extremes of heat and cold are applied to the body.