Hereafter Series CD 21 - Socialization in Paradise

Taken from http://ummibraheem.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/v2-cd11-socialization-in-jannah/

Of Gold and Silver

So far, we’ve visited quite a few areas in Jannah. All of these places you’ve seen so far are all your property – you’ve seen the palaces, rivers and springs. Now you notice the fine details. In the beginning, you were not noticing the fine details. Now you are even paying attention to the furniture, the utensils, the leaves of the trees, etc. Everything is new for you, just like when a baby is born – they just keep staring at everything because everything is a new experience. Similarly, everything in Jannah is a pleasure for you and an experience for you.

You’re sitting with your wife on these cushions and you’re presented with drinks. You see that your plates and utensils are made of pure gold. It is gold that is made of nothing like which was in dunya. It is a pleasure just to look at them. The next day, you are served with different utensils. You expected the same, but now you are served in cups of silver. This is special silver because it is transparent silver. How does this happen? Allahu ‘Alam.

Allah says: “And amongst them will be passed round vessels of silver and cups of crystal, Crystal-clear, made of silver. They will determine the measure thereof according to their wishes.” (76:15) It is transparent, but not glass, it’s silver. You discuss this with your wife; look at how amazing it is. One of your servants will say, let me take you and show you something that is more impressive.

They will take you to two special gardens that belong to you. In one garden, everything is made of gold. In the other, everything is made of silver. So you go to this garden of silver and you see that the trees, the palaces, the cups, the plates, the tables, the floor, the tiling, ALL are made of pure silver.

Then you move onto the next garden and everything is gold. Maybe your wife would tell you, I’ll take this garden (the gold one) because gold is haraam on you. The guide will say, it’s halaal for both of you. If you want me to give you even more, you’ll get it.

Everything is a combination of physical and psychological happiness. You will get everything you want.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, “There would be two gardens (in Paradise) the vessels and contents of which would be of silver, and two gardens whose vessels and contents would be of gold. The only thing intervening to hinder the people from looking at their Lord will be the mantle of Grandeur over His face in the Garden of Eden.” [Muslim, 1/346] The Imam translates the last part as: “from seeing their Lord, except the Curtain of Majesty over His Face.”

Socialization

Meet with Whomever You Please – Even Prophets!

Part of the pleasure of Jannah is the social aspect. It’s not like you are alone with your wife and you two eventually get sick of each other. There is a very lively social life in Jannah. The people of Jannah meet together and spend a lot of time together. If you want, you can make the first objective when you get to Jannah to get to know everyone in Jannah.

There are no limits – you can even go RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. You can spend a year with him! Wow!!! You can go to Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and you can ask him about a certain thing that you read in seerah and which story was authentic, etc. Similarly, you can go chat with Musa and spend time with him for years – or Adam ‘alayhis salaam. You can ask Adam how he made it by himself in dunya, with no one to welcome him there. How did he do it alone? Were there dinosaurs? In the US, I get asked a lot about dinosaurs.

Because there is no time limit on anything, you can meet with whoever you want and spend as much time with them as you want. Allah subhaana wa ta’aala tells us of many of these conversations in the Qur’an.

First, it is important to remember that Allah says: “And We shall remove from their hearts any lurking sense of injury: (they will be) brothers (joyfully) facing each other on thrones (of dignity).” (15:47) The reason why there is so much pleasure in meeting people is because there is no sense of ill feeling between any two people. Everyone loves everyone else in Jannah.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says that their hearts will be like the heart of one man. So just meeting each other is a joy in itself – even before the conversation starts. You will be released from all of these built-in negative feelings (jealousy, hatred, etc). They are negative, but it is human nature to have these feelings. As a Muslim, you have to fight a jihad within yourself to get rid of these feelings. In Jannah, all of these ill feelings will be gone.

When RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was a child, Gibreel and another angel came down and opened up his heart and took out a cloth of blood, saying “This is a share of shaytaan.” Any influence of shaytaan over his heart was taken out. Everyone of us has a qareen – a shaytaan that is with you wherever you go, trying to mislead you. RasulAllah sallallalhu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, With me, my qareen became a Muslim.

In Jannah, we do not have to suffer from all of this. Sometimes, in dunya you will have some ill feeling towards your brother, even though you know you should love him. In Jannah, all of this will be gone.

