Why We Should Strive for Paradise and Hope for it

Race one with another in hastening towards Forgiveness from your Lord (Allah), and towards Paradise, the width whereof is as the width of heaven and earth, prepared for those who believe in Allah and His Messengers. That is the Grace of Allah which He bestows on whom He pleases. And Allah is the Owner of Great Bounty — Qur’an 57[Al-Hadid]:21

Undoubtedly, anyone who has deep thoughts and insights knows that we were not created for amusement. We sometimes experience rambling thoughts in our head about who created us and why are we here. The Qur’an happens to answer such question in a couple of verses one of which is highlighted below:

It is He who has created death and life to put you to the test and see which of you is most virtuous in your deeds. He is Majestic and All-forgiving. It is He who has created seven heavens, one above the other. You can see no flaw in the creation of the Beneficent God. Look again. Can you see faults? — Qur’an 67[Al-Mulk]:2–3

This simply means that the life we are living is a test. As Muslims, we’re given a guidebook — The Qur’an which points out answers to the questions we’re been asked. In order to be successful, Allah blessed you with the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah as a complete way of life to guide you further. Hence, you know the questions and equally have the answers. All that is left for you is to write down the correct answer in your booklet. This should be the easiest part but many find it difficult to adhere. Therefore, if you fail at the end of the day, blame no one but yourself. The afterlife is where you see the results of your examination which have been conducted in form of your deeds.

Do they await except its result? The Day its result comes those who had ignored it before will say, “The messengers of our Lord had come with the truth, so are there [now] any intercessors to intercede for us or could we be sent back to do other than we used to do?” They will have lost themselves, and lost from them is what they used to invent. — Qur’an 7[Al-’Araf]:53

Beloved brethren, you only have one shot at life and there’s no coming back. Everything in your possession today is temporary. Remember some had it before, and now they’re no more. Hence, use your time positively to fulfill your purpose: servitude to Allah — The Most-High.

And I (Allah) created not the jinns and humans except that they should worship Me (Alone) — Qur’an 51[Adh-Dhariyat]:56

A Brief Glimpse into Paradise

It’s important to state that the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him has mentioned to us that a space in Paradise equivalent to the size of a foot would be better than the world and everything in it. He also said: “In Paradise, there are things which no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, and no human mind has ever thought of”. So no matter how good the description sounds, it’s still just a mere comparison to worldly life and incomprehensible with reality. It suffices to believe as this is a matter of the unseen which is also a pillar of our faith. Now, let’s get into the briefs:

• Paradise is everlasting life: There will be no suffering, death, or sweat. The fragrance of paradise will be smelt from a distance of forty years. Everyone will enter paradise as youths between the age of thirty to thirty-three. And they will abide therein forever.

Enter it in peace. This is the Day of Eternity — Qur’an 50[Qaf]:34

• Lofty mansions of Paradise: The inhabitants of paradise will have huge castles and everyone will recognize their abodes without any difficulty. The inmates will be in levels viewing those of the higher apartments the way we look at the stars and the galaxies. The least space you’d have is like the distance of the nearest heaven to the earth.
• No evil or vain talks: The people of paradise will only hear good and soothing words. There will be no backstabbing, slandering, or lies.

They will not hear therein ill speech or commission of sin. Only the saying: Salam! Salam!! (greetings with peace) — Qur’an 56[Al-Waqia’]:25–26

• You get what you wish: The inmates of paradise will be served as they wish. You get all the goodies you desire and no harm will touch you as a result. You’d have maids to serve you; no cooking or cleaning. You’d find therein rivers of milk, honey, and wine.
• The streets of Paradise: The canopy of paradise will be the throne of Allah. In paradise is Sidratul Muntaha — a lote tree whose shade can not be covered by a fast horseman in a hundred years. In Paradise, there is a street to which people would come every Friday. The north wind will blow and would scatter fragrance on their faces and on their clothes and would add to their beauty and loveliness.

At the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary. Near it is the Paradise of Abode. — Qur’an 53[An-Najm]:14–15

Motivations to be in Paradise

Here are seven good reasons for you to strive to make it into paradise.

(i) Seeing Allah: The Prophet peace be upon him on his death bed was given the option to either continue to live or return to his Lord. He said: “ila Rafeeqi-l-a’la” meaning — on to the highest company. The highest company is that of Allah, the angels, and the prophets. Allah’s Apostle also told us that we’d have no difficulty seeing our Lord in Paradise the same way we see the full moon on a bright night. And this will be the greatest of pleasure for the people of paradise.

