How people of Paradise travel to see each other
30-11-2016 | IslamWeb
Question:
Dear Scholar, assalaamu alaykum. In Paradise, if people live in different places and we want to see them, then how will they travel? What kind of transportation will there be in Paradise? One more thing, in Paradise, will each person get married again even though they were married here? May Allaah reward you.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The conditions of the people of Paradise is among the matters of the Unseen, the knowledge of which is the domain of Allah exclusively and cannot be known to us except through divine revelation. We have no knowledge of their need for transportation and the nature of the means of transportation therein. However, we believe with certainty that the people of Paradise shall have whatever they wish for; Allah, The Exalted, says (what means):
- {And therein is whatever the souls desire and what delights the eyes...} [Quran 43:71]
- {Gardens of perpetual residence, which they will enter, beneath which rivers flow. They will have therein whatever they wish. Thus, does Allah reward the righteous.} [Quran 16:31]
- {And those who have believed and done righteous deeds will be in lush regions of the gardens (in Paradise) having whatever they will in the presence of their Lord. That is what is the great bounty.} [Quran 42:22]
Allah, The Almighty, described the people of Paradise as being on seats facing one another; He, Exalted may He be, says (what means): {And We will remove whatever is in their breasts of resentment, (so they will be) brothers, on thrones facing each other.} [Quran 15:47]
It should be noted that some reports stated that the people of Paradise shall travel while on their beds and sofas or while riding on camels or horses. However, scholars declared these reports as weak. For instance, it was reported that the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, “When the people of Paradise settle therein, they will miss their brothers and sisters (in Islam and wish to see them), so the bed of the one would move to the bed of the other.” [narrated by Al-Bazzaar and classified as weak by Al-‘Iraaqi in Al-Mughni and by Al-Albaani in As-Silsilah Adh-Dha‘eefah]
Also, there is the following hadeeth: The Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, “The people of Paradise will visit one another on white camels whose saddles are made of Mays trees, their breath will be sweet like musk, and the nose band of one of them will be better than the whole worldly life and what is therein.” [narrated by Al-Baghawi and classified as weak by Al-Albaani in Dha‘eef At-Targheeb]
Another report reads, “Verily, in Paradise, there is a tree; from its top come out garments, and from its bottom come out horses made of gold, saddled and bridled with pearls and rubies. They neither urinate nor drop manure. They have wings, and one stride of theirs is as far as the distance that they can see before them. The dwellers of Paradise will ride them and will fly on them to wherever they please ...” [narrated by Ibn Abi Ad-Dunya, and Al-Albaani classified it as fabricated]
As for marriage, all the dwellers of Paradise shall be married. The Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, “There will be no one in Paradise who is unmarried.” [Muslim] The linguist Ibn Manthoor said, “The Arabic word ‘Uzzab (used in the hadeeth) means the unmarried people, whether males or females.” [Lisaan Al-‘Arab]
A Muslim woman will be in Paradise with her Muslim husband who died as a Muslim while still married to her if she remained unmarried until her death. If she married another, then she will be with the last husband regardless of their number. Huthayfah, may Allah be pleased with him, said to his wife, “If you want to be with me in Paradise, then do not marry anyone after my death. The woman will be for her last husband in Paradise.” This is why Allah, The Exalted, forbade the wives of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, from marrying after his death because they will be his wives in Paradise.
Please, refer to fatwas 83922 and 54476 about the state of the male believer in Paradise.
Allah knows best.