Category: Islam

Imam Al-Nawawi’s Riyad-us-Saliheen
Chapter 372
Some of the Bounties which Allah has prepared for the Believers in Paradise

Allah, the Exalted, says:

“Truly, the Muttaqun (the pious and righteous persons) will be amidst Gardens and water-springs (Jannah). (It will be said to them): `Enter therein (Jannah), in peace and security.’ And We shall remove from their breasts any deep feeling of bitterness (that they may have). (So they will be like) brothers facing each other on thrones. No sense of fatigue shall touch them, nor shall they (ever) be asked to leave it.” (15:45-48)

“(It will be said to the believers of Islamic Monotheism): `My slaves! No fear shall be on you this Day, nor shall you grieve. (You) who believed in Our Ayat (proofs, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) and were Muslims (i.e., who submit totally to Allah’s Will, and believe in the Oneness of Allah). Enter Jannah, you and your wives, in happiness.’ Trays of gold and cups will be passed round them; (there will be) therein all that inner-selves could desire, and all that eyes could delight in and you will abide therein forever. This is the Jannah which you have been made to inherit because of your deeds which you used to do (in the life of the world). Therein for you will be fruits in plenty, of which you will eat (as you desire).” (43:68-73)

“Verily, the Muttaqun (the pious), will be in place of security (Jannah). Among Gardens and springs. Dressed in fine silk and (also) in thick silk, facing each other. So (it will be). And We shall marry them to Hur (fair females) with wide, lovely eyes. They will call therein for every kind of fruit in peace and security. They will never taste death therein except the first death (of this world), and He will save them from the torment of the blazing Fire. As a bounty from your Rubb! That will be the supreme success!” (44:51-57)

“Verily, Al-Abrar (the pious and righteous) will be in Delight (Jannah). On thrones, looking (at all things). You will recognise in their faces the brightness of delight. They will be given to drink of pure sealed wine. The last thereof (that wine) will be the smell of musk, and for this let (all) those strive who want to strive (i.e., hasten earnestly to the obedience of Allah). It (that wine) will be mixed with Tasnim. A spring whereof drink those nearest to Allah.” (83:22-28)

The Qur’anic Ayat on the subject are many and well-known.

1880. Jabir (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “The inhabitants of Jannah will eat and drink therein, but they will not have to pass excrement, to blow their noses or to urinate. Their food will be digested producing belch which will give out a smell like that of musk. They will be inspired to declare the freedom of Allah from imperfection and proclaim His Greatness as easily as you breathe.”
[Muslim].

1881. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “Allah, the Exalted, has said: `I have prepared for my righteous slaves what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and the mind of no man has conceived.’ If you wish, recite:

`No person knows what is kept hidden for them of joy as a reward for what they used to do.”’ (32:17)
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

1882. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “The first group (of people) to enter Jannah will be shining like the moon on a full-moon night. Then will come those who follow them who will be like the most shining planet in the sky. They will not stand in need of urinating or relieving of nature or of spitting or blowing their noses. Their combs will be of gold and their sweat will smell like musk; in their censers the aloes-wood will be used. Their wives will be large eyed maidens. All men will be alike in the form of their father `Adam, sixty cubits tall.”

Another narration is: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “Their utensils will be of gold, their perspiration will smell like musk; everyone 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 Jannah) will neither have difference, nor enmity (hatred) amongst themselves; their hearts will be as if one heart, and they will be glorifying Allah in the morning and in the afternoon.”
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

1883. Al-Mughirah bin Shu`bah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “Musa (Moses) (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) asked his Rubb: `Who amongst the inhabitants of Jannah will be the lowest in rank?’ He said: `It will be a person who will be admitted into Jannah last of all when all the dwellers of Jannah have entered Jannah. It will be said to him: Enter Jannah. But he will say: O my Rubb! How should I enter while the people have settled in their apartments and taken their shares? It will be said to him: Will you be satisfied and pleased if you have a kingdom like that of a monarch of the world? He will say: I will be content, my Rubb. Allah will say: For you is that, and like that and like that and like that and like that. He will say at the fifth time: I am well-pleased, my Rubb. Allah will say: It is for you and ten times more like it. You will have whatever your soul desires and whatever your eyes could delight in. He will say: I am well-pleased, my Rubb.’ Musa (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said: `Who will be of the highest rank in Jannah.’ Allah said: `They are those whom I chose and I established their honour with My Own Hand. I attest with My Seal that they will be blessed with such bounties as no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no human mind has perceived.”’
[Muslim].

