A Glimpse Of Jannah - Ust. Hisham Abu Yusuf

A Glimpse of Jannah

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and upon his family and all his companions. And upon those who followed his Sunnah and were guided by his guidance and followed his path until the Day of Judgment.

Peace and blessings be upon you. As we come to the end of this conference and to the final talk, which Allah has blessed me to talk about the most exciting part of the entire conference. And it's not the pizza or the tea. It's a description of what all of us look forward to — the serenity, the bliss of Paradise. May Allah make all of us, you and I, from its inhabitants.

We Cannot Truly Understand Paradise

When we try to understand Paradise, the first thing we have to understand is that we cannot understand Paradise. The Prophet ﷺ informs us that in it is what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and has never crossed the mind of any human. Whatever I'm about to describe is not Paradise. It's words that can approximate, can try to describe it, but it's not the actual thing. This is by the Prophet's ﷺ testimony himself.

The Prophet's companion Abdullah ibn Abbas says: if Allah says that in Paradise there is a river, when I say river, you think about a stream of water. Abdullah ibn Abbas says the names are the same, but they're two completely different things. But that's the only way that we can imagine, we can try to think, try to approximate what Allah has promised.

Al-Hawd: The Pool of the Prophet ﷺ

The first thing that happens when it comes to Paradise is that before Paradise there is the bridge that we have to cross. And once we cross the bridge, on the other side, at the entrance of Paradise, we'll be greeted by none other than the Prophet ﷺ. And the Prophet ﷺ will have al-hawd — which some people call a fountain, some people call a pool. The Prophet ﷺ says its size will be the distance between Mecca and Yemen. That's a few thousand miles. It's not a pond — that's an ocean. And we will drink, and he will fill our cup, and we will drink from that cup, and our thirst will be quenched to an extent that we will never feel thirsty ever again.

The Eight Gates of Paradise

We will then come to the gates of Paradise, and the gates of Paradise are eight in number — one gate for every act of worship. There's a gate for people who used to fast, Bab al-Rayyan, and each gate has its people.

When we come to the gates of Paradise, one thing we will notice is that the gates of Paradise are open and welcoming, whereas the gates of Jahannam are closed, and they need to be dragged open. In the verses I just recited at the end of Surat al-Zumar, Allah mentions that we will be taken to Paradise, and the people of Jahannam will be taken to Jahannam. In the olden days, if somebody committed a crime, did something wrong, they would tie them to the back of a horse, and their face would be dragged on the floor through the city as a way to humiliate them. That's how the people of Jahannam will be dragged to Jahannam.

But the people of Paradise will be brought to Paradise. They will be riding beasts that we don't know the description of. They will not be walking, but they will be carried on various beasts as they arrive at the gates of Paradise. And they will be entering Paradise in groups, not in ones. That's what Allah says:

Zumra is a group. So we'll be in packs, in platoons. But which group am I going to be in? Is it my family? Is it my tribe? Will I be with the other attendees of Masjid Abu Hurairah? May Allah allow us all to be together. Ameen.

The Groups of Souls

Some scholars say that the group that you're going to be in is the group of souls that you were part of before Allah created everything. For context, before Allah created this physical universe, He created all of our souls. And our souls were in groups. And you know, sometimes once in a while you meet someone and you feel like you've known them for a long time — you just click. The Prophet ﷺ told us that in the realm of the souls, we were in groups, in platoons. So he says the souls that were in your group, you tend to just click with them. And some souls in other groups, it just doesn't work out — that's just the way Allah created the souls. So one interpretation is that we will be returned to our soul group and we will enter Paradise with them. And the other interpretation is that we will enter with those who are closest to us — we'll be resurrected with those we were closest to when we passed away.

The First Group to Enter

The Prophet ﷺ tells us, in a hadith recorded in both Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, that the first group that enters Paradise will be so illuminated — they will be glowing so much, like the moon on the night of the full moon. And the group after them will be like a star in the sky. And as they enter, they will be greeted with the greeting: سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ — peace be upon you.

He says that in Paradise you will not urinate, you will not defecate — akramakumullah. All these needs that we have in day-to-day life, we won't need them. We will not need to indulge in those things. We will smell of musk. Our spouses will be from the Hurul Ain. We will enter in similar or the same form — the form of a young person.

