How Many of this Ummah will Enter Jannah

Filling the Horizons

The Prophet said, “The people were displayed in front of me and I saw one prophet passing by with a large group of his followers, and another prophet passing by with only a small group of people, and another prophet passing by with only ten (persons), and another prophet passing by with only five (persons), and another prophet passed by alone.

Imagine that – a prophet with no followers. Someone who kept giving da’wah and working for Allah and nobody answered their call. Imagine Nuh – he gave da’wah for 950 years and no one responded! That is what keeps us going – seeing the fruits of our effort. Imagine how much discipline that takes, with people rejecting you and insulting you, etc. The drive that the ambiya have is a miracle in itself.

“And then I looked and saw a large multitude of people, so I asked Gabriel, ‘Are these people my followers?’ He said, ‘No, but look towards the horizon.’ I looked and saw a very large multitude of people. Gabriel said. ‘Those are your followers, and those are seventy thousand (persons) in front of them who will neither have any reckoning of their accounts nor will receive any punishment.’ I asked, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘For they used not to treat themselves with branding (cauterization) nor with Ruqya (get oneself treated by the recitation of some Verses of the Qur’an) and not to see evil omen in things, and they used to put their trust (only) in their Lord.”

On hearing that, ‘Ukasha bin Mihsan got up and said (to the Prophet), “Invoke Allah to make me one of them.” The Prophet said, “O Allah, make him one of them.” Then another man got up and said (to the Prophet), “Invoke Allah to make me one of them.” The Prophet said, “‘Ukasha has preceded you.” [Bukhaari, 8/76/549]

This hadith is also in Bukhaari: RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, I was with the angel and he told me to look at the horizon. So I looked at the horizon and saw I saw the horizon blocked with the faces of men. They told me to look at the other side, so I looked at the other side and saw the horizon blocked with the faces of men. Allah subhaana wa ta’aala asked me, O Muhammad, are you pleased? RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, O Allah, I am pleased, I am pleased. Then Allah said, I will give you in addition to them 70,000 who will enter without any reckoning.

In another hadith, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, I have seen my Ummah, so I was very impressed with their numbers and their looks. They filled the plains and the mountains. Wherever I would look, I would see my Ummah. You can imagine how happy RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam will be on the day of judgment when he sees his Ummah.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, Get married and have a lot children because I want to be proud of you on the day of judgment. He is asking us to have a lot of children so that we will increase his ummah.

The ambiya have a competition in good amongst each other. When Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam passed by Musa, he was crying. Why was he crying? Because he said that a man after him will have a larger following than him. Until that time, Musa had the largest following. The largest Ummah after the Ummah of Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is that of Bani Israel. Allah says: “O Children of Israel! Remember My Favour which I bestowed upon you and that I preferred you to the ‘Alamin (mankind and jinns) (of your time period, in the past).” (2:47) This was talking about when Bani Israel were the chosen – they were the carriers of the followers of truth and they were the first to fight jihad. No other prophet has fought jihad in the past. With Musa (Moses), Allah revealed jihad.

The Prophet said, “Allah will say (on the Day of Resurrection), ‘O Adam.’ Adam will reply, ‘Labbaik wa Sa’daik (and all the good is in Your Hand).’ Allah will say: ‘Bring out the people of the fire. Adam will say: ‘O Allah! How many are the people of the Fire?’ Allah will reply: ‘From every one thousand, take out nine-hundred-and ninety-nine.’ At that time children will become hoary headed [gray-haired], every pregnant female will have a miscarriage, and one will see mankind as drunken, yet they will not be drunken, but dreadful will be the Wrath of Allah.” The companions of the Prophet asked, “O Allah’s Apostle! Who is that (excepted) one?” He said, “Rejoice with glad tidings; one person will be from you and one-thousand will be from Gog and Magog.”

Prophet further said, “By Him in Whose Hands my life is, hope that you will be one-fourth of the people of Paradise.” We shouted, ‘Allahu Akbar!” He added, “I hope that you will be one-third of the people of Paradise.” We shouted, “Allahu Akbar!” He said, “I hope that you will be half of the people of Paradise.” We shouted, “Allahu Akbar!” He further said, “You (Muslims) (compared with non Muslims) are like a black hair in the skin of a white ox or like a white hair in the skin of a black ox (i.e. your number is very small as compared with theirs).” [Bukhaari, 4/55/567]

80 Rows

In a hadith in at-Tirmidhi, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, The people of Jannah are dividing into 120 rows. 80 rows will be from this Ummah and 40 from all of the other Umam combined.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says in a hadith in Muslim, I would be the first intercessor in the paradise, and no apostle amongst the apostles has been testified by such a large number of people as I have been testified. (I have the largest Ummah). And verily, there would be an apostle from amongst the apostles that would be testified by only one man from his people.

In Bukhaari, RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Every Prophet was given miracles because of which people believed, but what I have been given, is Divine Inspiration which Allah has revealed to me. So I hope that my followers will outnumber the followers of the other Prophets on the Day of Resurrection.” [Bukhaari, 6/61/504] Why? Because the miracle of Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is different – it is the Qur’an. The miracles of the other prophets were limited to their era.