The Fragrance of Jannah - Shaykh Aqeel Mahmood

The Fragrance of Jannah

Alhamdulillah, we praise Him, we ask for His help and we ask for His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whom Allah guides, no one can misguide, and whom He misguides, no one can guide.

And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, no partner for Him. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

The Scent That Reaches You Before You Arrive

Imagine a place whose scent reaches you before you even arrive there. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

"Verily, the fragrance of Jannah can be detected from a distance of forty years."

If the smell of Jannah, brothers and sisters, is so powerful that it can reach you from a distance of forty years, then how beautiful must Jannah itself be?

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said that Allah said — and this is a hadith qudsi:

"I have prepared for My righteous slaves something which no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, and has not even entered into the heart of man."

And Allah says in the Quran:

"No soul knows what has been prepared and hidden for it that will be comforting to their eyes — as a reward for what they used to do."

The Gates of Paradise

And as you step into Jannah, you will be greeted by the angels, the gatekeepers of Paradise. And they will say: "Peace be with you for what you patiently endured in the dunya, from the trials and tests." This is the reward of the people who will enter.

"And how great is the final home" — your final resting place.

And if this wasn't enough, Allah will greet you:

"Salaam — a word from your Lord Most Merciful." Imagine being greeted by Allah Himself.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said that Jannah has abwab — multiple gates. Whoever is from the people of Salah will enter from the gate of Salah. Whoever is from the people of Jihad will enter from the gate of Jihad. Whoever was from the people of sadaqah and charity will enter from the gate of charity. Whoever was from the people of fasting will enter through ar-Rayyan — the gate for those who used to fast in this world.

One of the companions said: "O Messenger of Allah, will there be anyone who will enter Jannah and will be able to choose whichever gate he wants?" And the Prophet ﷺ said: "Yes, and I hope that you will be from amongst them." And this was none other than Abu Bakr as-Siddiq رضي الله عنه.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ also said that whosoever performs wudu and then recites the appropriate supplication will enter into Jannah from whichever gate he wishes. But these gates are not like the gates of the dunya. The Prophet ﷺ said there will be a distance of forty years from one side of the gate to the other.

The Prophet ﷺ will be the first to come up to these gates on the Day of Judgment when people are admitted into Jannah. He will ask for the gates to be opened. The gates will be closed, and the angel will say: "Who are you?" He will say: "I am Muhammad ﷺ." And the angel will say: "I was ordered not to open the gate for anyone else before you." And then the poor from the Muhajireen will enter into Jannah, and the rest of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ will enter Jannah. Seventy thousand of the Ummah of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ will enter — the cream of the crop. The first of them will not enter until the last of them do so; none of them will precede the other, and none of them will have any delay.

The Food and Drink of Jannah

When you enter into Jannah, you will be given food. You will be taken care of. You will be given delicacies — things like fish, things like a bull that is grazing on the outskirts of Jannah that will be slaughtered for its inhabitants. And these foods, even though they have the same names as foods in this world, do not taste like the foods of this world. It is nothing we could ever imagine.

The first drink that we will have in Jannah will be called Salsabil — from a spring and river among the rivers of Jannah.

Allah mentions:

"Every time they are provided with provision from the fruits of Jannah, they will say: 'This is what we were given before.' And they were only given something which was similar." They will think they have eaten this before. And when they taste the same food in Jannah again, it will taste even better than the first time. Every time they taste the same food in Jannah it will taste even better — unlike food in this world, where the more we eat, the more tired of it we become.

Fruits in Paradise will be hanging low — easy for us to pick, easy for us to reach and eat.

There will be rivers in Jannah:

Rivers of water that will never be altered; milk whose taste will never change and will never go off; rivers of wine that will be delicious and tasty for the one who drinks it; and rivers of honey. And you will meet your loved ones who are in Jannah. You will meet the Prophets and Messengers and the righteous of the past.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about al-Kawthar. He said it is a river in Paradise which his Lord has given him — whiter than milk and sweeter than honey. And there are birds in it whose necks are long. Umar رضي الله عنه said: "O Messenger of Allah, verily these birds will be beautiful." The Prophet ﷺ said: "The one who eats them will be more beautiful than them, O Umar."

The Appearance and Comforts of the People of Jannah

The first group to enter Paradise will be like the full moon — bright and glowing. They will never need to spit or blow their noses. They will never have to use the bathroom again. They will have vessels made of gold and combs of gold and silver. There will be incense in Paradise. A person will perspire and sweat, but that sweat will smell of musk.

A person will enter Jannah and will see people that he used to dislike — people he had hatred towards in the dunya — and they are both in Jannah. But there will be no enmity, there will be no hatred. Allah will remove all of it:

"And We will remove whatever resentment, hatred and animosity they had in their hearts. They will be brothers, reclining on couches and thrones, facing one another, talking to one another."

"No fatigue will touch them in Jannah, and they will never be expelled." Once you enter, you will live there forever and you will never get bored. Everything will be exactly how you like it, exactly how you desire it.

"They will have whatever they want."

"You will have whatever your soul desires in Paradise."

The Homes of Jannah

You will be in Jannah and you will want to go to your home in Paradise. The homes in Paradise, brothers and sisters — you will recognise it, you will know where it is in the vast gardens of Jannah, just like you know your homes in this world. Just like you don't get lost in this world when you go home, you won't be getting lost in Jannah when you go to your home in Paradise.

"And He will admit them into Jannah which He has made known to them." Your eternal home will be the home given to you by Allah, built by Allah, furnished by Allah — exactly how you desire.

