Thabit bin qais, The man of Jannah

O you who believe! Raise not your voices above the voice of the Prophet (SAW), nor speak aloud to him in talk as you speak aloud to one another, lest your deeds may be rendered fruitless while you perceive not. (Holy Qur'an 49:2)

When this Ayah was revealed, the Sahaba Thabit bin Qais who have a strong voice and used to be in the Majalis of Prophet sallallahu alihi wasllam stayed in his house crying day and night.

Prophet sallallahu alihi wasallam missed him and asked the companions about Thabit. The Sahaba replied: Oh prophet sallallahu alihi wasllam.  He from the time the Ayah was revealed, he is in his crying day and night. Prophet called Thabit and asked him about the reason and thabit replied that he fears that the Ayah was revealed about him. And he feared all his deeds would go waste.

Prophet sallallahu alihi wasallam gave him the good news that he will live a praise worthy life and will die a martyr and his abode is Jannah.

Anas bin Malik commented : We used to see Thabit walking among us knowing he was a man of paradise.

After praiseworthy life Thabit was martyred in the Battle against Musaylama al Kazzab.

The mahr of Hoor al-ayn

Muhammad ibn al-Nu’maan al-Muqari said: 

I was sitting with al-Jala al-Muqari in Makkah in al-Masjid al-Haraam, when a tall, lean-bodied old man dressed in rags passed by. Al-Jala got up and stood with him for a while, then came back to us and said: Do you know who this old man is? We said: No. He said: He bought from Allaah a hoor al-‘iyn for four thousand khatmahs (readings of the entire Qur’aan) and when he had completed it, he saw her in a dream, wearing her jewellery and finery. He said: Who are you? She said: I am al-hoor whom you bought from Allaah with four thousand khatmahs; this is the price, what will I get from you? He said: One thousand khatmahs. Al-Jala said: He is still working on that. 

It was narrated from Sahnoon that he said: There was a man in Egypt called Sa’eed, and he had a mother who was a devoted worshipper. When he got up at night to pray qiyaam, his mother would pray behind him, and if he grew sleepy his mother would call out to him: O Sa’eed! There is no sleep for the one who fears Hell and wants to marry the beautiful hoor al-‘iyn. So he would get up out of alarm.  

It was narrated from Thaabit that he said: My father was one of those who prayed qiyaam to Allaah in the depths of the night. He said: Last night I saw in my dream a woman who did not resemble the women of this world. I said to her: Who are you? She said: A hoor al-‘iyn, a female slave of Allaah. I said to her: Give yourself to me in marriage. She said: Propose to me through your Lord and give me a mahr. I said: What is your mahr? She said: Lengthy tahajjud. 

Maalik ibn Dinar said: I had sections of the Quraan that I would read every night. I fell asleep one night and in my dream I saw a beautiful girl, with a piece of vellum in her hand. She said: Can you read? I said: Yes. She gave me the piece of vellum and on it was written these lines of poetry:

You are wasting your time in sleeping rather than seeking high goals

And seeking beautiful hoor al-‘iyn in Paradise.

There in Paradise you will have an eternal life and no death

And you will have delight with the beautiful hoor ‘iyn in splendid pavilions.

Wake up from your sleep, for what is better than sleeping is spending the night reciting the Qur’aan. 

Source 

Warning to those who loose hope in the Mercy of Allah

Narrated Abu Huraira r.a: I heard Allah's Messenger s.a.w saying: There were two fraternal persons among the Children of Israel. One of them was engrossed in committing sins while the other was devoted to worship. The devotee used to see his fellow committing sin and advise him: Desist from doing so. One day when he found his fellow committing sin. He said to him: Avoid it. His fellow said: Leave me alone. Have you been sent out as a vigilant on me. The devotee said: By Allah, He will neither forgive you nor admit you to Paradise. When they died, they were gathered before the Lord of worlds. Allah asked the devotee: Were you assured of knowing Me or were you having power over what was in My Hands? Then He said to the sinner: Go and enter Paradise by My Mercy; and ordered the angels about the devotee: Lead him to hell.

(This Hadith is sound and reported by Abu Da'ud in his Sunan)

After narrating the Hadith, Abu Huraira commented: By Him in Whose Hand my soul is: One word spoken by the devotee ruined his good deeds in the world as well as in the Hereafter.

She is in Paradise

Khalid bin Safwan saw a group in the mosque of Basrah, and he said, “What is this gathering?”

He was told, “There is a woman who informs men about women who are available for marriage.”

 He went to her and said, “I want to marry a woman.”

She said, “Describe her to me.”

