Sharhu Sunnah : Lesson 20 : Point 21
Shaykh Fawzan | Dawud Burbank [Audio|English]
And to have eemaan that Paradise, al-Jannah, is true and the Fire, an-Naar, is true and that they are already created. The Paradise is in the seventh heaven and its ceiling is the Throne, al-`Arsh, and the Fire is beneath the seventh earth, the lowest one; and they are both already created. Allaah, the Most High, knew the number of the people of Paradise and who will enter it and the number of the people of the Fire and who will enter it. They will never pass away. They will both last along with Allaah always, for ever and ever. And Aadam `alayhis-salaam was in the everlasting created Paradise, and he was removed from it after he disobeyed Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic.
Transcribed Audio:
From the pillars of eemaan is to have eemaan in the Last Day with everything within it. And from that which will be within the Last Day is Paradise and the Fire, and they are the abode of recompense. So the true believers will be in Paradise which was prepared for the people of taqwaa, people who were fearful of Allaah and were dutiful to Him.And the disbelievers will be in the Fire which was prepared for the disbelievers. So these two are the abode of recompense; and this world is the abode of action with no recompense in it. So the Hereafter is the abode of recompense, and there is no action in that.
So whoever does not believe in Paradise and the Fire then he is a kaafir, a disbeliever, since it is essential that eemaan includes everything that is authentic with regard to the Last Day, and from that is the Paradise and the Fire. This is mentioned in the Qur’aan in different places. So the person who disbelieves in them or who explains them away, such as the Qaraamitah and the Baatiniyyah who explain them away, then they are disbelievers in Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic.
So there must be eemaan in the Paradise and the Fire and that they are two real abodes; an abode for the people who were dutiful to Allaah and an abode for the disbelievers.
And these two will remain and they are present now, they are already created now, and they will remain and not pass away. He, the Most High, said with regard to the Paradise:
It is already prepared for those who are dutiful to Allaah.
(Soorah Aali `Imraan (3), aayah 133)
And He said with regard to the Fire:
Already prepared for the disbelievers
(Soorah Aali `Imraan (3), aayah 131)
The word ‘prepared‘, is a proof that it is already present and prepared, and it does not mean that it will be created later on, with the evidence that the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam mentions some things which prove that Paradise and the Fire are already present. From them is his saying sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam,
“The severity of the summertime heat is from the breathing out of the Hellfire.” [01]
And he said with regard to the severity of cold in the winter,
“Allaah has given two breaths to the Hellfire: a breath in the summertime and that is the hottest that you experience, and a breath in the wintertime and that is the severity of the cold. So that is from the coldness of the Hellfire.” [02]
So this proves that they are both already present. And Paradise, likewise, is present. Allaah has already prepared it for the people of taqwaa (the dutiful ones). And He has appointed angels over both of them. And there occurs in a hadeeth of `Ubaadah ibn asSaamit radiyAllaahu `anhu that Allaah’s Messenger sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam said,
“Whoever bears witness that none has the right to be worshipped except Allaah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah, and that `Eesaa is the slave of Allaah and His Messenger, and a soul created by means of His word which He sent to Maryam, and a soul created by Him, and that Paradise is true, and the Fire is true, then Allaah will enter him into Paradise whatever his deeds were.” [03]
The witness for the topic here is in his saying,
“…and that Paradise is true and the Fire is true…”
And in the initial supplication of the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam that he made in the night prayer, that he would say,
“The meeting with you is true, and your promise is true, and Paradise is true, and the Fire is true.” [04]
His saying, “and they are both already created”. Meaning, they are already created now. [05]
His saying, “Paradise, al-Jannah (literally the garden), is in the seventh heaven and its ceiling is the `Arsh, the Throne,” This is authentic in the hadeeth,
“In Paradise there are a hundred levels Allaah has prepared for those who fight Jihaad in Allaah’s cause. Between each of the two levels is the like of what is between the heaven and the earth. So if you ask of Allaah, then ask Him of al-Firdows, for it is the centre of Paradise and the highest part of Paradise. And above it is the Throne of the Most Merciful. And from it flow the rivers of Paradise”. [06]
This proves that Paradise is in heaven, in the highest of the heavens, `illeeyeen. He, the Most High, said:
But no, the book of the righteous is certainly in `illeeyeen (the highest [seventh] heaven) (Sooratul-Mutaffifeen (83), aayah 18)
The highest thing. And the Fire is in the lowest of the low places. He Most High said,
But no, the book of the wicked ones is certainly in sijjeen (the lowest of the seven earths). And what will explain to you what sijjeen is. (Sooratul-Mutaffifeen (83), aayahs 7-8)
His saying, “Allaah always knew the number of the people of Paradise and who will enter it.” Allaah, the Majestic and Most High, knew everything with His Eternal Knowledge. And from that is that He knew the people of Paradise and who will enter it. And He knew the people of the Fire and who will enter it. Nothing escapes His Knowledge, He the Perfect and Most High. He knew everything and He wrote it down in the Preserved Tablet.
