Boreal
1,001 Sayings and Deeds of the Prophet
Paradise
With
so many verses about Allah’s out-of-this world reward for steadfastly believing
in Him and His Book, hadiths about Paradise and how to get there may be
superfluous. Nonetheless, what follows are a few that may hold some interest.
You may experience a sense of déjà vu. For example, the first meal of the people of Paradise being liver is a variation of the saying presented in Abdullah bin Salem.
Narrated Anas:
When Abdullah bin Salam heard the arrival of the Prophet at Medina, he came to him and said, "I am going to ask you about three things which nobody knows except a prophet: What is the first portent of the Hour? What will be the first meal taken by the people of Paradise? Why does a child resemble its father, and why does it resemble its maternal uncle?"
Allah's Apostle said, "Gabriel has just now told me of their answers."
Abdullah said, "He (i.e. Gabriel), from amongst all the angels, is the enemy of the Jews."
Allah's Apostle said, "The first portent of the Hour will be a fire that will bring together the people from the east to the west; the first meal of the people of Paradise will be Extra-lobe (caudate lobe) of fish-liver ...
Bukhari 55.546
Only Muslims will be allowed in Paradise, with Arabs comprising perhaps half of the population.
Narrated Abdullah:
While we were in the company of the Prophet in a tent he said, ''Would it please you to be one fourth of the people of Paradise?"
We said, "Yes."
He said, "Would It please you to be one-third of the people of Paradise?"
We said, "Yes."
He said, "Would it please you to be half of the people of Paradise?"
We said, "Yes."
Thereupon he said, "I hope that you will be one half of the people of Paradise, for none will enter Paradise but a Muslim soul, and you people, in comparison to the people who associate others in worship with Allah, are like a white hair on the skin of a black ox, or a black hair on the skin of a red ox."
Bukhari 76.535
The privileged seventy-thousand!
Narrated Ibn Abbas:
Allah's Apostle said, "Nations were displayed before me; one or two prophets would pass by along with a few followers. A prophet would pass by accompanied by nobody. Then a big crowd of people passed in front of me and I asked, 'Who are they, are they my followers?'
It was said, 'No. It is Moses and his followers.'
It was said to me, 'Look at the horizon.' Behold! There was a multitude of people filling the horizon.
Then it was said to me, 'Look there and there about the stretching sky!' Behold! There was a multitude filling the horizon,'
It was said to me, 'This is your nation out of whom seventy thousand shall enter Paradise without reckoning.'"
Then the Prophet entered his house without telling his companions who they (the 70,000) were. So the people started talking about the issue and said, "It is we who have believed in Allah and followed His Apostle; therefore those people are either ourselves or our children who are born m the Islamic era, for we were born in the pre-Islamic Period of Ignorance.''
When the Prophet heard of that, he came out and said. "Those people are those who do not treat themselves with Ruqya, nor do they believe in bad or good omen (from birds etc.) nor do they get themselves branded (cauterized). but they put their trust (only) in their Lord "
On that Ukasha bin Muhsin said. "Am I one of them, O Allah's Apostle?"
The Prophet said, "Yes."
Then another person got up and said, "Am I one of them?"
The Prophet said, "'Ukasha has anticipated you."
Bukhari 71.606
Muhammad mentions four Paradises, two where all utensils are of gold and another two where all utensils are of silver.
Narrated Abdullah bin Qais:
The Prophet said, "(There will be) two Paradises of silver and all the utensils and whatever is therein (will be of silver); and two Paradises of gold, and its utensils and whatever therein (will be of gold), and there will be nothing to prevent the people from seeing their Lord except the Cover of Majesty over His Face in the Paradise of Eden (eternal bliss)."
Bukhari 93.536
The size of the tents of Paradise is bound to impress even the most blazé Bedouin.
Narrated Abdullah bin Qais Al-Ashari:
The Prophet said, "A tent (in Paradise) is like a hollow pearl which is thirty miles in height and on every corner of the tent the believer will have a family that cannot be seen by the others."
Bukhari 54.466
And then there are the Ghuraf, whose size is not mentioned.
Narrated Sahl:
The Prophet said, "The people of Paradise will see the Ghuraf (special abodes) in Paradise as you see a star in the sky."
Bukhari 76.561
The biggest pearl you will ever see will serve as a reference point for men seeking wives to enjoy at each corner.