He said, “I want her to be a virgin who is wise like a married woman, or a married woman who is innocent like a virgin; she should be sweet when she is near, splendid when she is at a distance, she should have lived a life of luxury and then became afflicted with poverty — so she has the manners of the rich and the humility of the poor. When we gather wealth we should be as the people of the world, and when we become poor, we should be as the people of the Hereafter.”

She said, “I know of such a woman for you.”

He said, “And where is she?”

She said, “In Paradise, so work to achieve her!” 

Source: Gems and Jewels by Abdul-Malik Mujahid

The last person to enter Paradise

'Abdullaah ibn Mas'oud reported that the Messenger of Allah (Saw) said: "The last person to enter paradise will be a man who will alternately walk, stagger and be touched by the Fire. Once he has passed out of the Fire, he will turn to face it and say, "Blessed be He Who has saved me from you. Allah (swt) has given me something that He did not give to the earlier and later generations. Then a tree will be raised up for him, and he will say, "O my Lord, bring me closer to this tree so that I may enjoy its shade and drink of its water". Allah may He be glorified, will say, "O son of Adam if I grant you this, will you ask Me for something else?" He will say, "No, ‘O Lord,”and he pleads that he will ask Him nothing. Allah (swt) will excuse him because he is seeing something that he has no patience to resist, so He will bring him closer and he will enjoy its shade and drink its water.

Then another tree, better than the first, will be raised up for him and he will say, "O my Lord, bring me near to this tree, so that I may drink its water and enjoy its shade, I will not ask you for anything more". Allah (swt) will say, "O son of Adam did you not promise Me that you would not ask me for anything else? He will further say may be that if I bring you closer to this tree you will ask for more?" The man will pledge not to ask for any more, and Allah will excuse him because he has no patience to resist, so He will bring him closer and he will enjoy its shade and drink its water.

Then a third tree will be raised up at the gate of paradise, and it will be better than the first two. The man will say, "O My Lord, bring me closer to this (tree) so that I may enjoy its shade and drink its water, and I will not ask for anything more." Allah will say, "O son of Adam, did you not promise Me that you would not ask Me for anything more?" He will say, "Yes, O Lord, I will not ask you for anything more." His Lord, may He be glorified, will excuse him because he has no patience to resist. He will bring him closer to this tree. When he is brought close, he will hear the voices of the people of Paradise, and will say, "O my Lord, admit me to it." Allah (swt) will say, "O son of Adam what do you want for sure so that you ask Me not anything else thereafter? Will it please you if I give you the world along with similar to that?" He will say, "O Lord, are You making fun of me when You are the Lord of the worlds?"

Ibn Mas'oud smiled and said, "Why do you not ask me why I am smiling?" They asked, "Why are you smiling?" He said, "Because the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) smiled". They asked, "Why are you smiling, O Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him)?" He said, "Because the Lord of the Worlds will smile when He is asked, "Are You making fun of me when You are the Lord of the Worlds?" He will say, "I am not making fun of you, but I am able to do whatever I will""".

Source: Paradise and Hell by Dr. 'Umar S. al- Ashqar quoted from, Muslim Hadith no.187 , Baab Akhir ahl an-Naar khurujaan.

The Ultimate Reward

Road map to Paradise

Take Adam and Eve avenue until you come to the intersection of Habil (Abel) road, and Qabil (Cain) street; merge right on Habil (Abel) and continue for the next twenty miles till you come to Noah's Ferry.

Take the ferry to Safety Land, ignore the majority of other travel agencies’ directions, and arrive at Abraham's Super Highway also known as High way One God Only (1).

Follow Abraham but avoid the exit of Sodom and Gomorrah townships until you get to Moses lane but pass Gold and Greed bridges and take it to Jesus' Mercy road. Here you will encounter a lot of confusion, streets are not well marked, and many peddlers along the road are giving away maps with conflicting directions to travelers. The Romans have renamed Pagans’ path as Jesus' mercy road.

If you are not sure about the authenticity of Jesus' mercy road, review your map. See if Jesus' mercy path is a continuation of Abraham’s Super Highway. If it is a continuation you are fine, but still proceed with caution. If you have diverged, make a U-turn and go back to Abraham’s high way (1) and re-try again.

Continue on True Jesus' road, if you do not see the following signs along the path, you should stop and review your map again. Maps for this path have been tampered with, we recommend the Barnabas edition street map to get to the Unity of God congregation, Immaculate conception corner, and Love thy neighbor community center.

Avoid to show the Roman Traffic police your Barnabas street map, it is banned, they will confiscate it and you will be forced to use the only authorized official map - the Paul street map which was drawn to direct the motorists to Rome. For that reason there is a lot of lost traffic on this road. On the other hand True Jesus road is found on the Barnabas street map, but only few people have access to this map.