His saying, “These two will never pass away.” Paradise and the Fire are two abodes that will remain and will never pass away. And this contains a refutation of those who think that the Paradise and the Fire will pass away, and who say, “So that nothing will share along with Allaah in remaining always.” And they are those who deny there having being continuous existence in the past and continuous existence in the future out of ignorance from them. And we say, there is indeed a difference between Allaah’s Remaining Forever and the remaining forever of Paradise and the Fire. The Remaining Forever of Allaah, the Majestic and Most High, is as befits Him. It is an Attribute from His Attributes, He, the Majestic and Most High. But as for the remaining of the Paradise and of the Fire then it is that Allaah will cause them to remain, and that Allaah, the Perfect and Most High, creates. So it is a remaining forever that is earned (given to them). Allaah, the Majestic and Most High, He is the One Who gives it ‘remaining forever’. But as for Allaah, the Majestic and Most High, then His Eternity and His Remaining Forever is an Attribute from His Attributes, sifatun thaateeyah, an Attribute of His Self.
His saying, “They will remain along with Allaah always,” The remaining of these two will be along with Allaah Remaining. And Allaah’s Remaining, there is no end to it. So likewise the remaining of the Paradise and the Fire, there is no end to them. And there is no resemblance between the two remainings and these two remaining forever/eternally, just like the rest of the attributes.
His saying, “for all time, forever.” ‘For all time, forever’ – this is for emphasis.
His saying, “and Aadam `alayhis-salaam, he was in the Paradise that will remain, the created one.” When Allaah created Aadam, and when He honoured him as He did, and when He manifested his virtue over the angels, then Iblees envied him for that and he refused to prostate to him. So he disobeyed Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, on account of envy and pride. So Allaah, the Majestic and Most High, said to Aadam:
Dwell you and your wife in Paradise and eat from it freely wherever you wish. (Sooratul-Baqarah (2), aayah 35)
So Allaah caused them to dwell in Paradise as an honour to both of them. And this Paradise is in heaven. Then when Iblees beguiled Aadam, and Aadam ate from the tree which he had been forbidden from, then Allaah send Aadam down and He sent Iblees down to the earth.
We said get down from it all of you
(Sooratul-Baqarah (2), aayah 38)
So they went down to the earth. And Allaah forgave Aadam because he repented to Allaah, he and his wife.
O our Lord we have wronged ourselves and if You do not forgive us and have Mercy upon us we will certainly be amongst the losers. (Sooratul- A`raaf (7), aayah 23)
And Aadam disobeyed his Lord and he erred. Then his Lord chose him and guided him to repent (Soorah TaaHaa (20), aayahs 121 – 122)
So Aadam and Howwaa· `alayhimas-salaam, they both turned to Allaah in repentance, so Allaah accepted their repentance. As for Iblees, then he persisted upon his error and he did not repent. And therefore Allaah banished him away from His Mercy and He cursed Him, and He made him a leader for every evil.
