A Description of Paradise

A Description of Paradise

أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ. بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ.

الْحَمْدُ لِلهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَصَلَّى اللهُ وَسَلَّمَ وَبَارَكَ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ، وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ، وَعَلَى مَنِ اسْتَنَّ بِسُنَّتِهِ، وَاهْتَدَى بِهَدْيِهِ، وَسَارَ عَلَى نَهْجِهِ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.

The Ultimate Escape

At this time of year, just before September, in August, is the time of year in which everybody is looking at others going on holiday. Some to the Mediterranean, some to the south of Spain, to different parts of the world. People are craving and wanting and searching to fly, to go away, to get away from the troubles and the pains and the tiresome day-to-day life that they have.

You're scrolling on the internet and you come across an advertisement. You see a picture of a beach with clean yellow sand, water, ocean as far as the eye can see. And you begin to salivate, thinking about the tropical juices and the enjoyment that you can have. And all of this, you're willing to spend thousands of pounds for — just for seven days, ten days, twelve days.

And you know that when you get there, the beach is going to be overcrowded. And you know that the food there is not going to be halal, so you're going to be eating vegetarian burgers for nine days. And you know when you get there that there's going to be so many things that you're not happy about. And yet even that little enjoyment of getting away from it all is something all of us can relate to.

And today we're going to discuss, in a brief reminder, the ultimate escape, the ultimate vacation — that beach which has no shore, and that sea which has no impurity. And that is the destination that we all wait for, and that we are longing for: the destination of Jannah. May Allah make all of us from there.

Crossing the Sirāt

Before Jannah, every human being crosses the Sirāt. It's a bridge — not tiny, but very thin. Sharper than a sword, and thinner than a hair. And everyone will cross. And what will happen to those who cannot cross? They fall down into Jahannam. May Allah protect us from that.

And those that cross to the other side — what will be awaiting them? Jannah. But specifically, those that cross to the other side will see something, or somebody, that they have been waiting to see their whole life. As Al-Qa'qa' ibn Aws was asked: "Describe to us Jannah." He said: "In it is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ." That is the first thing to look forward to. The man that we have been longing to meet for a very long time. The man whose features were described to us, whose face was described to us, the way he walked was described to us. And we wish we could see him — and he is waiting on the other side of the bridge.

Al-Hawd: The Pond of the Prophet ﷺ

And he is waiting with Al-Hawd. What is the Hawd? It is what is referred to in the Qur'an as Al-Kawthar. In English they translate it to mean a pond. But when you think of a pond, you think of a very small body of water with frogs in it. That's not what Al-Hawd is.

The Prophet ﷺ in the authentic hadith describes the size of Al-Hawd as between Mecca and Yemen. Not a small pond. And you have this huge expanse of water, and you have vessels to drink from. And these vessels, the Prophet ﷺ says, are like the stars in the sky — glittering, beautiful. And he says: whoever drinks from this pond will never feel thirsty again.

You've just made this long journey on the Sirāt. So tired. You've seen people fall into Jahannam. You have seen Jahannam — and that itself is exhausting. Just to see Jahannam with your eyes is exhausting. And then you reach the other side and you see the Messenger ﷺ. And now your eyes are feeling very cool. And then you drink from the Hawd — a drink after which you will never feel thirsty again. And this is only the beginning.

Entering Jannah

And then you enter Jannah. And as we enter Jannah, Allah recreates us from scratch — rebuilds the human being, every single human being, to be the age of 33 years old, according to some ahadith.

A woman came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked him: "Is it possible for me to go to Paradise?" He said: "Unfortunately not." She began to cry. He said: "Because old women do not enter Paradise — you will be young when you enter Paradise." And so everybody will be rebuilt from scratch.

And as we enter Jannah, there will be a tree. And this tree, the Prophet ﷺ says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3252; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2826)

There is a tree in Jannah that if a rider were to ride as fast as possible on a horse, it would take them a hundred years just to exit the shade of this tree. And by this tree, there will be rivers — Al-Anhār. And we will be dipped into these rivers. And when we are dipped into this river, it will remove all of the impurities in our physical body. The sweat, the muck, the slime, the smell will all be gone — until our sweat will become musk perfume. And we will never urinate again. And we will never pass excrement again.

And then we will drink from these rivers. And when one drinks from it, all of the dirt inside will be removed — the jealousy, the hatred, the rancor, the anger will be cleaned from our hearts. As Allah says in the Qur'an:

We will remove everything in their hearts — every evil, negative feeling, we will yank it away from their hearts. And then they will be like brothers reclining on sofas, reclining on armchairs. This is exactly what you saw in the advertisement — the yellow beach and the armchair. That is how, insha'Allah, we will be. But we will be different. It will not be us as we are now.

