By Babatunde Jose
When Allah the Almighty, in His infinite wisdom and divine mercy, created the human soul, He intended its eternal abode to be in the Garden of Bliss or Jannah. However, the journey to this eternal abode is indeed full of many obstacles, be it the splendors of this world or the Dunia, the passions of our lower self (nafs), or the whispers of Satan. It is the successful preparation for this journey that will – with the Mercy of Allah – ultimately lead us to that Garden.
This preparation is based on comprehending the Divine Message and internalizing its teachings in our lives. A Prophetic tradition states, “Wisdom is the lost property of the believer. If he finds it then he is most deserving of it.”
Verily, we need such counsel, for, our Day of Judgement begins not when the world ends, but when our life comes to an end – which is indeed imminent – as the Prophet (SAW) stated. In the Quran, Allah describes a wonderful life of perfect and endless beauty in Paradise. Someone who does not know this beauty’s extent or how the Quran describes it may have difficulty envisioning Paradise.
In Islam, Jannah or “paradise”, is the final abode of the righteous. According to one count, the word appears 147 times in the Quran. Belief in the afterlife is one of the six articles of faith in Islam.
Both Jannah and Jahannam are believed to have several levels, in the case of Jannah the higher the level, the more desirable and in the case of Jahannam the level of punishment given. It is said that there are seven levels of Jannah: Jannat al Adan, Firdaus, Jannat-ul-Mawa, Jannat-an-Naim, Dar al-maqama, Dar al-salam, and Dar al-Akhirah.
The afterlife experiences are described as physical, psychic, and spiritual. Jannah is described as physical pleasures such as gardens, beautiful houris, wine that has no aftereffects, and “divine pleasure”. Their reward of pleasure will vary according to the righteousness of the person. The characteristics of Jannah often have direct parallels with those of Jahannam. The pleasure and delights of Jannah described in the Quran, are matched by the excruciating pain and horror of Jahannam or Hell.
Jannah is also referred to as the abode of Adam and Eve before they were expelled. Most Muslims hold that Jannah (as well as Jahannam) coexist with the temporal world, rather than being created after Judgement Day. Although humans may not pass the boundaries to the otherworld, the otherworld may interact with the temporal world of humans.
Jannah is found frequently in the Qur’an (2:30, 78:12) and often translated as “Heaven” in the sense of an abode where believers are rewarded in the afterlife. Another word, samāʾ (usually pl. samāwāt) is also found frequently in the Quran and translated as “heaven”, but in the sense of the sky above or celestial sphere. It is often used in the phrase as-samawat wal-ard, the heavens and the earth”, an example being Q.38:10. The Quran describes both samāʾ and Jannah as being above us.
Jannah is also frequently translated as “paradise”. But another term with a more direct connection to that term is also found: Firdaus, the literal term meaning paradise was borrowed from the Persian word Pardis , being also the source of the English word “paradise”, used in verses Q.18:107 and Q.23:11. “Firdaus” also designates the highest level of heaven.
Scholars do not all agree on who will end up in Jannah, and the criteria for whether or not they will. Issues include whether all Muslims, even those who’ve committed major sins, will end up in Jannah; whether any non-Muslims will go there, or all go to Jahannam.
The Quran specifies the qualities for those allowed to inhabit Jannah: “those who refrain from doing evil, keep their duty, have faith in God’s revelations, do good works, are truthful, penitent, heedful, and contrite of heart, those who feed the needy and orphans and who are prisoners for God’s sake.” Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.86
Another source (Sebastian Günther and Todd Lawson) gives as the basic criterion for salvation in the afterlife, more detail on articles of faith: the belief in the oneness of God (tawḥīd), angels, revealed books, messengers, as well as repentance to God, and doing good deeds (amal salih). All these qualities are qualified by the doctrine that ultimately salvation can only be attained through God’s judgment. Günther, Sebastian; Lawson, Todd (2017). Roads to Paradise: Eschatology and Concepts of the Hereafter in Islam. Volume 1
The idea that jinn as well as humans could find salvation was widely accepted, based on the Quran (Q.55:74) where the saved are promised maidens “untouched before by either men or jinn” – suggesting to classical scholars al-Suyūṭī and al-Majlisī that jinn also are provided their own kind of houri maidens in paradise. Like humans, their destiny in the hereafter depends on whether they accept God’s guidance.
Muslim scholars disagree about exact criteria for salvation of Muslim and non-Muslim. Although most agree that Muslims will be finally saved – shahids (martyrs) who die in battle, are expected to enter paradise immediately after death non-Muslims are another matter.
Muslim scholars arguing in favor of non-Muslims’ being able to enter paradise cite the verse: “Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabians—those who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness—will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve.” (Q.2:62).
Those arguing against non-Muslim salvation regard this verse to have applied only until the arrival of Muhammad (SAW), after which it was abrogated by another verse: “And whoever desires other than Islam as religion—never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.” (Q.3:85).
Historically the Ash’ari school of theology was known for having an optimistic perspective on salvation for Muslims, but a very pessimistic view of those who heard about Muhammad (SAW) and his character yet rejected him.
The Maturidi school also generally agreed that even sinners among Muslims would eventually enter paradise But, it’s unclear whether they thought only Muslim would go to Jannah, or if non-Muslims who understood and obeyed “God’s universal law” would be saved also.
The Mu’tazila school held that free will and individual accountability was necessary for Divine justice, thus rejecting the idea of intercession (Shafa’a) by Muhammad (SAW) on behalf of sinners. Unlike other schools it believed Jannah and Jahannam would be created only after Judgement Day.
Like most Sunni, Shia Islam hold that all Muslims will eventually go to Jannah, and like the Ash’ari school, believe heedless and stubborn unbelievers will go to hell, while those ignorant of the truth of Islam but “truthful to their own religion”, will not. Modernist scholars Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida rejected the notion that the People of the Book are excluded from Jannah, referring to another verse:
Divine grace is neither by your wishes nor those of the People of the Book! Whoever commits evil will be rewarded accordingly, and they will find no protector or helper besides Allah. But those who do good—whether male or female—and have faith will enter Paradise and will never be wronged even as much as the speck on a date stone. (Q.4:123-124)
No doubt, “Third Islamic century traditionalists amplified the eschatological material enormously, particularly in areas where “the Quran is relatively silent” about the nature of Jannah. Some of the more popular Sunni manuals of eschatology are Kitāb al-rūḥ of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali.
Inside Jannah, the Quran says the saved “will have whatever they wish for, forever”; (Q.25:16). Other verses give more specific descriptions of the delights of paradise: ‘And whoever is in awe of standing before their Lord will have two Gardens
Both will be with lush branches.
The grand summary is that in Jannah, life is different from what we have here. Spirits or beings in another dimension do not need nourishment, hence there is no need for food or drinks. The reference to food and drinks is allegorical. Again, there is no sexual intercourse in Jannah as the pleasure of having untainted women is also a fantasy because spirits do not procreate. There is no death in Jannah as it is an everlasting place of bliss.
In Jannah you will be in true happiness!! The Prophet (SAW) said there is no rest only in Jannah! And in Jannah we will look at the face of our Lord “Allah” and it will be the most amazing thing! We pray to be among the successful ones!
Barka Juma’at and a lovely weekend.
