Islamic Studies

Last man to enter Jannah: Sahih al-Bukhari

Originally published at alBostoni

I was reading in Bukhari’s book of authentic Prophetic sayings, when I encountered this one. I felt that I must share it, so here’s a translation. The entire Hadith is narrated by Abu Hurayra.

Abu Hurayra once said that people asked the Messenger of God, “Will we see our Lord on the Day of Judgment?”
To which Prophet Muhammad replied, “Do you find any difficulty seeing a full-moon on a cloud-less night?”
They said, “No, Messenger of God”.
He said, “How about the Sun, do you find any difficulty seeing it on a cloud-less day?”
They said, “No”.
The Prophet said, “That’s how it will be. People will be resurrected on the day of Judgment and it will be said, ‘Follow whatever you used to worship!’ So some people will follow the Sun, and others will follow the moon, and others will follow Tyrants. However, this Ummah, along with its hypocrites, will stay put, and God will come and say ‘I am your Lord’. [Not having seen God before, and confused by the whole experience] They will say ‘We’re not going anywhere until our Lord comes, and when He comes, we will recognize Him’. Then God will come to them and say ‘I am your Lord’. Then they will [realize and] say ‘[Wow!!!] You are our Lord!’, and they will follow Him.
[The Messenger of God then continued] “Then the Sirat (Path) will be cast across Jahannam (Hell), and I and my Ummah will be the first to cross it. No one on that day will speak expect the Messengers [of God], and all what they will say on that day will be ‘Please God, get us out of this safely!’ (Allahumma Sallim Sallim). Jahannam will be full of hooks and thorns that snatch people, all according to their deeds. Some will fall in because of their deeds, and others will be cut and shredded until they cross to the other side. Then when God would want to have mercy over the people in the Fire, He will command the Angels to take out everyone who used to worship God, and they will do so. The Angels will recognize them by their prostration marks, as God has prohibited the Fire from burning them and the son of Adam will be consumed by the Fire except for his prostration marks. They will come out charred and the Water of Life will be poured on them after which they will rise again the way a seed germinates after rain.
[Continuing] “Then, after God judges between everyone, a man will remain between the Fire and Paradise*. He will be removed from the Fire but his face will be fixed towards it, so he will cry: ‘Please God, let me face elsewhere! Its heat has dried me and its wind has burnt me!’
God will say: ‘If you are granted this wish, will you ask for anything else?’
He will cry: ‘No!! I swear by your Greatness I will not!’
And he will continue to promise and pledge not to ask anything else, until his face will be directed away from the Fire and towards Paradise. He will see its beauty… but [remembering his promise] will remain silent. He will stay silent for a long, long, time, then eventually [unable to bear any longer] will cry: ‘Please Lord, please bring me forward… just to the Gate of Paradise!! …’
God will say: ‘Didn’t you promise that you wouldn’t ask for anything else?’
The man will cry: ‘But Lord, please don’t make me the most miserable of your creation!’
God will say: ‘If I grant you your wish then do not ask for anything else?!’
He will cry: ‘I won’t!!! I promise, I swear by you Greatness I will not!’
And he will continue to promise and pledge not to ask for anything else, until he is brought to the Gate of Paradise. When he reaches it, he will look inside and see its vigor, charm and pleasure… but [remembering his promise] will remain silent. He will stay silent for a long, long time, then eventually [unable to bear any longer] will cry: ‘O Lord… please… please let me enter Paradise!!’
God will say: ‘You’re unbelievable! How treacherous can you get Son of Adam?! Didn’t you make all those promises and pledges not to ask for anything else?’
But the man will cry: ‘But Lord, please don’t make me the most miserable of your creation!’
So God, the exalted, will Laugh, and allow the man to enter Paradise. Then God will tell him, ‘Make a wish!’
And the man will keep on wishing and wishing and asking for so many things until he can’t find anything else to ask for. Then God will help him out and remind him saying, ‘How about this… and how about that?’ And then, when the man is completely satisfied, God will say, ‘All your wishes will be granted… and doubled!’

When Abu Hurayra finished narrating this prophetic saying, Abu Saeed interjected:
“But Abu Hurayra! The Messenger of God said, ‘All your wishes will be granted… and multiplied by ten!’
Abu Hurayra: “I only remember that they will be doubled.”
Abu Saeed: “No, no… [trust me]… they will be multiplied by ten!”

Source: Al-Bukhari’s Book of Authentic Prophetic Sayings (Sahih al-Bukhari) #806 (or #770 depending on copy)
*”he is the last of the People of Fire to enter Paradise” (omitted above but restored here)

About the author

Suhaib Webb

Suhaib Webb

Suhaib Webb is a contemporary American-Muslim educator, activist, and lecturer. His work bridges classical and contemporary Islamic thought, addressing issues of cultural, social and political relevance to Muslims in the West. After converting to Islam in 1992, Webb left his career in the music industry to pursue his passion in education. He earned a Bachelor’s in Education from the University of Central Oklahoma and received intensive private training in the Islamic Sciences under a renowned Muslim Scholar of Senegalese descent. Webb was hired as the Imam at the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, where he gave khutbas (sermons), taught religious classes, and provided counselling to families and young people; he also served as an Imam and resident scholar in communities across the U.S.