The Names Are the Same, But Everything Else Is Different

Before we begin to describe the rest of Jannah, there is an important point to remember. Abdullah ibn Abbas said: "The only thing in common between Paradise and this world are the names of things. Everything else is different."

So when I say fruit, the fruit of Jannah is not like the fruit of this world. When I say women, the women of Paradise are not like the women of this world. When I say men, the men of Paradise are not like the men of this world. When I say palace, the palace of Paradise is not like the palace of this world. The names are the same, but the reality of those things is completely different.

To the extent that the Prophet ﷺ said:

In Paradise there are things which no eye has seen, no ear has heard of, and which have never even come across the mind of a human being. You cannot imagine what is in Paradise. But the names are familiar to give you some sense of familiarity. You have to relate somehow. You need something to look forward to. So Allah uses words that you are familiar with. But what is inside there is not something that we know.

There is a suspense to it. It's like when someone in your family tells you that they are giving you a surprise gift today. Or they buy you a ticket, but with black ink they rub out the destination. You sit in the aeroplane, you still don't know where you are headed, until the pilot begins the announcement: "Flight number 4172, exit destination." Then you know where you are going. And you feel so happy because you were waiting in suspense to find out. Jannah is the same. We know a little bit. We know the names. We know some details. But until we get there, we are going to be surprised by what is waiting for us.

The Levels of Jannah

In Jannah, the believers will be in darajāt — in different levels. Think of a building. The CEO, the chief executive officer, the prime minister — they have the penthouse, the top of the building. And the floor workers, the factory workers, are at the bottom. Allah says: everyone will have a degree, a status, depending on how they acted in this world. And they will get exactly what they deserve. And they will not be reduced. They will not be oppressed in any way.

But what are these darajāt, these levels — and what do they look like? Are they like the floors of a building? Or are they like economy and business class in an aeroplane? The Prophet ﷺ tells us in a hadith that the people of Jannah will be looking at each other from the different levels that they are at. And between every level is the distance between here and the stars that you see.

Today the physicists tell us that the stars we see are hundreds of light years away. Do you even know what a light year is? If light were to travel for one year — how far would it go? That is one light year. The stars in the sky are thousands of light years away. You cannot imagine the distance. And between each darajah, each level in Paradise, is a distance you cannot even imagine. It's not in miles, it's not in kilometres — it's in something else entirely.

And yet, at every level of Paradise, you will be able to hear the other levels of Paradise. You will not feel lower. You will not feel belittled. You will not feel humiliated — as if you were on the ground floor of a building looking up at the vice president on the top floor. You will not feel humiliated, because you will be able to hear all the conversations in Paradise. The walls are very thin. Sound will travel.

In fact, the people of Jannah will be able to hear the people of Jahannam. In fact, the people of Jannah will be able to speak to the people of Jahannam. Allah mentions this in the Qur'an — the people of Jannah calling out to the people of the fire:

The people of Paradise will say to them: "We found whatever Allah promised to be true — did you find what Allah promised you to be true?" But then the communication between them will be blocked. Because even to speak to the people of Jahannam brings discomfort to the heart. And the people of Jahannam will beg the people of Paradise: "Just give us some water. Please, just a few drops." And the people of Jannah will say to them: "Allah has made it harām for even a drop of water from Paradise to reach you in Jahannam."

But why? If you have reached Paradise, why would Allah make you see Jahannam and see the suffering and the pain there? So that you can realise the blessings of Allah upon you in Jannah — and you can appreciate where you have reached.

Al-Firdaws Al-A'lā — The Highest Level

And in Jannah, what is the top level? It is Al-Firdaws Al-A'lā. That is the name of the top level of Jannah. And the Prophet ﷺ taught us: if you are going to make du'ā for something, don't ask Allah for the ground floor of Jannah. Ask Him for the top floor. Ask Him for Firdaws. Be ambitious.

When it comes to the afterlife, try to be number one. When it comes to this life, we can be number two. But in the afterlife, nobody can beat us. That's why when Allah talks about the afterlife, He says: "Race for the forgiveness of Allah." But when He talks about this world, He says: "Walk in its valleys." You can walk in this world, but we have to race for the afterlife. See the difference in speed? You can cross the speed limit for the afterlife, but in this world — relax. This world is coming to an end.

And why should we compete for Firdaws? Because in Firdaws, who lives in the top level of Paradise? The Prophet ﷺ. And who will accompany the Messenger ﷺ in this top level?

