BaKhabar, September 2013, Page-3 [OUR JOURNEY TO THE DAY OF RESURRECTION, Part- XXI (Jannah) + Commentary on hadith No. 4379 of Abu Dawoud

BaKhabar, Vol 6, Issue 9, September 2013

OUR JOURNEY TO THE DAY OF RESURRECTION, Part- XXIII (Concluding Part)
[Jannah, the Garden]

- By Gheyas S Mahfoz Hashmi, Jeddah (hgheyas@albatool.com.sa)

… Continued from previous issues

In the concluding part of this series, the author argues why everyone should crave for Jannah, as the final destination, and for Jannah alone.

Part-1 || Part-2 || Part-3 || Part-4 || Part-5 || Part-6 || Part-7 || Part-8 || Part-9 || Part-10 Part-11 || Part-12|| Part-13 || Part-14 || Part-15 || Part-16 || Part-17 ||Part-18 || Part-19 || Part-20 || Part-21 || Part-22 ... contd.

The beauty of this world for which we Muslims too have been spending a lot of money to see and enjoy is nothing compared to the beauty of Jannah. The moment our Emaan (belief) is converted to Yaqeen (surety) the money spent on tourism can be diverted to charity in order to have an everlasting tourism packages in Jannah. The Prophet (S) describes heaven in the following terms :
"There is in it what no eye has even seen, things of which no ear has ever heard and what no one has ever imagined."
jannah-firdaus

Followings are descriptions of Paradise for us to try in this world to qualify for it, Insha Allah. It can be done only if we consider this world merely a Musafir Khana (Travelers House) where people pass the time not live on time.

1. Paradise has eight agates.
2. Paradise has one hundred levels.
3. Bricks used are of gold and silver.
4. Prophet will get “Al-Waseelah” The Highest level of Paradise.
5. There are lights of pearl.
6. Its soil of saffron, a fine white powder.
7. There is a sea of honey, a sea of wine, a sea of milk and a sea of water, and the rivers flow out of these seas. Wine will be highly tasteful without any sore taste and bad smell.
8. In it are rivers of water; rivers of milk of which the taste never changes; rivers of wine, and rivers of honey pure and clear. One can bring canal to one’s selected place without any trouble.
9. There are spring of Kafoor, Salsabeel, and spring of Kauthar which will be given in custody of prophet Mohammad (S)
10. The wine of Paradise is crystal-white, delicious to those who drink and free from intoxication.
11. Dark Green Gardens under which rivers flow.
12. Pebbles of pearl and sapphire
13. There are Tent, hollowed out pearl
14. Its fragrance can be discerned from a distance of forty years' traveling. The best of the aromatic plants of Paradise is henna.
15. Fruits of all kinds, two types having taste of world but much better in quality, including dates and pomegranates, apple, grape, pomegranates. The fruits in bunches will be low and near at hand.
16. Trees, like date palms and, thornless Lot-trees, among them Talh trees with fruits piled one above another.
17. There is no tree in Paradise that does not have a trunk made of gold
18. Tooba is a tree in Paradise, as big as a hundred year's journey; the clothes of the people of Paradise comes from its calyces. Their clothes will never wear out.
19. Tree, Sidrat Al-Muntaha, its Nabq [fruits] looked like the clay jugs of Hajar, leaves like ears of elephants, and one of these leaves could cover the whole of this Ummah.
20. Beautiful high dwellings or mansion whose inside can be seen from the outside, and the outside can be seen from inside.
21. Flesh of any fowl that they may desire.
22. Some heavens will be having all utensils and other things of Silver and some of Gold.
23. People will be like Adam, sixty cubits tall, age about 30 to 33 and their youth will never fade.
24. People will not urinate, defecate, spit, blow their noses or excrete.
25. There will be no sickness, pain or sadness.
26. People will sit on gold-encrusted thrones, reclining on green cushions and rich carpets, facing one another, eating and talking and drinking.
27. Immortal youths will serve them with goblets, and ewers, and cups filled with wine from unsullied springs by which their minds will not be clouded and which will not make them drunk.
28. They will be given to drink there a cup [of wine] mixed with Zanjabeel (ginger), from a spring there, called Salsabeel.
29. Also wine mixed with Tasneem (spring in Paradise), drink from it are those who are nearest to Allah.
30. People of Paradise will look at the people dwelling in the chambers above them in the same way that people look at a brilliant star shining far away on the horizon.
31. People of Paradise will also be able to look Hell and talk to them.
32. People will go every Friday to a market, then a wind will come from the north and blow on their faces and clothes, and they will get increase in beauty.
33. People will be in permanent joy and will never feel miserable.
34. Their wives will be Al-Hoor Al-Eyn. Very beautiful, like Rubies and Coral. The marrow of whose calves will be visible from beneath the flesh because of their beauty.
35. The wives will sing to their husband in the most beautiful voices that anyone has ever heard.
36. Hoors are like pearls hidden in their shells, having big and lustrous eyes but restrained (as to their glances).
37. If a woman from the people of Paradise were to look at this earth, she would light up everything between it and fill it with her fragrance; the veil on her head is better than this world and all that is in it
38. Worldly spouses shall be in a renewed life, as virgins with full of love and well matched.
39. The close relatives will get joined to higher stages by Allah blessing. (Parents with children or spouses)
40. There will be no hatred of resentment among them, their hearts will be as one.

