Page 14 - Paradise: The Believers' Real Home

12 PARADISE

from Allah and religious moral teaching.
So, because of this erroneous understanding that domi-
nates society, very many people think that a comfortable, lux-
urious, and ostentatious life, and all that goes along with it, are
"un-Islamic." They see such things as expensive clothes, rich
food, entertainment, dinner parties, magnificently appointed
houses, décor, and valuable art works as belonging to ignorant
people cut off from their religion. They usually call a life filled
with these things "dissolute," and criticize those who give this
society its name as "living undisciplined lives of dissolution."
The word "dissolution" (safahat) comes from the Arabic safih,
and can be translated as "a lack of discipline, overindulgence, a
weakness of mind that comes from living an irresponsible life
of wealth and comfort."
Here, we encounter a false understanding that must be
corrected. The life of Paradise that Allah has been pleased to
choose for His servants, as well as a life that contains every
kind of luxury, comfort, and ostentation, is also the most
beautiful and noble way of life, one that conforms as closely as
possible to religious moral teaching.
A false definition of dissolution opens the way to misun-
derstanding. Dissolution, or rebellion against Allah through a
lack of discipline and overindulgence, is a condition of the
human mind. People are not dissolute because of their
clothes, ostentatious houses, aesthetic environments, or ma-
terial wealth. Rather, the problem is in their minds.
The natural result of this situation is this: If people have a
Qur'anic morality and a strong faith, they can live among the