- You know, if you think about
how the believer carries themself in this life,
the believer is not someone who seeks to be on a throne,
or someone who seeks a position of highness.
And the believer is not someone who's relaxed
in the sense that they have a great sense of urgency.
So, they're not laying back
when other people lay back and are heedless.
They're fighting with themselves so that they can pray,
so that they can strive for the sake
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And while others will do anything that they possibly can
to have power and to have prestige,
the believer seeks to be humble
and instead seeks that prestige
and that place of prominence with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
in a high place in paradise instead of this lowly world.
The furniture of Jannah reflects many
of the themes that are found in the qualities
of the believer, and how the opposite is now true
in terms of your positions in the hereafter.
And so if you think about couches,
you know when people talk about couches in this life,
usually it's speaking about relaxing
after a long day of work.
And so, you have couches in Jannah,
and it shows up in the Quran along the same theme,
people reclining and relaxing with one another
after a long life of hard work,
and the entirety of this life will seem
like a day or part of a day,
once we enter into that eternal bliss insha Allah Ta'ala.
And then you have thrones and thrones denote honor, right?
And many of the thrones in this life, if not all of them,
are usually sought by means of corruption
and then used as means of tyranny.
And the believer is not involved
in either one of those two things.
And so on the day of judgment, they sit on thrones
in the gardens of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
as they avoided all of those things
that would've corrupted their good deeds
and lowered their position with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
So let's look through some of the categories
of the furniture in Jannah.
So you have the furniture of the homes
and these palaces of paradise have been furnished
in the most beautiful of ways.
They have gardens that you can sit and recline in.
You have beautiful couches of delightful colors.
You have high beds, and the interiors are lined with silk.
You have this magnificent appearance
of the drapes and the various colors.
You have cushions and carpets that are laid out
that match the colors of the gardens.
You have all of these things.
Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la mentions,
Feehaa sururum marfoo'ah Wa akwaabum mawdoo'ah
Wa namaariqu masfoofah Wa zaraabiyyu mabthoothah
Right? So you have thrones raised high
and cups in your hands and cushions that are set
in rows and rich carpets spread out, and he says
Muttaki-eena 'alaa rafrafin khudrin wa 'abqariyyin hisaan
Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la says,
reclining on green cushions
and rich, beautiful mattresses.
So you have the relaxation of Jannah
and that is a common theme. And when you read these ayaat,
it refers to the loss of hem, the loss of anxiety, right?
You're not really worried about anything in Jannah anymore.
And so the reclining position is spoken about to reflect
that the soul is now at rest, whereas in this life
you were fighting with your body because
the soul was not at rest, and you were seeking that comfort
in Jannah and forsaking the comfort of this dunyaa.
And then you have the gatherings
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in al-Jannah.
So this is one theme of gatherings
and these are the people that are sitting
on platforms of light, and they are the highest people.
You have people that are sitting on platforms of gold.
You have people that are sitting on platforms of silver,
and you have the lowest person in the gathering
that's sitting on a sheet of pearl.
But the Prophet SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam said that
"No one's going to think that anyone is higher than them."
And this is when Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
addresses the people of Jannah.
So the people gather and everyone sits
on their allotted throne or platform
or sheet or whatever it may be.
And the Prophet SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam said that
"Everyone is going to see Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala."
In the same way that when you look at the full moon
you don't have to crowd each other.
You don't have to push anyone away.
Everyone sees the full moon clearly.
Likewise, everyone in Jannah will look up
and they will see Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
will address everyone directly.
So this is one theme of the gatherings
and the furniture of al-Jannah that you sit
on something that represents your rank
with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And then ibn al Qayyim rahimahullah he says
the description of the cushions
and carpets being lined up and spread
shows that they are always available
for you to recline and sit on them.
And they're never hidden
and they're never taken away from you.
They're never put away.
And if you think about, you know
if you go to a resort in this life
they always put the beach chairs away at some point, right?
They always put the furniture away.
But the idea of all of these couches, all of these thrones
all of these places to relax, always being out there
shows you that in Jannah
you can do whatever you want, whenever you want.
And so this represents this theme of relaxation
but as we said, when we relax, we're in conversation.
And the best type of conversation is
when we are in glory with one another.
So Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala mentions to us
this glorious gathering when generations come together.
So Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says,
Thullatum minal awwaleen Wa qaleelum minal aakhireen
'Alaa sururim mawdoonah Muttaki-eena 'alayhaa mutaqaabileen
Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la says, "Imagine this gathering."
You have a multitude of those from the first generations
those who embraced Islam first.
And then you have a few of those who
came from the later generations
and they're all sitting on thrones that are woven
with these precious stones and gold, and they're reclining
on these thrones together face-to-face.
Think about being in a gathering where
you're sitting with Sahaabah,
where you're sitting with Taabi'een,
where you're sitting with great people
that have come before you.
And while the majority that would be
in that particular gathering would be
from the earlier generations
there would be some of those that came later on
but that follow them in righteousness.
And you're sitting around and you're having conversations
and you're talking about what happened
in your generation versus their generation.
You're clarifying moments of history with them.
But you're all on the same thrones facing one another
as brothers, as equals who love each other for the sake
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and who are now
enjoying the bliss from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala together.
So that's one category.
Then you have those who forgave each other.
And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala mentions
Wa naza'naa maa fee sudoorihim min ghillin
ikhwaanan 'alaa sururim mutaqaabileen
They are the people who we said Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
removes from their chest, any type of injury
any type of harm that they had towards one another.
And now they are brothers facing each other on thrones.
And so, people that forgave each other
for the sake of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
And SubanAllah forgiveness, raises ranks.
So you're higher in Jannah because you forgave someone.
And this is something that's very special
because we know that the Prophet SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam
spoke about people that loved one another
for the sake of Allah, and those that loved one another
for the sake of Allah are even higher
than those who forgave one another for the sake of Allah.
So when Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
talks about those who forgave one another
for the sake of Allah, they're on thrones that are elevated.
But when Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala talks about those who
love one another for the sake of Allah
they are on these pulpits of lights that look
like stars even to those that are on the thrones.
And I want you to think about this.
Ka'b radiAllahu ta'ala 'Anhu
He said that the people that love each other for the sake
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
they're so high in the ghuraf,
they're so high in these rooms and these platforms
of light in Jannah, just as they were on the day
of judgment, that people in the lower parts of Jannah,
they see these shining stars, and they comment,
Haadhaa rajul minal mutahaabbeena fillah
This must be one of those people who loves someone else
for the sake of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Think about the way that those people were
on pulpits of light, on the day of judgment
and they were admired even by the prophets and the martyrs.
And now, they're admired by the entirety
of Jannah for loving one another for the sake of Allah
And they have furniture that can't even
be seen by other people in Jannah.
So how many people do you love for Allah that are
from the shining stars of the earlier generations?
And how will you be a star for generations after you
to follow in your example?
Yaaa ayyatuhan
Nafsul mutma-innah
Irji'eee ilaa Rabbiki
raadiyatam mardiyyah
Fadkhulee fee 'ibaadee
Wadkhulee jannatee
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