𝗞𝗵𝗮𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗵 (10)

Jannah contains “What No Eye Has Seen or Ear Has Heard”...But Haven't Some Seen Jannah? Sheikh Rashad Adh-Dhali'ee hafidhahullah said (slightly paraphrased) This hadith contains a confusion. Some people were confused by it, saying: It is known that Jibreel saw the blessings of Paradise when Allah created it. Allah told him, “Go and look at it and what I have prepared in it for My servants.” So he went and saw it. Also, many hadiths tell us that the Prophet (peace be upon him) saw Paradise. For example, he said: “I looked into Paradise and saw that most of its people are the poor.” “I entered Paradise and saw a river whose banks were lined with domes of pearls.” “I entered Paradise and saw a palace. I asked, ‘Whose palace is this?’ They said, ‘For a man from the Arabs.’ I said, ‘I am from the Arabs.’ They said, ‘For a man from Quraysh.’ I said, ‘I am from Quraysh.’ They said, ‘This palace belongs to ‘Umar.’” And in the hadith about Bilal, the Prophet said, “Tell me about the deed you hope for most, for whenever I entered Paradise, I heard your footsteps ahead of me.” So some people raised a confusion: If these people saw some of the blessings of Paradise, how can we understand the hadith in which Allah says, “I have prepared for My righteous servants what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and has never come to the heart of any human being”? Scholars answered this confusion with several responses, and the best of them in reconciling between these hadiths is that: Those who saw the blessings of Paradise only saw part of it. They did not see all of its blessings completely or in full detail—whether it was Jibreel or the Prophet (peace be upon him). There are other blessings in Paradise that no one has seen, no one has heard about, and no human has even imagined. The hadith does not mean that no one has ever seen ANYTHING from Paradise at all. Rather, it means that in Paradise there are blessings that no eye has seen and no ear has heard of. Allah has described some of its blessings in the Qur’an, and the believers have heard about them. So people have seen or heard about some of its blessings—but only a part. This meaning is supported by another wording of the hadith found in Sahih Al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim: “Apart from what Allah has shown you.” This means that besides what Allah has already shown you, there are other blessings that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has imagined. So the special reward mentioned in the hadith—“I have prepared for My righteous servants”—refers to a type of blessing that no one among creation has seen. But they have seen other blessings. This is further explained in a hadith in Sahih Muslim. Musa asked his Lord about the lowest-ranking person in Paradise. Allah said that this person will come after everyone has taken their places in Paradise. He will say, “My Lord, how can I enter when everyone has already taken their places?” Allah will say, “Would you be pleased to have a kingdom like that of one of the kings of this world?” He will say, “I am pleased with that.” Allah will say, “You will have that, and the same again, and the same again,” five times. He will say, “I am pleased, my Lord.” Allah will say, “You will have that and ten times more, and you will have whatever your soul desires and whatever delights your eyes.” When Musa heard that this is the reward of the lowest person in Paradise, he asked, “My Lord, what about the highest in rank?” Allah said, “Those are the ones I wanted. They are the ones whose honour I planted with My own Hand and sealed. No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and it has never crossed the heart of any human being.” This hadith shows that what no eye has seen and no ear has heard refers especially to the reward of the highest people in Paradise. As for other levels, some of their blessings have been described to Musa and mentioned by the Prophet to his nation.