H E A V E N
Originally the term “Heaven” referred to the sky or the area above the earth where the “Heavenly bodies” are placed. Heaven (Arabic Jannah), is the Islamic conception of paradise. The Arabic word Jannah is a shortened version meaning simply “Garden”. According to Islamic eschatology, after death one will reside in the grave until the appointed resurrection on Yawm Al Qiyamah. Muslims believe that the treatment of the individual in the life of the grave will be according to his or her deeds in the worldly life. Jannah is often compared to Christians concepts of Heaven. According to Muslim belief, everything one longs for in this world will be there in Paradise.
Paradise itself is commonly described in the Qur’an. The highest level of Paradise is Firdous, which is where the Prophets, the Martyrs and the most truthful and pious people will dwell.
DESCRIPTIONS OF PARADISE:
The descriptions of Paradise are mentioned in significant detail in the Qur’an, Hadiths and traditional Tafsir. Paradise is described as surrounded by eight principle gates, each level generally being divided into a hundred degrees. The highest level is known as Firdous (sometimes called Eden). It will be entered first by Muhammad (SAW), then those who lived in poverty, and then the most pious. Entrants will be greeted by angles with salutations of peace or as Assalamo Alaikum.
Gardens are perpetual bliss; they shall enter there, as well as the righteous among their fathers, their spouses and their off-spring: and angles shall enter unto them from every gate (with the salutations); “peace unto you that ye persevered in patience! Now how excellent is the final home – Qur’an Surah 13 (al- Ra’d) Iayate 23-24.
The food in Jannah is reported by companions of the Prophet as never rotting and so sweet it will make any person on earth live without feeling hunger for ever.
The dwellings for inhabitant will be pleasant, with lofty gardens, shady valleys, fountains scented with camphor or ginger, rivers of water, milk, honey and Sharabun Tahoora (pure drink); delicious fruits of all seasons without thorns.
One day in Paradise is considered equal to a thousand years on earth. Palaces are made from bricks of gold, silver, pearls, among other things. Traditions also note the presence of horses and camels of “dazzling whiteness”, along with other creatures. Large trees are described, mountains made of Musk, between which rivers flow in valleys of pearl and ruby.
The names of 4 rivers are Saihan (Syr Darya), Jaihan (Amu Darya), Furat (Euphrates) and Nil (Nile). Salsabil is the name of a spring that is the source of rivers of Rahma (Mercy) and Al-Kawthar (abundance). Sidrat-al-Muntaha is a lote tree that marks the end of the 7th heaven, the boundary where no creation can pass.
CONDITIONS OF GOING TO PARADISE:
According to the Qur’an, the basic criteria for salvation in after life is the belief in one Allah (Tauheed), last judgment, good deeds, and in all the messengers of Allah, as well as believing that Muhammad (SAW) is the last Prophet of Allah.
Conditions of going to Paradise according to Qur’an; those who spend (freely), whether in prosperity, or in adversity; who restrain anger, and pardon (all) men; for Allah loves those who do good; and those who, having done something to be ashamed of, or wronged their own souls, earnestly bring Allah to mind, and ask for forgiveness for their sins, - and who can forgive sins except Allah? – and are never obstinate in persisting knowingly in (the wrong) they have done. For such the reward is forgiveness from their Lord, and Gardens with rivers flowing underneath,-an eternal dwelling: How excellent a recompense for those who work (and strive)!
Qur’an,, Sura 3 (Al-Imran) Ayat 134-136.
Allah did aforetime take a convenant from the Children of Israel, and we appointed twelve captains among them. And Allah said: “I am with you: if ye (but) establish regular prayers, practice regular charity, believe in my messengers, honor and assist them, and loan to Allah a beautiful loan, verily I will wife out from you your evils, and admit you to gardens with rivers flowing beneath; but if any of you, after this, resisteth faith, he hath truly wandered from the path or rectitude”. Qur’an, Sura 5 (Al-Maidah) Ayat 12.
