In the eschatological imaginaire of medieval Islam, punishment of Muslims in the other world is thus conceived of as a real threat. There is a tangible fear of becoming the target of divine acts of violence after death. This is not an ever-present fear, perhaps, but rather, a nagging suspicion that things might go terribly wrong after all. (p 160).
It is interesting to note that, despite their ugliness and general nastiness, the gaolers of hell are angels. They are, as it were, on the side of power. In a sense, they are agents of God's siyasa, His terrifying but ultimately just use of punishment. (p 163)
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Christian Lange on the Islamic vision of hell
Am reading right now parts of a recently-published volume called Public Violence in Islamic Societies (2009 Edinburgh University Press) and one of the articles in it, 'State Punishment and Eschatology' by Christian Lange, has some great clarifications regarding the medieval Islamic understanding of hell:
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3 comments:
I'd throw in the subject of As-Sirat for good measure.
I was surprised coming to the M.E. to hear many of my Muslims friends talk about a pseudo-purgatory. It's a very real idea for them. That's something most intro books to Islam rarely talk about, but it's a really big deal to them. Very few believe they'll ever make it strait to paradise. They assume they'll be in their version of purgatory for a while - which incidentally gives them 'hope' that good Christians might make it to paradise.
Of course this is just the "Muslim on the street" talking, not necessarily the true Orthodox understanding. It's how it seems to work our practically.
Sharpy: The views of the Muslim-on-the-street are more important than the views of orthodoxy. Same goes for Christianity.
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