Surah Az-Zumar: Verse 74 - وقالوا الحمد لله الذي صدقنا... - English

In verse 74, it was said: نَتَبَوَّأُ مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ حَيْثُ نَشَاءُ (we can dwell anywhere we wish in Jannah). The sense is that, apart from their own special dwelling places, the people of Jannah will be allowed to visit others there and take pleasure trips around. Tabarani, Abu Nu'aym and Diya', have reported, through a chain rated as 'hasan', from Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ that someone came to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and said to him, 'ya rasulAllah, I love you so much that I keep thinking of you even when I go back home and I remain uncomfortable and impatient until I return to you. But, when I remember my death and remember your death, then, it occurs to me that you will be in the higher stations of Jannah and even if I reach there somehow, it is certain that I shall be on a level much below it. My worry is: How am I going to see you?' The Holy Prophet ﷺ heard what he said, but he remained silent until came the angel, Jibra'il with the following verse:

وَمَن يُطِعِ اللَّـهَ وَالرَّ‌سُولَ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللَّـهُ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالصِّدِّيقِينَ وَالشُّهَدَاءِ وَالصَّالِحِينَ ۚ وَحَسُنَ أُولَـٰئِكَ رَ‌فِيقًا ﴿69﴾

And those who obey Allah and the Messenger are with those whom Allah has blessed, namely, the prophets, the Siddiqin, 1 the Shuhada', 2 and the righteous - and what a good company they are. - an-Nisa', 4:69.

1. Siddiq, lexically means 'very truthful'. In the Islamic terminology, it normally refers to those Companions of a prophet who excel all others in their submission to Allah and is Messenger. They enjoy the highest status of piety after the Prophets, like Sayyidna Abu Bakr. (back)

2. Shuhada (p1. of Shahid) means the persons who sacrificed their lives in the way of Allah. The word has not been translated here by the word 'martyr' which sometimes is taken as an equivalent of Shahid, because the word 'martyr' is also applied for the persons killed in ethnic or racial wars while they may not be termed as 'Shuhada in the Islamic terminology

In this verse, it was clearly stated that Muslims who obey Allah and the Messenger would invariably be with the prophets and those others mentioned therein. Then, from the verse under study we also come to understand that they will be allowed to visit higher stations of Jannah. May Allah Ta’ ala, in His mercy, make us join up with them in Jannah.

Alhamdulillah

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Surah Az-Zumar

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