Conversations with the People of Hell

Allah says: “Then they will turn to one another, mutually questioning. A speaker of them will say: ‘Verily, I had a companion (in the world), Who used to say: “Are you among those who believe (in resurrection after death). (That) when we die and become dust and bones, shall we indeed (be raised up) to receive reward or punishment (according to our deeds)?”’ (The man) said: ‘Will you look down?’ So he looked down and saw him in the midst of the Fire.” (37:50-55)

By the way – the people of Jannah will have access to the people of the fire. They will be able to see the people of the fire. This will add to their pleasure because they can appreciate what Allah saved them from. So this man will speak to this man in hell. He will say: “By Allah! You have nearly ruined me. Had it not been for the Grace of my Lord, I would certainly have been among those brought forth (to Hell).” (37:56-57)

The people of Jannah will laugh at the people of Hell, just as the people of Hell used to laugh at the people of Jannah in this world. The Companions of the Garden will call out to the Companions of the Fire: “We have indeed found the promises of our Lord to us true: Have you also found Your Lord’s promises true?” They shall say, “Yes”; but a crier shall proclaim between them: “The curse of Allah is on the wrong-doers.” (7:44)

The third conversation: “Verily! (During the worldly life) those who committed crimes used to laugh at those who believed. And whenever they passed by them, used to wink one to another (in mockery); And when they returned to their own people, they would return jesting; And when they saw them, they said: ‘Verily! These have indeed gone astray!’ But they (disbelievers, sinners) had not been sent as watchers over them (the believers). But this Day (the Day of Resurrection) those who believe will laugh at the disbelievers. On high thrones, looking at all things.” (83:29-36)

No Worship Except Tasbih

In Jannah, there is no worshipping of Allah.  You are not commanded to pray, fast or give zakah (charity). The period of worshipping of Allah is over with. The only form of worship in Jannah will be tasbih. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says in Al-Bukhaari, They would praise Allah in the morning and in the evening.

The scholars say: this is not something that they are requested from them. It is something that they do naturally. It is a form of entertainment and joy for them to do. They will be given tasbih like they used to breathe in this world. So, glorifying Allah will be their breathing; it is something that is effortless. So they are not breathing air; they are breathing tasbih

Anything You Want

The people of Jannah can ask for whatever they want. There are no restrictions. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam mentions to us an example of this, and it is in Bukhaari. Once the Prophet was narrating (a story), while a Bedouin was sitting with him. “One of the inhabitants of Paradise will ask Allah to allow him to cultivate the land. Allah will ask him, ‘Are you not living in the pleasures you like?’ He will say, ‘Yes, but I like to cultivate the land.’ When the man (will be permitted he) will sow the seeds and the plants will grow up and get ripe, ready for reaping and so on till it will be as huge as mountains within a wink. Allah will then say to him, ‘O son of Adam! Take here you are, gather (the yield); nothing satisfies you.’” On that, the Bedouin said, “The man must be either from Quraish (i.e. an emigrant) or an Ansari, for they are farmers, whereas we are not farmers.” The Prophet smiled (at this). [Bukhaari, 3/39/538] That’s funny What the Bedouin said; he was surprised that anyone would want to farm in Jannah.

In another hadith, in at-Tirmidhi, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, If someone in Jannah wants to have children, the pregnancy and the birth and the growth of the child will be immediate, as he wants. There is a difference of opinion on what this hadith means.

There are some scholars that say that obviously in Jannah, the spouses will enjoy each other, but there will not be any children involved. They say that the meaning of this hadith says that IF the person wants this to happen, it will, but the person will not want it. This eliminates a lot of the confusion with questions such as – “If you can ask, can you ask to be elevated? And how far can you elevated?” So this hadith is saying IF you were to, though you will not. You will not ask to be elevated to the highest rank in Jannah, because you know you do not deserve it; someone else does. In fact, if you were requested to go to a lower level, you would do so, because you will be having so much fun.

In the hadith of the last man to enter Jannah, there is a narration that says, when Allah gives him 10 times the world and everything in it, his two wives of hoor al ‘ayn will come to him and say, “Praise be to Allah, Who has bought you to us, finally.” When he hears that, he will say, “Allah subhaana wa ta’aala has blessed me and given me what He has not given anyone else!” He is so happy with what Allah has given him.

