The inheritance of Paradise


Abū Huraira said that the Messenger of Allāh ( صلى الله عليه وسلم )said:


“Whoever fears (Allāh) sets out at nightfall,[1] and whoever sets out at


nightfall will reach the goal. Indeed, the goods of Allāh are expensive; indeed,


the goods of Allāh is Paradise.”[2]


Shaykh al-Albānī comments:


“The meaning of this is that there is a price for entering


Paradise and that entering it does not happen by feeling safe


(from the plan of Allāh) and at-tawākul (not taking any means


and saying ‘Allāh will provide for me’), but rather it happens by


(doing) righteous deeds and at-tawakkul (taking the means


and putting one’s trust) in Allāh, the Blessed and Most High;


as Allāh, the Might and Majestic, said: ‘And say (O


Muhammad ( صلى الله عليه وسلم )): ‘Do deeds! Allāh will see your


deeds, and (so will) His Messenger.’’[3] And in this hadīth,


there is an indication of the noble āyah that says: ‘This is the


Paradise which you have been made to inherit because of


your deeds which you used to do (in the life of the world),’[4]


and in the other āyah: ‘Enter you Paradise because of that


(the good) which you used to do (in the world).’[5] And here, it


occurs to many students who have some participation in


studying the Sunnah, as they read or at least hear the


statement of the Messenger (of Allāh) ( صلى الله عليه وسلم ) which is


established in the sahīhayn[6] that he said: “‘None of you will


enter Paradise by his (good) deeds, but rather by the Favor of


Allāh and His Mercy.’ They said, ‘Not even you O Messenger


of Allāh?’ He said, ‘Not even myself, unless Allāh


encompasses me with His Favor and His Mercy.’”[7] So it


seems that there is a contradiction between this hadīth and


the previous āyah along with our hadīth in this book of ours


where (the Prophet) ( صلى الله عليه وسلم ) said: ‘Indeed, the goods


of Allāh are expensive; indeed, the goods of Allāh is Paradise.’


Hence, there is a price (that one must pay) for Paradise and


the two previous āyāt indicate that the price of Paradise is


righteous deeds, and there is no doubt that good deeds do not


benefit the one who does them at all except if he is truly a


believer in Allāh and His Messenger. So therefore, the price of


Paradise is īmān (faith) and righteous deeds. Then how does


one reconcile between these three texts – this reality that we


learned from our hadīth tonight, ‘Indeed, the goods of Allāh


are expensive’ and from the two previous āyāt – and between


this hadīth: ‘None of you will enter Paradise by his (good)


deeds, but rather by the Favor of Allāh and His Mercy’?


The reconciliation between (these two) is that… that which is


negated in the last hadīth ‘None of you will enter Paradise by


his (good) deeds’ is one thing and that which is confirmed in


the āyah ‘Enter you Paradise because of that (the good) which


you used to do (in the world)’ is something else. That which is


established in the āyah and the like is merely the entrance


(into Paradise), i.e., the key to Paradise, as mentioned in


some narrations from Wahb bin Munabbih in Sahīh al-Bukhārī:


‘…the key to Paradise is lā ilāha illAllāh (none has the right to


be worshiped but Allāh).’[8] So the key to Paradise is this


īmān (faith) and righteous deeds. But, if this Muslim enters


Paradise and he enjoys in it, as mentioned in some authentic


narrations, that which ‘no eye has seen, no ear has heard and


(that which) has not come to the mind of a human being,’[9]


then this type of enjoyment is not by means of a price that this


enjoyer presented, but rather (it is) by the Favor of Allāh, the


Mighty and Majestic, and His Mercy.


So the price of merely entering (into Paradise) is īmān (faith)


and righteous deeds. As for, part of the specific nature of


enjoyment in Paradise which we pointed to previously – there


is in it what ‘no eye has seen, no ear has heard and (what)


has not come to the mind of a human being’ – then there is no


price for this; it is impossible for a price to be determined for it.


Why?


It has been mentioned in Sahīh Muslim from the hadīth of


ʽAbdullāh bin Masʽūd (may Allāh be pleased with him) that the


Prophet ( صلى الله عليه وسلم ) said:[10] ‘Indeed, I know the last man


to come out from the Fire and the last man to enter Paradise.


