Paradise and Hell

Remember what ‘Aa`isha said: “If the first thing revealed in Qur’an was ‘do not drink’, the people would have said ‘we are never going to stop drinking.’ And if the first thing that was revealed in the Qur’an was telling the people to not commit fornication and adultery the people would have said ‘we’re never going to stop committing fornication and adultery!’ The first things that were revealed in the Qur’an were the Surah Al-Mufassal that talked about and mentioned hell fire and paradise. Until the hearts were attached to Allah subhaana wa ta’aala, THEN the orders for hallal and haraam came down.” ‘Aa`isha said that if you first tell people this is haraam, that’s haraam, they won’t listen to you. The first things that were revealed were about paradise and hell. When the hearts were attached to Allah the dos and don’ts were revealed.

We can tell from ‘Aa`isha radiyallahu anha that the way to attach the hearts to Allah is to remind ourselves about paradise and hell. We are immersed in this world too much and detached from reality. We are not getting enough dose of akhirah. Unless we remind ourselves of it constantly, it’s not going to be on our mind. We are very attached to the ones we love in this dunya, the things that we have and the pleasures this life can offer.

Ask ourselves, if we were faced with the angel of death in this moment – even though he doesn’t have to seek permission from us as with the ambiya – “Are you ready to leave right now?” would we be ready to go?

I don’t think any of us would be ready to go.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam would talk about hell fire and jannah so much. He would especially talk about hell a lot. In fact, one of the sahaabiyyah said that she memorized Surah Qaaf from the mouth of RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam on the mimbar of jum’ah, because he used to mention it so much. Surah Qaaf is talking about Paradise and Hell, and also death. The reason why RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam talked about it so much was that after Allah, no one had as much Mercy on this Ummah as RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. He cared so much about this Ummah, he didn’t want this Ummah to be harmed.

Once, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam stood on the mimbar, praised Allah, making Salah on the messenger of Allah, he said, “I’m warning you, Hell fire.” He was repeating it again and again and his voice was getting louder and louder. One of the sahabah said that if someone were in the marketplace, they would have heard him. That’s all that he was saying. The narrator of the hadith said that you could hear the weeping of the sahabah in the masjid. That is the sensitivity of their hearts. SubhaanAllah, we have such rigid hearts.

‘Uthmaan(ra), when he used to attend the burial, he would sit next to the grave and cry, unable to stand up. The sahabah would come and tell him, “What is wrong with you?” He said, “The grave is the first step of akhirah. If you make it through, whatever comes after will be easier. And if you do not make it through the grave, whatever will happen after it will be difficult. And that is why I cry whenever I remember the grave.”

There is no other religion that has given so much description to the after-life, like Islam. It’s very rare to go through a page of the Qur’an without finding a reminder about al-akhirah. Why would Allah repeat to us constantly about it? It shows that it is very necessary for us to know. [In general, the more often something is repeated, the more important it is.] Our hearts change vey easily.

Qalb comes from the word taqallab, which is water boiling in a pot. Our hearts change very easily. If you want an example of this – look at an infant. They can be crying one minute and laughing the next.

The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam used to make the du’aa`: “The One Who Overturns hearts, we ask You to make our hearts steadfast on Islam.” Ya muqallibul quloob thabbit qulooboona ‘ala deen. It was said that RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam used to repeat this du’aa` frequently. We should also repeat it frequently.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says that the analogy of him and us is like a man standing next to a fire in the desert at night time. Whenever you have some light in the desert, it will attract insects to it. So these moths and insects will gather around the fire. Similarly, this happens around a light at night. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that he is like that man, trying to keep the insects [us] away from the fire. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says that we are jumping towards the fire and he is dragging us away from it, nevertheless, some of us insist on jumping into it. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is a guard from it, trying to guard us from the hell fire. Nevertheless, some people insist on throwing themselves into the fire, even though the reminder is there.

Jibreel couldn’t understand how there could be some people who would give up Paradise and opt for Hell Fire. Jibreel says, “I am amazed. How could there be someone who could sleep safely when they know hell fire is waiting for them? How could there be someone who could sleep when he knows there is Paradise waiting for him?”

Our souls were created for eternity. There will not be a moment when your soul will cease to exist. We will live forever. This is the testing ground, and then it will be either heaven or hell.

Allah says: “For this, the ones who want to compete should compete.” This is what we should compete on – the akhirah, not on the worldly things.

Allah gave us elaborate descriptions of heaven and hell. As human beings, the strongest motivation for us is the motivation of reward or punishment. Allah subhaana wa ta’aala has placed us on this earth for an open book test – we have the Qur’an and Sunnah to help us.

No matter how much we imagine heaven or hell, we cannot really imagine them. It is just to draw the information close to us. If this world was good enough as a reward, Allah would have given it as a reward to the believer. And if it was bad enough as a punishment, Allah would have given it as a punishment for the disbeliever. Therefore, we are not here for punishment or reward.

We have to have hope for Allah’s Mercy and fear of his punishment. Remember the bird with these two wings. We have to be active in pursuing Jannah with both. Live a balanced life. The Old Testament portrays God as angry and someone to be feared too much. The New Testament portrays Him as a God of Mercy and Love. Both lack the balance.

Allah says He is the Forgiving and Merciful, but at the same time, His Punishment is severe. Allah says His punishment is severe, but One of His Names is the Forgiving and one is the Merciful.