In that top level of Paradise will be the Prophets. And the Siddīqeen — those who are truly committed to Allah. And the Shuhadā — those who died and lost their lives for the sake of Allah. And the Sāliheen — the righteous people, which can be you and can be me.

We can't be Anbiyā — we can't be Prophets. But we can be Siddīqeen. We can be committed people. We can be martyrs, we can die for the sake of Allah. May Allah grant all of us shahādah. And we can be Sāliheen — we can be righteous people. And we can reach the levels of Paradise where we are the neighbours of the Messengers of Allah.

Imagine that you leave your dwelling in Paradise and your neighbour is Ibrahim ﷺ. And imagine around the corner is Nuh ﷺ. And imagine to his left is Musa ﷺ. What conversations would you have with them? What questions would you ask them? What food would you eat and order from the restaurants of Paradise as you relaxed with them? Would you not want that company? We all want that company. And then we have to fight for that company. Because that company does not come easily.

As the Messenger ﷺ says:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2822)

Paradise is surrounded by difficulty, by tests — it doesn't come easy. In all the modern movies and fictional books, if somebody wants to get to the treasure, if somebody wants to get to the gold, they have to fight the dragon. And similarly — a child can understand this — but as adults, if we want to get the gold of Paradise and the top penthouse of Paradise, we have to fight for it as well. And slay the dragons of our nafs and the shaytān and the temptations of this world.

What Will the Believers Enjoy in Jannah?

So what will the believers be doing in Paradise? What will the believers be enjoying in Paradise? The first thing is that you can have whatever you want. Really, this is something that is hard to imagine. A thought crosses your mind — sometimes you see somebody driving a nice car and you think, if I was a millionaire, maybe. You see sometimes somebody eating in a very nice restaurant, or some special food, and you think, I would like to taste what they're eating. In Jannah, when you think it — it appears. Allah says in the Qur'an:

Anything they want — it is with Allah. They will have it.

And specifically, Allah describes a few scenes in Paradise. Allah describes the believers sitting, reclining. In this world, there is no reclining. You can recline for 7 days, for 14 days, for 21 days, but you have to get back to work. This world is about sweat, and blood, and tears. But when Allah describes the believers in Jannah, He says:

Relaxing, reclining on chairs. They will not see heat in the afterlife. The British people will be very upset when they hear the first half of this ayah — because the British are hungry for heat, for vitamin D, we need sunlight. But Allah also says: وَلَا زَمْهَرِيرًا — you will also not see extreme cold. No extreme heat, and no extreme cold. It is perfect. The weather is perfect. You don't have to look at the forecast. You don't have to worry about rain, or sun, or snow. Whatever it is, the weather there is perfect.

The Food of Jannah

And the food of Jannah. Allah says that we will be provided in Jannah with fruits. But these are not like the fruits of this world.

When you see them, they look similar. But when you taste them, the taste is not the same. And the taste of the food in Paradise never leaves your mouth. Sometimes you have a cup of tea and the taste remains on your tongue, and you don't want to eat after that because you want to keep savouring the flavour. Sometimes you eat dark chocolate, the bitterness stays on your tongue — you want more. Because you want to keep the taste. But the taste of food in Jannah does not leave. It remains. You continue to benefit from the enjoyment of its taste and the pleasure of its flavour.

The Rivers of Jannah

And the drink of Paradise. Allah mentions that in Paradise there will be rivers that we can drink from. Allah says — the example of the paradise which has been promised for the righteous:

In there is water — this water is perfect to taste. And rivers of milk — the problem with milk is it expires very quickly. But the milk of Paradise — its taste never changes. And rivers of wine, but this wine does not intoxicate you. It does not make you woozy. It does not make you drunk. It does not make you confused. In fact it increases your clarity. And rivers of pure honey.

Drink as you wish, and enjoy as you wish. You restricted yourself in this worldly life. You abided — when Allah told you don't drink, you didn't drink. When Allah told you don't eat this, you didn't eat this. And you waited for the day in which there were no restrictions. And here it has come.

The Spouses of Jannah

And what of the spouses of Paradise — the women of Paradise and the men of Paradise? Allah describes to us in the Qur'an the beautiful women of Paradise:

They are like hidden pearls. What a reward for what they used to do.

In this world, one of the things that pains us and disturbs us is when people talk about things that are not important — when people waste our time. But over there in Paradise, there is no wasteful talk. There is no talk that is useless. In Paradise there is no talk that is hurtful. No backbiting, no gossip, no insulting, no cursing. People only speak good. Only the words of peace are mentioned.

