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The vision of God as the highest bliss

رؤية الله أعلى النعيم

Sha'rawi holds that the highest bliss of the Hereafter is God's good pleasure and the vision of Him. The believer worships God because He is worthy of worship, not only for blessing, and paradise has degrees according to the intention of the worshipper. He reports a saying of Rabi'a al-Adawiyya, without reproducing its verses 1 2 3.

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Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
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Worship and the pillars

Summary

Sha'rawi holds that the highest bliss of paradise is God's good pleasure and the vision of Him, that paradises have degrees, and that each worshipper's reward follows his movement and intention 1 2.

Worship for God's own sake

He says that whoever worships God for blessing receives the blessing, while whoever worships Him because He is worthy of worship is given the joy of gazing on Him. Love of God for His own sake is higher than seeking bliss 2 3.

The saying of Rabi'a

He reports that Rabi'a al-Adawiyya worshipped God because He is worthy of worship, not from fear of the fire or hope of paradise, without reproducing her verses 2.

The hadith

He cites the hadith of Anas on three signs by which one finds the sweetness of faith, and takes it as proof of faith's perfection 3.

Not yet checked

The saying he attributes to Rabi'a has not been checked in her sources. His preference for the vision and his ranking of paradise are his reading. The academic view and any non-Sunni view have not been checked.

Opinions on the question

First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame)Main reference

The highest bliss of the Hereafter is God's pleasure and vision of Him; whoever worships God for His own sake receives the greatest joy

Sha'rawi holds that God's good pleasure and vision are greater than any bliss, citing the verse of al-Qiyama, and reports a saying of Rabi'a al-Adawiyya without its verses {cite:tafsir-sharawi-khawatir-scan-vol-2 p.1326} {cite:tafsir-sharawi-khawatir-scan-vol-2 p.1327}.

Held by: Muhammad Mutawalli al-Sha'rawi

People and things also explored

The ruling on one who abandons prayer· Ada' (performance of an obligation within its time)· Adhan (the call to prayer: its ruling, wording, conditions, recommended features and the muezzin)· Bone (adhm): purity, use and retaliation· The adornment of desires and the goods of this world· The people of the bench (ahl al-suffa)· The earth made a place of prayer and purity· Spending in the way of God (infaq)

Sources

  1. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p.1326
  2. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p.1327
  3. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p.1328
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The vision of God as the highest bliss”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/vision-of-god-as-supreme-reward/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

The ruling on one who abandons prayer

Al-Sallabi quotes Ali: whoever does not pray is an unbeliever. He then reports from al-Nawawi the dispute over one who neglects prayer while believing it obligatory: the majority (Malik, al-Shafi'i) hold him a sinner to be asked to repent, others hold him an unbeliever, a view ascribed to Ali; Abu Hanifa and the Kufans hold him not an unbeliever but to be disciplined.