Narrated Abdullah bin Qais:
Allah's Apostle said, "In Paradise there is a pavilion made of a single hollow pearl sixty miles wide, in each corner of which there are wives who will not see those in the other corners; and the believers will visit and enjoy them. And there are two gardens, the utensils and contents of which are made of silver; and two other gardens, the utensils and contents of which are made of so-and-so (i.e. gold) and nothing will prevent the people staying in the Garden of Eden from seeing their Lord except the curtain of Majesty over His Face."
Bukhari 60.402
There is a tree in Paradise even bigger than the biggest tent.
Narrated Anas bin Malik:
The Prophet said: "There is a tree in Paradise (which is so big and huge that) if a rider travels in its shade for one hundred years, he would not be able to cross it."
Bukhari 54:474
What about alcoholic drinks?
Narrated Ibn Umar:
Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever drinks alcoholic drinks in the world and does not repent (before dying), will be deprived of it in the Hereafter."
Bukhari 69.481
In the Hereafter you will get all the sex you can handle, as long as you abstain in the here-and-now, and that includes oral sex.
Narrated Sahl bin Sa'd:
Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever can guarantee (the chastity of) what is between his two jaw-bones and what is between his two legs (i.e. his tongue and his private parts), I guarantee Paradise for him."
Bukhari 76.481
The pettiness of One who would deny Paradise for the paltriest of imagined crimes never fails to amaze.
Narrated Sa'd:
I heard the Prophet saying, "Whoever claims to be the son of a person other than his father, and he knows that person is not his father, then Paradise will be forbidden for him."
I mentioned that to Abu Bakra, and he said, "My ears heard that and my heart memorized it from Allah's Apostle."
Bukhari 80.758
All that glitters!
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "The first group of people who will enter Paradise, will be glittering like the full moon and those who will follow them, will glitter like the most brilliant star in the sky.
They will not urinate, relieve nature, spit, or have any nasal secretions. Their combs will be of gold, and their sweat will smell like musk. The aloe wood will be used in their centers.
Their wives will be houris.
All of them will look alike and will resemble their father Adam (in stature), sixty cubits tall."
Bukhari 55.544
Muhammad’s visions of the Hereafter included visions into the future, where he describes seeing men with two wives so beautiful that you could make out the marrow of their leg bones. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say.
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "The first group (of people) who will enter Paradise will be [glittering] like the moon when it is full. They will not spit or blow their noses or relieve nature. Their utensils will be of gold and their combs of gold and silver; in their centers the aloe wood will be used, and their sweat will smell like musk. Every one of them will have two wives; the marrow of the bones of the wives' legs will be seen through the flesh out of excessive beauty. They (i.e. the people of Paradise) will neither have differences nor hatred amongst themselves; their hearts will be as if one heart and they will be glorifying Allah in the morning and in the evening."
Bukhari 54:468
You can smell Paradise from quite a distance in time.
Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Amr:
The Prophet said, "Whoever killed a Mu'ahid (a person who is granted the pledge of protection by the Muslims) shall not smell the fragrance of Paradise though its fragrance can be smelt at a distance of forty years (of traveling)."
Bukhari 83.49
From a distance, Paradise may look like Hell, and vice versa.
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "The (Hell) Fire is surrounded by all kinds of desires and passions, while Paradise is surrounded by all kinds of disliked undesirable things."
Bukhari 76.494
So near, and yet so far.
Narrated Abdullah:
The Prophet said, "Paradise is nearer to any of you than the Shirak (leather strap) of his shoe, and so is the (Hell) Fire.
Bukhari 76.495
Muhammad, in his description of Paradise, would remind his listeners that there are ways to ensure your admittance, no questions asked.
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said: “The person who participates in (Holy battles) in Allah's cause and nothing compels him to do so except belief in Allah and His Apostles, will be recompensed by Allah either with a reward, or booty (if he survives) or will be admitted to Paradise (if he is killed in the battle as a martyr)…’"
Bukhari 2:35
Muhammad let it be known that God told him martyrs go to Paradise.
Narrated Al-Mughira:
Our Prophet has informed us our Lord's Message that whoever of us is martyred, will go to Paradise.
Bukhari 93.621
A less drastic and more civilized way to obtain a ticket to Paradise than martyrdom and killing unbelievers is to learn the 99 names of Allah.
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said: “Allah has ninety-nine names, i.e. one-hundred minus one, and whoever knows them will go to Paradise."
Bukhari 50:894
Goat herders probably have the easiest, least demanding method of being assured of Paradise.