His saying, “So he was expelled from it after he disobeyed Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic.” His being removed from Paradise was as a punishment for his sin. However he repented to Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, as Allaah mentioned in the Qur’aan. [07]
Footnotes:
[01] Reported by al-Bukhaaree (no. 535 and no. 536) and Muslim (no. 615) from the hadeeth of Aboo Hurayrah radiyAllaahu `anh. The narration of al-Bukhaaree is from Aboo Hurayrah and Ibn `Umar radiyAllaahu `anhum.
[02] Reported by al-Bukhaaree (no. 537) and Muslim (no. 617) as a hadeeth of Aboo Hurayrah radiyAllaahu `anhu
[03] Reported by al-Bukhaaree (no. 3435) and Muslim (no. 28)
[04] Reported by al-Bukhaaree as a hadeeth of Ibn `Abbaas radiyAllaahu `anhumaa (no. 6317) and Muslim (no. 769)
[05] Translator’s side point: Shaykh Saalih as-Suhaymee hafizahullaah said,
“There are two matters of belief here, two matters which the people of the Sunnah affirm here. And these are two points which are denied by the Mu`tazilah and the Jahmeeyah and some sects from the people of innovation. And these points are: Firstly, that Paradise and the Fire are already present, already created. And secondly, that Allaah has written for both of them that they will remain forever.”
[06] This is reported by al-Bukhaaree (no. 2790) as a hadeeth of Aboo Hurayrah radiyAllaahu `anhu.
[07] Translator’s side point: Shaykh Saalih as-Suhaymee hafizahullaah said in his taped explanation,
“The texts which prove that Paradise and the Fire will remain without any end, that is proven in authentic texts:
They will remain therein forever (Sooratun-Nisaa· (4), aayah 57)
And there occurs in a hadeeth that death will be brought in the form of a ram, and it will be slaughtered between Paradise and the Fire. Then it will be said, “O people of Paradise, everlasting life with no death. And O people of the Fire, everlasting life with no death.” (Reported by al-Bukhaaree [no.4730] as a hadeeth of Aboo Sa`eed al-Khudree radiyAllaahu `anhu)
And there occurs with regard to Paradise:
They will have therein everlasting bliss (Sooratut-Towbah (9), aayah 21)
And there occurs with regard to the Fire:
And they will have everlasting punishment (Sooratul-Maa·idah (5), aayah 37)
Meaning forever/eternal. It will not come to an end. So this is the position of the Ahlus-Sunnah.”
Somebody asked Shaykh Saalih as-Suhaymee: “Is it correct that Ibnul-Qayyim used to say that the Fire will come to an end?”
The Shaykh made it clear that this is not correct from Ibnul-Qayyim that he said that the Fire will come to an end, as some people quote from him. But rather they have made a misunderstanding here of something that occurs in his book, Haadiyul-`Arwaah ilaa Bilaadil-`Afraah. In that book he mentions the different saying of the people with regard to whether the Fire will come to an end or not. He quotes six or seven different sayings from the people (what they say). Shaykh as-Suhaymee said, “What makes his position very clear is another of his books, al-Waabilus-Sayyib. In that book he makes his position very clear, that indeed the Hellfire will never come to an end. The Hellfire the abode of the disbelievers, the Paradise the abode of the believers and will never end.”
Transcribed by Fawad ibn `Abdul Fataah
Download PDF of Lesson 20
Ithaaful-Qaaree bit-Ta`leeqaat `alaa Sharhis-Sunnah
by Shaykh Saalih ibn Fowzaan al-Fowzaan hafizahullaah
Translated by Aboo Talhah Daawood Burbank, rahimahullaah
Posted with kind permission from Dawud Burbank rahimahullaah
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