Part 20

Or for their fear of Allaah:

"But for him who fears standing before his Rabb there will be two Gardens" [55:46]

Or for their hatred of the kuffaar and mushrikeen and their refusal to befriend them:

al-Jannah wa an-Naar – In the Light of the Qur'aan and Sunnah

"You will not find any people who believe in Allaah and the Last Day, making friendship with those who oppose Allaah and His messenger, even though they were their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their kindred [people]. For such He has written Faith in their hearts, and strengthened them with Ruh [proof, light and guidance] from Himself. And We will admit them to Gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell therein [forever]. Allaah is pleased with them and they with Him". [58:22] Some aayaat discuss in detail the righteous deeds for which a person may deserve Paradise; for example, Surah ar-Ra'd states: "But it is only the men of understanding who pay heed, those who fulfill the Covenant of Allaah and break not the mithaaq, those who join that which Allaah has commanded to be joined, [i.e. good to relatives and not severing the ties of kinship], fear their Rabb and dread the terrible reckoning, and those who remain patient, seeking their Rabb's Countenance, perform as-Salaat, and spend out of that which We have bestowed on them, secretly and openly, and defend evil with good, for such there is a good end 'Adn [Eden] Paradise which they shall enter and [also] those who acted righteously from among their fathers and their wives, and their offspring. And angels shall enter unto them from every gate [saying] Salaamun ''alaykum for that you persevered in patience! Excellent indeed is the final home!" [13:19-24] And at the beginning of Surah al-Mu'minoon, Allaah explains that success is for the believers and then described the deeds that will qualify them for success: "Successful indeed are the believers, those who offer their salaah with khushoo', and those who turn away from al-laghw [dirty, false, evil, vain talk, falsehood and all that Allaah has forbidden], and those who pay the zakah, and those who guard their chastity, except from their wives or those whom their right hands possess, for then, they are free from blame; but whoever seeks beyond that then those are the transgressors; those who are faithfully true to their amaanah [all duties that Allaah has ordained: honesty, moral responsibility, and trusts] and to their covenants and those who strictly guard their prayers [at the fixed times]. These are indeed the inheritors who shall inherit al-Firdaws. They shall dwell therein forever" [23:11] The Prophet (saw) also said, "The people of Paradise are three: a ruler who is fair and just; a man who is compassionate and gentle towards every relative and Muslim; and a man with a large family who is proud and does not beg" [Muslim, see Sharh Al-Nawawi 'alaa Muslim, 17/198]

The Way to Paradise is Very Hard Paradise is very high, and ascending lofty places takes a great deal of effort. The way to Paradise is filled with things that go against human wishes and inclinations. This needs strong determination and willpower. In a hadith narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim from Abu Hurayrah (ra) the Messenger of Allaah (saw) said, "Hell has been veiled with desires, and Paradise has been veiled with [surrounded by] hardships." an-Nasaa'ee, Al-Tirmidhi, and Abu Dawud report from Abu Hurayrah (ra) that the Messenger of Allaah (saw) said, "When Allaah created Paradise, He told Jibreel, "Go look at it". So he went and looked at it, then he came back and said, "By Your Glory, no-one will hear of it but he will enter it". So He surrounded it with hardships and said, "Go and look at it". So he went and looked at it, then came back and said, "By Your Glory, I fear that no-one will enter it"". [Jaami al-Usool, 10/520, 8068] Al-Nawawi commented on the first hadith:

al-Jannah wa an-Naar – In the Light of the Qur'aan and Sunnah

"This is an example of the beautiful, eloquent and concise speech which the Prophet (saw) was capable, in which he gives a beautiful analogy. It means that nothing will help you to reach Paradise except going through hardships, and nothing will lead you to Hell, but whims and desires. Both are veiled as described, and whoever tears down the veil will reach what was hidden behind it. The veil of Paradise is torn down by going through hardships and the veil of Hell is torn down by giving in to whims and desires. Hardship including striving consistently and patiently in worship, restraining one's anger, forgiving, being patient, giving in charity, being kind to those who mistreat you, resisting physical desires, etc" [Sharh Al-Nawawi 'ala Muslim, 17/165]

