V.2, CD9 (Part 2): A Tour of Jannah October 19, 2008
Posted by ummibraheem in The Hereafter Series.Tags: food of Jannah
2 comments
Bismillah….three more CDs to go inshaAllah and then I can begin Lives of the Prophets….This tour of Jannah stuff is pretty cool. It paints a picture for you.
A Tour of Jannah
Imagine that you are taking a tour of Jannah – the true wonderland. No matter how great you imagine jannah, that won’t be a fraction of the real thing. Imagine yourself in the position of experiencing everything we will talk about. The more you are attached to paradise, the more you fear hell, and the closer you will be to Allah.
Allah talks about the righteous in the Qur’aan and says: “…they call on their Lord, in Fear and Hope…” (32:16)They fear the punishment of Allah, and they are also expecting the ajr of Allah. Always remember Ibn AlQayyim’s two wings of hope/love and fear.
A Bridge of Purification
On the day of judgment, this person will be to a bridge that leads to Jannah – the only road that goes there. He will be stopped. All of the believers that he used to know in dunya and he owes them something – whether it is financial or whether he’s hurt, abused or spoken ill about any of them – they will be bought together on this bridge. Everything that happened between them will be evened out. They will go through a process of purification on this bridge. If you slapped someone in dunya, you’ll get that back. If you spoke ill about someone, you will have to be paid back for on that bridge.
Allah is pure and He accepts nothing that is not pure. Because Jannah is pure, no one can enter until they are 100% pure. The purification process that a person goes through begins in dunya. Any pain or suffering you go through in this world is a purification, and the pain of death, the pain in the grave and the waiting of the day of judgment – all are purification.
In a hadith in Bukhaari, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, “When the believers pass safely over (the bridge across) Hell, they will be stopped at a bridge in between Hell and Paradise where they will retaliate upon each other for the injustices done among them in the world, and when they get purified of all their sins, they will be admitted into Paradise. By Him in Whose Hands the life of Muhammad is everybody will recognize his dwelling in Paradise better than he recognizes his dwelling in this world.” [Bukhaari, 3/43/620] Instinctively, you will know where you belong. You will know where your house is better than you knew your house in dunya. This is because you are a son of Adam and Adam’s (‘alayhis salaam) original house was Jannah. He did not belong to certain country in this world; he did not have a nationality. He didn’t have a pride of belonging to a country; his homeland was Jannah. And his children, who are righteous, their homeland is Jannah.
RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, be in this world as a wayfarer – a traveler.
Your First Meal
You’ve spent a lot of time waiting on the day of judgment, standing in the heat, with no food or water. You’re hungry and thirsty. As soon as you get to the gates of Jannah, you will be treated. So what will be the first meal of Jannah and what will you drink? (more…)
V.2, CD9 (Part 1): How Many of this Ummah will be in Jannah? October 19, 2008
Posted by ummibraheem in The Hereafter Series.add a comment
How Many of this Ummah will Enter Jannah?
Filling the Horizons
The Prophet said, “The people were displayed in front of me and I saw one prophet passing by with a large group of his followers, and another prophet passing by with only a small group of people, and another prophet passing by with only ten (persons), and another prophet passing by with only five (persons), and another prophet passed by alone.
[Imam Anwar’s commentary: Imagine that – a prophet with no followers. Someone who kept giving da’wah and working for Allah and nobody answered their call. Imagine Nuh – he gave da’wah for 950 years and no one responded! That is what keeps us going – seeing the fruits of our effort. Imagine how much discipline that takes, with people rejecting you and insulting you, etc. The drive that the ambiya have is a miracle in itself.]
“And then I looked and saw a large multitude of people, so I asked Gabriel, ‘Are these people my followers?’ He said, ‘No, but look towards the horizon.’ I looked and saw a very large multitude of people. Gabriel said. ‘Those are your followers, and those are seventy thousand (persons) in front of them who will neither have any reckoning of their accounts nor will receive any punishment.’ I asked, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘For they used not to treat themselves with branding (cauterization) nor with Ruqya (get oneself treated by the recitation of some Verses of the Qur’an) and not to see evil omen in things, and they used to put their trust (only) in their Lord.”
