The Wonders of Jannah: What the Qur’an & Hadith Tell Us About Paradise

The Wonders of Jannah: What the Qur'an & Hadith Tell Us About Paradise

Today we're going to discuss in a brief reminder the ultimate escape, ultimate vacation, that beach which has no shore, 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.

Al-Qa'a Ibn Awus 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. We wish we could see him, and he is waiting on the other side of the bridge, and he is waiting with Al-Hawd.

Al-Hawd — The Prophet's Basin

What is Al-Hawd? 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 is not what Al-Hawd is.

The Prophet ﷺ in the Sahih describes the size of Al-Hawd as between Makkah and Yemen — not a small pond. And you have this huge ocean, and you have vessels to drink from. These vessels — the Prophet ﷺ says they are like the stars in the sky, they are glittering, they are beautiful. And he says we will never feel thirsty again.

You have just made this long journey on the Sirat — so tired. You have seen people fall into Jahannam, you have seen Jahannam — 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 then you enter Jannah.

Entering Jannah — A New Creation

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

As we enter Jannah, there will be a tree. The Prophet ﷺ says: 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. By this tree there will be rivers, and we will be dipped into these rivers. 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. We will never urinate again, we will never pass excrement again. And then you will drink from these Anhar — 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.

The Names Are the Same — But the Reality Is Different

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 are completely different — to the extent that the Prophet ﷺ has said that 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.

The Levels of Jannah — The Darajat

In Jannah, the believers will be in darajat — in different levels. Think of an apartment building. The CEO, 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 darajat, 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 airplane? The Prophet ﷺ tells us in a hadith: 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 that we see are hundreds of light years away. And between each darajah — each level in paradise — is this distance that you cannot even imagine. It is not in miles, it is not in kilometers, it is in something else entirely.

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, and you will be able to hear the conversations that are being had.

Communication Between Jannah and Jahannam

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. The people of paradise will call to the people of the fire. That means they can see them, they can hear them. They will say to them: "We found whatever Allah promised to be true." They will ask them: "Did you find what Allah promised you to be true?" But then 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." They will beg them. "Please just drop some water — a few drops from Jannah." And the people of Jannah will say to them: "Allah has made it haram for even a drop of water from paradise to reach you in Jahannam."

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

We said there will be different levels of Jannah. What is the top level of Jannah? Al-Firdaws Al-A'la — that is the name of the top level of Jannah. And the Prophet ﷺ taught us: if you are going to make du'a for something, don't ask Allah for the ground floor of Jannah — ask Him for the top floor of Jannah, 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 is 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 so this is why we have to compete for the highest levels of Jannah, and the top of them is Firdaws.

And why should we compete for Firdaws? Because in Firdaws lives the Prophet ﷺ. And who are going to accompany the Messenger ﷺ in this top level of paradise?

In that top level of paradise will be the Prophets, and the Siddiqeen — those who are truly committed to Allah — and the Shuhada, those who died and lost their lives for the sake of Allah, and the Saliheen, the righteous people — which can be you and can be me.

We can't be Anbiya — we can't be Prophets. But we can be Siddiqeen — we can be committed people. We can be martyrs, we can die for the sake of Allah. May Allah grant all of us a shahada. And we can be Saliheen — 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.

Paradise is surrounded by difficulties and tests. (Sahih Muslim, Book 40, Hadith 6778)

It doesn't come easy.

What Will the Believers Do in Paradise?

So what would the believers be doing in paradise? The first thing is that you can have whatever you want. This is something that is hard to imagine. A thought crosses your mind. Sometimes you see somebody driving a nice car and you think: "You know what, if I was a millionaire, maybe..." Sometimes you see somebody eating in a very nice restaurant or some special food, and you think: "I would like to taste what he's eating or she's eating." In Jannah, when you think — it appears.

Allah says in the Qur'an:

They will have whatever — مَا — anything they want, it is with Allah. They will have it.

Reclining in Peace

And specifically, Allah describes a few incidents 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. 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 fruits in Jannah. 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 of tea remains on your tongue and you don't want to eat after that — because you want to keep savoring the flavor. Sometimes you eat dark chocolate — the bitterness stays on your tongue. You don't want to eat anything afterwards 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 flavor.

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 — غَيْرِ آسِنٍ — water that is neither stale nor foul. 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 alcohol — but this alcohol 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.

The Spouses of Paradise

And what of the spouses of paradise? What of the women of paradise and the men of paradise? Allah describes them in the Qur'an:

The beautiful women of paradise — they are like hidden jewels, hidden pearls. What a reward for what they used to do.

No Idle or Hurtful Speech in Jannah

In this world, one of the things that pains us and we feel annoyed and disturbed to hear is when people talk about things that are not important — when people waste our time. But over there in paradise, there is no wasted 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.

Families Reunited in Jannah

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? What happens then? Allah mentions in the Qur'an:

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.

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

Al-Mar'u Ma'a Man Ahabb — You Will Be With Whom You Love

This is why when the Prophet ﷺ was asked by someone: "When is the Hour?"

"Tell me — what time is the Day of Judgment?" The Prophet ﷺ asked him in return:

"Rather, what have you prepared for it?" The man said: "Nothing —

— I just have 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 who we crave to be in the company of? Look around today. The people you spend time with in the evenings. The people you ring after work. The people who 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.