The People of Paradise Will Inherit The Portion of Paradise That Would Have Gone to the People of Hell Allaah has given two positions to every descendent of Aadam: a position in Jannah and a position in Jahanam. Then whoever is destined to damnation of the kuffaar and mushrikeen will inherit the positions in Hell that had been allocated to the people of Paradise, and those of the people of Paradise for whom eternal bliss is decreed will inherit the portions of Paradise that had been allocated to the people of Hell. After describing the good deeds that would earn Paradise for the successful believers, Allaah said, "These are indeed the inheritors, who shall inherit the Fridays" Ibn Katheer said in his commentary on this aayah: "Ibn Abi Haatim said - and he quoted to the isnaad going back to Abu Hurayrah (ra) that the Messenger of Allaah (saw) said: "There is no one among you who does not have two positions, one in Paradise and one in Hell. The believer will have a house built for him in Paradise, and his house in Hell will be demolished". A similar report was narrated from Sa'eed ibn Jubayr. The believers will inherit the positions of the kuffaar, because those positions were created for those who worship Allaah (swt) alone and do not associate anything in worship with Him, because they did what they were commanded to do as far as worship is concerned, whilst the kuffaar neglected the duty for which they had been created. So the believers gained the share that the kuffaar would have gained if they had obeyed Allaah (swt) and they will gain even more than that. Muslim reported from Abu Burdah from Abu Musaa that the Prophet (saw) said: "Some people amongst the Muslims will come on the Day of Resurrection with sins as great as a mountain. Allaah will forgive them, and will pass [the burden of sin] to the Jews and Christians". According to another version of this hadith, the Prophet (saw) said, "When the Day of Judgement comes, Allaah (swt) will allocate a Jew or Christian for every Muslim and will say, "This is your ransom from the Fire". This hadith reflects the words of Allaah (swt): "Such is the Paradise which We shall give as an inheritance to those of Our slaves who have been al-Muttaqoon" [19:63] and "This is the Paradise which you have been made to inherit because of your deeds which you used to do [in the life of this world]" [43:72] [Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 5/10]

The Weak and Destitute Will Form the Majority in Paradise Most of those who will enter Paradise will be the weak and destitute, whom people tend to ignore and care little about, but in the sight of Allaah (swt) they are important, becuse they fear Him and worship Him faithfully and with humility. al-Bukhaari and Muslim report from Hareethah ibn Wahb that the Messenger of Allaah (saw) said:

al-Jannah wa an-Naar – In the Light of the Qur'aan and Sunnah

"Shall I not tell you about the people of Paradise? They said, "Of course". He said, "Every weak and oppressed person; if he were to implore Allaah for anything, He would grant it to him." [Jaami' al-Usool, 10/535] Al-Nawawi said, commenting on this hadith: "It refers to those who others despise, scorn and oppress because of their weak position in this world. What is meant is that most of the people of Paradise will be of this type, but it does not meant that all of them will be". [Sharh Al-Nawawi alaa Muslim, 17/187] al-Bukhaari, Ahmad and Muslim reported from Usaamah ibn Zayd that the Messenger of Allaah (saw) said: "I stood at the gate of Paradise and saw that most of those who entered were the poor and destitute. The people of means were held back, whilst the people of Hell had been ordered into the Fire. I stood by the gate of Hell, and saw that most of those who entered it were women". [Mishkaat al-Masaabih, 2/663 no 5233]

Will There Be More Men or Women in Paradise? Men and women engaged in this dispute when the Sahaabah were still alive. Muslim reports from Ibn Sireen: "Men and women disputed as to which of them would form the majority in Paradise. According to another report, either they were competing, or they were discussing, whether there would be more men or women in Paradise. They consulted Abu Hurayrah, who said that women would form the majority, on the basis of the words of the Prophet (saw): "The first group to enter Paradise will be as beautiful as the full moon, and the group that follows them will be like the brightest shining stars in the sky: each man of them will have two wives, the marrow of whose leg-bones will be visible through the flesh because of their extreme beauty. There will be no one who is unmarried in Paradise"" [Sahih Muslim, Kitaab al-Jannah, Baab awwal zumrah tadhkul al-Jannah, 4/2179, hadith no. 2834] This hadith clearly indicates that there will be more women than men in Paradise. Some others though that there would be more men, because of the hadith, "I saw that they [women] formed the majority of the people of Hell". The response to this is the fact that women will form the majority of the inhabitants of Hell does not necessarily mean that they will be a minority in Paradise, as Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalaani said [Fath alBaari 6/325] The two hadiths may be reconciled by stating that women will be in the majority in both Paradise and Hell, just as there are more women than men in this world. We could say that the hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah indicates that the total number of women in paradise, including women of this world and al-Hoor al-'Eeyn will outnumber men. The question then is, who will be greater in number in Paradise: the men of this world or the women? al-Qurtubee reconciled between these two hadiths by suggesting that women will form the majority of the inhabitants of Hell before the Shafaa'ah [intercession], when the sinners from amongst the muwwahideen will be brought out of Hell. Thereafter women will form the majority of the people of Paradise. [at-Tadhkirah, al-Qurtubee, p. 475] The small number of women in Paradise is indicated in a report narrated by Ahmad and Abu Ya'laa from 'Amr ibn al-'Aas who said, "Whilst we were with the Messenger of Allaah (saw) on this mountain path, he said, "Look, can you see anything?" We said, "We see crows, and one of them stands out because its beak and feet are red". The Messenger of Allaah (saw) said, "No women will enter Paradise except those who are as rare among them as this crow is among the others"" [Silsilat al-Hadith as-Saheehah, 4/466, no. 1851]