As-sahibu as-sahab
im-ma elal Jannah
wa im-ma elan-naar
A friend will drag you
either to Paradise or to hell fire.
And the company we choose here
will likely be who we are going to be resurrected with
and who we end up spending eternity with.
So choose your friends wisely
doesn't just mean for the purpose of this world,
in fact, to a greater extent, the next world.
I always marvel at people that do Hajj together,
or people that share Ramadan with each other,
or people that share some sort of deep religious experience,
and they create these bonds
that are unlike the bonds of anything else.
Because just like loving Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la
is not like loving anyone else,
loving someone for the sake of Allah
is not like loving anyone else
for the sake of anything else.
Urwah ibn Zubair radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu
has a very touching story about our mother,
'Aisha radiAllahu Anha
He says that,
"One day, I went to visit Aisha, and she was my aunt,
and I wanted to ask her some questions.
And I found her standing up, praying,
and she was reading Qur'an,
and she was reading these ayats,
and she would cry, and she would make Du'a.
And she would repeat the ayat,
and she'd cry, and she'd make Du'a.
So they said that she was taking so long,
that I told myself,
'Let me go shop because I have some things to do.
And then, I'll come back later when she's done.'"
So he said,
"I went to the souq,
I did what I had to do,
and I came back after a long time.
And I found her reciting the exact same ayah.
And it is an ayah from Surah At-Tur."
Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la says,
(Qur'an 52:25) Wa aqbala ba'duhum 'ala ba'din-yatasa aloon
(Qur'an 52:26) Qaloo inna kunna qablu fee ahlina mushfiqeen
(Qur'an 52:27) Famann-Allahu 'alaina wawaqaana
'athaba-assamoon.
So he heard
'Aisha radiAllahu Anha
reciting the last part of this.
The ayah says that people start coming close to one another
in Jannah and asking about each other.
And they're curious if someone they loved made it
and if someone is missing.
And so they start to say
that we remember before where we used to fear
Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la
together amongst our people.
And Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la
has been gracious to us
and saved us from the torment of the fire.
So 'Aisha radiAllahu Anha
was repeating this last part over and over again,
this conversation between friends in Jannah, where they say,
"How merciful was Allah to us,
when he pardoned us and freed us,
as we used to be amongst our people,
those that believed in
Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la
and feared Him."
Indeed,
we used to call upon
Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la
alone before.
And we used to fear Him alone before.
And Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la
is truly most kind and most merciful.
Friends that used to worship Allah together
knew that they were strangers together in this dunya.
And now,
they're celebrating being the only people in Paradise
because all of the people of Paradise
are people who were righteous,
even when they were in the midst of great wickedness.
And so these conversations start to unfold.
And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, he said,
"When the people of Paradise enter it,
then friends that used to worship
Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la together,
they'll start to long for one another."
And so what happens?
The couch of one person
will move to the couch of the other,
and Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la
will bring them close together.
And they will meet reclining on their couches,
remembering their days.
And a person will say to his friend,
"Do you know when
Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la
forgave us?
When this was unlocked for us?"
And the friend will reply,
"On such and such day,
and in such and such place,
we called upon
Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la
and he forgave us."
So as you're looking back with each other,
what do you think was the moment?
Was it Laylat-ul-Qadr?
Was it the 27th night in the masjid together?
Was it Hajj together?
When was it that Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la
forgave us?
And you know exactly the moment, that in this dunya,
Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la
unlocked for you,
the Jannah that you are now enjoying.
In another narration,
the Prophet SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam said,
"Among the delights of the people of Paradise
will be that they visit one another on mounts and camels.
And they'll be supplied with these noble horses with saddles
that do not defecate or urinate.
And they ride them wherever they want to
by the mercy of
Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta-A'la."
And this is not just true for friends
that lived as contemporaries,
because just like there are families
across generations that we spoke about,
there are friends across generations as well.
Have you loved the sahabah
as if they were your own sahabah?
As if they were your own companions?
Now you get to go and visit them as you please.
The sahabah that you used to long for,
now, you long for them, and you see them.
And what do the people talk about?
What do these righteous friends talk about
when they come together?
Now, a lot of it is what they used to do.
A lot of it is catching up on old memories.
And that's part of the joy of the people of Paradise
because certainly this isn't wickedness.
Maybe they are reflecting on how they were
before they got religious.
And maybe they're just reflecting
on old times and old jokes.
But righteous friends also discuss things
that they used to discuss in this life.
And so, Ibn Qayyim Rahimahullah
He says that,
"Imagine the students of knowledge,
the people that used to care so much
about religious knowledge,
continuing their discussions in Jannah."
So you're trying to understand the Quran, and the Sunnah,
certain Fiqhi things,
certain episodes of the Seerah.
You're trying to get all of that in Jannah together,
and you're continuing that discussion there.
Except now, when you want to know if a Hadith's authentic,
you walk over to the narrator, who's literally right there.
And if you want to know about an element of the Seerah
go ask the Prophet SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam
or ask the person that it involves.
It's just a part of their joy.
Ibn Qayyim Rahimahullah said,
"This type of discussion for people who love the
Deen, people who love 'Ilm
is the sweetest thing in this world.
And now it's even better in Jannah."
And he said,
"That's only for the students of knowledge."
And SubhanAllah,
there's something very beautiful here
that the Prophet SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam said,
"That circles of knowledge
are gardens of paradise in this earth."
And now, those circles of knowledge are continuing,
literally, in the gardens of Paradise.
Now, unlike family, when it comes to friends,
sometimes you have some friends
that are not just going to be on a different level
in terms of Paradise,
but you'll have some friends that are in hellfire.
And it's not like you all get joined together
by virtue of one person
being in a particular part of Paradise.
However, intercession is still a thing,
and you want to be a person who is interceding,
not being interceded for.
And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, he said,
"That there are some people who will enter into hellfire,
and they will remain there,
never dying and never living.
But there are others who will enter hellfire
because of their sins,
and they will be burnt inside
of hellfire until they turn like coals.
And then permission will be granted for shafa'ah,
for intercession.
And they will be brought out of it in groups,
and they'll be spread over
the side of the rivers of Paradise.
And then it will be said,
"Ya ahlul jannati afeedhu 'alayhim"
"Oh, people of paradise, pour water on them."
Some of the people of Paradise will come,
and they'll pour water on those people.
And they will grow like seeds in a valley after a flood.
And the messenger of Allah, SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam
he said, "Verily,
there are some people who will be brought out of the fire
having been burnt all over except for their faces.
And they will enter paradise
with all traces of the fire removed
after their friends pour water on them.
And the people of Paradise will say,
'These are the people of hell fire,
who were brought out and admitted into Jannah.'"
They are al jahannamiyoon.
Now, SubhanAllah
this is something very significant
because it really speaks to this idea
of pulling your friend out of a hard time.
We talk about
As-sahibu as-sahab
A friend is someone who drags.
Don't just be someone that hangs out with righteous people
that can drag you right.
But also think of how you can save others.
And the reward, the tremendous reward,
of being a source of hidayah,
being a source of guidance for others,
while seeking the best companions
who are upon guidance your entire life,
looking for the effect
that they have upon you in this dunya,
and looking for their possible intercessions
to at least elevate you in Paradise.
And that's why the Prophet SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam said,
"Adhere to the jama'ah
adhere to the community, beware of separation.
For indeed,
Shaytaan
is with the one who is alone,
and he is further away from two.
Whoever wants the best place in Paradise,
then let him stick to the jama'ah,
let him stick to the community.
If you want the best companions of Paradise,
then love and follow the Prophet SallAllahu 'Alaihi Wasallam
and his companions
as if they were your contemporaries.
Maybe now, they actually will be your contemporaries,
without any fear of ever losing them.
(Qur'an 89:27) Ya ayyatuha-nafsul muttma in-nah
(Qur'an 89:28) Irji'ee ila Rabbiki rawdhiyatanm-mardhiyah
(Qur'an 89:29) Fadkhulee fi 'Ebaadee.
(Qur'an 89:30) Wadkhulee Jannatee
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