Heaven and Its blessings
Heaven and Hell are among the realities of Futurity in
which it is essential for a Muslim to believe. These
are the ultimate and eternal dwelling places of
mankind. In the Quran, Paradise, with its incomparable
blissfulness, and Hell, with its dreadful chastisement
have been dwelt upon so frequently and with such
thoroughness that if all the verses relating to them
are collected they alone will make a volume.
Likewise, in the compilations of the Traditions
hundreds of the sayings of the Prophet dealing with
Heaven and Hell are preserved from which an adequate
idea of the two places can be obtained. The exact
import of what is revealed in the Quran and the
Traditions about Heaven and Hell will, however, be
known only when we will reach there and see the whole
thing for ourselves. What to speak of Paradise, it is
an everyday experience that the image formed in our
minds after hearing or reading about a beautiful city
is much short of what it actually is. In any event,
the account of Heaven and Hell contained in the Quran
and the Traditions should be read in the light of this
elementary principle.
The aim of the Quranic verses and the sayings of the
Prophet is far from delineating the topography of
Heaven and Hell or giving a detailed picture of what
is to be experienced there but to produce the fear of
Hell and its punishment in the people so that they
abstained from the vices that led to it and arouse the
love and eagerness for Paradise and its boons and
comforts that would induce men to practise virtue and
perform such deeds as are likely to make them worthy
of admission to it. Fairness to the verses and
Traditions of the above category, therefore, demands
that feelings of dread and desire, as the case be,
were produced as a result of reading or listening to
them.
(110) It is related by Abu Hurairah that the Apostle
of God said: God says that for Our faithful bondmen
We have got ready things no eye has seen nor ear heard
nor the thought of which has ever crossed the mind,
and, if you like, you can read the verse: No soul
knoweth what is kept hid for them of joy, as a reward
for what they used to do., [xxxii : 17]
-Bukhari and Muslim
Commentary.-The above is a celestial Tradition. If the
prophet says anything with the explicit remark that it
is stated by God [and it is not found in the Quran],
such a Tradition is called a celestial Tradition. In
it, a general aspect of the glad tidings for truthful
bondmen is that in the Hereafter they will be favoured
with boons and blessings which no man has experienced
or even imagined in the existing world. The other and
special aspect lies in the words : We have got ready
for Our faithful bondmen thins
..
(111) Abu Hurairah related to us that the Apostle of
God said : A sweepings-place in Paradise is better
than the world and all that it contains.
-Bukhari and Muslim
Commentary.-In ancient Arabia the custom was that when
a caravan of riders made a halt, each rider would
throw some rubbish at the place where he intended to
put up. It was, then, considered, to have been
reserved for him. The word sweepings-place in this
Tradition, thus, denotes the small place which was
supposed to have been set aside for the traveler who
threw the waste-matter over it, and that little place,
according to it, was more valuable than the whole
world.
(112) It is related by Anas that the Apostle of God
said: To set out in the path of God, once in the
morning or in the evening, is better than the world
and all that it contains, and if a bride from among
the brides of the dwellers of Paradise cast a glance
at the world, the whole space intervening between the
two [i.e., from the Heaven to the earth] will be
filled with light and fragrance, and the covering for
her head is better than the world and all that is
contained therein.
-Bukhari
Commentary.-In the opening part of this Tradition the
virtue of setting out in the way of God [i.e.,
undertaking a journey in the service of Faith] has
been referred to and we are told that to do so once in
the morning or in the evening is better than the
entire universe. The specification of the morning and
the evening, here, is probably, due to the fact that,
in the olden times, people habitually started on a
journey during those parts of the day otherwise if a
person left his home at any other time for a religious
purpose it will possess the same merit.
In the later part, the wondrous beauty of the
celestial brides of the dwellers of Paradise and the
worth and value of their apparel have been mentioned,
possibly with a view to encourage people to set off
from their homes in the service of Faith by telling
them that if they will leave their homes and their
wives for some time with the object of serving the
cause of God, they will be rewarded for ever and ever
in Heaven with spouses of such rare charm and elegance
that if they glanced towards the earth and entire
atmosphere would be filled with radiance and sweet
scent and whole dress was so very costly that the
headgear alone was more valuable than the whole of the
world.
(113) It is related by Abu Hurairah that the Apostle
of God said: In Heaven there is a tree [which is so
large that if a horseman rides under its shade even
for a hundred years he will not be able to pass from
one side of it to the other, and the space of anyone
of you in Heaven, even of the length of a bow, is
better than the world on which the sun rises or sets.
