| Right to Appreciate Beauty
and Enjoy the Bounties Created by God
Sūrah al Hadid 57. 27
The Qur'an tells Muslims that monasticism was not prescribed by God.
Though they are to remember that the hereafter is more important than the
life on earth, Muslims are told to reject the negative view that it is
wrong to enjoy the beauty and bounty of God's creation.
Sūrah al A`raf 7.32:
"Say: "Who is there to forbid
the beauty which God has brought forth for His creatures, and the good
things from among the means of sustenance?"
Say: "They
are (lawful) in the life of this world unto all who have attained to faith
-- to be theirs alone on Resurrection Day."
Sūrah al A`raf 7.31
'O children of Adam! Beautify yourselves for every act of worship,
and eat and drink freely, but do not waste: verily He does not love the
wasteful.'
Note: As pointed out by Muhammad Asad, "By
declaring that all good and beautiful things of life, i.e., those which
are not expressly prohibited -- are lawful to the believers, the Qur'an
condemns, by implication, all forms of life-denying asceticism,
world-renunciation and self-mortification."
The Qur'an regards physical phenomena as
"Signs of God." Some of the most memorable passages in the
Qur'an point to the insight and wisdom which can be gained by reflecting
on the myriad manifestations of God's creative activity all around
us.
The right to develop one's aesthetic
sensibilities so that one can appreciate beauty in all its forms, and the
right to enjoy what God has provided for the nurture of humankind, are,
thus, rooted in the life-affirming vision of the Qur'an.
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