Islam teaches that this life is short and the next life lasts for ever. After death, every person meets what they did. Jannah is Paradise, a garden of joy. Jahannam is Hell, the Fire. The Qur’an speaks of both often, so that people can choose well while there is still time.
“Every soul shall have a taste of death: And only on the Day of Judgment shall you be paid your full recompense. Only he who is saved far from the Fire and admitted to the Garden will have attained the object (of Life)”
After death
Death is not the end. The dead wait in the barzakh, a barrier between this life and the Day they are raised.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said that two angels question each person in the grave. Then each is shown their place, in Paradise or in the Fire. They see it morning and evening until the Day of Resurrection.
On the Day of Judgement, Allah (﷾) judges every person. Nothing is lost. An atom’s weight of good and an atom’s weight of evil will both be seen.
Jannah, Paradise
Jannah is a garden as wide as the heavens and the earth, with rivers flowing beneath it. Its people are always healthy and young, and they never die. Allah (﷾) removes every grudge from their hearts. They feel no tiredness, and no one is ever asked to leave.
Qur’an 57:21Qur’an 2:25Sahih Muslim 2837Qur’an 15:47Qur’an 15:48
The Prophet (ﷺ) said Allah (﷾) has prepared for His righteous servants what no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no heart has imagined. A space in it the size of a foot is better than the whole world and all it holds.
Take the believer who had the hardest life on earth. Dipped into Paradise once, he will swear he never knew any hardship at all.
Its greatest joy is not the gardens. The Qur’an says the greatest bliss is Allah’s (﷾) good pleasure. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that when the veil is lifted, nothing they were given is dearer to them than looking at their Lord.
“Now no person knows what delights of the eye are kept hidden (in reserve) for them - as a reward for their (good) deeds.”
Jahannam, Hell
Jahannam is a real fire. The Qur’an warns of it plainly, so that no one is taken by surprise. The Prophet (ﷺ) said the fire of this world is only one of seventy parts of the fire of Jahannam.
One moment there outweighs a lifetime of comfort. Take the one who had the easiest life on earth, if he is among the people of the Fire. Dipped into it once, he will say he never knew any comfort.
It is just. Allah (﷾) is never unjust, not even by an atom’s weight. He punishes no one before a messenger has warned them. Hell has degrees, and each person’s place follows their own deeds.
It lasts for ever for those who die rejecting faith after the message has reached them. Believers who enter it for their sins are brought out by Allah’s (﷾) mercy. Even faith the weight of a mustard seed is enough.
“O ye who believe! save yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is Men and Stones”
The way to Jannah
No one earns Paradise by deeds alone. The Prophet (ﷺ) said even he would enter only if Allah (﷾) covered him with His mercy. Faith and good deeds are how a person seeks that mercy.
The road is not always easy. The Prophet (ﷺ) said the Fire is surrounded by desires, and Paradise by things people dislike. He also said Paradise is nearer to you than the strap of your sandal, and so is the Fire.
Allah (﷾) is more merciful to His servants than a mother is to her child. Whatever you have done, the door stays open until death. Turn to Him now.
“O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”