The Marketplace

RasulAllah sallalallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says that there is a sooq in Jannah – a marketplace. Keep in mind that a lot of the descriptions of Jannah were given for the first generations of Muslims to understand. So many of the descriptions were associated with what they know. For example, for a man who gave a camel for the sake of Allah, RasulAllah told him he would be given 700 camels in Jannah. Camels were used as an example for them, but say a person gave cows – would he be given camels? Now, he would be given cows.

The marketplace was also a cultural centre for the Arabs. The poetry, the competitions in language and in speeches, etc was the marketplace as well. They used to go there for trade and business; the poets would give public speeches there. It is mentioned in the hadith that RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam would give da’wah in the marketplace. The people of Jannah will have similar places in Jannah. The intent is not for business, but it is for people to meet. Similarly, there are places in downtown, etc that are business districts, but people go there at night to have fun, meet, go to restaurants, etc.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says in a hadith in Muslim, “In Paradise there is a street to which they would come every Friday. The north wind will blow and would scatter fragrance on their faces and on their clothes and would add to their beauty and loveliness, and then they would go back to their family after having an added lustre to their beauty and loveliness, and their family would say to them: By Allah, you have been increased in beauty and loveliness after leaving us, and they would say: By Allah, you have also increased in beauty and loveliness after us.” [Muslim, 40/6792] Jannah only gets better and better by the passage of time.

You will be with your family in the privacy of your family, enjoying the fruits and food of Jannah with them. Then you will hear an announcement inviting you to this city centre, downtown, the sooq, or whatever you want to call it. You will rush there with your family and find that all of the people of Jannah are gathered in one place. Not only will you be gathered in Jannah, but you will see all of the people of hell gathered in one place. In the area separating Jannah and naar, the angels will bring with them death in the form of a ram. You will see death in a physical form. Everyone will extend their necks up – a very exciting moment. Everyone is paying attention. Then the angels will take a knife and slaughter death. Death will cease to exist. Then they will make an announcement and say, “O people of Paradise, you will live for eternity, and there is no death.” And “O people of Hell fire, eternity and death.” RasulAllah said that if there was ever a moment where a person would die because of how happy they are, it would be this moment for the people of Paradise. And if there was a moment in which a person would die from sorrow and despair, it would be this moment for the people of Hell. This would be the best moment for the people of Jannah and the worse for the people of Hell. [see Bukhaari 6/60/254 and Muslim 40/6827]

Allah says: “Nor will they there taste Death, except the first death; and He will preserve them from the Penalty of the Blazing Fire.” (44:56) and “They will leave there for eternity.”

After the people get together to witness the death of death, they will make a final du’aa`.

Up until this moment you were excited and visiting and looking. Now you are finally settled and this is your final home. You’ve toured all of Jannah and the fear of death is gone.

Allah says: “(This will be) their cry therein: ‘Glory to Thee, O Allah!’ And ‘Peace’ will be their greeting therein! And the close of their cry will be: ‘Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds!’” (10:10) The final world that they will say is alhamdulillah – praise be to Allah.

Imagine that you are there and now you are saying alhamdulillah, this is where I will be for eternity.

Something Even Better!

They think that they have it all, the best of Jannah, but they don’t realize that there is a surprise that is waiting for them. They don’t think that there is nothing that can make them happier, but there is something even better for them…

The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that Allah would say to the inmates of Paradise: “O, Dwellers of Paradise,” and they would say in response: “At your service and pleasure, our Lord, the good is in Your Hand.” He (the Lord) would say: “Are you well pleased now?” They would say: “Why should we not be pleased, O Lord, when You have given us what You have not given to any of Your creatures?” He would, however, say: “May I not give you (something) even more excellent than that?” And they would say: “O Lord, what thing can be more excellent than this?” And He would say: “I shall cause My pleasure to alight upon you and I shall never be afterwards annoyed with you.” [Muslim, 40/6787] This will be a moment in which the psychological happiness of the people of Jannah cannot be described. What is a better thing for them?

If you love someone in dunya – such as a husband and wife loving each other – you care a lot about what the other thinks about you. And you always want them to be happy because they are dear to you. Your love of Allah in Jannah will be so huge and great that when Allah says that He is happy with you, you will be at a level of happiness you have never experienced in Jannah.

