The Gates of Jannah

Allah says: “Gardens of Eternity, whose doors will (ever) be open to them.” (38:50)

Allah says: “And those who feared their Lord will be led to the Garden in crowds: until behold, they arrive there; its gates will be opened; and its keepers will say: ‘Peace be upon you! Well have you done! Enter you here, to dwell therein.’” (39:73)

Compare this to the reprimand that the dwellers of hell will receive when they reach its gates. The people of Jannah will be given this beautiful greeting by the angels. Imagine the excitement, rushing towards the gates of Jannah and hearing the welcoming of the angels.

There are eight gates of Jannah. The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Paradise has eight gates, and one of them is called Ar-Rayyaan through which none will enter but those who observe fasting.” [Bukhaari, 4/54/479]

The Sahabah knew the value of fasting. One of the sahabah said, I have no desire in living in this world except for a few things: to fast the long days of summer, to pray the long nights of winter and to sit with brothers who choose the best words, like you would choose out of a basket of fruits. There would be no obscenity, cursing or idle talk in their words.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that those who engage in prayer will be invited to enter by the gate of prayer; those who take part in jihad will be invited to enter by the gate of jihad; those who give charity will be invited to enter by the gate of charity; and those who observe fasts will be invited to enter through the gate of ar-rayyaan. Abu Bakr asked RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, “Messenger of Allah, is it necessary that a person be invited through one of these gates, will anyone be invited to enter by all of those gates?” RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Yes, and I hope you will be one of them.”

So imagine this – Abu Bakr is walking to Jannah, and the angels from every gate will be asking him to come in through their gate. You know when you go to bazaars, and there are a lot of goods and everyone is inviting you to their shop? Well, the angels of Jannah will be asking Abu Bakr to come into Jannah through their gates, because they all want that honor. The angels are called pure by Allah, and they will ask Abu Bakr to just pass by them.

The human being has the potential of being the worse of creation – worse than animals. And they have the potential of being the best – better than angels. Allah says, they are like cattle; nay, even worse. Some of them will be honoured to a level that they are higher than the angels.

Who will be invited to enter through all Eight Gates

If you want to be invited through all of the gates, here two methods:

1.      This hadith is mentioned in Bukhaari. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says that whoever testifies that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah alone, Who has no partners, and that Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is His slave and His Apostle, and that Jesus is Allah’s slave and His Apostle and His Word which He bestowed upon Mary the Virgin, and a spirit created by Him, and that Paradise and Hell are true, Allah will invite him to enter through all of the gates. This is talking about deep, firm Imaan.

2.      This hadith is mentioned in Muslim. If any of you performs wudhu`/ablution, and then completes wudhu` well, and then says “I testify that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is the servant of Allah and His messenger,” then the eight gates of paradise will be opened for him and he may enter through whichever of them he wishes.

 The Du'aa` after Completing Wudhu`

 You will notice in both hadith that there is the shahaada – so the kalima has this value, but the person has to have a firm, certain faith in them.

How large are the gates of Paradise?

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam mentions in a hadith in Muslim, the distance between the two leaves of the door from the supporting frames – so we’re not talking about the whole distance of the door – is like the distance between Makkah and Hajr. That is a very long distance, like 1,000 miles plus. Allahu ‘Alam, this is just an estimate.

RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says in Musnad of Ahmad, The whole distance between the two sides of the gate is 40 years walking distance. That is how wide the gate is. Then RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam says, a day will come when it will be crowded. There will be so many people entering on the Day of Judgment that it will be crowded, even though it takes 40 years walking to cover the distance of this gate.