The Journey to Paradise

By Amr Khaled

Translated by the www.daralislamlive.com team.

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I would like to start this journey with a question. What is your dream in life? Some would answer, my dream in life is to marry the person I love, or, my life’s dream is to be rich and own many companies. A mother would say that her dream in life is to see her children achieve success. Well all these dreams are ‘Halal’. There is nothing ‘haram’ in these dreams, however all these dreams are materialistic, and will not last. You will marry the love of your life and think that you are going to have a happy life, but you will face problems. One day you will loose your money, and your son will succeed and will leave you alone. My point isn’t to make you depressed or destroy your dreams. But let’s dream of something very beautiful that will never end. What is this dream that will never end? Paradise! Why not dream to reach Paradise? You will always be happy in Paradise; you will never face any problems.

Let us travel together to Paradise today. Just sit there and dream about Paradise. Let’s take our souls to ‘happy land’; Paradise, for half an hour. Imagine that you have no obstacles to face, and you have passed ‘al–serat’ (the bridge that takes you to Paradise), and you pass it without falling. You walk fast and firmly, you have hell beneath you, but you are not worried, because last Ramadan helped you to follow the straight path and pass ‘al – serat’. On the other side of ‘al-serat’ is Prophet Mohamed saying ‘O Allah keep him safe, O Allah keep him safe’ because you deserve it. If you are really moved about what we will talk about, it will show on your face, because you will smile.

Paradise’s gate is in front of you. Imagine that this will be the first time you see it. Before you had only dreamt and heard about it. Now after all the hard work you have done in the world, you are standing in front of Paradise. The one who really misses and dreams about Paradise will be the one who enters it, while the one who hasn’t will fall into Hell. Your aim in life was to have a baby boy, which isn’t a goal. The one who enters Paradise knows how much it is worth. Imagine a boy who wants to marry a girl; if you don’t know how precious and beautiful she is, then you don’t deserve her.

So, you are standing in front Paradise. Imagine your feelings. The door is still closed; but you are safe, because al-serat is behind you. You see Abu Bakr, and not far away is Omar Ibn al-Khatab, and there is Mariam bint Omran. Imagine how happy you must be! You have managed to reach the same stage as Prophet Mohamed’s Companions. The door is still closed and we will start to ask each other, “who is going to open the door for us?” We look at the Prophets, because they should open the doors. But they say; “lastu laha, lastu laha” We are not the one, we can’t ask Allah to open the door for us. That’s when Prophet Mohamed enters and says, “ana laha, ana laha” I am the one, I am the one, I will open the door. The first person who will ever touch the door is Prophet Mohamed. You won’t be able to see the guard, but you will hear the door guard asking; who is it? Prophet Mohamed will answer; ‘I am Mohamed, God’s servant.’ The voice says; ‘Allah ordered me not to open the door to any one except you’. So, Paradise’s doors start to open. What is the first thing you will do when you enter Paradise? Isn’t it to jump, run and scream from joy? But that is when it is your turn to enter. The first people who will enter Paradise will be the Prophet and his companions. He will take them in his hand and walk in. Will you enter with the Prophet and his companions hand in hand? And will he tell you, ‘here is your palace and there is mine, if you need anything, just come by’. Everyone won’t enter Paradise at the same time. Prophet Mohamed described the first gathering that enters Paradise. He said that their faces will shine like the moon. Imagine how bright the full moon shines in a desert. That is the first group. And the group that will come after them will shine like the brightest star. Will you be with Prophet Mohamed?

“And those who feared Their Lord will be led to the Garden in groups: Until behold, they arrive there; its gates will be opened; and its keepers will say: Peace be open you! Enter ye here, to dwell therein” [Az-zumar 73.]

This signifies that everyone who loved each other for the sake of Allah on earth will enter Paradise together. This shows the importance of having friends that believe in Allah and His messenger. You can’t say “those are my best friends” if they don’t believe in Allah and His messenger. You can never strengthen your faith without real friends.