41. They shall not hear therein any Laghw (useless talk), talk starting by saying salaam to each other.
42. People shall abide for ever and will never die.
43. Abu Bakr and 'Umar will be the leaders of men of Paradise from the earlier and later generations.
44. Hasan and Husayn are the leaders of the youth of Paradise
45. The best women of Paradise are Khadeejah bint Khuwaylid, Faatimah bint Muhammad, Maryam bint Imraan and Aasiyah bint Muzahim - wife of Fir'awn
In contrary the Hell where fire is the main source of punishment is so bad that none can imagine its degree and intensity. Allah says:
jannat

O Ye who believe! Ward off from yourselves and your families a Fire whereof the fuel is men and stones, over which are set strong and sever angels who resist not Allah in that which He commanded them, but they do that which they are commanded (Al-Tahreem/6)

The description of Hell is given above just for an example as Hell is not meant for Muslim. Allah says:

And ward off (from yourselves) the Fire prepared for Disbelievers (Ale-Emran/131)

So, if a Muslim goes there it is his fault. By this I have come to the conclusion of writing about “Our Journey to the Day of Resurrection (23 parts)”. Now all parts can be collected from Bakhabar Site to be compiled in one as a Booklet, if wished.

Revisiting the sandy relics of Badr

- By Arbaz Fahad <arbazfahad@rediffmail.com>

“How Often by Allah’s will has a small force vanquished a big one?” Quran 2:249
In Islamic etymology the word Badr signifies divine grace, victory and reassurance. The battle of Badr is also connoted as Yaum Al Furqaan or “The Day Of Criterion”. The day on which Allah reaffirmed the noble mission and upright eminence of his Prophet and disparaged the contrivances of the disbelievers. Both the parties implored God almighty with assiduous vigour for divine succour in this battle. Abu Jahl also prayed for victory, saying:
“Our Lord, whichever of the two parties was less kind to his relatives, and brought us what we do not know, then destroy him tomorrow.”. On the Muslim side, the Prophet Of Allah prayed with feverish heartiness imploring his Lord ceaselessly persistently for divine assistance
“O Allâh! Should this group (of Muslims) be defeated today, You will no longer be worshipped.”. The Noble Qur’ân, with a play on the word, told them that the decision had come, and the victory — but not in the sense they had hoped for:

“(O Quraish) if you ask for a judgement, now has the judgement come unto you and if you cease (to do wrong), it will be better for you, and if you return (to the attack), so shall we return, and your forces will be of no avail to you, however numerous it be, and verily, Allâh is with the believers.” Quran 8:19