Keep on Jesus' Mercy road until you find Muhammad’s sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam Sunnah

Expressway. Stay on this expressway and do not be lured to rest areas along the expressway. Beware of the highway robbers, by insuring your vehicle with Dhikr security systems. All vehicles secured with Dhikr Security Systems will be protected from assaults by robbers (Satan).

Make sure that you have enough fuel. The highest grade fuel for this long and tiring trip is the Taqwa grade fuel. Make sure you demand this brand when you stop for refueling. Lighten the load on your vehicle, carry only the most important items for this trip: two meters of white cloth, good deeds and prayers of your kids is all you need. Excess weight is allowed only if it is more of the above. Other items will only slow you down or cause you to loose sight of where you are heading, and you risk losing the coverage of Dhikr Security systems, thereby becoming an easy target for the Robbers.

You need to check your vehicles safety features periodically by reading your vehicles manual - the Holy Quran. Your steering wheel must be calibrated by the Sunnah Calibration method, batteries must be charged with Iman, the engine needs to be tuned up with Ikhlas and your tires must be properly inflated with Ihsan. Most important of all, you must test the entire vehicle with the tawheed check list.

It does not matter if most parts of your vehicle are performing right, if a single part in your vehicle does not perform according to specifications of Tawheed (its conditions) your vehicle will break down and again the robbers will rob you of what is left. The overall performance of your vehicle depends on the performance of the weakest part in your vehicle, so routinely check these weak points, they may be detrimental to your trip.

There are many milestones on Muhammad’s(sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) road, and these milestones will assure you that you are on the right track. Do not worry that there are not any people on this road; just because you are alone on this road do not think that you are driving the wrong way on a one way street. Loving Allah more than anything else, loving the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam and his companions, who supported him when he was oppressed, following all his teachings, responding with patience and acceptance to lack of worldly goods, hunger, loss of family members are but some of the milestones and glad tidings that you are on the right track.

Also this road will be paved with pain, hard work, struggle with yourself and others and Iblis, the Robber, and all things that are not appealing to the soul. Never lay your guard, this trip is not over until it is over. Keep dhikr your guard, good deeds your luggage and do not lose to focus on where you are going, so you may endure the pain of this trip. When you finally arrive to your destination, Al-Jannah, you will forget all the pain.

Source: Islaam.com

The description of paradise

Ibn al-Qayyim said, in regards to the description of the Paradise and the delights that it contains:

"And if you ask about its ground and its soil, then it is of musk and saffron.

And if you ask about its roof, then it is the Throne of the Most Merciful.

And if you ask about its rocks, then they are pearls and jewels.

And if you ask about its buildings, then they are made of bricks of gold and silver.

And if you ask about its trees, then it does not contain a single tree except that its trunk is made of gold and silver.

And if you ask about its fruits, then they are softer than butter and sweeter than honey.

And if you ask about its leaves, then they are softer than the softest cloth.

And if you ask about its rivers, then there are rivers of milk who's taste does not change, and rivers of wine that is delicious to those who drink it, and rivers of honey that is pure, and rivers of water that is fresh.

And if you ask about their food, then it is fruits from whatever they will choose, and the meat of whatever birds they desire.

And if you ask about their drink, then it is Tasneem, ginger, and Kaafoor.

And if you ask about their drinking cups, then they are crystal-clear and made of gold and silver.

And if you ask about its shade, then a fast rider would ride in the shade of one of its trees for a hundred years and not escape it.

And if you ask about its vastness, then the lowest of its people would have within his kingdom and walls and palaces and gardens the distance that would be travelled in a thousand years.

And if you ask about its tents and encampments, then one tent is like a concealed pearl that is sixty miles long.

And if you ask about its towers, then they are rooms above rooms in buildings that have rivers running underneath them.

And if you ask about how far it reaches into the sky, then look at the shining star that is visible, as well as those that are far in the heavens that the eyesight cannot possibly reach.

And if you ask about the clothing of its inhabitants, then they are of silk and gold.

And if you ask about its beds, then its blankets are of the finest silk laid out in the highest of its levels.

And if you ask about the faces of its inhabitants and their beauty, then they are like the image of the Moon.

And if you ask about their age, then they are young ones of 33 years in the image of Adam, the father of humanity.

And if you ask about what they will be hearing, then it is the singing of their wives from among the Hoor al-'Ayn, and better than that are the voices of the Angels and the Prophets, and better than that is the Speech of the Lord of the Worlds.