Back to Paradise’s doors. The door has now opened. Prophet Mohamed said that Paradise’s door is as long as Mecca to Syria. That is just the door! So how big is Paradise itself? Remember that Paradise has eight doors. Now you might think that it will be very empty in Paradise if the doors are so huge. But no, Prophet Mohamed said that it will be overcrowded! Millions of people will enter Paradise! People often think that it is impossible to enter Paradise, and that only the extremely ‘religious’ people are the ones who enter Paradise. Why? Why is it impossible to enter Paradise? Well, it isn’t impossible to enter Paradise. Maybe it was your Maghrib prayers which you prayed with your whole heart that made you enter Paradise! Or the charity you gave! Or you were always good to your mother and made her happy so she prayed to Allah that you enter Paradise. See? It isn’t impossible to enter Paradise; a small action can make you enter something very beautiful.

This is how Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) described Paradise; “The chambers are made of gold, everything smells of Misk (a very beautiful scent). Everyone will have their hearts together, and there will be no problems.”

Allah says in the Qur’an: “We shall remove from their hearts any rancour (memory that may cause pain)” [Al-a’ar?f 43]

When you sweat you will sweat the smell of misk! Everytime you eat something new, you will smell something new in Paradise. The ones who enter Paradise will say a lot of glorifications to God. You will say, ‘there are no glorifications in Paradise’. That’s not the point, as long you walk in Paradise and meet something new and incredible, you will say, ‘Subhan Allah’ Glory be to Allah!, ‘Masha Allah’, ‘Allahu Akbar’, God is the Greatest! And ‘La illaha ill Allah’. There is no God but Allah! When you enter Paradise, you won’t feel that you might get lost or that this is a new place. You will feel as if you have been brought up in this place. Allah says in the Qur’an:

“Soon will He guide them and improve their condition (5). And admit them to the Garden, Which He had made known to them (6). O ye who believe! If ye will help (the cause of) Allah, He will help you, and plant your feet firmly (7).” Chapter 47, Mohamed 5, 6, 7.

Let us continue our journey and go through your palace. You already know where your palace is. In Paradise there is no such thing as first class apartments or a 400m2 house. No, everyone has their own palace with its own river. Allah says in the Qur’an:

“For them will be Gardens of Eternity; beneath them rivers will flow: they will Be adorned therein With bracelets of gold, And they will wear Green garments of fine silk And heavy brocade; They will recline therein On raised thrones. How good the recompense! How beautiful a couch to recline on!” [Chapter 18, 31.]

Meanwhile, you are lying on your bed in Paradise and you will see the river beneath you flow. The people who have patience, and ask Allah for His mercy, and know that all this is nothing compared to Hell, and long for Paradise, will achieve the best place in Paradise.

The Prophet’s (PBUH) companions asked him to describe the palaces in Paradise. Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) said that the palaces will be built with gold and silver, the smell of misk will fill the palace. The floors and the garden will be made of pearls, and the roof is the Throne of Allah, the Merciful. There is no group of people that has heard so much about Paradise as the Prophet Mohamed’s (PBUH) people.

Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) said that the person in the lowest heaven in Paradise has a palace that would take him 1000 years to walk across, and he still would not reach the end! Imagine! That is more than walking around the whole earth! Do you now understand what Allah mean by “Paradise’s widths are equal to the heaven and earth”? Prophet Mohamed’s (PBUH) companions asked him that if that is what a person is rewarded with in the lowest of Paradise, then how is it with the best? The Messenger answered, “They are the ones who sees and talks with Allah day and night”

One day Prophet Musa asked Allah: “Allah, who has the lowest place in Paradise?” Allah answered; “The lowest place in Paradise is for the one who leaves Hell last”. He will try to escape from the fire, but the fire pulls him back, he will try again and again and on the third time is he released. What do you think such a person might have done during his life? He gets out and looks at the fire and says: “O thank God who saved me from you”. Allah will say to him, “O servant, go to your Paradise”. The servant will go and look at it and will come back and say: “Allah it is so crowded in there that I can’t find a place” (That is because Allah will shrink the size of Paradise in his eyes). Allah asks him: “What did the best king on earth have, how much money and how many servants”? The servant doesn’t know how to answer. Allah tells him, “You will get, double, double, double, double as……” The slave says: “Stop, it is enough, I am satisfied Allah”. Allah tells him; “You will have ten times better than the best human on earth”. Prophet Musa asked: “then who are the highest in Paradise?” Allah answered; “Those are mine, I will plant their happiness with My own Hands”. Imagine Allah will plant your happiness with his own hands!