Narrated Abdullah bin 'Amr:
That Allah's Apostle said, "There are forty virtuous deeds and the best of them is the Maniha of a she-goat (“a gift in the form of a she-camel or a sheep which is given temporarily so that its milk may be used and then it is returned to the owner”), and anyone who does one of these virtuous deeds hoping for Allah's reward with firm confidence that he will get it, then Allah will make him enter Paradise ...
Hassan (a sub-narrator) said, "We tried to count those good deeds below the Maniha; we mentioned replying to the sneezer, removing harmful things from the road, etc., but we failed to count even fifteen."
Bukhari 47.800
The easiest way to get into Paradise, if you want to risk it, is saying the following just before you expire:
Narrated Abdullah:
The Prophet said one statement and I said another. The Prophet said "Whoever dies while still invoking anything other than Allah as a rival to Allah, will enter Hell (Fire)."
And I said, "Whoever dies without invoking anything as a rival to Allah, will enter Paradise."
Bukhari 60.24
Build a mosque in the here-and-now, and Allah will build you a mosque in the Hereafter. Is it any wonder minarets have become a ubiquitous feature of the urban landscape?
Narrated Ubdaidullah Al-Khaulani:
I heard Uthman bin Affan saying, when people argued too much about his intention to reconstruct the mosque of Allah's Apostle, "You have talked too much. I heard the Prophet saying, 'Whoever built a mosque Allah would build for him a similar place in Paradise.'"
Bukhari 8.441
If you can't afford to build a mosque...
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, "Allah will prepare for him who goes to the mosque (every) morning and in the afternoon (for the congregational prayer) an honorable place in Paradise with good hospitality for (what he has done) every morning and afternoon goings."
Bukhari 11.631
A Jew in Paradise:
Narrated Sad bin Abi Waqqas:
I have never heard the Prophet saying about anybody walking on the earth that he is from the people of Paradise except Abdullah bin Salam. The following Verse was revealed concerning him: "And a witness from the children of Israel testifies that this Qur'an is true" (46:10)
Bukhari 58.157
Nursing infants who have need will be provided with a wet nurse.
Narrated Al-Bara:
When Ibrahim (the son of the Prophet) died, Allah's Apostle said, "There is a wet nurse for him in Paradise."
Bukhari 73.215
A wet nurse may not be necessary.
It was narrated from Muaadh ibn Jabal that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "The people of Paradise will enter Paradise hairless, beardless with their eyes anointed with kohl, aged thirty or thirty-three years."
al-Tirmidhi 2545
There is a palace in Paradise for the deserving first wife of Muhammad.
Narrated Aisha:
I did not feel jealous of any of the wives of the Prophet as much as I did of Khadija (although) she died before he married me, for I often heard him mentioning her, and Allah had told him to give her the good tidings that she would have a palace of Qasab (i.e. pipes of precious stones and pearls in Paradise), and whenever he slaughtered a sheep, he would send her women-friends a good share of it.
Bukhari 58.164
The value of a sliver of Paradise and an afternoon's journey in Allah's Cause:
Narrated Sahl:
I heard the Prophet saying, "A (small) place equal to an area occupied by a whip in Paradise is better than the (whole) world and whatever is in it; and an undertaking (journey) in the forenoon or in the afternoon for Allah's Cause, is better than the whole world and whatever is in it."
Bukhari 76.424
Those injured in Allah's Cause will not be granted Paradise if they choose to end their lives rather than keep on fighting.
Narrated Jundub:
Allah's Apostle said, "Amongst the nations before you there was a man who got a wound and growing impatient (with its pain), he took a knife and cut his hand with it and the blood did not stop till he died. Allah said, 'My Slave hurried to bring death upon himself so I have forbidden him (to enter) Paradise.'"
Bukhari 56.669
Upon entering Heaven's gates, remember to ask for the Firdaus, if you are deserving of calling the highest level of Paradise your home.
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, "Whoever believes in Allah and His Apostle offers prayers perfectly and fasts (the month of) Ramadan then it is incumbent upon Allah to admit him into Paradise, whether he emigrates for Allah's cause or stays in the land where he was born."
They (the companions of the Prophet) said, "O Allah's Apostle! Should we not inform the people of that?"
He said, "There are one-hundred degrees in Paradise which Allah has prepared for those who carry on Jihad in His Cause. The distance between every two degrees is like the distance between the sky and the Earth, so if you ask Allah for anything, ask Him for the Firdaus, for it is the last part of Paradise and the highest part of Paradise, and at its top there is the Throne of Beneficent, and from it gush forth the rivers of Paradise."
Bukhari 93.519