Who will Enter Paradise

The First to Enter Jannah

Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam

In sahih Muslim, Anas ibn Maalik narrates that the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “I will have the greatest/largest following on the day of judgment among the ambiya of Allah. And I will be the first person to knock on the gates of Paradise.” He will get there while the proceedings of the day of judgment are still going on and people are still going through hisaab.

Anas ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said: “I will come to the gate of Paradise on the Day of Resurrection and would seek its opening. And the keeper would say: ‘Who are you?’ I would say: ‘Muhammad.’ He would then say: ‘It is for you that I have been ordered, and not to open it for anyone before.’” [Muslim, 1/384] The gatekeeper has been at this post for years and years with instructions not to open the gate for anyone but Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and he will be the first to enter.

The Prophets, and then Abu Bakr

Following the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, the ambiya of Allah will enter – about 124,000. After all of the ambiya have gone in, who will be the first to enter the gates of Jannah? Let us look at this hadith from Sunan Abu Dawood. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that Jibreel held my hand and he took me to paradise, and he pointed to me the gate through which my ummah would enter through and he told me, “This is the gate through which your Ummah will enter from.” Abu Bakr said, “O RasulAllah, I wish I were with you to see that.” RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “O Abu Bakr, you are going to be the first among my Ummah to enter into paradise.”

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that he will be the first from this Ummah, then how do we know that he will be the first from all of the Umam? It is because RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam has mentioned in another hadith that the best amongst humanity, after the ambiya of Allah, is Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq.

70,000 of this Ummah enter paradise without Reckoning

Following Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq will be the first batch of Muslims. In the Musnad of Ahmad, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, Allah has given me 70,000 of my ummah who will enter into paradise without going through the Reckoning. So these are a hand-picked few, 70,000 throughout the history of the Ummah, that will chosen by Allah to bypass the Reckoning. While everyone else is going through Reckoning, these 70,000 will go through the back door and enter Jannah. [See Bukhaari, 8/76/549] What are their characteristics? They trust in Allah with everything.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was very happy with that, but RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam always wants the best for Ummah, so he asked for more. Also in Musnad of Ahmad, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said he was given 70,000 to enter into Jannah without reckoning, so he asked for more. Allah gave him with everyone, 70,000. So if you multiply them, you get 4 million and 900,000. Then Allah has given him more. Allah said, I will give you three handfuls that will enter with them. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam told the sahabah to do the best so that they will be amongst the 70,000.

The Poor Immigrants (Muhajireen)

The next group that will enter, we know through a hadith in Muslim. Abu ‘Abdul-Rahman reported that three persons came to ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn Al ‘Aas while I was sitting with him and they said: “By Allah, we have nothing with us either in the form of provision, riding animals or wealth.” Thereupon he said to them: “I am prepared to do whatever you like. If you come to us, we would give you what Allah would make available for you. And if you like I would make a mention of your case to the ruler, and if you like you can show patience also. For I have heard Allah’s Messenger sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam as saying: “The destitute amongst the emigrants [muhajireen] would precede the rich emigrants by forty years in getting into Paradise on the Day of Resurrection.” Thereupon they said: “We then, show patience and do not ask for anything.” [Muslim, 42/7102]

How come the poor among al-muhajireen were forty years ahead of the rich? There’s a hadith narrated by Al-Haakim. He says that the poor muhajireen will come to the gates of paradise. The gatekeepers will not have been expecting them that early, so they will ask, “Did you already go through the reckoning?” The poor muhajireen will say, “Reckoning for what? We didn’t have anything to be reckoned for. We were carrying our swords on our shoulders and we died in the sake of Allah.” The meaning of this hadith is that one of the things that will delay people on the day of resurrection is the questioning regarding wealth.

We know from another hadith that RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says that your feet will not move until you are asked for questions – and two of them are how you gained your wealth and how you spent it.

This all has to do with the timing of entering Jannah, not the rank. Someone who comes later can be in a higher rank in Jannah. The wealthy will be held up on the Day of Judgment because they have more wealth to be asked about.

Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam as saying: “We are the last (but) we would be the first on the Day of Resurrection, and we would be the first to enter Paradise [...]” [Muslim, 4/1860] Allah has saved the best for last. In fact, some of the ambiya (prophets/messengers) used to wish that they would be a follower of Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. This is the honor that Allah has given us, which we are taking for granted.