Then how is the food in Paradise? The Prophet (PBUH) said that 1000 angels will come, each one will be carrying different sorts of food and they will feed you. In Paradise don’t you eat because you are hungry, no, it is to make you happy.

Many think that it is hard to own a palace in Paradise. But imagine how much one meter would cost in a very fancy place in London! That is expensive. But to buy a meter in Paradise is not expensive. By praying two prostrations with your whole heart, you have bought a meter in Paradise; by guiding someone to Allah. To buy a meter in Paradise is when you can say no to sins. Say, no I don’t want to commit any sins; I want to have my meter in Paradise.

Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) said: “There is no tree in Paradise that is not made of gold”.

Those who like music, when the wind reaches the trees, will you hear sounds you never heard before! The people in Paradise will say, “We never heard anything so beautiful”, and Allah will answer them that there are sounds more beautiful than that.

They will ask, “What, O Allah?” Allah tells Prophet Dawood: “read Dawood read”. When Dawood reads the mountains shake and the birds glorify Allah. Imagine how beautiful it must be! The people of Paradise will say: “We have never heard anything so beautiful” Allah will answer that there is something more beautiful. They ask: “What O Allah?” Allah says: “Mohamed, read Chapter Taha”. He reads, and the people become even more surprised and say; “Now, there can’t be anything better” Allah answers: “I Myself will read Surat Al-Rahman to you”. How do you think your feelings will be? Will you cry or laugh? What more can you ever want from earth when you have Paradise in front of you? There are youth that lay in bed all day and day dream about the person they love. Others dream how they will be rich. Did you ever lie in bed and dream about Paradise? Let us dream about that now. Our problem is that we know everything about the world. So let us dream about what you want. Will you like to be able to fly and take a trip through Paradise?

Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) said: “You will be walking beside a tree for 100 years and it will never have an end”. Imagine how beautiful the environment must be. We wish to play with messenger Mohammed (PBUH). Imagine eating dinner with Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) and with the people you loved on earth. Imagine swimming in Paradise’s river and talking with the martyrs from the Battle of Uhud. You know one of the main things we should do on earth is to dream about Paradise. If you think a lot on how you want to live in Paradise, it will help you to keep a distance from sins.

If I would ask someone: where does your father come?

- He is from Egypt.

- No, that’s not right. You first father came from Paradise.

Have you forgotten that you came from Paradise and that you are a stranger here on earth? This is not our land. Our land is Paradise. We should miss our father’s country. Don’t you wish to be able to take a walk with Abu Bakr, Omar ibn Al-Khattab or with Aisha and Asma.

What do you wish? You want love? Many of our youth have ruined the meaning of love. Many boys and girls have totally used the word ‘love’ wrong, and that has ruined their live Let us see how love is in Paradise. The women in Paradise will be much beautiful than on Earth. All the people in Paradise won’t be any older than 33 years. For how long? Forever! You will find total love, no problems; the love will increase all the time. The women’s beauty in Paradise will increase all the time, so imagine how beautiful they will be after a million years? Who would prefer the world after all this? Wouldn’t you love to be there? Wouldn’t you love to be hand in hand with Prophet Mohamed (PBUH)? Why not dream about Paradise? Why don’t we stop committing sins and think of Paradise?

O Allah let us be with the people of Paradise! O Allah let us enjoy the blessing of Paradise!

AMEEN!

Reference: Cassette Amr Khaled ; Al-Jannah, Paradise.

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