On hearing that, ‘Ukasha bin Mihsan got up and said (to the Prophet), “Invoke Allah to make me one of them.” The Prophet said, “O Allah, make him one of them.” Then another man got up and said (to the Prophet), “Invoke Allah to make me one of them.” The Prophet said, “‘Ukasha has preceded you.” [Bukhaari, 8/76/549]
This hadith is also in Bukhaari: RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, I was with the angel and he told me to look at the horizon. So I looked at the horizon and saw I saw the horizon blocked with the faces of men. They told me to look at the other side, so I looked at the other side and saw the horizon blocked with the faces of men. Allah subhaana wa ta’aala asked me, O Muhammad, are you pleased? RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, O Allah, I am pleased, I am pleased. Then Allah said, I will give you in addition to them 70,000 who will enter without any reckoning.
In another hadith, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, I have seen my Ummah, so I was very impressed with their numbers and their looks. They filled the plains and the mountains. Wherever I would look, I would see my Ummah. You can imagine how happy RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam will be on the day of judgment when he sees his Ummah.
RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, Get married and have a lot children because I want to be proud of you on the day of judgment. He is asking us to have a lot of children so that we will increase his ummah.
The ambiya have a competition in good amongst each other. When Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam passed by Musa, he was crying. Why was he crying? Because he said that a man after him will have a larger following than him. Until that time, Musa had the largest following. The largest Ummah after the Ummah of Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is that of Bani Israel. Allah says: “O Children of Israel! Remember My Favour which I bestowed upon you and that I preferred you to the ‘Alamin (mankind and jinns) (of your time period, in the past).” (2:47) This was talking about when Bani Israel were the chosen – they were the carriers of the followers of truth and they were the first to fight jihad. No other prophet has fought jihad in the past. With Musa (Moses), Allah revealed jihad.
Half the People of Paradise
The Prophet said, “Allah will say (on the Day of Resurrection), ‘O Adam.’ Adam will reply, ‘Labbaik wa Sa’daik (and all the good is in Your Hand).’ Allah will say: ‘Bring out the people of the fire. Adam will say: ‘O Allah! How many are the people of the Fire?’ Allah will reply: ‘From every one thousand, take out nine-hundred-and ninety-nine.’ At that time children will become hoary headed [gray-haired], every pregnant female will have a miscarriage, and one will see mankind as drunken, yet they will not be drunken, but dreadful will be the Wrath of Allah.” The companions of the Prophet asked, “O Allah’s Apostle! Who is that (excepted) one?” He said, “Rejoice with glad tidings; one person will be from you and one-thousand will be from Gog and Magog.”
Prophet further said, “By Him in Whose Hands my life is, hope that you will be one-fourth of the people of Paradise.” We shouted, ‘Allahu Akbar!” He added, “I hope that you will be one-third of the people of Paradise.” We shouted, “Allahu Akbar!” He said, “I hope that you will be half of the people of Paradise.” We shouted, “Allahu Akbar!” He further said, “You (Muslims) (compared with non Muslims) are like a black hair in the skin of a white ox or like a white hair in the skin of a black ox (i.e. your number is very small as compared with theirs).” [Bukhaari, 4/55/567]
80 Rows
In a hadith in at-Tirmidhi, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, The people of Jannah are dividing into 120 rows. 80 rows will be from this Ummah and 40 from all of the other Umam combined.
RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says in a hadith in Muslim, I would be the first intercessor in the paradise, and no apostle amongst the apostles has been testified by such a large number of people as I have been testified. (I have the largest Ummah). And verily, there would be an apostle from amongst the apostles that would be testified by only one man from his people.
In Bukhaari, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Every Prophet was given miracles because of which people believed, but what I have been given, is Divine Inspiration which Allah has revealed to me. So I hope that my followers will outnumber the followers of the other Prophets on the Day of Resurrection.” [Bukhaari, 6/61/504] Why? Because the miracle of Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is different – it is the Qur’aan. The miracles of the other prophets were limited to their era.