One day an old woman came and asked the Prophet ﷺ if she was going to enter Jannah. He said no. She cried. He said: because old people don't go to Jannah — because we will all enter Jannah as young people.

The Levels of Jannah

As you enter Jannah, just as when you enter any building or any place, the first thing you notice is the scale of the place. Jannah has levels. Who knows what's the penthouse of Jannah, the top level? Yes — Jannat al-Firdaus. And there's another level in Jannah called Maqam al-Wasilah, which is the level in which the Prophets, the Messengers, and the Martyrs will all be accompanied. May Allah make the people who passed away in Gaza from the martyrs.

Now you might enter Jannah and you might be looking up at the levels. Between every level of Jannah — every floor — is the size of the visible universe. I don't know how many trillion light years the size of the universe is, but that's the size of one level in Jannah. And even though the levels are so far apart, you will be able to see what's going on in the other levels.

The Prophet ﷺ informed us, in a hadith recorded in both Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, that the people of Jannah will be able to see what's happening in the rooms, in the floors, in the apartments on the different floors above them — just as you're able to see the stars in the sky despite the distance.

The Prophet's companions were listening and they said: O Prophet of Allah, those highest levels — those are the places of Prophets. Surely nobody else can be there on that level. Surely there's a lower level for you and me. The Prophet ﷺ said:

"Yes, I swear by the one in whose hand my soul — there will be people who believed in Allah and followed their Messengers. They will accompany their Prophets on the highest of levels."

Reuniting Your Family in Jannah

You're looking up at these levels and you notice that maybe your parents, your siblings, your kids, your grandkids are on a lower level — somehow you made it to the penthouse. And you think: how am I going to enjoy Jannah without those guys? I need my people, I need my crew, I need my family with me — what do I do? Allah tells us in the Qur'an:

Those who believe and enter Paradise, and whose family believes and enters Paradise — Allah will upgrade your family to business class with you. None of your deeds will be wasted. Everybody will get exactly what they earn.

Your Apartment in Paradise

As you enter into Jannah, you need a new wardrobe. Whatever you are wearing in the dunya, it's not going to cut it. So you're clothed in the clothing of the people of Paradise — clothing of silk, in green and in white. The Prophets themselves are clothed with the clothes of Jannah, first Ibrahim and then all the other Prophets.

You are then seated. But before you are seated, you are introduced to your apartment in Paradise. You might think: how do I know which one is my apartment? How do I know where my house is? All of us, when we enter Paradise, will instinctively know which one is ours — just like when you drive past your house, you just know, this is my road, that's my house. You will have an inner compass that will tell you: that's my place. Allah says:

When you enter Paradise, Allah will already have introduced you to where your place is. And then you will be shown your mansion, your palace, your place that you are going to stay in Paradise.

Building Your Real Estate in Paradise

What defines the real estate that you own in Paradise? Many of us are trying to build some real estate in this world. But the Prophet ﷺ said: whoever says

Allah makes for them — plants for them — a tree in Paradise. And whoever says

a hundred times, Allah makes for them a house in Paradise. So your real estate is starting to grow and grow and grow. Until you enter, and what you might have is like a small country. Or you might have just a house. Or you might have a mansion. But all of us will have our place in Paradise.

The Gardens of Jannah

What is it about our house in Paradise that will differ from the houses we have in this world? You live in Toronto — you might be living in a one-bedroom apartment based on the rent prices that I hear about. But in Jannah, all of us will have gardens. That's what the word Jannah means.

Whoever fears the meeting of Allah will be greeted with two luscious gardens. When you think of gardens, don't think of a little back garden with a white picket fence. When you think about gardens in Paradise, think about a massive rice field, think about a football field — that's the kind of garden you'll be in. And underneath these gardens — your place in Jannah has layers. As you stroll through your garden, you peek over the edge of the cliff, and you suddenly see a stream running.

Gardens beneath which rivers flow. But the greatest catch is that the bliss doesn't end anytime soon:

You will be there forever.

What Will We Do in Jannah?