1884. `Abdullah bin Mas`ud (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “I know of the last of the inhabitants of the Hell to be taken out from there and the last one to enter Jannah. He is a man who will come out of the Fire, crawling on all fours. Allah, the Rubb of glory and honour will say to him: `Go and enter Jannah.’ He will go to it and think that it is full up. He will then come back and say: `O my Rubb, it is full up.’ Allah  will say to him: `Go and enter Jannah.’ He will again go to it and think that it is full up. So he will turn back. Allah will again say: `Go and enter Jannah. For you have what is equal to ten times the world.’ He will say: `Are You making fun of me while You are the King?” At this I (i.e., the narrator) saw the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) laugh till his premolars were visible and he said, “Such man will be the last dweller of Jannah in its lowest rank.”
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

1885. Abu Musa (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “In Jannah the believer will have a tent made of a single hollowed pearl of which the length will be sixty miles in the sky. The believer will have his wives with him and he will visit them and they will not be able to see one another.”
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

1886. Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “There is a tree in Jannah that is so huge that if a rider of a swift horse has to cover its distance from one end to another in one hundred years, he will not be able to do so.”

Another narration from Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) is: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “A rider will not be able to cross its (the tree’s) shade even after travelling for one hundred years.”
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

1887. Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “The dwellers of Jannah will look at those in the upper abodes above them as you look at a shining star which remains in the eastern or western horizon; such will be the difference in superiority which some of them have over others.” The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) was asked: “Will those be the dwellings of the Prophets which no one else will be able to reach?” He (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) replied, “Yes, but by Him in Whose Hand my soul is! men who believed in Allah and acknowledged the truthfulness of the Messengers will reach them.”
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

1888. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “A space in Jannah equal to the distance between the middle and the end of a bow will be better than all that upon which the sun rises and sets.”
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

1889. Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “In Jannah there is a market to which the people will come every Friday. The northern wind will blow and shower fragrance on their faces and clothes and, consequently, it will enhance their beauty and loveliness. They will then return to their wives who will also have increased in their beauty and loveliness, and their families will say to them: `We swear by Allah that you have been increased in beauty and loveliness since leaving us.’ Thereupon they will reply: `We swear by Allah that you have also been increased in beauty and loveliness since we left you.”’
[Muslim].

1890. Sahl bin Sa`d (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “The dwellers of Jannah will see the upper abodes of Jannah as you see the stars in the sky.”
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

1891. Sahl bin Sa`d (May Allah be pleased with him) said: I was in the company of the Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam). He gave a description of Jannah and concluded with these words, “There will be bounties which no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no human heart has ever perceived.” He (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) then recited this Verse:

“Their sides forsake their beds, to invoke their Rubb in fear and hope, and they spend (in charity in Allah’s Cause) out of what We have bestowed on them. No person knows what is kept hidden for them of joy…” (32:16,17)
[Al-Bukhari].

1892. Abu Sa`id and Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “When the dwellers of Jannah enter Jannah, an announcer will call: (You have a promise from Allah that) you will live therein and you will never die; you will stay healthy therein and you will never fall ill; you will stay young and you will never become old; you will be under a constant bliss and you will never feel miserable.”
[Muslim].

1893. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “The lowest place of any of you in Jannah will be that Allah will tell him to express his wish. He will wish and wish again. Allah will then ask him: `Have you expressed your wish?’ He will answer: `Yes, I have.’ Allah will say: `You will have what you have wished for and the like thereof along with it.”’
[Muslim].

1894. Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “Allah, the Rubb of honour and glory, will say to the inhabitants of Jannah: `O inhabitants of Jannah!’ They will respond: `Here we are! At Your service, O our Rubb. All good is in Your Hand!’ He will ask them: `Are you pleased?’ They will reply: `Why should we not be pleased, O Rubb, when You have given us what You have not given to any of Your creatures?’ Allah will say: `Shall I not give you something better than that?’ They will ask: `O Rubb! What can be better than that?’ Allah will say: `I shall bestow My Pleasure upon you and I shall never be displeased with you.”’
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

1895. Jarir bin `Abdullah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) when he looked at the full moon and observed, “You shall see your Rubb in the Hereafter as you are seeing this moon; and you will not feel the slightest inconvenience in seeing Him.”
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

1896. Suhaib (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, “When the inhabitants of Jannah enter Jannah, Allah, the Glorious and Exalted, will say to them: `Do you wish me to give you anything more?’ They will reply: `Have You not made our faces bright? Have You not brought us into Jannah and delivered us from the Hell?’ And Allah will remove the Veil. The (dwellers of Jannah) will feel that they have not been awarded anything dearer to them than looking at their Rubb.”
[Muslim].

Allah, the Exalted, says:

“Verily, those who believe and do deeds of righteousness, their Rubb will guide them through their Faith; under them will flow rivers in the Gardens of Delight (Jannah). Their way of request therein will be Subhanaka Allahumma (Glory to You, O Allah!) and Salam (peace, safety from evil) will be their greetings therein (Jannah)! and the close of their request will be: Al-hamdu lillahi Rabbil-`Alamin [All the praises and thanks are to Allah, the Rubb of `Alamin (mankind, jinn and all that exists)].” (10:9,10)