Short answer
Nirvana and Paradise answer different questions. In the Pali texts nirvana is the ending of craving, and the Buddha calls it the ultimate happiness. Asked where one who is freed is reborn, he said none of the four answers applies. Nirvana is not nothingness, but the Buddha left the freed one's end undeclared. The Qur'an says it plainly: the soul is told to come back to its Lord, well pleased and well-pleasing to Him. Paradise does not end, and its people wish for no change. Its greatest bliss is God's (﷾) good pleasure and the sight of Him. Islam is the whole way of life that leads to that meeting.
Full explanation
Nirvana: the ending of craving
In the Pali Canon, the scriptures Theravada Buddhists follow, nirvana is the end of craving and of rebirth. Sujato's English prints the Pali word nibbana as "extinguishment". The Dhammapada is a collection of verses in the Pali Canon. It says that once a person has known this as it is, extinguishment is the ultimate happiness. Verse 204 ends in the same words. Buddhists do not call nirvana annihilation, and this page never does.
“Hunger is the worst illness, conditions are the worst suffering. When one has known this as it is, extinguishment is the ultimate happiness. Health is the ultimate blessing; contentment, the ultimate wealth; trust is the ultimate family; extinguishment, the ultimate happiness.”
What the Buddha left undeclared
Majjhima Nikaya 72 records the wanderer Vacchagotta putting ten questions to the Buddha. One is whether a realized one still exists after death. The Buddha answers, "That's not my view." He says the same of "no longer exists", of both, and of neither. Asked where a freed mendicant is reborn, he says that none of "reborn", "not reborn", "both" and "neither" applies. He compares a realized one to the ocean, deep, immeasurable and hard to fathom, and calls the principle "beyond the scope of logic". So the texts do not make nirvana annihilation: that answer is declined too. It is left beyond description.
““Then is this your view: ‘A realized one still exists after death. This is the only truth, anything else is futile’?” “That’s not my view, Vaccha.””
““But worthy Gotama, when a mendicant’s mind is freed like this, where are they reborn?” “‘They’re reborn’ doesn’t apply, Vaccha.” “Well then, are they not reborn?” “‘They’re not reborn’ doesn’t apply, Vaccha.””
“A realized one is freed from reckoning in terms of form. They’re deep, immeasurable, and hard to fathom, like the ocean. ‘They’re reborn’, ‘they’re not reborn’, ‘they’re both reborn and not reborn’, ‘they’re neither reborn nor not reborn’—none of these apply.”
“For this principle is deep, hard to see, hard to understand, peaceful, sublime, beyond the scope of logic, subtle, comprehensible to the astute.”
What the Qur'an says plainly
The Qur'an does not leave the end unnamed. The soul at rest is told, "Come back thou to thy Lord, well pleased (thyself), and well-pleasing unto Him." Then it is told to enter among His servants and to enter His Garden. The soul is the one that God (﷾) takes at death and keeps back when He has decreed death for it. So the Qur'an tells you who arrives and to whom: you will meet your Lord. The Face of your Lord abides when all that is on earth has perished. Where the Buddha left the freed one's end undeclared, the Qur'an declares it.
“(To the righteous soul will be said:) "O (thou) soul, in (complete) rest and satisfaction! "Come back thou to thy Lord,- well pleased (thyself), and well-pleasing unto Him! "Enter thou, then, among My devotees! "Yea, enter thou My Heaven!”
“It is Allah that takes the souls (of men) at death; and those that die not (He takes) during their sleep: those on whom He has passed the decree of death, He keeps back (from returning to life), but the rest He sends (to their bodies) for a term appointed verily in this are Signs for those who reflect.”
“All that is on earth will perish: But will abide (for ever) the Face of thy Lord,- full of Majesty, Bounty and Honour.”
| Point | Nirvana, in the Pali texts | Paradise, in the Qur'an |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The ending of craving, called the ultimate happiness | A Garden with all they wish, and more |
| The one who arrives | Left undeclared: none of the four answers applies | The soul, come back to its Lord, well pleased and well-pleasing |
| Its summit | Itself the ultimate happiness | The good pleasure of Allah (﷾), and the sight of Him, in a home they never leave |
"Paradise is more craving, and the heavens end"
Buddhist teachers press two points. The first is desire. In Samyutta Nikaya 51.15 the brahmin Unnabha asks what the spiritual life is for, and Ananda says it is to give up desire. Unnabha objects that desire cannot be given up by desire. Ananda answers with a walk to the park: the desire to arrive fades once you arrive. So the path runs on desire, and the desire fades at the goal. The second point is the gods' heavens. The Dhammapada says a disciple of the Buddha finds no delight even in celestial pleasures. The Anguttara Nikaya says that even the Great Divinity decays and perishes. So, say Buddhists, a Paradise is craving's last prize, and it too would pass.
