This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you buy through them, Hijab Forum earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Heaven in Islam is called Jannah. The Arabic word means “garden,” and that is how the Quran describes it over and over: gardens beneath which rivers flow. Jannah is where believers go after the Day of Judgement, by the mercy of Allah, to stay forever. It has names, levels, gates, and descriptions in the Quran and the Sunnah that are specific enough to picture and strange enough to remind you that it is beyond picturing.
Here is what the word means, what Jannah is called, what it is like, and who enters it, with the sources.
The word Jannah
Jannah comes from the Arabic root for something hidden or covered, the same root as jinn and janin (an unborn child). A garden is “hidden” because the ground is covered in growth. The Quran uses Jannah in the singular and Jannat in the plural, and the most common phrase for it is “jannatin tajri min tahtihal-anhar,” gardens beneath which rivers flow, which appears dozens of times.
Paradise and heaven are both used in English. Paradise is the closer translation, since “heaven” in Arabic (sama’) refers to the sky and the heavens that Allah created, which are different from Jannah. When a Muslim says heaven in English, they mean Jannah.
The names of Paradise in the Quran
The Quran uses several names, and scholars have discussed whether they are different places or different descriptions of the same place. The common view is that they are names and levels of the one Jannah.
Jannat al-Firdaws. The highest. The Prophet ï·º said, “When you ask Allah for Paradise, ask Him for al-Firdaws, for it is the highest part of Paradise and the middle of Paradise, and from it spring the rivers of Paradise” (Bukhari). The Quran says the believers who pray, give zakat, and keep their trusts “will inherit al-Firdaws, and there they will abide forever” (23:11).
Jannat ‘Adn. The gardens of Eden, or of permanence. “Gardens of perpetual residence beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally. That is the reward of one who purifies himself” (20:76).
Jannat an-Na’im. The gardens of pleasure or bliss. “Indeed, the righteous will be in gardens of pleasure” (52:17).
Jannat al-Ma’wa. The garden of refuge. Mentioned at the Prophet’s ï·º night journey, near the Lote Tree of the furthest boundary (53:15).
Dar as-Salam. The home of peace. “For them is the home of peace with their Lord” (6:127). Salam is one of Allah’s names, and the greeting in Jannah is salam.
Dar al-Khuld. The home of eternity. The word that matters most about Jannah is that it does not end.
The levels of Jannah
Jannah has levels, and the Prophet ï·º said there are a hundred of them, with the distance between each like the distance between the earth and the sky (Bukhari). The highest is al-Firdaws, and above it is the Throne of Allah. People are placed by their deeds, and the Quran says, “for all there are degrees from what they have done” (46:19).
The Prophet ï·º also said that the people of the highest ranks will be seen by those below them the way a bright star is seen on the horizon, and that these ranks are for those who believed in Allah and the messengers (Bukhari, Muslim). A person in a lower level of Jannah is still in Jannah, forever, and will not feel that anyone has more than them. That is part of what makes it Jannah.
The gates of Jannah
There are eight gates. The Prophet ï·º said that whoever performs wudu well and says the shahadah afterwards, the eight gates are opened for him to enter through whichever he wishes (Muslim). The gates are named for deeds. The Prophet ï·º said the people of prayer will be called from the gate of prayer, the people of jihad from the gate of jihad, the people of charity from the gate of charity, and those who fasted from the gate called Ar-Rayyan (Bukhari, Muslim). Abu Bakr asked whether anyone would be called from all of them, and the Prophet ï·º said yes, and that he hoped Abu Bakr would be among them.
What Jannah is like
The Quran describes it with things we know, and the Prophet ï·º said that in it is “what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has imagined” (Bukhari, Muslim). Both are true. The descriptions are real, and they are the closest the language can get.
Rivers. Of water that does not go stale, of milk whose taste does not change, of wine that is a pleasure to drink with no intoxication, and of purified honey (47:15).
Gardens and shade. “Its shade is extended and its fruit is lasting” (13:35). Trees whose fruit hangs low enough to pick without reaching.
Homes. “Lofty chambers, above which are chambers, beneath which rivers flow” (39:20). The Prophet ï·º said that a tent in Jannah is made of a single hollowed pearl, sixty miles wide (Bukhari).
Clothing and company. Garments of silk, bracelets of gold, couches to recline on, and pure spouses (18:31, 2:25). Families who believed are reunited: “those who believed and whose descendants followed them in faith, We will join their descendants with them” (52:21).
No pain, no fatigue, no ageing. “No fatigue will touch them therein, nor will they be removed from it” (15:48). The Prophet ï·º said that a caller will announce: “You will be healthy and never fall ill, you will live and never die, you will be young and never grow old, you will be in bliss and never be miserable” (Muslim).
Allah’s pleasure. The Quran names something greater than all of it. After describing the gardens, it says, “and the pleasure of Allah is greater” (9:72). The Prophet ï·º described Allah asking the people of Jannah whether they are pleased, and when they say yes, He says He will give them something better: He will never be angry with them again (Bukhari, Muslim). And the people of Jannah will see their Lord (75:22-23), which the Prophet ï·º said is the thing they will love most of all they are given.
Who enters Jannah
Jannah is entered by the mercy of Allah, and the way to that mercy is faith and righteous deeds. The Quran repeats one pairing more than almost any other: “those who believe and do righteous deeds.” Belief in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and the decree. Prayer, zakat, fasting, hajj for those who can. Honesty, kindness to parents, keeping trusts, controlling anger, forgiving people.
The Prophet ï·º said, “None of you will enter Paradise by his deeds alone.” They asked, “Not even you?” He said, “Not even me, unless Allah covers me with His mercy” (Bukhari, Muslim). The deeds are how we ask for the mercy. The mercy is what opens the gate.
He also said that the greatest cause of people entering Paradise is taqwa of Allah and good character (Tirmidhi), and that the people of Jannah are “every weak and oppressed person who, if he swore by Allah, Allah would fulfil it” (Bukhari). Jannah is not for the impressive. It is for the sincere.
Asking for Jannah
The dua is short. The Prophet ï·º taught: “Allahumma inni as’alukal-jannah wa a’udhu bika minan-nar,” O Allah, I ask You for Paradise and I take refuge in You from the Fire (Abu Dawud). He said that whoever asks for Paradise three times, Paradise says, “O Allah, admit him to Paradise” (Tirmidhi). Ask for al-Firdaws specifically, as he told us to.
Reading more
The best descriptions are in the Quran itself, especially Surah Ar-Rahman (55), Surah Al-Waqi’ah (56), and Surah Al-Insan (76). The Clear Quran is the translation to read them in. For the hadith descriptions, 365 Wisdoms of the Prophet Muhammad collects a good number of them with sources. For the dua itself, Fortress of the Muslim has it on the page of daily remembrances.
Our Islamic Reflection prompt cards, the Shadow & Light deck, have a week of prompts on the afterlife for anyone who wants to sit with these descriptions one at a time.
