Abdussalam Puthige
Answer : In brief, heaven is a place of abundant rewards and Hell is a place of stringent punishments. Only a glimpse of both have been introduced to us through Quran and Sunnah. The available information may be equated to a mere trailer. Heaven and Hell in fact are domains that are beyond the reach and comprehension of the human beings in this world. Very little of authentic information is available about them. As they belong to an entirely different world, even with the available amount of information human ability to fully comprehend the true nature of that world is extremely limited. Those who are aware of the limitations of human knowledge and human imagination will not insist on graphic details because, obviously, wild guess will be the only source of such details.
The Prophet (s) said, “Allah has prepared for his – righteous slaves (such excellent things) as no eye has ever seen, nor an ear has ever heard, nor a human heart can ever think of.’” Bukhari (9, 93, 589).
In my case, my sole concern right now is I should somehow escape hell and get admission to heaven. The details of the rewards in heaven are secondary. However, I am aware that once I am in there, I will be offered a rich variety of choice in all matters and I will choose what suits me in my view.
My understanding of heaven is, once I am in there, I will be provided with every thing that is good to me and everything I desire or ask for.
Here is a clue to the state of affairs in heaven :
”And in Heaven will be whatever the inner-soul desires and whatever the eye finds pleasure in, & you will stay there forever”. (Qur’an – 43:71)
Regarding partners I believe that in heaven Allah will provide such perfect partners to every male and female that they will be fully happy and satisfied. Here again, being happy and fully satisfied is so crucial that the details seize to be of much relevance.
Whether women will have multiple male partners in heaven is quite an old question. In my veiw, if a woman desires it and if she deserves it she might get it. But even in such case I think it is against the dignity of women to proclaim that they will get multiple partners in heaven. No sensitive woman would like to see or hear such a statement being debated or such a scenario being discussed. Women have their own kind of temperament and obviously it is different from that of Men. Men might be comfortable when they are promised multiple partners in heaven. Women will however, find such a promise embarrassing.