Upgrades for Your Family

What if you end up in one of the highest levels of Paradise, but your son and your daughter and your grandparents are in the bottom layer of Paradise? Wouldn't you like for them to be your neighbour? Wouldn't you like for them to spend time with you in Jannah, in the same floor, without you having to take a spaceship down to the bottom floor? Allah mentions in the Qur'an:

Those who believe — and whoever in their family, parents or children or grandchildren, whoever has Iman — they will be upgraded to your class. And none of your deeds will be taken away from you.

You know sometimes — and I don't know if this has ever happened to anyone — when you buy an economy class ticket and they tell you: "You've been upgraded to business class." And this one 6-hour flight in business class, you feel like you are the king of the world. You put your feet up, you recline your chair — even when you shouldn't be reclining your chair, you've reclined your chair. You are ordering everything from the menu. You are juicing every moment of this business class. Because you know you didn't deserve to be there. You got upgraded.

But in Jannah, if you are in the business class of Jannah, and you have relatives — grandparents, grandchildren, family, friends — who are somewhere else in Jannah, Allah upgrades them. The only condition is they have to have Iman. If they didn't have Iman, they wouldn't be in Jannah. And so so many people will get bumped up to first class, to business class, to enjoy the company of the prophets — solely by association.

And some scholars mention it's not just family — it's even those who you associated with closely in this life. Your friends, your teachers, your students, your companions. And this is why Allah mentions in the Qur'an:

Those you were close with in this world, you will be with on the Day of Judgment. The closest of friends — the most beloved people to each other — on the Day of Judgment, they will be enemies. Your best buddy, your best friend, your closest comrade on the Day of Judgment will disown you. Except the righteous in Jannah — they will not be enemies to each other.

And this is why when the Prophet ﷺ was asked: "When is the Hour? Tell me — what time is the Day of Judgment?" The Prophet ﷺ asked him: "Rather, what have you prepared for it?" The man said: "Nothing. Just one thing I have prepared — I love Allah and His Messenger." The Prophet ﷺ said:

You will be with the one you love. You will get upgraded with the one you love. But is that love sincere? Is that love genuine? Or is that love because of some benefit in this world? Really — who do we love? Who are the people we look up to? Who are the people we crave to be in the company of? Look around you today. The people you spend time with in the evenings. The people you ring after work. The people you look forward to chilling with. Because on the Day of Judgment, you will be with them as well. Everybody is with the person that they love.

The Greatest Pleasure of Jannah: Seeing Allah

We talked about food. We talked about drink. We talked about company. We talked about the age of the people in Jannah. So many things. But what is the greatest thing to look forward to in Jannah? To see Allah.

You know, somebody came to me a few weeks ago — two young men and a young woman. They wanted to get married and they had never seen each other before. They met on Instagram. Today this is very common — they meet on TikTok, they meet on Instagram. They see some pictures. How much Photoshop was applied to these pictures, only Allah knows. So they meet, they message each other. Then they want to get married. I asked him: "Did you see her?" He said: "No, I never saw her. But I really want to marry her." "Why do you want to marry her?" "Because we chatted. And the more we spoke, the more I wanted to marry her. The more she talked to me, the more I wanted to marry her. We spoke on the phone. The more I heard her voice, my desire to see her was even more. I cannot wait for the day to see her."

This is a simple example from this worldly life. But when it comes to our Creator — we heard about Him. He was described to us. He spoke to us in the Qur'an. The Messenger ﷺ informed us about Him. But the more we learn about Him, the more we cannot wait. The more we are in suspense for that moment in which we will meet Him.

Whoever desires the meeting with Allah — that meeting is coming. And He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.

In a hadith, the Prophet ﷺ mentions that while the people of Paradise are chilling — sitting down, eating, drinking — they hear a voice calling them. And this voice asks them to look. And as they look, the veil is lifted and they see their Lord. And the Prophet ﷺ says, they hear Allah greeting them with greetings of peace:

Greetings of peace from a merciful Lord. We don't know how we will see Him. We don't know how we will perceive Him. But it is enough that Allah has promised us:

Faces on that day will be bright, looking at the Almighty.

There are so many people in this life that we look forward to meeting. And when we meet them — a celebrity, a big shaykh, fulān ibn fulān crosses your path — you say: "Wow, he touched me. He smiled at me. He met me. He liked my status." You feel so excited. And yet Allah — the one who gave us our heartbeats, the one who gave us this oxygen that we breathe, the one who sent us the Messengers and the Books and created this bewildering universe, the oceans and the trees and the peppers and the foods, the wonders of this universe — if there was nothing in Paradise except to meet our Creator, is that not enough as a motivation for us?