The victory at Badr was the fruit of the constant and indefatigable toil of the believers in Makkah. Over the length and breadth of 13 years Muslims bore untold miseries and afflictions of the Quraish and endured all the merciless tyrannical hegemonies of the Quraish with resolute patience and conviction. This was the trial of Allah to ascertain the mettle and demeanour of the believers. It is the divine Sunnah of Allah to subject his righteous servants to trials and tribulations.
battle-of-badr-2

“Do men imagine that they will be left (at ease) because they say, We believe, and will not be tested with affliction? Lo! We tested those who were before them. Thus Allah knows those who are sincere and those who pretend” Quran 29:2-3

Similarly, it is his scheme to affirm the word of truth and humiliate the unbelievers and to perfect his light.
“And that our forces, they surely must conquer” Quran 37:113
Allah has decreed “Verily it is I and my Messengers who shall be victorious” Quran 58:21

The Muslims had never ever thought of perpetrating a sanguinary battle with the Quraish. Their prime objective was to capture the Meccan caravan led by Abu Sufyan and to weaken and destabilise the Meccan economical embargo. This is the primary reason why the Muslims had set out of Madinah virtually unequipped and with only 2 camels. Abu Sufyan was shrewd enough to envisage the odds of a Muslim attack upon his lucrative caravan. He therefore sent word to his Meccan counterparts beseeching for immediate help. The Meccan set out with full pomp and show, they were confident that their superior number, equipment and experience would prove decisive. When the Messenger Of Allah was informed of the drastic upheaval in combat dimensions, he consulted the Muhajireen and the Ansaar, lest they harboured any reservations regarding the ensuing battle. After reassuring himself of their unshakable resolve and tenacity the Prophet marched forth to the well of Badr. In this regard, the Quran says:

”And when Allah promised you one of the two bands (either the Meccan caravan led by Abu Sufyan or the Meccan Army) that it should be yours, and you longed that the unarmed one (The caravan of Abu Sufyan) might be yours. But Allah intended to establish the truth by his words and to eliminate the disbelievers”

In absolute manifestation of his divine decree Allah discerned the glory of his righteous servants and humiliated the unbelievers.

“You (Muslims) killed them not, but Allah killed them. And you (Muhammad) threw not when you did throw but Allah threw” Quran 8:17

Some of the most pungent and dastardly enemies of Islam were slain in this battle. It is befogging to the evident mind that how could a impoverished, ill-equipped army subjugate the mighty army of the Quraish. Allah revealed his divine aura of victory, reassurance and serenity on his prophet and aided the Muslims with an angelic army.

“Soon will their multitude be put to flight, and they will show their backs” Quran 54:45
“When you sought help of your Lord and he answered you (saying): I will help you with a thousand of the angels, rank on rank” Quran 8:9

The Battle Of Badr is one of the most significant battles in world history. It reaffirmed the divine vicissitudes of Muhammad (PBUH) message and dissembled the apocryphal beliefs and cavalier notions of the Quraish. It firmly established the persona of Muhammad (PBUH) as the Political, Spiritual and Military head of Al Madinah. Furthermore, it tilted the political and socio economic dimensions in favour of the Muslims. Post Badr the Muslims exiled the notorious jewish tribe Bani Qainuqua out of Madinah. Similarly, one of their leading nobles and an eloquent poet Ka’b bin Al Ashraf was killed. The favourable outcome of the battle of Badr was detrimental in the spread of the Islamic values of peace, brotherhood and subservience to a single divine being. On the contrast the battle made a big dent in the political and military might of the Quraish. On the moral plain the Makkans were engaged in all kinds of evils and were arrogant and haughty in their approach towards their own people, they dissipated the rights of the Poor, downtrodden and the Orphans. In starc contrast the Muslims were revitalised with the serene aura of God consciousness, forbearance and benevolence. The Quraish would go on to exert their strenuous efforts to get even with the Muslims and would eventually have their day at Uhud.

“There has already been a sign for you in the two armies that met. One was fighting in the cause of Allah, and as for the other (they were) disbelievers.” Quran 3:13.

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