Forget about your work, forget about your problems, and everything that crosses your mind that may distract you. Because it’s Paradise…Paradise is our topic.
The Prophet’s companions said: “When we sit with the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him, it’s as if we can see paradise and hell with our own eyes.”
What are we like in comparison to this? How many of us can see Jannah like it’s right in front of us?
Imagine; envision yourself looking at its rivers, its soil, imagine walking around its palaces. Imagine walking around with your friends in Jannah doing everything you desire without any restrictions.
The Prophet once asked a man, “What do you say in your prayers?” While you’re performing Salaah, what do you say? The man replied, “I ask Allah for Jannah and seek refuge in Him from the fire.” The Prophet then said, “And we as well ask for Jannah and seek refuge in Allah from the fire.”
Paradise…A place where each and every one of us would like to be destined. Paradise…A place that people died for. Jannah…A place far away from this world.
A man named Umayrah Bin Himam, a companion of the Prophet, heard only a few words about Jannah. He heard that the width of Jannah is the same width of the skies and earth. SubhanAllah! So Umayrah said, “I wish to be of those who enter Paradise.” The Prophet overheard what he said and replied: “You are of those.”
Just imagine; imagine if you were to receive good news like this from the Prophet directly. Would you still want to live in this life full of misery?
Did you know that a space the size of your foot in paradise is better than everything beautiful you see in this world?
Umayrah was holding dates in his hands as he heard this news; he replied, “it will take me a long time; a long time to finish these dates!” He threw aside his dates, grabbed his sword and plunged into the battle. He fought valiantly until he was killed, and died a martyr. However, this man is not dead, in fact he is more alive than you and I are; for he is alive in Jannah.
وَلاَ تَقُولُواْ لِمَنْ يُقْتَلُ فِي سَبيلِ اللّهِ أَمْوَاتٌ بَلْ أَحْيَاء وَلَكِن لاَّ تَشْعُرُونَ
“And say not of those who are killed in the Way of Allah, ‘They are dead.’ Nay, they are living, but you perceive (it) not.” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:154)
Keep in mind that it is not your prayers, fasting, and charity that is the price of Jannah, that is false. Your prayers and good deeds are not the price of Paradise, Jannah is more expensive than the few years we spend on this earth in worship, and no one – no one will enter Jannah with only his good deeds. Paradise costs much more than that; no one can afford it, not even the Prophet (Saw) as he mentioned in the hadith. Whoever enters Paradise will only enter it with Allah’s mercy & not with his good deeds. The good deeds that you do in this life is a means for you to earn Allah’s mercy, and earning Allah’s mercy is what allows you to enter jannah.
So, let’s imagine. Imagine that you’ve earned Allah’s mercy and that you have been accounted by Allah. Picture yourself walking towards jannah and all that you are waiting for is the gates to open up for you. You can see them shinning in the distance, you can smell jannah, the fragrance of musk which can be smelt from a 40 years distance. Jannah, has 8 gates and the distance in between each gate is 40 years as well.
Your footsteps take you closer to paradise. Imagine who you can see.
You see Adam, Nuh, Yunus, Ibrahim, Isa; you see all the prophets. Then you lift your gaze in time to see the beloved prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) knocking on the gate of Jannah. The Angel responds with the most beautiful voice, “Who is it?” The Prophet replies: “I am Muhammad.” The Angel says, “I was commanded not to open the door to anyone before you.”
And there it is; the gates open up and you are entering paradise to live in a place where there is no misery. That’s it, the gates are finally open and you are allowed to enter.
Imam Ahmad was once asked: “When does the human find comfort that lasts?” Life is full of worries, fear, and pain; you feel comfortable one day, and the next day you feel grief, so when? When do I get to be satisfied? The Imam replied: “When you take your first step in Jannah!”
Now imagine; imagine that you have entered Jannah with your family.
جَنَّاتُ عَدْنٍ يَدْخُلُونَهَا وَمَنْ صَلَحَ مِنْ آبَائِهِمْ وَأَزْوَاجِهِمْ وَذُرِّيَّاتِهِمْ وَالمَلاَئِكَةُ يَدْخُلُونَ عَلَيْهِم مِّن كُلِّ بَابٍ
“Also those who acted righteously from among their fathers, and their spouses, and their offspring will enter Paradise and the Angels will meet them at each door.” (Ar-Ra’d 13:23)
And now the angels are standing at its gates as you hold the hands of your family members and enter it. And the Angels say:
سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ بِمَا صَبَرْتُمْ فَنِعْمَ عُقْبَى الدَّارِ
“Peace be upon you, for you preserved in patience. Excellent indeed is the final home.” (Ar-Ra’d 13:24)
Peace be upon you, you prayed on time you were patient with Allah’s commands and decree. Peace to you for fasting Ramadan; you were patient. Peace to you for glorifying your Lord when times were hard; you were patient.
