What is heaven? What does it look like? What do you do there? In a monthly series of articles, Daily News Egypt asks Egyptians from all walks of life what they expect of where they hope to spend eternity. Sheikh Ibrahim Negm, the spokesman for Egypt's Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, insists that no human being could ever imagine what heaven looks like, and urges believers to "not concern themselves with such matters. Still, when pushed, he divulges. "One of the most common descriptions in the Quran is that paradise is a beautiful garden full of rivers and lakes, he says. "But its beauty is far greater than anything you have seen on earth. According to his colleague Sheikh Saber Taalab, former member of Al-Azhar's Islamic research center, such descriptions of heaven in the Quran are merely intended to give believers something to look forward to in the afterlife. "The reality, he says, "will most likely look completely different - something the human mind and perceptions could never hope to comprehend. Both Sheikhs however have clear conceptions of what people will look like in heaven. Sheikh Taalab believes those who go to heaven will become the best version of themselves, or how they were at their "peak during their life on earth, without any blemishes or physical defects they might have had. Sheikh Negm goes one step further, citing a long-held prophetic tradition that says before admission to heaven, believers will be submerged in the river of life, "reshaping them into a perfect physical form, while allowing them to retain some of their own unique characteristics to distinguish them from others. After entering heaven, the sheikhs agree, people will rejoin the members of their families who were also allowed in, before splitting up into the different levels, or "degrees, of heaven they have individually achieved. "It's like your workplace: The better you have performed [in life] the better the position you will attain [in heaven], says Sheikh Taalab. If a wife has led a better life than her husband, for example, she will spend eternity in a higher level of heaven, where people receive, "more respect, and more of God's grace. She may however appeal to God to allow her husband to come up and join her, and in most cases God will oblige. And contrary to what many believe, both sheikhs say that couples who were married on earth will spend eternity in heaven together, even if they did not love or like one another. "There is a prophetic tradition that says people spend life in paradise with their spouses, says Sheikh Negm. "As for those who don't like one another, God will eliminate any grudges they have towards each other. Both will have been dipped in the river of life, which removes anything negative. Which begs the question of the houris (heavenly maidens in Islam), which are mentioned in the Quran. Sheikh Taalab says that while they do exist, they are not designed for sexual purposes, as some scholars hold, and are mentioned in the Quran only to give incentives to believers not to commit adultery. Most scholars, says Sheikh Negm, refrain from assigning the Houris a particular shape, gender or nature, and also refrain from attempting to classify them, apart from to say that they are there to make the experience of heaven that much richer. Which will be quite rich anyway, the sheikhs say, given that you will be able to do anything you want, and will be free of any earthly irritants such as physical or mental pain and exhaustion. "Someone who loves football will be able to play whenever they wants to, says Sheikh Negm. "God will provide what you want before you have even finished thinking about it. Sheikh Taalab adds that people never sleep in heaven as it is forever daytime, and there will be no need to go to the toilet, brush your teeth or worry about any other physical considerations. "These are things you associate with the body on earth, he says. The two sheikhs both put meeting Prophet Mohamed at the top of their list of things they are looking forward to doing in heaven. "Actually that is the second thing, Sheikh Taalab blurts out. "I am most looking forward to seeing the face of God. To see previous instalments of 'Just Like Heaven' or give your idea of what heaven is, go to the Heaven Project group on Facebook.