-Bukhari and Muslim
Commentary.-The object of this Tradition is to produce
in the hearts an earnest yearning for Paradise by
stressing the world. The first thing it tells in this
connection is about the wonderful trees of Heaven. It
says that their shade is so extensive that a horseman
cannot cross it in a hundred years. It, then, assures
that a bow-length of space in Paradise more valuable
than the world and all that there is in it. We have
referred earlier to the Arab custom of throwing
rubbish over the place by the rider where he wanted to
stay as a mark of reservation. In the same way, when a
person travelling on foot wanted to make a halt at
some place he used to put his bow at it. A bow-length
of space in the above Tradition, thus, signifies that
even the smallest place in Heaven is more precious
than the entire universe.
(114) It is related by Jabir that the Apostle of God
said: The dwellers of Paradise will eat and drink in
Heaven but neither a secretion will be formed in their
mouths and nostrils nor will they have to empty their
bowels or bladders. Some of the Companions asked,
what will, the, happen to the food [taken by them]?
The Prophet replied, It will be passed out by means
of eructation and perspiration which will be smelling
like musk, and on the tongues of the dwellers of
Heaven the praises of the Lord will go on, by His
Command [effortlessly], [and] in the same way as your
respiration goes on [without an effort].
-Muslim
Commentary.-The foods and drinks of Heaven will be
free from all bulk-forming properties. They will be so
pure and empyreal that no effete may at all be formed
by them in the bowels. The stomach will become empty
after a light eructation and the other waste-matter
will be eliminated through perspiration which will be
as sweet-scented as musk. Moreover, just as in this
world we breath in and out without an effort, in
Paradise the remembrance of the lord will be carried
out unconsciously and words of praise to the Almighty
like Subhan Allah wa Al-hamdulillah and Subhan Allah
wa Behamdihi will be on the lips of everyone all the
time.
(115) Abu Saeed and Abu Hurairah related to us; they
both relate that the Apostle of God said: As the
dwellers will enter Paradise a heavenly herald will
proclaim: Here good health is your right and good
health ahs been ordained for you; so, now you will
never fall ill. Here life has been decreed for you;
so, now you will never die. Here only youth is you
lot; so, now you will never grow old. Here only
happiness has been bestowed upon you; so, now neither
pain nor sorrow will afflict you.
-Muslim
Commentary.-Heaven is the home of cloudless bliss and
eternal felicity. There will not be the faintest trace
of suffering in it, neither sickness, nor death, nor
old age, nor any other type of affliction, worry or
anxiety. As soon as the dwellers will enter Heaven
they will be made comfortable with the tidings of
imperishable life and everlasting happiness.
(116) Abu Hurairah narrates that he inquired from the
Prophet, From what have the living things been
created? From water, replied the Prophet. Abu
Hurairah, then, asked, Of what is Paradise made
[i.e., it has been built with bricks, stones or
what]? The Prophet replied, It has been built in
such a way that one brick is of gold and the other of
silver, and the binding material is of sweet-scented
musk, the gravel spread over it is of pearls and
rubies, and its dust is, as you would say, saffron.
Those who enter it will live in never-ending peace and
happiness. No distress will every touch them, and they
will live forever death will not come to them in
Heaven -, and their clothes will never become dirty
and worn-out, nor will their clothes wither away [at
any time or in any degree].
-Musnad-i-Ahmad and Tirmidhi
Commentary.-It shows that all living beings have been
created from water. God first made water, and, then,
from it, He made all the other creatures. In the
Quran, too, it is stated: Allah hath created every
animal of water. (xxiv : 45). We made every living
thing of water (xxi : 30).
The reality of what the Prophet has told about the
structure of Paradise, its walls and floors, will
become evident to us only when we shall see it. The
basic thing is that Heaven has not been constructed
the way buildings are in our world. It has been built
solely at the bidding of God and without the aid of
masons and architects exactly as the heavens and the
earth and the sun, the moon and the stars have got
created directly in response to His Command. But His
command, when He intendeth a thing; is only that He
saith unto it : Be ! and it is. (xxxiv : 81)
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{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom
(i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue
with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone
astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy
Quran-16:125)
{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in
His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites
(men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I
am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if
Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of
camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever
calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who
follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
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