Now you will think that there is nothing better, but there is STILL something better than that! Jannah only gets better. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says in a hadith in Muslim, When those deserving the Paradise would enter into Paradise, the Blessed and Exalted Allah would say, ‘Do you wish me to give you anything more?’ They will say, ‘O Allah, You have brightened our faces; You have made us enter Paradise and saved us from Hell Fire; there is nothing else that we want.’ Allah would lift the Veil from His Face. And of the things given to them, nothing would be dearer to them than Allah, the Mighty and the Glorious. The biggest deprivation of the people of Hell is that they would not see Allah.

Seeing Allah is something not possible in this dunya. Musa had asked Allah to see Him. Allah told Musa that he could not see Him, but He told Musa to look at the mountain; if the mountain stood in its place, Allah would reveal Himself to Musa. Allah revealed Himself to the mountain, and the mountain turned to dust. Musa, just seeing the mountain, fell unconscious – what would happen to him if he saw Allah? Our bodies are too fragile to sustain the beauty and the glory of seeing the Light of Allah. In Jannah, Allah says that our creation will be different. Our bodies will be stronger and more able to enjoy the pleasure of Jannah.

The people of the lower levels of Jannah will get to see Allah once a week – every Jum’ah, and it would coincide with the time of Jum’ah. Jum’ah is the most special day; Allah has reserved it for the Ummah of Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. And we spoke about the specialness of Friday already. You cannot just walk into this meeting place – the angels will escort you in and seat you. The seats are reserved. You will have this meeting with Allah subhaana wa ta’aala.

The closer you were to the imam in dunya, the closer you will be to Allah subhaana wa ta’aala.

You will meet with Allah. In the end of the meeting, Allah will ask you what you want; He will tell you – everyone in there – to make a wish. Everyone will ask Allah what they want, then they will go home.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says that in the higher levels, the people will meet Allah twice a day!

Late Comers to Jannah

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says in Bukhaari, “Some people will come out of the Fire after they have received a touch of the Fire, changing their color, and they will enter Paradise, and the people of Paradise will name them Al-Jahannamiyin the people of Hell Fire.” [Bukhaari, 8/76/564] One brother, I remember, he asked me about this and the stigma the people of hell will have. This is not discrimination, because there is no discrimination in Jannah. There are no second class citizens in Jannah. They will not be stripped of any of their rights in Jannah. They will have what everyone else is having in Jannah.

We now think that they think it is an insult to call them Al-Jahnnamiyin. That is because we are unforgiving. If somebody makes a mistake 10 years ago, even after tawbah, we will say, “You made a mistake.” We bring up the past as humans, but Allah is forgiving and merciful. Allah punished these people in hell, but now the past is over with and Allah loves them; He will be pleased with them and their past is closed. Allah will also make you [people] like that in Jannah – you will be forgiving. You will know that if it weren’t for the forgiveness of Allah, you would not have made it here.

When you are calling them the people of hell fire, that is just a way of knowing them. It is not a degrading term in any way. Everyone in Jannah is in the same boat; they are all human beings and they all sinned. There was just a different variation of how much they sinned.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, “The (permanent) inhabitants of the Fire are those who are doomed to it, and verily they would neither die nor live in it. But the people whom the Fire would afflict (temporarily) on account of their sins, He would cause them to die till they would be turned into charcoal. Then, they would be granted intercession and would be brought in groups and would be spread on the rivers of Paradise and then it would be said: ‘O inhabitants of Paradise, pour water over them.’ Then they would sprout forth like the sprouting of seed in the silt carried by flood. A man among the people said: (It appears) as if the Messenger of Allah lived in the steppe. [The other narrator says: The man said that because there was no vegetation in Makkah. RasulAllah did have that expertise because he was a shepherd.]” [Muslim, 1/357]

In another hadith, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, “When Allah has finished His Judgments among the people, He will take whomever He will out of Hell through His Mercy. He will then order the angels to take out of the Fire all those who used to worship none but Allah from among those whom Allah wanted to be merciful to and those who testified (in the world) that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah. The angels will recognize them in the Fire by the marks of prostration (on their foreheads), for the Fire will eat up all the human body except the mark caused by prostration as Allah has forbidden the Fire to eat the mark of prostration. They will come out of the (Hell) Fire, completely burnt and then the water of life will be poured over them and they will grow under it as does a seed that comes in the mud of the torrent.” [Part of the hadith Bukhaari, 9/93/532]

The ones who believe in la ilaaha illallah will eventually be bought out of Hell.

There is an interesting hint in this hadith – if somebody doesn’t pray, how will the angels find them in Hell Fire? So Salah is a very serious matter. Even though the person will come out of the Fire because of saying la ilaaha illallah, the angels will recognize them because of their salah.