““This being the case, worthy Ānanda, the path is endless, not finite. For it’s not possible to give up desire by means of desire.””
“They formerly had the desire to attain perfection, but when they attained perfection the corresponding desire faded away.”
“Even if it were raining money, you’d not be sated in sensual pleasures. An astute person understands that sensual pleasures offer little gratification and much suffering. Thus they find no delight even in celestial pleasures. A disciple of the fully awakened Buddha delights in the ending of craving.”
“As far as the galaxy extends, the Great Divinity is said to be the foremost. But even the Great Divinity decays and perishes.”
In Paradise desire is satisfied, and it does not end
Grant what is true. Desire is not the fault. The fault is desire that is frustrated, fleeting or harmful. Paradise has none of these. The Qur'an says there will be for them all that they wish, and more besides in His presence. No toil or weariness touches them, and they are never asked to leave. They wish for no change. The Buddhist reason for turning from the heavens is that they end. That reason does not touch a home that does not end. It becomes a reason to seek the Garden. And the Face of God (﷾) outlasts all that perishes.
“There will be for them therein all that they wish,- and more besides in Our Presence.”
“There no sense of fatigue shall touch them, nor shall they (ever) be asked to leave.”
“And they will say: "Praise be to Allah, Who has removed from us (all) sorrow: for our Lord is indeed Oft-Forgiving Ready to appreciate (service): "Who has, out of His Bounty, settled us in a Home that will last: no toil nor sense of weariness shall touch us therein."”
“As to those who believe and work righteous deeds, they have, for their entertainment, the Gardens of Paradise, Wherein they shall dwell (for aye): no change will they wish for from them.”
“All that is on earth will perish: But will abide (for ever) the Face of thy Lord,- full of Majesty, Bounty and Honour.”
More than a sensual prize: the sight of God (﷾)
Some say Paradise is only a sensual prize. The Dhammapada says that sensual pleasure never satisfies. Paradise does have real joys of the body: fruits, the flesh of fowls and "companions pure (and holy)". But none of them cloys or harms. Its drink is free from headiness and leaves no after-ache. Its people hear no frivolity and no taint of ill, only "Peace! Peace". And these joys are not its summit. Gardens and mansions are promised, but the greatest bliss is the good pleasure of Allah (﷾). Faces will beam, "looking towards their Lord". The Prophet (ﷺ) said the believers will see their Lord as clearly as they see the full moon. In Muslim 181a, when the people of Paradise have entered it, Allah (﷾) asks if they want anything more, and then He lifts the veil. Nothing given to them is dearer than looking at their Lord. That sight is the summit of Paradise.
“Even if it were raining money, you’d not be sated in sensual pleasures. An astute person understands that sensual pleasures offer little gratification and much suffering. Thus they find no delight even in celestial pleasures. A disciple of the fully awakened Buddha delights in the ending of craving.”
“And with fruits, any that they may select: And the flesh of fowls, any that they may desire.”
“But give glad tidings to those who believe and work righteousness, that their portion is Gardens, beneath which rivers flow. Every time they are fed with fruits therefrom, they say: "Why, this is what we were fed with before," for they are given things in similitude; and they have therein companions pure (and holy); and they abide therein (for ever).”
“Free from headiness; nor will they suffer intoxication therefrom.”
“No after-ache will they receive therefrom, nor will they suffer intoxication:”
“Not frivolity will they hear therein, nor any taint of ill,- Only the saying, "Peace! Peace".”
“Allah hath promised to Believers, men and women, gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell therein, and beautiful mansions in gardens of everlasting bliss. But the greatest bliss is the good pleasure of Allah: that is the supreme felicity.”
“Some faces, that Day, will beam (in brightness and beauty);- Looking towards their Lord;”
Jarir reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) looked at the full moon one night and said: you will see your Lord as you see this moon, with no difficulty in seeing Him; so, if you can, let nothing make you miss the prayer before sunrise and the prayer before sunset. Al-Bukhari places it in the chapter on the verses about faces that look towards their Lord (75:22-23).
Suhayb reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said that when the people of Paradise have entered it, Allah asks whether they wish Him to give them anything more. They answer that He has already brightened their faces, admitted them to Paradise and saved them from the Fire. Then He lifts the veil, and nothing they have been given is dearer to them than looking at their Lord. Muslim places it in the chapter on affirming that the believers will see their Lord in the Hereafter.
