Muslims & Sin: Heaven & Hell

Question

So I’ve Read that a Muslim Can go to hell If he commits a sin/sins. However every muslim will go to heaven .. how does this go?

Will a Muslim spend some time in hell and then go to heaven?

There are muslims who have done the worst sins but believe in Allah and the religion but never asked for forgivness. How can they be in heaven with the people who never sinned much?

Answered by: Mufti Abdurrahman ibn Yusuf

Assalamu alaykum

In the Name of Allah the Inspirer of truth

Actually, it has been promised that anyone who has the true belief his heart even if he had been a great sinner in the world will one day enter into Paradise, after being cleansed of his sins or purely out of the mercy of Allah.

Let us look at the following hadiths.

Anas reports that the Prophet Sallalalhu alayhi wasallam said:

“Many people will be thrown into the Fire. But by His mercy and grace He will admit them to Heaven, and they will be called Jahannamiyyun “
(Sahih al-Bukhari).

In a lengthy narration of Abu Hurayra related by both Imam Bukhari and Muslim in their collections it states:

“While passing over the bridge many of them will be caught by the crude nails and be made to fall into Hell. But Allah Almighty would ask the angels to take out of Hell those who worshipped Allah. Thus the angels will do so: and these people will be recognized by the signs of prostration, for Allah Almighty has prohibited the fire of Hell to born those spots. Hence, these people will be taken out of the fire and they would have been terribly burnt. They will be washed with the water of Life so that they will grow out like the growing of seeds”.

As we can see those who had faith would eventually be taken out of Hell and entered into Paradise.

Thereafter, each persons Paradise will be different and according to their spiritual achievements. The Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam’s abode will be the highest and grandest, followed by the other Prophets and other pious ones.

‘Ubada ibn al-Samit relates that the Prophet Sallalalhu alayhi wasallam said:

“Paradise has one hundred degrees. The distance between one to the next will be like the distance between the earth and heavens, and Firdaws is the loftiest of them”
(Sunan al-Tirmidhi).

Another version in Tirmidhi states that if all the creatures of the universe gathered together in one of those stages it would hold them all.

Also another narration related by many authors informs of the last person out of Hell:

Allah will tell him to wish for whatever he wants, until he will run out of ideas. Allah will then give him all he asked for and ten times as much. Another version states that he will get ten times as much as this world. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Muslim)

This will be considered the lowest person of Paradise, so imagine the others. Hence, each person’s status will be different and those who have not sinned and have gone directly into Paradise will surely enjoy a higher status.

May Allah grant us Jannat al-Firdaws.

Wassalam
Abdurrahman Ibn Yusuf