Jannah is Surrounded by Obstacles

We ask Allah to make us of those who do not have to suffer in the Fire. How can we endure the Fire of Hell if we cannot hold our finger in this worldly fire? The people of Hell Fire will say, “If we had any intelligence, we would not be here.” Allah has shown us the truth. With Muslims, the situation is that we know the truth. If we choose not to follow it, then that’s even more dangerous. Because that is what is why the hypocrites are in the lowest of hell – because they knew the truth and rejected it.

Getting to Jannah is not easy. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that we have to go through obstacles to Jannah. Abu Hurayrah narrated that RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “The (Hell) Fire is surrounded by all kinds of desires and passions, while Paradise is surrounded by all kinds of disliked undesirable things.” [Bukhaari, 8/76/494]

The story of this hadith is that when Allah subhaana wa ta’aala created Jannah and Naar, He told Jibreel to visit them. He paid a visit to both, and he came back to Allah and said, “I don’t think anyone would hear about Jannah and not enter it. I don’t think anyone would hear about Hell and avoid it.” So Jibreel was saying that this is so straightforward and takes common sense – all humans will end up going to Jannah. Jibreel ‘alayhis salaam was told to go visit them again. This time, Allah wrapped up hell in shahawaat (the desirable things to us; our passions) – this is what attracts us to sin.

Imagine hell as a magnet, pulling us towards us. Remember the analogy that RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam gave of him being the man in the desert, trying to save insects from going into the fire.

Jibreel saw hell after it was wrapped in these desires and passions. Then he saw Jannah and saw that you have to go through all of these obstacles and disliked things to get to Jannah. Jibreel came back to Allah and said, “Now, I don’t think anyone will make it to Jannah. I think all of them will go to hell.”

An-Nawawi (who has the best commentary on Sahih Muslim) comments on this hadith and says, “Hell fire and Paradise are covered with a veil, and you cannot get to the veiled unless you cross the veil. And crossing the veil to get to Jannah is by going through the disliked and difficult things. For example, being very active in ‘ibaadah; having commitment to ‘ibaadah; being patient; not getting angry; being forgiving; having compassion; giving sadaqa; and staying away from the sins.”

The People of Jannah will Inherit from the People of Hell

We talked earlier about the fact that the people of Jannah will inherit the properties of the people of Hell fire. Every living being on the face of earth has property in Jannah. This is because our homeland is Jannah; that is where we are all from. We kind of adopted other homes later on, but we were all from Jannah. We are descendants of Jannah because that is where Adam ‘alayhis salaam and Hawwaa` were born. Everyone has a place in Jannah. If they choose to commit sins, then their property will be taken by the few sons of Adam that will enter Jannah. Therefore, you might end up inheriting the property of a lot of people. That is because we know that the population of Jannah compared to the population of Hell is very minuscule.

Allah says: “This is the Paradise which you have been made to inherit because of your deeds which you used to do (in the life of the world.” (43:72)

The Majority in Paradise are the Weak

In Bukhaari, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says that the majority of the population of Jannah will be from du’aafaa` – the weak. He says, “Shall I tell you of the people of Paradise? They shall comprise of every poor, humble person. And if he swears by Allah to do something, Allah will fulfil it. Whereas, the people of the fire comprise every violent, cruel person.” The poor people, in general, tend to be humble because they don’t have a lot of wealth to distract them. They tend to be more attached to the good deeds than other – in general. They tend to make up the lion’s share of the people of Jannah.

Money in itself has nothing to do with where the person will end up. It has to do with where they use the money. If they use it properly, they will have a higher status than the poor because of that added sacrifice. Of the ten promised Jannah, one can assume that the majority of them were considered to be among the wealthy of the Sahabah – Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmaan, ‘Ali, ‘AbdurRahman Ibn ‘Auf.

The problem is when the weakness of the human being takes over and money tempts and seduces them. Since the poor don’t have all of these temptations, they tend to be closer to Allah. Plus, when a person has a lot of wealth, which usually translates to power – you have access to things others do not have. This person would feel self-sufficient, and they would feel that they don’t need help from others – especially from Allah. And that is what Qarun said.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says that Allah knows what is best for His creation. For some people, wealth is good for them; if they were poor that would corrupt them. And vice versa is true as well. This is true for health and illness as well.