QUR’ANIC NAMES OF PARADISE (HEAVEN)
• Firdaws --- The Highest Gardens of the Paradise (Al-Kahf,(11) Al-Mu’minoon(12)
• Dar-ul-maqamah --- The Home (Fatir13)
• Dar-ul-Salam --- Home of Peace (Yunus(14)
• Dar al-Akhirah --- The Home in the Hereafter (al-Ankabut {15})
• Al-Jannah --- This is the most commonly used term in the Qur’an and Hadith, (al-Baqarah, {16} – Al “Imran, {17}{10} al-Ma’idah {18}
• Jannat al-adn --- Gardens of Everlasting Bliss (al-Tawbah: {19) 72. Al-Ra’d {20}
• Jannat al-Khuld --- The Eternal Gardens (al-Furqan {21})
• Jannat al-Ma’wa --- Garden of Abode (al-Najm {22})
• Jannat al-Na im --- The Gardens of Delight (al-Ma’idah, {23} Yunus, {24} al-Hajj {25})
• Maq “ad al-Sidq --- Assembly of Truth (al-Qamar {26})
• al-Maqam al-Amin --- The House of Security (al-Dukhan {27})
Doors of Jannah:
1. Bab al-Salah: For those who were punctual in prayer.
2. Bab al-Jihad: For those who took part in Jihad.
3. Bab al-Sadaqah: For those who gave charity more often.
4. Bab al-Rayyan: For those who fasted (sawm)
5. Bab al-Hajj: For those p[articipated in the annual pilgrimage.
6. Bab al-Kazmin al-Ghay Zwa-al-Afin “an al-Nas: For those who withheld their anger and forgave others.
7. Bab al-Ayman: For those who by virtue of their faith are saved from reckoning and chastisement.
8. Bab al-Dhikr: For those who showed zeal in remembering Allah.
CONCEPT OF HEAVEN IN Islam:
The Qur’an contains many references to an after life in Eden for those who do good deeds Heaven itself is commonly described in the Qur’an in verse 35 of Surah Al-Ra’d: “The parable of the Garden which the righteous are promised! Beneath it flow rivers. Perpetual is the fruits thereof and the shade therein. Such is the end of the Righteous; and the end of the unbelievers is the Fire, wherein a person dwells forever”. Since Islam rejects the concept of original sin, Muslims believe that all human beings are born pure and will naturally turn to God, but it is their environment and lack of will power which influences them to choose ungodly ways of life. In Islam, therefore, a child who dies automatically goes to heaven, regardless of the religion of his or her parents. The highest level of heaven is Firdaus, which is where the prophets, the martyrs and the most truthful and pious people will dwell.
H E L L
Hell, according to many religious beliefs, is an afterlife of suffering where the wicked or unrighteous dead are punished. Hell is almost always depicted as underground. Within Islam Hell is traditionally depicted as fiery. Some other traditions, however, portray Hell as cold and gloomy. Punishment in Hell typically corresponds to sins committed in life.
Jahannam (Arabic) is the Islamic equivalent to Hell. It is also mentioned in the Quran as:
“That which Breaks to Pieces”, [1] “Blizing Fire”, and “The Abyss”.
Description:
Jahannam is described as having seven gates, each for a specific group of sinners. The sinners have degrees (or ranks) based on their deeds and hypocrites are in the lowest of the depths of the Jahannam.
Jahannam is also known under different Arabic names as cited in the Qur’an.
Sinners are the fuel for the fire of Jahannam along with disbelieving Jinns and stones. The fire burns their skins, changing their color to black due to its intensity. Jahannam has a shadow of smoke ascending in three columns, which yields no shade of coolness against the fierce blaze. Its sparks are described to be as “huge as a palace”. Jahannam is described to have nineteen angels, who will punish wrongdoers. The leader of these angels, as stated in the Qur’an, is Maalik. Hell is perceived to be so deep that if a stone were thrown into it, it would fall for 70 years before reaching the bottom. The breadth of each of Hell’s walls are equivalent to a distance covered by a walking journey of 40 years. According to Prophet Muhammad (SAW), Maalik is an angel, very severe and harsh, and he will listen to condemned persons’ requests for remission of their punishments after 1000 years but then deny those requests as well.
