- So now you walk out of your new home,
and you have your new Jannah body,
and you start to observe the ambience,
and the environment of Jannah.
And the first thing
you might wonder is, what is that smell?
You see scientifically,
smell has the power to evoke
even more than what we see and what we taste.
It's the most overwhelming of our senses
that Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la has given to us.
So, think about what is it like
to breathe the air of Jannah?
And that's why the fragrance of Jannah
is spoken about so much in the Qur'an and Sunnah.
Because smell actually has the power to do two things:
it evokes both memory of the past,
and excitement about the future.
Think of the Prophet Ya'qub 'Alayhi Salaam, Jacob,
when he was smelling Yusuf 'Alayhi Salaam from afar,
and how much comfort the fragrance
of his shirt brought to him.
Life had no taste to Ya'qub
without the smell of Yusuf 'Alayhi Salaam
And think of Anas ibn Nadr,
the uncle of Anas ibn Malik,
may Allah be pleased with them.
As he was rushing towards Uhud,
when everybody else was running away.
And he was saying, "Ini ajidu reeh Al Jannah"
"I can smell the sweetness of Jannah behind Uhud".
As if to say,
that nothing in this life brought any joy
after the scent of Jannah was smelled by him.
And how are the believers' souls taken in this life?
What are they welcomed with?
The Prophet SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam says,
"Ba'atha Allahu alayhim reehan tayiba"
that Allah sends upon them gentle, beautiful breezes.
And every single Muslim that is left on this Earth,
will encounter it and die peacefully,
until Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la
resurrects their souls once again.
So, when you enter into Jannah,
it is all around filled with this amazing fragrance
which the believers will be able to enjoy,
even before they enter.
In the famous Hadith of the last man to enter Paradise,
the Prophet SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam said,
that this man could smell it from outside of its gates
and it just made him long for Jannah that much more.
And the Prophet SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam said,
that the smell of Jannah could reach you
from a distance of more than a hundred years.
Think about that in terms of worldly distance.
The context of the Prophet SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam
saying that is when he said whoever kills a man
from the people of Dhimmah,
which are non-Muslims that live
under Muslim protection,
that tyrant will not smell Paradise
even though its smell could reach you,
from the distance of a hundred years.
So, the oppressor will never smell Jannah.
But SubhanAllah the Prophet SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam
was taken aback by the smell of someone's perfume,
during the night of Al-Isra' wal-Mi'raj.
And who was it?
Jibreel 'Alayhi Salaam says
to the Prophet SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam when he asks,
"What is that smell, that beautiful smell?"
He says, it's the perfume,
of the hairdresser,
of the daughter of firawn.
The perfume of the hairdresser,
of the daughter of firawn.
Of all people, why her?
It seems kind of random, right?
But this was a young woman,
who was combing the hair of the daughter of firawn,
and when she dropped it she said, "Bismillah."
In the name of Allah.
And just for that,
Firawn throws her and her babies,
into the bottom of a burning ditch.
Only to have the Prophet SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam
ask Jibreel 'Alayhi Salaam about her amazing fragrance
in the highest heaven.
So, while the perfume of the oppressed is overwhelming,
the oppressors like firawn,
will never even smell Jannah.
And there's a powerful connection there.
So, when do you notice the smell?
Now, every footstep in Jannah provokes a new smell of musk.
So, as you walk out of your door,
you smell it here,
you smell it there.
The Prophet SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam said
the burps of the people, in Jannah, are musk.
And the Prophet SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam said
that the incense burners of the people of Paradise
will be aloe wood.
And that's going to be burned perpetually,
and continue to increase the good smell of Paradise.
As for the temperature, it is always pleasant and perfect.
The rainfall is never stormy,
and it's only there to serenade the people of Paradise.
You never have to stay indoors,
like think if you go to a vacation resort
and you have to constantly monitor the weather.
You don't have to stay indoors in Jannah
at any point because the weather is bad.
In fact, the Prophet SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam said,
that while we are in Paradise,
a cloud will come over us having that which
no eye has ever seen
and no ear has ever heard of.
And the people will say to the cloud,
"Amtiri alayna"
"Rain upon us!"
And the cloud will actually respond and say,
"Ma turidoona an umtirakum"
"What would you like me to rain upon you?"
And the Profit SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam said,
"It will then rain whatever you wish upon you
and however much you desire".
Then Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la will send a harmless wind,
and it will spread heaps of musk
on their right and on their left.
And then it will come on their faces,
and their hair, and their garments,
and it will please them
in ways that they continue to increase in beauty.
Now, is this in the daytime or the nighttime?
Is there even a sun and a moon in Jannah?
Al Imam Qurtubi said,
"The scholar said there is no night and day in Paradise;
rather, they will be an everlasting eternal light.
And the only way they know that nighttime has come
is because the curtains or the screens will be put up,
and the doors will be closed.
And they will know when daytime comes
because the curtains and the screens will be taken down,
and the doors will be opened".
It's also narrated that the people of Jannah
will wear one gown in the morning
and another in the evening.
So, you have nighttime and daytime colors
but it's all the same in Jannah.
"La yarona fi-ha shamsan"
"And no sun is ever seen".
Now, Imam Al-Samaak Rahimahullah
He said that I met Abdullah Ibn Abbas,
radiAllahu Anhu in Medina.
And that was after he became blind.
So, it was when he was very old. And I said to him,
"What is the ground of Paradise like?"
He said, "It is white marble of silver
as though it is a mirror".
And he said, "I asked him,
and what is the light of Paradise?"
And Ibn Abbas radiAllahu Anhuma, said,
"Have you ever seen the light right before sunrise?
Its light will be like that
but there's no sun and there's no cold".
Now where's that light coming from in Jannah?
Imam Ibn Taymiyah Rahimahullah says,
"Wal Jannah-tu laysa fiha shamsun wa-la qamarun
wa-la laylun wa-la nahar"
In Jannah there's no night, there's no day,
there's no sun, no moon.
But morning and evening will be known
by a light appearing from where?
From the Throne of Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la.
So, the light is shining
from Allah's Throne.
And that light is illuminating all of Paradise from above.
And how beautiful is that light?
So, if the lights stay on,
when do we get to sleep in Jannah?
Because I'm sure Jannah is sleep for some people.
And the question is,
"Why would you want to sleep in Jannah?"
The Prophets SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam was asked,
"Do the people of Jannah ever sleep?"
And he said,
"Al-Nawmu akhul mawt wa ahlul Jannati la yanamun"
that sleep is the brother of death,
and the people of Jannah do not die.
Now, you may want to relax a bit in Paradise,
but why would you want to sleep?
And if you think about sleep in this life,
it really is a mercy to us, so that we can rest.
And sometimes maybe even escape our troubles
or at least refresh ourselves a bit.
But what is there to escape from in Jannah?
And what do you need to refresh from?
Your body, your mind, and your soul
are perpetually refreshed.
Now, another element of this is that in this life
you fought your sleep and you fought the comfort of your bed
seeking the reward from Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la
and the coolness of Jannah.
And when you think about, in this life
when you finish a long day of work,
your body is too exhausted
to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
But once you get to Jannah,
Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la is not just giving you
the reward, but he's giving you the capacity to enjoy it
in a way that you never could have in this life.
Captioning provided by MUHSEN (www.muhsen.org)