What is there to do in Jannah? In this world, we get bored so easily. But in Jannah, it's going to be very different. We won't have the needs, the cravings, the desires that we have in this world. We will desire things — but the difference is that in Jannah, everything will be available to us. Whatever we imagine, and far more. Allah says:

They will have whatever they wish in Jannah — and with Us is even more.

The Great Tree and the Fruits of Jannah

The Prophet ﷺ tells us that there's a tree in Jannah — a tree so large in its size that someone riding an animal could ride for a hundred years and they wouldn't even cross the shadow of this tree. And you're sat under the tree one day, just relaxing. And while you're relaxing in Jannah, you think: I'm feeling a bit peckish. And the moment the thought crosses your mind, a branch drops in front of you with a fruit — a fruit that looks like a fruit you used to eat in the dunya. But the taste is very different.

Its branches just pop nearby — you don't have to stretch your arm, it stretches towards you.

Eat and drink as you wish, with no limitation, for all the efforts that you made in your lifetime.

There will be rivers in Paradise, oceans. There will be an ocean of honey, an ocean of milk, an ocean of wine. But the wine will not intoxicate. You might think: but then how does that make it wine? I have no clue. We're going to find out, insha'Allah.

Getting Your Refund

In Jannah, whatever you lost in this world will be recouped — you will get your refund. A mother waited nine months with her child. She went through morning sickness, pains, pangs, exhaustion, tiredness. The pains of labor came — the most painful thing a human being can go through. And as the baby exited her body, the baby passed away in her hand. So many mothers have experienced this — stillbirth, the death of an infant. You just about had the child in your hands and Allah snatched the child away. And as this mother mourns her child, we have a comfort from the Prophet ﷺ that whoever lost a child in this world, Allah will allow them to have their child — the same child will be waiting for them in Jannah.

The Greatest Pleasure of Paradise: Seeing Allah

When Allah describes what we're going to get up to in Paradise, He says the people of Paradise seem to be really busy — they're permanently just enjoying themselves in various ways. They and their spouses will be in shades, relaxing on reclined seats. They will have fruits that they could never imagine, and whatever they wish beyond. And then they will hear a salam — a greeting from Allah, the most merciful master.

And that takes us to the greatest pleasure of Paradise. The Prophet ﷺ says Allah will speak to the people of Paradise: "O inhabitants of Paradise." So they will say: "We're here, O Allah, tell us." And He will ask: "You guys happy?" And the people of Paradise will say: "How can we not be happy and you gave us what you didn't give anybody from your creation?" And then Allah will say: "I'm about to give you something that's better than anything you've just experienced."

You think: hold on a second — better than the Hurul Ain? That's going to be hard to beat. What is Allah going to give us? What could possibly be better than everything I've just enjoyed? And Allah says: "You have my pleasure. And you will never feel my displeasure ever."

But the greatest of all the pleasures of Paradise is a pleasure that has been hidden from us for a very long time — something that all of us yearn for. More than chilling with the Prophets, or seeing our loved ones, or eating fruits, or basking on reclined seats. From the very beginning, from our births till now, we have only been told about Allah, our Creator. He has been described to us like a third person — an invisible being that we don't see, but we see everything that He creates and all the effects of His names and His attributes. But we yearn for His company, we wish to see Him.

And the greatest of all the rewards and blessings of Paradise is the greatest experience that any human being could ever experience — it is the experience of seeing Allah and being in His company.

Faces that Day will be radiant, looking at their Lord.

The Prophet ﷺ said: When the people of Paradise enter Paradise and the people of Hellfire enter Hellfire, somebody will call out: "O people of Paradise, Allah has an appointment with you that you have to attend." They'll say: "What? An appointment? Nobody told us about an appointment. Didn't Allah make our scales heavy, and brighten our faces, and bring us to Jannah, and save us from the Fire? What more could there be?" The veil that covers between us and Allah will be lifted. Then they will see Allah. Nothing that they ever experienced before that will be greater for them than the experience of seeing Him and being in His company.

The Prophet ﷺ used to ask Allah:

"O Allah, I ask you to grant me the delight of looking upon Your face and the longing to meet You." In all his years in this world, what was most exciting for the Prophet ﷺ was the day he passed away — because the last words that he said were: "I don't care that I'm going — I'm going to be with my favorite companion." And he returned to his favorite companion.