A man will come out of the Fire crawling.’ The meaning of this


is that he comes out of the Fire being the most punished in it


from the Muslims, and he comes out destroyed, exhausted


(and) fatigued. Therefore, he is not able to walk straight as


Allāh, the Mighty and Majestic, created him. But rather, he


crawls until his life returns to him and his limbs are energetic


and active. So he walks in this manner until Allāh, the Blessed


and Most High, shows him a very great tree from far such that


he is captivated by its beauty and splendor. And he wished for


the Favor of Allāh, the Mighty and Majestic, and His Mercy


after He saved him from the His severe punishment. Thus, he


says: ‘O my Lord! Bring me to this tree so that I may be


shaded by its shade, eat from its fruit[11] and drink from its


water.’ Then Allāh, the Mighty and Majestic, says, while


having more knowledge of His slave: ‘Would you ask me for


other than it?’ (The man) says: ‘No O Lord, I will not ask you


for other than it.’ So Allāh, the Blessed and Most High, brings


him to that tree such that he is shaded by its shade, eats from


its fruit and drinks from its water. Then, he continues on his


way toward Paradise. Meanwhile, another tree appears to him


which is more radiant, more beautiful and greater than the first


one. So he hopes again and wishes more and more for the


Favor of Allāh, so he asks Him and says: ‘O my Lord! Bring


me to this tree’- and repeats the previous saying, then he is


shaded by its shade and so on. Then Allāh, the Mighty and


Majestic, says: ‘Would you ask me for other than it?’ (The


man) says: ‘I will not ask you for other than it,’ while (Allāh) is


more knowledgeable of him; our Lord knows that he will wish


and wish until he enters Paradise. So He brings him to that


tree such that he is shaded by its shade, eats from its fruit[12]


and drinks from its water. Then, he continues on his way until


he comes near the door of Paradise such that part of its


refreshment, scent and joy come to him and he hears the


voices of the people of Paradise. Thus, he says: ‘O my Lord!


Let me enter Paradise,’ and maybe he says ‘Let me enter past


the door of Paradise.’ So Allāh, the Blessed and Most High,


says: ‘Enter Paradise, and there is for you the like of the world


and ten times as much.’ So, the slave – almost not believing in


the like of this divine favor when (Allāh) says to him ‘there is


for you in Paradise the like of the world and ten times as


much’ – says: ‘Are you mocking me while you are the Lord?’


And here, the narrator of the hadīth laughed, who was


ʽAbdullāh bin Masʽūd as we mentioned. So he was asked by


the one to whom he was narrating this hadīth: ‘Why did you


laugh?’ He said: ‘Because when the Messenger (of Allāh) ( صلى


الله عليه وسلم ) narrated the statement of the slave to His Lord ‘Are


you mocking me while you are the Lord,’ he ( (صلى الله عليه وسلم


had also laughed.’ They had asked the Messenger (of Allāh)


صلى الله عليه وسلم) ) himself (about his reason for laughing), so he


said: ‘Because Allāh, the Mighty and Majestic, laughed at His


slave when he said ‘Are you mocking me while you are the


Lord.’


What is clear from the hadīth is that this person is the last to


come out from the Fire and the last to enter Paradise, and he


will have the like of the world and ten times as much. So does


this destroyed person, who was the last to come out of the


Fire, deserve this vast dominion in Paradise for his (good)


deeds? No, this is by the Favor of Allāh, the Mighty and


Majestic, and His Mercy…


Thus, if we regard this detailed explanation, the contradiction


disappears between this hadīth and the two āyāt. And this is


one of the many examples in which some contradiction


appears to some people, even the sincere ones amongst


them, between some texts, whether from the Qurʽān and


Sunnah or from each of them individually. So, the Muslim


must not be hasty and he must reflect on both texts, and if the


way for reconciling between the two is not possible for him, he


(should) ask the one who is above him, as our Lord, the


Blessed and Most High, said: ‘So ask the people of the


Reminder if you do not know.’”[13]


~ asaheeha translations ~


[1] Shaykh al-Albānī explains: “i.e., he is headed for good and righteous deeds early, and he


hastens to do them.”


[2] Sahīh at-Tirmidhī #2450


[3] Sūrat ut-Tawbah, 9:105


[4] Sūrat uz-Zukhruf, 43:72


[5] Sūrat un-Nahl, 16:32


[6] the two sahīhs, i.e. Sahīh al-Bukhārī and Sahīh Muslim


[7] Sahīh al-Bukhārī #5673, Sahīh Muslim #2816


[8] Sahīh al-Bukhārī Book 23, Chapter 1


[9] Sahīh al-Bukhārī #4779


[10] the following includes the narrations of Sahīh Muslim #186 and #187, in addition to the


Shaykh’s commentary


[11] the wording, “eats from its fruit,” is found in Sahīh aj-Jāmiʽ #1557 and attributed to the


second tree


[12] the wording, “eats from its fruit,” is found in Sahīh aj-Jāmiʽ #1557


[13] Sūrat ul-Ambiyā, 21:7 ~