The Prophet ﷺ is sitting with his companions and he says to them — as they see the full moon in the sky — recently there was a super moon, double in size of the normal moon — and the Prophet ﷺ says to his companions:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 554; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 633)

You are all going to see your Lord on the Day of Judgment, just as you see this full moon with your eyes — you will never get bored of seeing Him, you will never get tired of seeing Him.

And the Prophet ﷺ — one of his most frequent du'ās was:

"O Allah, grant me the pleasure of seeing You, and the craving to meet You — make me desire to meet You and look forward to meeting You."

In a hadith it is mentioned that as the believers are enjoying in Paradise, wondering how on earth they have achieved and received what they received, Allah says to them: "Do you want to know what is more than what you have gotten?" And they say: "How can there be more? How can there be more than what we have received?" And Allah says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6549; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2829)

"You will have My pleasure — and you will never receive My displeasure." Allah mentions this in the Qur'an — of all the pleasures of Paradise, to have the pleasure of Allah is the greatest of all achievements.

And Allah is gentle with His slaves. How many a night we recite the words of Allah and we wait — if you love the words of Allah being recited, wait till you meet the One who revealed them. If you love anybody, any human being in the creation of Allah, wait till you meet their Creator. If you enjoy the food and drink and shelter that Allah has given you, and it fills you with love for Him, wait till you meet your Maker. Because there is nothing in Paradise more beautiful — that we should have more longing for — than the meeting with the Almighty.

And we should make du'ā for it, as the Prophet ﷺ would:

No Pain, No Gain — The Road to Jannah

After we describe the beauties of Paradise and what is waiting for us there, there is one last point to mention. Is it easy to get there? They say no pain, no gain. And it's the same for Paradise. What does Allah say about Jannah?

Did you think you would just be given a free entry pass to Paradise and you didn't go through the difficulties of those before you? They were faced with challenges and trials. They were shook — physically shook. Until the Messenger himself and the believers around him exclaimed: "When is Allah going to help us?" They were shook and tested and broken to the level that they said: "When is Allah going to get us out of this situation?" And then Allah responds: "No — the victory of Allah is near."

And so this world is filled with tests. And this route to Paradise is filled with tribulation and difficulty. But we have to stay steadfast. There are so many people in this world who work 24 hours a day. They don't sleep, they don't eat, they sacrifice everything. Why? For some paycheck. For some money, some profit that they're going to go to the Bahamas with. And we have this ultimate Bahamas — Al-Jannah. This ultimate holiday that is waiting for us. Is that not enough reason for us to sweat, and bleed, and tear, and get through the tough days of this world?

So every time you lie in bed and feel exhausted, remember the peace and the enjoyment of Paradise. Every time in this world you eat something you don't like, remember that there will come a time when everything you eat will be something you enjoy. Every time in this world you're in trouble with your wife, or your husband, or your parents, or your family, remember there will come a time in Paradise in which there will be no hatred in our hearts for each other.

In this world, when you feel down, when you feel downtrodden, when you're on the brink of giving up, remember that there is nothing in this world as painful as one moment in Jahannam. Because the Prophet ﷺ said: a person will be brought on the Day of Judgment who enjoyed everything in this world — just imagine those people you see on YouTube with the biggest palaces. They enjoyed everything. Even their showers were the size of our houses. And when they taste one moment in Jahannam, they will say: "O Allah, I never experienced anything good in my life." One moment in Jahannam erases it all. How many moments of difficulty we experience in this life — and yet on the Day of Judgment, one moment in Paradise will erase all of the pain of this life.

We should not be short-sighted. We have a long-term goal in mind. We see people around us fighting, compromising, scamming each other to get a few pennies and a few pounds in this world. But as believers, all these pennies and pounds don't matter to us. Because there is something else that we are searching for. Something else that we are seeking. Something else that we are looking forward to.

And so the description of Jannah, and the reminder of its pleasures, and the time that we will spend with the Messengers, and the time that we will insha'Allah spend with Allah — should be a motivation for us to take the duvet off at Fajr time. And as salah times get late and early and close and far, to persist. Because what did Allah say in the Qur'an?

If you know what Paradise is, then you better work hard for it.

Closing Du'ā

May Allah make us of those who meet the Prophet ﷺ in Paradise, and who drink from his hand, and who get to spend time eating the fruits of Paradise and enjoying the enjoyments of Paradise. May Allah allow us to be of those that meet him, and not those who are flung off the Sirāt into the depths of the fire. May Allah make us of those who love for His sake, and meet for His sake, so that we gather for His sake in Jannat al-Na'īm.