Meeting with Allah (SWT) in Paradise (with Sign Language) - Shaykh Zakaullah Saleem

The Adhan

The Completion of Religion and the Greatest Blessing

My dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, Allah says in Surah Al-Ma'idah — when He revealed the last verse regarding the rulings and ahkam, the Prophet was in the field of Arafat when Allah revealed this verse:

Allah said: "Today I have completed for you your religion and I have perfected upon you My blessings and My bounty." The religion of Islam is the greatest of the blessings and the bounties of Allah that Allah can grant and bestow upon any of the human beings.

As the religion of Islam is the bounty of Allah and it is the greatest bounty and the blessing of Allah, with this comes very severe hardships and struggles. In order to keep this bounty of Allah for ourselves, we have to strive, we have to struggle every single day. Allah has legislated for us certain things that are permissible and lawful and halal, and certain things that we as human beings have the desire for, but Allah has forbidden us from doing those things. And staying away from haram and leaving out whatever Allah has prohibited is something that is not easy — it is difficult. And also worshipping Allah, staying obedient to Allah, and submitting ourselves completely to Allah is also not easy.

It is very difficult, and because it is very difficult, Allah has promised us the greatest of the prizes. Allah has promised us paradise in the Quran repeatedly, and whenever Allah encourages us to stay obedient to Him, He also reminds us of His promise of granting us Al-Jannah — the paradise — about which He, Dhul Jalal wal Ikram, Himself said:

"No soul knows what Allah has concealed for them from the coolness of their eyes." As the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ has said:

"There is no eye that sees, no ear that hears, and no thought that has occurred to the heart of man" — in paradise, Allah will bestow on you the blessings and the bounties and His favours that no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard about, and no mind and heart can ever imagine.

All the blessings and the bounties and the favours of Allah in paradise are the greatest of the bounties that cannot be compared to any of the blessings of Allah that Allah has bestowed on us in this dunya. No blessings of paradise can be compared to the blessings and the favours that Allah has bestowed on us in this dunya.

Yet we always desire to live the life of this dunya according to what our mind, our heart, and our desire say. And this is something that you can never fulfil. Allah has created this dunya in such a way that we cannot have in this dunya everything that we desire. It is only paradise, it is only jannah, about which Allah said: "In paradise you will have whatever you will desire." As for this dunya, no matter how much struggle and efforts you make, you can never achieve everything that you desire in this dunya. And this is one of the greatest means for us to keep going and staying obedient to Allah.

The Highest Level of Iman: Hadith Jibreel

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, the description of paradise — Allah has given it in the Quran and the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ has also described paradise in detail in his ahadith. In today's khutbah I would like to highlight one of the greatest favours and bounties of Allah Dhul Jalal wal Ikram that you and I — inshallah, with the permission of Allah Dhul Jalal wal Ikram — will have in paradise, if we stay obedient to Him.

Before I make the mention of that greatest blessing, I would like to remind you of a very famous hadith of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ that is reported by Umar ibn al-Khattab رَضِيَ اللهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ — and it is known as Hadith Jibreel — when Jibreel عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ came to the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ in the form of a human and asked him certain questions. One of those questions was about ihsan. The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 8)

"The excellence and the highest level of iman is that you stand before Allah, you worship Allah, you stay obedient to Allah in such a way as if you are seeing Allah directly."

Just imagine — if you are standing in salah, imagine you are standing before Allah. You bow down in your salah, imagine you are bowing down before Allah. You go into sujood, imagine that you are making sujood directly to Allah. This is the highest level, and not every single person can achieve this level. That is why the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: if you cannot achieve that highest level of iman, then at least you should have the lower level — that whenever you worship Allah, you worship in a way imagining and keeping in mind that Allah is watchful, Allah is watching you, and you cannot escape from the sight and the vision of Allah.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, if we ever — even if it is only once in our life — can imagine that we are worshipping Allah, keeping in mind that we are praying to Allah directly and we are seeing Allah, you can taste the sweetness of iman within your heart. And we must try our best, and we must strive and struggle and make our efforts to achieve this highest level of iman.

Although the aqeedah and the iman and the belief of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah is that no one can see Allah with the eyes of this dunya — as the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ has said very clearly in a hadith reported by Imam Muslim:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 169)

"Indeed, no one of you will be able to ever see your Lord in the life of this dunya until you die." And when we die, then on the Day of Judgment, Allah will allow His believing servants to meet with Him and to see Him. And this is going to be the greatest blessing of Allah that the people of paradise will have in jannah. May Allah grant us this greatest of His blessings.