Mahayana: Amitabha's Pure Land
Not every Buddhist waits for nirvana alone. Many Pure Land and other Mahayana Buddhists hope to be born in Sukhavati, the land of Amitabha, a Buddha of the Mahayana sutras. The Larger Sukhavati-vyuha, a Mahayana sutra and not a Pali text, praises that land at great length. It says the beings born there are always constant in absolute truth until they have reached nirvana. So, a Buddhist may say, Buddhism also holds out a happy home beyond this life.
“And again, O Ananda, in that Buddha country whatever beings have been born, and are being born, and will be born, are always constant in absolute truth, till they have reached Nirvana. And why is that? Because there is no room or mention there of the other two divisions (rasis), such as beings not constant or constant in falsehood.”
A stage, or a home
In this passage the land holds beings until they reach nirvana, so here it is a stage on the way. In the Qur'an the Garden is the home. Its people are never asked to leave, and they wish for no change. The question is the same whether the hope is nirvana or a Buddha's land. Who brings the soul to its end, and what has He promised? The Qur'an names Him and speaks to you. It asks to be considered with care, and God (﷾) sent Muhammad (ﷺ) to all mankind. Belief, worship and character belong together there, as one way of life.
“And again, O Ananda, in that Buddha country whatever beings have been born, and are being born, and will be born, are always constant in absolute truth, till they have reached Nirvana. And why is that? Because there is no room or mention there of the other two divisions (rasis), such as beings not constant or constant in falsehood.”
“There no sense of fatigue shall touch them, nor shall they (ever) be asked to leave.”
“As to those who believe and work righteous deeds, they have, for their entertainment, the Gardens of Paradise, Wherein they shall dwell (for aye): no change will they wish for from them.”
“Do they not consider the Qur'an (with care)? Had it been from other Than Allah, they would surely have found therein Much discrepancy.”
“Say: "O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah, to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He That giveth both life and death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, who believeth in Allah and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided."”
Eight replies answered
Samyutta Nikaya 51.15 — Linked Discourses, chapter 51, discourse 15 (The Brahmin Unnabha), segment 5.1
“They formerly had the desire to attain perfection, but when they attained perfection the corresponding desire faded away.”
Cited for
Wanting Paradise is still craving. Even the Buddha's path runs on desire, and the sutta says the desire fades once the goal is reached. So the wise want nothing.
The response
The sutta is right that a wish can fade when it is met. But the problem was never desire as such. It is desire that is frustrated, fleeting or harmful. In Paradise people have all they wish, and more besides in God's (﷾) presence. No weariness touches them and no one asks them to leave. They wish for no change. That is desire satisfied, not restless. And its summit is not a thing for the self but the good pleasure of the Lord.
Where it lands — SN 51.15 shows that a wish fades when it is met. Paradise is where it is met, and does not end (50:35; 15:48; 18:108).
Dhammapada 186-187 — The Buddhas, verses 186-187
“Even if it were raining money, you’d not be sated in sensual pleasures. An astute person understands that sensual pleasures offer little gratification and much suffering. Thus they find no delight even in celestial pleasures. A disciple of the fully awakened Buddha delights in the ending of craving.”
Cited for
Islam's Paradise is a sensual prize, and the Dhammapada says that sensual pleasure never satisfies.
The response
Paradise does have real joys of the body: fruits, the flesh of fowls and "companions pure (and holy)". None of them cloys or harms. Gardens and mansions are promised, but the Qur'an says the greatest bliss is the good pleasure of Allah (﷾). Faces will beam, looking towards their Lord. The Prophet (ﷺ) said the believers will see their Lord, and that when the veil is lifted nothing given to them is dearer. The drink there is free from headiness. The people hear no frivolity and no taint of ill, only "Peace! Peace". The joys of the body are real, but they are not the summit. A joy that is a meeting with the Lord is not the pleasure the verse warns of.
Where it lands — Paradise has real joys of the body, and they do not cloy or harm. Its summit is God's (﷾) good pleasure and the sight of Him (56:20-21; 9:72; 75:22-23; Muslim 181a).
Majjhima Nikaya 72 — Middle Discourses, discourse 72 (With Vacchagotta on Fire), segments 20.2-20.4
“A realized one is freed from reckoning in terms of form. They’re deep, immeasurable, and hard to fathom, like the ocean. ‘They’re reborn’, ‘they’re not reborn’, ‘they’re both reborn and not reborn’, ‘they’re neither reborn nor not reborn’—none of these apply.”
