Russia in World War I, but, by so doing, it fueled
efforts by France and Britain to break up its empire
after the war. They wanted to prevent pan-Islamism
from taking hold in Sunni Muslim lands and
threatening their own imperialist designs. Even the
caliphate was officially abolished by the new Turk-
ish republican government in 1924.
Despite the failure of Abd al-Hamid’s brand
of pan-Islamism, the ideal of Muslim political
unity continued to arise periodically in the 20th
century. It is evident in the Indian khilaFat move-
ment of 1919–24 and international Islamic bodies
such as the mUslim World leagUe (founded in
1962) and the organization oF the islamic con-
Ference (founded in 1969). Iraq’s saddam hUsayn
attempted to invoke pan-Islamist sympathies to
rally support against the international coalition of
powers that opposed his occupation of Kuwait in
1990–91. It has also been an aspect in the ideol-
ogy of some Islamist movements such as the early
Jamaat-i islami and hizb Ut-tahrir. The assertion
that radical Islamist organizations are pan-Islamist
in orientation is an exaggerated one, however,
since most operate in relation to the political
landscapes of specific nation-states (for example,
Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc.)
See also colonialism; hashimite dynasty;
islamism; ottoman dynasty.
Further reading: Nikki R. Keddie, “Pan-Islam as Proto-
Nationalism,” Journal of Modern History 41, no. 1 (March
1969): 17–28; Saad S. Khan, Reasserting International
Islam: A Focus on the Organization of the Islamic Con-
ference and Other Islamic Institutions (Karachi: Oxford
University Press, 2001); Jacob Landau, The Politics of
Pan-Islam (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990).
paper See books and bookmaking.
paradise (Arabic: janna; Persian: firdaws)
Islamic beliefs about paradise are based partly on
biblical motifs found in the book of Genesis and
in later Jewish and Christian writings. They also
reflect indigenous Arabian ideas and some Per-
sian influence. Muslims conceive of paradise as a
verdant garden of bliss where people are able to
meet with loved ones, God, the angels, and other
spiritual beings. Paradise is the primordial garden
of adam and eve, where the first human beings
met with God, the angels, and sata n. In this best
of possible worlds the first two humans went
without thirst and ate the fruits of the garden
until Satan tempted them to eat fruit from the one
tree that God had forbidden to them (Q 2:35–36;
20:117–123). When they did this, God expelled
them into the lower world of mortal existence.
When Adam repented for what he had done, God
forgave him and promised that he and his kind
would be able to return to it in the aFterliFe if
they are judged to have been among the righteous
after the resurrection. Islamic lore also indicates
that the perfumed plants and precious jewels that
people enjoy in this world originated in paradise
and that God allowed Adam to enjoy them in his
worldly existence. One jewel that originated in
paradise was the black stone, originally a white
sapphire that some early Muslim writings say
gabriel gave to Adam. (It later turned to black
because of human impurity.) Even the kaaba is
said to have come from paradise.
The afterlife paradise is described in great
detail in the qUran and other Islamic writings.
According to the Quran it is a great, gated garden
or park that is permeated by the scent of musk,
camphor, and ginger. It is graced with fountains,
and abundant rivers of water, milk, honey, and
wine flow through it (Q 47:15). Its inhabitants
wear luxurious clothing and dwell in beautiful
mansions furnished with couches, carpets, and
household goods made of gold and silver (Q 9:72;
35:55–58; 88:10–16). There they gather with loved
ones and the angels, and they are served food and
drink by handsome youths and beautiful young
women (sing. hoUri) (Q 43:71; 76:15–22). The
specially blessed will even be able to meet with
God, though theologians and Quran commenta-K 546 paper