The Desire to Meet Our Lord

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, we strive in this dunya for the sake of Allah. It is our right to ask Allah to allow us to meet with Him on the Day of Judgment. And this is the desire that every single one of us should have within our hearts.

Allah says in the Quran:

"Those who believe, they are the strongest of the people for the love of Allah." They love Allah more than anything and anyone in this dunya. The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6507; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2683)

"Whoever loves to meet with his Lord, Allah also loves to meet with him."

We should have this desire within our hearts — that we want to meet our Lord, our Creator, the One for whom we sacrifice. The One for whom we are criticized. People hate us and we sacrifice for His sake. We pray five times a day for His sake. We fast during the month of Ramadan — we stay hungry and thirsty for long days, 18, 19, 20 hours — only and solely for His sake. We wake up in the morning in the cold nights and we leave our beds only and solely for His sake. We take off our clothing and put on two simple sheets to perform Hajj and Umrah and to go around His house solely for His sake.

If we do all of this for His sake, then we have the right to meet with Him, and we must have the desire to meet with Him. And this is the highest desire, and this is the highest blessing of Allah that the people of paradise will have.

Allah also encourages us in the Quran saying:

"Whoever has the hope to meet with his Lord, then let him do and continue doing righteous deeds, and let him not associate any partners in the worship of his Lord."

The Description of Meeting Allah in Paradise: Ibn al-Qayyim's Account

The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ has described in many ahadith that the believers will meet with their Lord in paradise and they will see Him, Dhul Jalali wal Ikram. One of the greatest scholars of Islam, Imam Ibn al-Qayyim رَحِمَهُ اللهُ, has described the moment of meeting with Allah, taking into consideration many ahadith of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ. I would like to briefly mention that description.

Imam Ibn al-Qayyim رَحِمَهُ اللهُ says: Allah will send a caller to the people of paradise, and he will call out while the people of paradise are enjoying and are happy that Allah has saved them from the fire of Hell and has protected them and allowed them to enter paradise. They will be happy with their families, with their children, with the Hur al-'Ayn, and with all the blessings that Allah will bestow on them. They will be enjoying — while Allah will send a caller to call upon them and he will say:

"O people of paradise! Your Lord is asking you to visit Him."

The people of paradise will get up quickly. They will be very happy, and they will all together say: "We hear and obey" — because this is what they all learnt in the dunya. Whenever they heard the commandment of Allah, they always said: "Our heads are down, we are obedient to Allah, we hear and obey." And the same statement they say and utter in paradise, because Allah has called them to visit Him.

And they will get up quickly and they will all gather in a spacious valley within paradise. They will be there discussing amongst themselves why Allah has called them, why Allah wanted to meet with them. And then all of a sudden, the whole paradise will be filled with light — with the light from above them. All of the people of paradise will look up, and they will see the light of their Lord. They will see the light of their Lord Allah, and they will recognize that it is Allah — their Lord, their Khaliq, their Rabb, their Malik, their Raziq — the One for whom they sacrificed everything in the dunya.

And Allah will say — Allah says in the Quran in Surah Ya-Sin:

And this is the beauty — this is the most beautiful statement that Allah will express to the people of paradise. When they will hear the salam from their Lord, they will all collectively say: "O Allah, You are Al-Salam, You are peace, You are the source of peace. Blessed be You and exalted are You, O the Possessor of all majesty and honour."

And then Allah will allow them to settle within that spacious valley of paradise. As the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said, the people of paradise — according to their ranks — will be settling and sitting on pulpits, manabir and minbars, of gold and silver and gemstone and many other types, and they will be sitting and settling on them.

And then Allah will address them. As the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ says, Allah will appear to them — but not completely — He will show His light to them, smiling to them, and they will be happy just by meeting with their Lord.

And then the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ says Allah will say: "O people of paradise! Who amongst you are those who always obeyed Me without seeing Me? Who amongst you always obeyed Me without seeing Me in the dunya?"

The Day of Asking More

And then Allah will say: "This is the day of asking more." The people of paradise will all collectively say: "O our Lord, what else do we need? You are asking and saying this is the day of asking more — we have nothing to ask more! Have You not enlightened our faces? Have You not made our scales of deeds heavy? Have You not allowed us to be saved from the fire of Hell? Have You not allowed us to enter paradise and enjoy our eternal life? What else do we need to ask?"