Now imagine what you see as you enter it…
وَإِذَا رَأَيْتَ ثَمَّ رَأَيْتَ نَعِيمًا وَمُلْكًا كَبِيرًا
“And when you look there in paradise, you will see a delight that cannot be imagined, and a great dominion.” (Al-Insaan 76:20)
White land, its grass is of saffron, its soil; of pearls and rubies. You see your palace that you asked for when you lived the first life. You will know where your palace is located more than you know where the house you live in right now is located.
And there is more than palaces and jewels. For believing in Allah and praying your five prayers a day in the mosque there is more waiting for you in paradise.
فَلَا تَعْلَمُ نَفْسٌ مَا أُخْفِيَ لَهُمْ مِنْ قُرَّةِ أَعْيُنٍ جَزَاءً بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
“No person knows what is kept hidden for them of joy, as a reward for what they used to do.”(As-Sajdah 32:17)
A paradise that has what no eye has seen before, what no ear has heard of, what hasn’t crossed the mind of a human being before.
Do you know who the lowest position in Jannah is for?
It is for the last man to step out of hell. He is a man who had many evil deeds in his life, and very few good deeds. A man who gets severely punished, serves his time in hell, and is permitted to enter paradise afterwards. He will get the lowest position in Jannah, yet, he will get 10 times and more of everything you see in this world.
He gets to have 10 times more beauty of the most beautiful women of this world. 10 times more pleasure than all of the pleasure in this dunya.
How many people lose their souls every day to a person in this world that doesn’t deserve it? How many people fight each other each day for getting some kind of worldly pleasure that doesn’t last? How many thieves steal money every day to fund their drug addiction only to be pleased for a short while? How many people forget that they have to pray, how many people forget about adhering to the Quran and neglect their duties towards it?
How many people do these things? Just to have fun for a short period, in this short life, in this dunya, and the last man to enter paradise gets to own 10 times and more of what is in this world.
In Jannah, you have someone waiting for you if you are on the right path my friend;
وحَوَّرٌ عَيَّنٌ كأمِثَالِ الُلؤْلُؤ آلَمَكُنَون جَزَاءً بِمَا كآنَوا يعَمَلْوَن
“There will be Hur (the beautiful wives whom Allah created for the dwellers of paradise) with wide eyes like the preserved pearls. As a reward for what they used to do.” (Al-Waqi’ah 56:22-24)
‘Hur al Ayn’ are the wives of Ahl-Ajjannah; and if one of these Hur were to walk out of paradise and look down at the Earth while standing in the sky, everything in between the skies and the earth would be brightened by her light. And the skies and earth would smell like musk.
After knowing this, would you rather be patient and have a few of these wives in the afterlife, or would you rather commit zina and be forbidden to touch the Hur al Ayn? Allah leaves the choice up to you.
The Hur Al Ayn will be wearing golden crowns, dressed up in silk, covered in pearls, smelling like musk.
إِنَّا أَنشَأْنَاهُنَّ إِنشَاء. فَجَعَلْنَاهُنَّ أَبْكَارًا
“Indeed we have produced the women of paradise a new creation.” (Al-Waqiah 56:35)
فَلَا تَعْلَمُ نَفْسٌ مَا أُخْفِيَ لَهُمْ مِنْ قُرَّةِ أَعْيُنٍ
Imagine this, you who is righteous, who is honest, who believes in Tawheed, who prays, and reads the Quran…
Envision winning paradise, where you are enveloped in the grace of Allah and see no misery, no sorrow, where there are no sacrifices to make, nothing to lose, where you are entertained and never get bored, where you live for eternity with no pain, and no death…
لَا يَذُوقُونَ فِيهَا الْمَوْت إِلَّا الْمَوْتَة الْأُولَى
“They will never taste death therein, except for the first death.” (Ad-Dukhan 44:56)
يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَصُوحًا عَسَى رَبُّكُمْ أَن يُكَفِّرَ عَنكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ
“O you who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance! It may be that your lord will expiate from your sins,”
وَيُدْخِلَكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَار
“And admit you into gardens under which rivers flow.” (At-Tahreem 66:8)
Yes rivers; imagine sitting near one of these rivers with nothing to worry about. We are talking about a river full of wine just for you; you who turned to Allah with sincere repentance and obeyed his commands.
In Jannah you will see pigeons flying, and when you crave for one, it will come right in front of you, grilled just the way you like it to be! In jannah you don’t need to go fishing, you don’t need to buy a grill or an oven; you just sit back, relax and whatever you crave will come right to you without even asking for it.