The food of Jahannam described in Hadith and the Qur’an includes a bitter thorn plant, Dhari, which does not nourish sinners, along with a tree named Zaqqum is described in the Qur’an as a tree that spring out of the bottom of hellfire; the shoots of its fruit-stalks are like the “head of devils” and eating it is similar to eating molten brass that will boil their insides “like scalding water”. Sinners drink boiling water that will cut their bowels when they consume it. If they call for relief, they shall be given water described to be like molten brass, which will scald their faces. Hell is also filled with venomous donkeys and if they were to bite a person, the person would suffer for 40 years. The residents of Jahannam wear garments of fire that will scorch them. Along with the physical pain, certain sinners in hell will be mentally tortured by the guardian of hell, who will remind them of their misdeeds on earth.
Jahannam in the Qur’an:
The Qur’an constructed most of how Muslims picture and think about Jehannam, as according to scholar Einar Thomassen there are nearly 500 references to it altogether, and the rest of the elaboration came from the Hadith. The idea of the 7 gates of Jahannam came from verse 15:44 of the Qur’an, a verse which also elaborated how each level of Jahannam would be for a different class of sinner. The idea of heaven being physically above hell has been interpreted out of verse 7:50, which stated “The companions of the Fired will call to the Copmpanions of the Garden: ‘Pour down to us water or anything that God doth provide’”. The infamous Tree of Zaqqum, the food source of Jahannam wa described in verses 37:62-68 and aain in verse 44:43. The description of Jahannam as a place of blazing fire appears in almost every verse in the Qur’an describing hell, however, the concept that the fire “whose fuel is Men and Stones” comes from verse 2:24. The breath of Jahannam was mentioned in verse 67:7, and the voice of Jahannam in 50:30 where after God asks Jahannam on Judgment Day if I is full and Jahannam answers:”Are there any more (to come)”.
The Qur’an designated the occupants of Jahannam in several verses. The Qur’an claims that hypocrites and disbelievers will all be in hell in verse 4:140: “surely Allah ill gather together the hypocrites and the unbelievers all in hell.” Hypocrites are commonly perceived as the worst class of sinners in Islam, and that idea has been traced to verse 4:145 which stated “The Hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire”. Verse 98:6 mentions the disbelievers of the people of the book as well as polytheists are among the occupants of Jahannam: “Surely those who disbelieve from among the followers of the Book and the polytheists shall be in the fire of hell, abiding therein; they are the worst of men”. Verses 19:67-72 state that all mankind will be brought on their knees around Jahannam, but that God will save those who protected themselves: “So by your Lord! We will most certainly gather them together and the Shaitans, then shall we certainly cause them to be present round hell on their knees…And we will deliver those who guarded (against evil), and we will leave the unjust there in on their knees”.
The punishments of Jahannam have been outlined extensively in numerous verses in the Qur’an. The punishment of inhabitants having their skin burned and then renewed only to be burned again for all eternity originated from verse 4:56 and is mentioned again in 22:20. Verse 18:28 was where the idea of drinking “water like melted brass, that will scald their faces”, and is also detailed in verse 22:19. 22.19 also mentioned the “garment of fire” that the dwellers will wear in Jahannam. In the Quran, the punishments of Jahannam are always followed with countrary protection of the Garden. For example, after the burning punishment is reealed, the Garden’s shade is mentioned. The contrast between fire and shade is continuously revealed in the Qur’an. Verse 22:21 revealed the punishment of “maces of iron (to punish) them”. The notion that its dwellers will suffer in Jahannnam for eternity originated from verse 11:107; “They will dwell therein for all the time that the heavens and the earth endure, except as thy Lord willeth”.