Allah will say: "O people of paradise, this is the day of asking more — ask more." And they will say: "O our Lord, we are fully satisfied. We are happy. O Allah, be happy and be satisfied and be pleased with us." Allah will say: "O people of paradise, if I would not have been pleased with you, I would not have allowed you to enter paradise."

And then Allah will ask them to ask more. And they will say together: "O our Lord, allow us to see Your blessed face. O Allah, allow us to look at Your face."

Then the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ says: Allah will reveal the cover of His face — the cover that itself is nothing other than light — and it will be such a bright light that the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: if Allah had not willed for them not to be burnt, they would be burnt just by encountering the light of the face of Allah.

And then, as the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said, in that gathering, from amongst the people of paradise there will be no one except that Allah will directly speak to him — Allah will directly have a conversation with him. And Allah will say to some of His servants: "O so-and-so, do you remember that you disobeyed Me in the dunya on such and such occasion?" And that person will be scared and frightened, and he will say: "O my Lord, have You not forgiven me already?" Allah will say: "Indeed — because of My forgiveness you have reached this place in paradise."

The "More" in the Quran

Allah says in the Quran:

"Those who are good in this dunya will receive the goodness in the akhira, and they will receive more." Abdullah ibn Abbas — one of the greatest mufassireen of the Quran — says the "more" in this ayah refers to meeting with Allah and seeing Him.

May Allah allow us to meet with Him and may Allah allow us to be obedient to Him — to the level that He allow us to see His blessed face on the Day of Judgment in paradise.

The Seeing of Allah Confirmed in Hadith

Dear brothers and sisters in Islam, the greatest blessing and the favour of Allah in paradise is to meet with Him and to see His blessed face. The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ has confirmed this in numerous ahadith. When he صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said:

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

"You will definitely see your Lord on the Day of Judgment in paradise the same way you see the full moon on a cloudless night — when the moon is complete and full and you have no difficulty to see it when the night and the sky is completely clear. The same way you will see your Lord."

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, this is one of the means that keeps us going and staying obedient to Allah in this dunya, and to strive and sacrifice and make efforts to please Him.

How to Achieve This Greatest Blessing

The pleasure of Allah is the greatest blessing that the people of paradise will have. How can we achieve the pleasure of Allah? How can we achieve this greatest blessing of Allah — meeting with our Lord and seeing His blessed face in paradise? I would like to quickly mention only two things.

First: Fear Allah in Secret and in the Open

One of them is what Allah has mentioned in Surah Qaf — the surah that our beloved Nabi صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ would often recite during his sermon of Jumu'ah, in Khutbat al-Jumu'ah. The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ would recite this surah repeatedly. And in this surah, Allah says:

"The paradise will be brought closer to the pious and it will not be far away from them." Allah will say when the paradise is brought closer to them and near to them: "This is what I have promised to you — and this was My promise — to every one after returning and repenting to Allah, I have promised this paradise for every single one of My servants and slaves who used to fear Me without seeing Me."

Whoever used to fear Allah in the unseen — and it also means everyone who used to fear Allah in his seclusion and privacy and secrecy, when no one could see him except his Lord, his Creator — he stayed away from committing sin. He stayed away from exploring haram things. He stayed away from committing zina, drinking alcohol, stealing, cheating, lying, backbiting. He stayed away from all types of haram whereas he had all the means to disobey his Lord — he stayed away from all types of haram solely for His pleasure. Whoever stayed away from haram and had the fear of Allah within his heart — "I have promised him My paradise."

And then Allah says: "This is the day of eternal life — enter into paradise with peace." And then: "In this paradise you will have whatever you desire, and there will be more for you." Again, the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said this "more" refers to meeting and seeing the blessed face of Allah.

Second: The Du'a of the Prophet

The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ also taught us a du'a, and I believe every single one of us should memorize this du'a. I will mention only that part that is related to this topic:

"O Allah, I beg You the sweetness of looking at Your blessed face. O Allah, I beg You the longing and the desire of meeting with You."

May Allah allow us to stay obedient to Him in this world, and may Allah grant us this highest of His blessings and favours in paradise.

"O Allah, accept from us — indeed You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. And accept our repentance — indeed You are the All-Repentant, the All-Merciful."

And may Allah bless our Prophet Muhammad and all his family and companions.