There will be no calls of nature, no-one will sleep. There will be no grief and no one will weep. When people sweat, it will smell of musk. Allah will be praised from dawn till dusk. And Allah says:
لَهُمْ فِيهَا مَا يَشَاؤُونَ خَالِدِينَ كَانَ عَلَى رَبِّكَ وَعْدًا مَسْؤُولا
“For the pious there will be all that they desire in Jannah, it is a promise binding upon your lord that must be fulfilled.” (Al-Furqan 25:16)
In Paradise, the people of it will gather and talk about the life they used to live in this world, they will talk about its pain’s and grief’s, they will talk about the good things they have done, the times they used to walk to the Masjid, pray, read Quran, attend Islamic lectures. They will even talk about the days they went for Umrah and Hajj.
إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ مُحْسِنِينَ .كَانُوا قَلِيلاً مِّنَ اللَّيْلِ مَا يَهْجَعُونَ .وَبِالْأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ .وَفِي أَمْوَالِهِمْ حَقٌّ لِّلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ
“Verily, before this they were good doers, they did not sleep much at night, praying to Allah with fear and hope, and in the hours before dawn, they were found asking forgiveness from Allah, and they used to give a portion of their money to the beggar and to the poor who was in need but never asked.” (Ath-Thariyaat 51:16-19)
This is a description of the people of Paradise; do you find yourself to be one of them?
When the Prophet Muhammad Peace be upon him got very ill at the age of 63, Jibreel came to him and asked him: “O Muhammad would you like to live in this world any longer or would do you want to go?”
The Prophet Replied: بل الرفيق الأعلى and he meant “Paradise”.
O Brothers and sisters listen to what Allah tells you:
مَا عِنْدَكُمْ يَنفَدُ وَمَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ بَاقٍ
“Whatever is with you, will be exhausted, and whatever is with Allah (of good deeds) will remain.” (An-Nahl 16:96)
Many people don’t realize that they one day will lose everything they have, whether it be money, a job, a car whatever it is you will one day lose it, and what does remain is your good deeds, it remains with Allah until you meet him.
When you meet Allah he gives you all the good deeds you’ve collected in this world, he gives it back to you in full, the palaces you receive, the gardens, the rivers, the Hur al Ayn.
Only for the righteous, those who obeyed, those who kept their tongues from false speech, those who were humble and patient, those who fulfilled their covenant with Allah and never broke it, those who keep their promises, those who enjoin good & forbid wrong, and those who do not cheat, steal, nor lie.
This dunya is nothing in comparison to the akhirah. Think about your house; how long did you work to build and pay for that house? How much sweat did you perspire for that house?
How many millions and thousands did you lose for that house? Whilst the houses in Jannah are made of gold and silver bricks, yet we do not exert that effort into its construction, even though it is much simpler. To earn a palace in Jannah, not a house, palace; the prophet Muhammad said: he who reads ‘Qul huwa Allaahu ahad…’ ten times Allah builds a palace in jannah for him.
When everyone is sitting and relaxing in jannah, suddenly a man calls out a question. He says, “Friends, brothers, partners; has anyone seen my friend fulan? This was a friend of mine in the first life, have you seen him?” Everyone remains silent because nobody has seen him. He continues, “This man was my friend, he used to be close to me, and when I became a good muslim he hated it. When I used to pray and obey Allah, he tried to keep me away from being good. He told me wait, let’s enjoy life, later on we can ask Allah to forgive us. Has anyone seen him?” No one has seen him. Allah opens hell fire. They all see the torment of hellfire for a moment but they do not feel its heat. And who does this man see? He sees his friend burning in hell. And then he says, “if it weren’t by Allah’s grace I would have been with you right now!”
It is the perfect time to take advantage of Allah’s mercy, so we can earn our books with our right hands because Allah says;
فَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ بِيَمِينِهِ فَيَقُولُ هَاؤُمُ اقْرَؤُوا كِتَابِيهْ (19) إِنِّي ظَنَنتُ أَنِّي مُلَاقٍ حِسَابِيهْ
“Then for him who is given his book with his right hand will say: Here! Read my record! Surely, I did believe that I will meet my account!
فَهُوَ فِي عِيشَةٍ رَّاضِيَةٍ (21
So he shall be in a life, well-pleasing.
فِي جَنَّةٍ عَالِيَةٍ (22
In a lofty Paradise,
قُطُوفُهَا دَانِيَةٌ (23
The fruits in bunches whereof will be low and near at hand.
كُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا هَنِيئاً بِمَا أَسْلَفْتُمْ فِي الْأَيَّامِ الْخَالِيَةِ (24
Eat and drink at ease for that which you have sent on before you in days past!” (Al-Haqqah 69:19-14)
Rayan Arab