"In it there will be couches raised high, cups already placed there for you with whatever you wish to drink — already there, no need to ask or wait — cushions lined up, and carpets spread around."

It was once asked of the Prophet ﷺ: "What is Paradise built from?" And he said:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 10771; also referenced in Sunan al-Tirmidhi)

"Bricks of gold and silver." And the pebbles will be of pearls and rubies. And the soil will be from saffron.

Whoever enters into Jannah will be blessed with complete joy. He will never be miserable. He will remain there forever. He will never die. His clothes will never wear out or get dirty and will never fade away. There will be total bliss, ease and comfort.

The Companion of the Qur'an in Jannah

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 1464; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2914)

"It will be said to the companion of the Qur'an: 'Recite and rise. Recite just as you used to recite in this world. For verily, your final destination in Jannah will be at the last ayah that you recite.'"

Ask for Al-Firdaws Al-A'la

The Prophet ﷺ told us: when you ask Allah for something, ask for Al-Firdaws Al-A'la. Al-Firdaws is the highest station of Jannah — the uppermost part of Paradise. If we are going to ask Allah for anything, the Prophet ﷺ said: ask for Al-Firdaws Al-A'la.

The Gardens and Trees of Jannah

There will be gardens in Jannah — hills and rivers and trees. But they will not be like the gardens and countryside of this world. There will be trees in Paradise and it will take a person one hundred years to cross the shade of that tree in Jannah.

The Clothing of Jannah

A person will be clothed in Jannah. Allah says:

"A person will be adorned in Jannah with bracelets of gold and pearl, and he will have clothes made of silk."

Once, the companions mentioned that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was given a silken garment as a gift and they were all admiring its beauty and softness — they had never seen anything like it before. The Prophet ﷺ noticed them being impressed with this cloth and so he said: "The handkerchiefs of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh in Paradise are better than this." Small handkerchiefs in Jannah will be better than the most expensive cloths we could ever imagine in this world.

The Greatest Blessing: Seeing Allah

The people in Jannah will be enjoying themselves in complete bliss and happiness. Allah will address them and say:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 181)

"Do you want anything more? Is there anything more that you want?" And they will say: "O Allah! Have you not brightened our faces? Have you not admitted us into Jannah? Have you not saved us from Hellfire?" Then the veil will be lifted and they will not have seen anything more beautiful and more dear to them than looking up at their Lord.

"Some faces on that Day will be radiant — looking at their Lord."

This World Is a Test — Jannah Must Be Earned

Brothers and sisters, we were speaking about the descriptions of Paradise and how it will be when, by Allah's permission, we enter into Jannah and the blessings that Allah will give us. These blessings, brothers and sisters, don't come free. Allah has given us this life as a means to test us. We will have trials and tribulations in this world.

"This is the Paradise which you have been made to inherit because of what you used to do in this world." Our actions will determine what happens on the Day of Judgment — and all of this is in the hands and the mercy of Allah.

This life is going to be a struggle. There is no Jannah on earth without a person going through trials and tribulations. You are going to go through tests — every single human being will be tested. And those tests, based on how one responds to them, Allah will either reward or not reward.

This is why it was once asked of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal رحمه الله: "When will we taste rest, peace and tranquility? When is all of this going to be over — these trials, tests and tribulations?" Imam Ahmad رحمه الله said:

"At the first step that we place into Jannah itself."

The Story of Mus'ab ibn Umair and Abdurrahman ibn Auf

Brothers and sisters, we look at the companions of the past and how they would react with those who were going through trials and tribulations, and those who had passed away. We reflect on what is happening in the world today. And we reflect on our own blessings which Allah has given us. We need to understand that these are blessings, but they could also be trials and tests — through these provisions and this wealth and this comfort and security which He has given us.

Abdurrahman ibn Auf رضي الله عنه would speak about Mus'ab ibn Umair رضي الله عنه — one of the companions who was a shaheed at one of the battles. He was talking about his experiences and what he saw after Mus'ab رضي الله عنه died. He said: "We were trying to cover his body because he had died — when we would cover his head, his feet would be bare; when we would cover his feet, his head would be bare. And this was the only cloth he had." And Abdurrahman ibn Auf would start to cry — and he was wealthy.

Mus'ab رضي الله عنه was a wealthy young man, but he had abandoned everything for the sake of Allah. And when he died he had nothing left. Abdurrahman ibn Auf رضي الله عنه said:

"We have been given whatever Allah has given us in the dunya from the blessings — but I am afraid that our reward has been hastened to us in this world." Because they were tested. Because they went through those struggles and difficulties, and Allah never blessed them with that wealth. Abdurrahman ibn Auf was worried that because of the comforts he had, this was the result of the trials and tribulations which were being placed upon him — yet he is one of those ten who was promised Jannah.

So brothers and sisters, in order for us to even smell the fragrance of Jannah it is going to take effort. We need to understand that the blessings we have been given — that not everyone has been given — may be a trial and a test, and Allah wants to see how we are going to respond. What are we going to do with the blessings Allah has given us?

We ask Allah that He allows us to be able to smell the fragrance of Jannah, and that Allah allows us to enter into the highest stations of Jannah.

فَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ الْجَلِيلَ يَذْكُرْكُمْ، وَاشْكُرُوهُ عَلَى نِعَمِهِ يَزِدْكُمْ. وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّهِ أَعْلَى وَأَوْلَى وَأَكْبَرُ. وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ.