Ar-Ra'd (The Thunder)

23. “Gardens of Eternity, they shall enter therein and also the righteous from among their fathers, their spouses, and their children, and unto whom the angels will enter from every gate’.”

Out of 137 times that the Qur’anic words /jann at/ and /jannat/ have been repeated in the glorious Qur’an, only 12 times they have been mentioned under /jann atu ‘adnin/. According to a tradition from ‘Durr-ul-Manthūr’, it signifies ‘a special paradise’.¹

The blissful Prophet (S) remarks:

“Whoever wants his life and death to be like those of mine, and enters the Gardens of Eden which is my Paradise, must designate Ali-Ibn-Abi-Talib (as) and his Immaculate successors from among his descendents as his leaders and his Imam, who are most supreme in knowledge and wisdom over all human beings and they are guides for people towards right path.”2

In the meantime, we have it in the Qur’an repeatedly that the righteous people of a family will also be nigh to each other when in Paradise and will be able to enjoy each other’s company therein as they associate with each other.

Certainly, the mention of the titles of some individuals of the family like father, wife, and child in the above noble verse, does not specify any particular point, and it covers all the righteous members of the family, including the above mentioned ones, and as well as mothers, sisters and brothers, too.

Incidentally, perhaps the reason for the absence of the name ‘mother’ here is that the mother is the wife of one’s father and is covered by the word of /’azwaj/ (spouses) as is the case with brothers and sisters who are regarded as paternal descendents, and uncles and aunts are considered as the descendents of one’s ancestors.

Anyway, whatever of the conclusion we obtain from the Divine verses is that the angels, under all circumstances, whether in this world or in the world hereafter (purgatory or resurrection day), are in contact with man. They sometimes send him greetings,

“…sends His greeting on you, and (so do) His angels…”3

while on other occasions, they ask forgiveness for him:

“…and ask forgiveness for those who believe…”4

That is, the angels who carry the magnanimous heavens on top of their shoulders and those who are engaged in thanking and in worshipping are both faithful believers and ask for forgiveness for the faithful from Allah.

At other times, they utter invocation for him, saying:

“Our Lord! and make them enter the Gardens of Perpetuity…”5

That is, O’ Allah! Give them all along with their parents, wives, and children access and abode in the Paradise of Eden. At the time of death and at the onset of the purgatory, the angels let them voice with the slogan chanting

“…‘Fear not, nor be grieved…”6

And they take their lives with the sentence ‘Greetings to you’.

The Qur’an says:

“Those whom the angels cause to die in a good state, saying: ‘Peace be on you…”7

That is, those who, like angels, ‘the agents of Allah’s blessings’, take their souls, address them saying that due to your good deeds performed in the world, you will thus enter the Eternal Paradise, and they would also go on greeting them from every corner.

The verse says:

“Gardens of Eternity, they shall enter therein and also the righteous from among their fathers, their spouses, and their children, and unto whom the angels will enter from every gate’.”

Explanations

There are eight gateways mentioned for Paradise which correspond to the number of traits already mentioned for ‘the possessors of intellect’ counted in recent verses. Probably, each of the eight traits and characteristics leads man through one of the gateways of Paradise and is a leading path towards the eternal happiness for man.

Not every father and child, and every husband and wife, every descendent whether paternal or maternal will join one another in Paradise or will be placed side-by-side there, for in the Day of Resurrection, the relatives by blood and those kin by marriage, as a means, will be of no use.

On that Day, every body will be held responsible for his own self, in which case nothing, except one’s own efforts and struggle, will have any effect:

Therefore, the entrance of some relatives, unto some others into Paradise, is only because of their competence and individual qualification.

A Paradise-deserving family is a family among whom there is sincerity and unity in pursuance of the path of the Truth, because the condition for entering Paradise is righteousness.