(ii) Meeting the Messenger and the rest of the Prophets: Having established that the prophet peace be upon him will be in paradise without a doubt. Then be rest assured that the rest of the prophets sent by God will be there as well. Allah’s Apostle one time was telling his companions: ‘I missed my beloveds’. Then they asked him: ‘are we not your beloveds?’. Then he said to them: ‘you are my companions. My beloveds are those who will come after you. They will not meet me…’ Imagine! He’s craving to meet you, wouldn’t you love to meet him?

(iii) Chilling with the companions: The Messenger of Allah upon him be peace told us in various authentic narrations: Abubakr will be in Jannah, alongside Umar, Uthman, Ali, Sa’d ibn Abi Waqas. Talha ibn Ubaydullah, Zubayr ibn Al-Awwam, Abu Ubaydah ibn Jarrah, AbdurRahman bin Auf and Sa’eed bin Zaid. These were the famous ten companions given glad tidings of paradise in their lifetime. Wouldn’t you like to see them and ask some questions about the blessed times they spent on earth?

(iv) Vibing with your beloved ones: You will be in paradise with your spouses, kids, parents, and family. So long as they were truthful believers, obeyed Allah, and followed His Messenger. Your wives will sing for you songs of eternity — reminding you there will be no death in here but good vibes only.

(v) No stress or worship in Paradise: For some people, praying five times daily is a struggle. I encourage you to endure patiently and have the glad tidings that you will relax in paradise and wouldn’t get tired of the pleasures. The people of paradise will have no regret except that they would wish that they had indulged in more acts of worship and obedience to Allah. Their hearts would be like one heart, glorifying Allah morning and evening and thanking him for this blessing of safety from hell.

(vi) You get anything you wish: It’s like the proverbial saying to a new bride: ‘your wish is my command’. All you have to do is to think or request something and you’d have it. In fact, when the people of paradise don’t find some of their loved ones, they will ask Allah to grant intercession for them. And Allah will ask the angels to take people out of the fire so long as they have faith in Him even as small as a mustard seed.

(vii) Hatred to be in the fire: This isn’t the least but one of the key reasons why you should strive to be in paradise and avoid hell by any means necessary. The fire of hell is irresistible and the torment is everlasting. The disbelievers will not smell the fragrance of paradise and the angels will not have mercy on them. As the fire burns their skin, it's replaced by another membrane so they can continuously feel the everlasting pain. Their wounds will be sore and oozing mucous. A very pitiful scenario will occur between the people of paradise and that of hell as mentioned in the Qur’an:

And the dwellers of the Fire will call to the dwellers of Paradise: “Pour on us some water or anything that Allah has provided you with.” They will say: “Both (water and provision) Allah has forbidden to the disbelievers.” Who took their religion as distraction and amusement and whom the worldly life deluded.” So today We will forget them just as they forgot the meeting of this Day of theirs and for having rejected Our verses. — Qur’an 7[Al-’Araf]:51–52

How to make it into Paradise

There are many verses in the Qur’an that tells us what to do in order to be among the dwellers of paradise. Let’s examine one of such verses as depicted below:

Those who believe and do good deeds, surely they are the best of creation. Their reward with their Lord is gardens of perpetuity beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein for ever; Allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with Him; that is for him who fears his Lord. — Qur’an 98[Al-Bayyinah]:7–8

It’s equally important to note that our deeds alone can not take us into paradise. It’s only the mercy of Allah that’s the surest lifeline that will see us through. This is why the Prophet peace be upon him encouraged us not to die except that we have good hopes about meeting well with Allah.

Aisha reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Follow the right course, be devoted, and give glad tidings. Verily, none of you will enter Paradise by his deeds alone.” They said, “Not even you, O Messenger of Allah?” The Prophet said, “Not even me, unless Allah grants me His mercy. Know that the most beloved deed to Allah is that which is done regularly, even if it is small.” — Bukhari and Muslim

We ask Allah to count us among His truthful servants, forgive our misdeeds, and admit us into lofty mansions in paradise. Amin!

Yaumul Jum’ah 7th Jumadal ‘Ula 1444 AH // Friday 2nd December 2022.

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