In this world, we sense a feeling of comfort, a sense of solace, a sense of assurance, a sense of trust, a sense of peace when we just think of Allah. Imagine how we will feel when we get to see Allah.

The Prophet ﷺ was sitting with his companions one day and he pointed to the moon — the full moon. And he said: "You are going to see Allah on the Day of Judgment, just like you see the full moon in the dark night." It is the moment that all of us look forward to. The moment all of us are waiting for is to be in the company of Allah.

How Do We Get to Jannah?

But with all this talk of Jannah and all this talk of Paradise and all this talk of enjoyment and food and company — when asked the question: how on earth are we going to get there? Allah says in the Qur'an: do you think you are going to get a free pass to Jannah and not go through what people before you had to go through? They went through difficulties and trials and they were shaken — they were shaken until even the Prophets themselves said: "When is Allah going to help us?" Allah says: don't worry, the victory of Allah is near.

The Prophet ﷺ informs us that one day he sat with his companions and he drew a line in the sand. And he drew many squiggly lines around that line. He said: this straight line that I drew — that's the straight path. And you see all these squiggly lines that I drew? These are the other paths that will lead you away. The path to Paradise is surrounded with tests. And the path to Hellfire is surrounded with easy temptations.

Only the Mercy of Allah Will Get Us There

How are we going to get there? Sometimes we think: maybe it's my deeds, maybe it's my effort, maybe it's my Qiyam al-Layl. What's going to get me to Paradise? The truth is, the only thing that will get us to Paradise is the mercy of Allah. The Prophet ﷺ informed us: none of you will enter Jannah based purely on your actions. The Sahaba said: hold on a second — all this time you said those who believe and do good deeds will be admitted. Now you're saying that good deeds are not going to take us to Paradise? What's going on? They said: what about you — are you going to get into Paradise based on your actions? He said: the only way to get to Jannah is for Allah to shower you with His mercy. Our deeds, they mean nothing — they only mean something because of His mercy. Our actions, our difficulties, our moments — all we do through them is hope that Allah will shower us with His mercy and make us of those who enter Paradise.

Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and the Eight Gates

One day the Prophet ﷺ was sitting in a gathering and he asked his companions: "Who of you went to a janazah — a funeral prayer — today?" One man put his hand up. "Which of you visited a sick person today?" One man put his hand up. "Which of you prayed the night prayer?" One man put his hand up. And he kept asking questions and one man kept putting his hand up. He said: "Paradise has eight doors — but this man will get to enter from any door he wants." That man was Abu Bakr al-Siddiq.

May Allah make all of us of those who can enter Paradise from any door that they wish. And the way to do that is to switch up your good deeds — to give charity to an orphan, and then to pray the night prayer, and then to show kindness to your parents, and then to memorize a page of the Qur'an, and then to go and work hard, to look after your children, to spend time and play with them. All of these are acts of worship. But at the end of all of this, we hope that Allah allows us to enter Jannah from any of these eight doors.

The 70,000 Who Enter Without Reckoning

There is one more thing worth mentioning. There are people who will enter Jannah and they won't have to do any accounting, any questioning — no difficult questions, no heat, nothing. A straight VIP pass to Paradise. The Prophet ﷺ told us there will be 70,000 people on the Day of Judgment who will enter Paradise with no punishment and no questioning. They asked: who are these people, O Prophet of Allah? The Prophet ﷺ, in summary, said: they are the people who trust Allah the most. People who don't ask others for ruqya — they recite for healing on themselves. People who trust Allah.

When we aim for Paradise, we should aim for the penthouse of Paradise — Jannat al-Firdaus. When we aim for Paradise, we should aim to be entered with no questioning, no difficulty. In order to do that, we should become people who trust Allah, who rely upon Him, who strive but leave the results upon Him.

Du'a

We ask Allah to make us of those who enter Paradise. We ask Allah to make us of those who stay in Paradise. We ask Allah to gather us on the day He gathers the Prophets and the Messengers. We ask Allah to upgrade us — business class — to the premium part of Paradise.