Cited for
Nirvana is not annihilation, so you misrepresent it. It is deep and immeasurable, like the ocean.
The response
Granted. This page does not call nirvana nothingness, and the Buddha refused that answer as well. The point is a different one. He left the freed one's end undeclared, and said none of the four answers applies. The Qur'an gives a plain answer. The soul is told to come back to its Lord, well pleased and well-pleasing to Him, and to enter His Garden. A reader who wants to know where he is going is given a name.
Where it lands — The contrast is MN 72's refusal against 89:28's plain promise, and nothing more.
Anguttara Nikaya 10.29 — Numbered Discourses, book of the tens, discourse 29 (Kosala), segments 2.3-2.4
“As far as the galaxy extends, the Great Divinity is said to be the foremost. But even the Great Divinity decays and perishes.”
Cited for
The Buddha taught that even the highest heavens decay and perish. That is why a heaven cannot be the goal.
The response
Then the reason for turning from a heaven is that it ends. Paradise is not such a place. Its people are never asked to leave, no toil or weariness touches them, and they wish for no change. All that is on earth will perish, but the Face of the Lord abides. A reader who rejects a home because it passes has a reason to look for one that does not.
Where it lands — The Buddhist's own reason for rejecting the heavens does not apply to a Paradise that does not end (15:48; 55:26-27).
Larger Sukhavati-vyuha (Description of Sukhavati) 24 — section 24, p. 44
“And again, O Ananda, in that Buddha country whatever beings have been born, and are being born, and will be born, are always constant in absolute truth, till they have reached Nirvana. And why is that? Because there is no room or mention there of the other two divisions (rasis), such as beings not constant or constant in falsehood.”
Cited for
Buddhism has its own happy home beyond death. Many Mahayana Buddhists hope for Amitabha's land.
The response
That hope is real, and it comes from a Mahayana sutra, not from the Pali texts. In the passage the land holds its beings until they have reached nirvana. So here it is described as a stage. In the Qur'an the Garden is the end, and no one is asked to leave. Beyond the Garden's gifts lies the meeting with the Lord. Whether that account is true is a question the Qur'an asks you to weigh with care.
Where it lands — The Pure Land sutra describes a stage before nirvana. The Qur'an describes a home that does not end (15:48; 4:82).
Dhammapada 203-204 — Happiness, verses 203-204
“Hunger is the worst illness, conditions are the worst suffering. When one has known this as it is, extinguishment is the ultimate happiness. Health is the ultimate blessing; contentment, the ultimate wealth; trust is the ultimate family; extinguishment, the ultimate happiness.”
Cited for
Nirvana is the highest happiness because no self is left to be rewarded. Paradise is only a reward for the self.
The response
The Qur'an says that the greatest bliss is not a reward in things but the good pleasure of Allah (﷾). The soul is told to come back to its Lord, well pleased and well-pleasing to Him. The Qur'an also describes the righteous as those who feed the poor for the love of Allah (﷾), desiring no reward from the people they feed. Their hope is God's (﷾) pleasure. A wish to meet the One who made you is not the wish for a prize.
Where it lands — The goal of Paradise is a relationship with God (﷾), whose good pleasure is its greatest bliss (9:72; 89:28; 76:8-9).
Majjhima Nikaya 72 — Middle Discourses, discourse 72 (With Vacchagotta on Fire), segment 18.2
“For this principle is deep, hard to see, hard to understand, peaceful, sublime, beyond the scope of logic, subtle, comprehensible to the astute.”
Cited for
The Buddha said the highest truth is beyond logic. A plain picture of meeting a Lord is naive.
The response
The Qur'an does not make God like His creatures. It says there is nothing like Him. A plain promise is not a plain picture of Him. God (﷾) tells us what He wills to tell, and the believers are promised the sight of Him. The Qur'an too says some things are beyond us: of the Spirit, "of knowledge it is only a little that is communicated to you" (17:85). But it does not leave the end unnamed. It says where the soul goes and whom it meets (89:27-30). A truth beyond logic that names no destination leaves the reader where he began. The Qur'an invites him to consider it with care and to see whether it holds together.
Where it lands — The Qur'an speaks plainly of the meeting and keeps God (﷾) unlike His creatures (42:11; 75:22-23; 4:82).
Dhammapada 277 — The Path, verse 277
“All conditions are impermanent— when this is seen with wisdom, one grows disillusioned with suffering: this is the path to purity.”
