Whether Prophets or Ummah of Muhammad enter Paradise first

27-12-2017 | IslamWeb

Question:

I heard from my childhood that we, the Ummah (community) of Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, will enter Paradise first and that the other Ummahs of the rest of the Prophets, peace be upon them, will enter next. The question is: will the other Prophets also enter Paradise after the Ummah of Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam? As we know, the rank of the Prophets is higher than ours. I do not know why this question arose in my mind; is it Waswaas (devilish whisperings) or is it natural? Many questions like it frequently arise in my mind and mentally disturb me. What should I do in such case?

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger. 

This type of question does not lead to doing good deeds, so you should not preoccupy yourself with it, and there is no need to worry.

The fact that you often get such questions in your mind may be because of the whispers of the devil to distract you from what is beneficial to you in regard to the matters of your religion and your worldly life.

So you should be mindful of this and make every effort to repel the whispers of the devil.

With regard to this issue, we did not come across any evidence or any explicit statements of the scholars on it. What is confirmed is that the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) will be the first person to enter Paradise and that his nation (the Muslims) will be the first nation to enter it. However, the fact that his nation is the first nation to enter Paradise does not necessitate that they enter before the Prophets.

What is understood from the statements of some scholars is that the Prophets precede this nation in entering Paradise.

For instance, Ibn Al-Qayyim  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him said in Haady Al-Arwaah, “Paradise is forbidden to the Prophets until Muhammad enters it, and it is forbidden to the nations until his nation enters it.

On the other hand, there is an explicit hadeeth that was reported about the Prophets preceding the people in entering Paradise. Were this hadeeth authentic, it would have put an end to any dispute or confusion, but it is at least weak. This hadeeth was reported by Ad-Daylami in Musnad Al-Firdaws from Jaabir ibn ‘Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him; its wording is as follows, “The first to enter Paradise are the Prophets.Muhammad ibn Taahir Al-Maqdisi classified it as weak in his book Thakheerat-ul-Huffaath.

Allah knows best.

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