From 2004-2010, Suhaib Webb studied at the world’s preeminent Islamic institution of learning, Al-Azhar University, in the College of Shari`ah. During this time, after several years of studying the Arabic Language and the Islamic legal tradition, he also served as the head of the English Translation Department at Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah.

Outside of his studies at Al-Azhar, Suhaib Webb completed the memorization of the Quran in the city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia. He has been granted numerous traditional teaching licenses (ijazat), adhering to centuries-old Islamic scholarly practice of ensuring the highest standards of scholarship. Webb was named one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center in 2010.

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  • subhan’Allah, everytime I read/hear this hadith, it puts a HUGE smile on my face.

    May Allah (swt) grant us the highest level of Jannah and may He protect us from the punishment of Hell. Ameen!

    JazakAllahu khairan for the post 🙂

  • Subhanallah. That made me smile for ages….and this Hadith reminded me of how Kind Allah Ta’alla is. Thank You for sharing this with us.

  • […] they were talking about only algeria so i thought they were talking about another fatima 😡 …Last man to enter Jannah: Sahih al-Bukhari Suhaib Webb …Last man to enter Jannah: Sahih al-Bukhari. Published by Suhaib Webb on September 22, 2008 5 […]

    • He will. Inshallah. Just trust, for trust is itself enough than any deed which could be done. Allah ur rahman is the most merciful, so there is no mercy which could be matched with His mercy. The greatest example of His mercy is His final messenger Muhammad (saw). So leave everything of this world behind and trust in what Allah sent on us and look forward to the day when you meet your creator Allah, the most beautifullest. Read Quran with regulations and look forward to Allah’s mercy in prayers. Listen to what Prophet Muhammed (saw) said to his Ummah. My brother do so and Inshallah you will be amongst the inhabitants of Al-Jannah. The place promised by no one else but by our Lord.

  • Alhamdulilah, a really nice hadith. I’m a bit confused though, will the kuffar who worshipped other than Allah not cross the sirat? will the sirat only be crossed by the muslims and the hypocrites? and also, if the hypocrites will be amongst those who are left, how will they be able to see Allah? i thought only the believers would be able to see Allah in jannah and the hypocrites would be in the lowest level of hell. Please can someone answer this question because I’ve always been confused about this issue.

  • i couldnt stop crying man :'( :'( I really really couldn’t stop crying till im typing this .. thinking about Allah (Swt)’s mercy.. his mercy is infinite !! Subhan Allahi Wa bi hamdihi.. SubhanAllahil Azeem !!

  • Salaam,
    it says the son of Adam who prayed will be in the hell fire until Allah has mercy on them. Does that mean there’s no chance that any of us will not have to touch the hell fire at all?

    • From my understanding, may All forgive me if I am wrong, is that if we are Muslims then we will inshAllah enter Jannah but not before we have been punished for our sins. If we seek forgiveness from Allah for all our sins and it is sincere then iA Allah will remove those sins from our record so the only sins we will be punished for are the ones we have not seeked sincere repentance from. If our repentance is sincere for all our sins then inshAllah we won’t have to face the torment of Hell.

      • Allah Ta’ala may even forgive those sins of a person that he hasn’t repented for. That is the mercy of Allah ta’ala and if He wills he may take to task whomsoever he wants and that is His justice.

  • I really have done the biggest sins. But i wish Allah almighty forgive me and those who are like me. This hatidh and some verses make me cry that we have done a lot of sins but for sure Allah z merciful nd will forgive us. I wish this a lot and try best to do whatever possible to be a real muslim.

  • thanks a lot for spreading any Islamic Issue, May Allah Almighty forgive us and enter us to the Janna and Protect all Muslims from the fore of the Hell. Aaaaammeeeen

  • Subhan ALLAH…………… whats a nice and lovely Hadith….. this Hadith clearly shows about the Mercy of ALLAH Subhan wa Tala

  • Alhumdolillah! Suma Alhumdolilah!
    No one can ever completely describe any aspect of our Lord’s personality attributes
    Only and only Allah can describe and only He can understand completely what He is
    It is out of grasp of every ghairullah to completely understand him in any respect
    So therefore only Allah Tala knows how merciful he is even infinitely merciful is nothing close to his mercy. Same goes for his all attributes as being justice and in taking action against transgressors. However the best part is he has written on his Kurai that he is more merciful than being just. So Ll we have to do is to keep ourselves on His side and in His party and than we will be His guests in Jinnah InshaAllah. Amen

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