Cited for
Your own book says everything will perish except His Face (28:88). Paradise is made, so by your words and by Dhammapada 277, "All conditions are impermanent", it must pass.
The response
The Qur'an says both, in one book. It says everything perishes except His Face (28:88). It also says of the Garden's people that they "will dwell therein for ever" (98:8), in "a Home that will last" (35:35). Ibn Kathir reads "except His Face" as "except Him". He also gives the reading of Mujahid and al-Thawri, "except what is done for His Face", and says the two do not conflict. What is made has no lasting of its own. The Garden lasts because the Living One, who dies not, has promised it. The Buddhist heavens are described as ending. The Garden is promised never to end.
Where it lands — Nothing made lasts by itself. The Garden lasts by God's (﷾) promise and keeping (98:8; 35:35; 28:88).
Perspectives
The Pali texts (Theravada)
In the Pali texts nirvana is the ending of craving, and the ultimate happiness. The Buddha would not say where the freed one is reborn or whether such a one exists after death. A heaven, say Buddhists, is craving's prize, and it passes away.
Nirvana is the ending of craving, and "extinguishment is the ultimate happiness" (Dhammapada 203-204).
Rebuttal
Granted that the ending of craving brings peace. The Qur'an says hearts find rest in remembering God (﷾). It also tells the soul to come back to its Lord, well pleased and well-pleasing to Him.
Asked where a freed mendicant is reborn, the Buddha said that none of "reborn", "not reborn", "both" or "neither" applies. He would not say that a realized one exists, or no longer exists, after death (Majjhima Nikaya 72).
Rebuttal
Granted, and nirvana is not nothingness. But the reader is left with no named destination. The Qur'an names one: the soul is told to come back to its Lord.
The path runs on desire, but when perfection is reached "the corresponding desire faded away" (Samyutta Nikaya 51.15). So the wise want nothing, not even Paradise.
Rebuttal
Granted that a wish can fade once it is met. The fault is desire that is frustrated, fleeting or harmful. In Paradise people have all they wish, feel no weariness and wish for no change.
The gods' heavens do not last: even the Great Divinity "decays and perishes" (Anguttara Nikaya 10.29).
Rebuttal
Granted that a home which ends is no goal. Paradise does not end, for its people are never asked to leave. All on earth will perish, but God's (﷾) Face abides.
A disciple of the Buddha finds no delight even in celestial pleasures, because sensual pleasure never satisfies (Dhammapada 186-187).
Rebuttal
Granted that pleasure alone never satisfies. Paradise does have real joys of the body, but none of them cloys or harms. Its greatest bliss is the good pleasure of Allah (﷾), and the sight of Him.
The Mahayana Pure Land
Many Pure Land and other Mahayana Buddhists hope to be reborn in Amitabha's land. The Larger Sukhavati-vyuha, a Mahayana sutra, says the beings born there stay constant in truth until they reach nirvana.
Beings born in Amitabha's land are "always constant in absolute truth, till they have reached Nirvana" (Larger Sukhavati-vyuha, section 24). So Buddhism also holds out a happy home beyond this life.
Rebuttal
Granted that this Mahayana hope is real. In this sutra the land holds beings until they reach nirvana. In the Qur'an the Garden is the end: no one is asked to leave.
The Islamic perspective
In the Pali texts nirvana is the ending of craving, and the Buddha left the freed one's end undeclared. The Qur'an says plainly that the soul returns to its Lord. Paradise does not end, desire there is satisfied, and its summit is God's (﷾) good pleasure and the sight of Him. Belief, worship and character belong together as one way of life.
In the Pali texts nirvana is the ending of craving and the ultimate happiness. The Buddha declined every answer on what becomes of the freed one.
The Qur'an says plainly that the soul will come back to its Lord, well pleased and well-pleasing to Him, and enter His Garden. God (﷾) takes the souls at death and keeps those whose death He has decreed.
Paradise does not end. No weariness touches its people, they are never asked to leave, and they wish for no change.
Desire in Paradise is satisfied, not restless. There will be for them all that they wish, and more besides in His presence.
The Buddhist reason for turning from the heavens, that they perish, does not touch Paradise, which does not end. It becomes a reason to seek it.
The greatest bliss of Paradise is the good pleasure of Allah (﷾) and the sight of Him. The Prophet (ﷺ) said the believers will see their Lord.
Paradise has real joys of the body, but none of them cloys or harms, and they are not its summit.
The Qur'an asks to be considered with care, and Muhammad (ﷺ) was sent to all mankind.