The Book of Paradise, its Description, its Bounties and its Inhabitants

Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri reported: I did not hear this directly from the Prophet (ﷺ); rather, Zayd ibn Thabit told it to me. The Prophet (ﷺ) was riding a mule with us through an orchard belonging to Banu al-Najjar. It shied and nearly threw him, and there were four, five, or six graves there. He asked, ‘Who knows the people in these graves?’ A man said, ‘I do.’ The Prophet asked, ‘When did they die?’ He replied, ‘They died as polytheists.’ The Prophet (ﷺ) said, ‘This community will be tested in their graves. If you would not stop burying your dead, I would ask Allah to let you hear some of the punishment of the grave that I hear.’ He then turned toward us and said, ‘Seek refuge in Allah from the punishment of the Fire.’ They said, ‘We seek refuge in Allah from the punishment of the Fire.’ He said, ‘Seek refuge in Allah from the punishment of the grave.’ They said, ‘We seek refuge in Allah from the punishment of the grave.’ He said, ‘Seek refuge in Allah from trials, both apparent and hidden.’ They said, ‘We seek refuge in Allah from trials, both apparent and hidden.’ He said, ‘Seek refuge in Allah from the trial of the Dajjal.’ They said, ‘We seek refuge in Allah from the trial of the Dajjal.’

Anas reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, ‘If you would not stop burying your dead, I would ask Allah to let you hear the punishment of the grave.’

Abu Ayyub reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) went out after sunset and heard a sound. He said, ‘These are Jews being punished in their graves.’

Abu Hurayrah reported: When the soul of a believer leaves, two angels receive it and take it upward. Hammad mentioned its sweet fragrance, like musk. The inhabitants of heaven say, ‘A pure soul has come from the earth. Blessings be upon you and upon the body you used to inhabit.’ It is taken to its Lord, Mighty and Majestic, who says, ‘Take it to its appointed end.’ When the soul of an unbeliever leaves—Hammad mentioned its foul smell and that it is cursed—the inhabitants of heaven say, ‘A foul soul has come from the earth.’ It is said, ‘Take it to its appointed end.’ Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) covered his nose with a cloth he had with him as he spoke of the unbeliever’s soul.

Anas ibn Malik reported: ‘Umar and I were between Makkah and Madinah, looking for the new moon. I had keen eyesight and saw it, though no one else claimed to have seen it. I kept asking ‘Umar, “Can’t you see it?” but he could not. ‘Umar said, “I will see it when I am lying on my bed.” Then he began telling us about the people of Badr. He said that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had shown them the places where the people of Badr would fall the day before the battle, saying, “Tomorrow, if Allah wills, this will be where so-and-so falls.” ‘Umar said, “By the One who sent him with the truth, they did not miss the places the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had marked.” They were placed in a well, one on top of another. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) went to them and called, “So-and-so, son of so-and-so, have you found what Allah and His Messenger promised you to be true? I have found what Allah promised me to be true.” ‘Umar said, “Messenger of Allah, how can you speak to bodies without souls?” He replied, “You do not hear what I say more clearly than they do, but they cannot answer me.”

Anas ibn Malik reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) left the slain at Badr for three days, then came and stood over them, calling, ‘Abu Jahl ibn Hisham, Umayyah ibn Khalaf, ‘Utbah ibn Rabi‘ah, Shaybah ibn Rabi‘ah! Have you found what your Lord promised you to be true? I have found what my Lord promised me to be true.’ ‘Umar heard the Prophet’s words and said, ‘Messenger of Allah, how can they hear or answer when their bodies have decayed?’ He replied, ‘By the One in whose hand is my soul, you do not hear what I say more clearly than they do, but they cannot answer.’ Then he ordered them to be dragged and cast into the well of Badr.

Yusuf ibn Hammad al-Ma'ni told me: Abd al-A'la told us, from Sa'id, from Qatadah, from Anas ibn Malik, from Abu Talhah. (Another chain was also related.) Abu Talhah said, ‘On the day of Badr, after the Prophet of God had overcome them, he ordered that more than twenty of Quraysh’s leading men—twenty-four in the version of Rawh—be thrown into one of Badr’s wells.’ He then related the hadith in a version similar in meaning to Thabit’s report from Anas.