Aslam

Praise be to Allah.

Many texts indicate that Paradise and Hell are two creations

which currently exist, and that the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) saw Paradise and Hell. This

is proven by many events, for example:

The hadeeth of ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Abbaas, who said: “There

was an eclipse of the sun during the time of the Messenger of Allaah

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and the Messenger of Allaah

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) prayed… Then he said, ‘The

sun and the moon are two of the signs of Allah. They do not become eclipsed

because of the death of somebody or because of his life (i.e. birth).

So when you see them, remember Allaah.’ The people said, O Messenger

of Allaah, we saw you taking something from where you were standing,

and then we saw you retreating.’ The Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) replied, ‘I saw Paradise

and stretched my hands towards a bunch (of its fruits) and had I taken

it, you would have eaten from it as long as the world remains. I also

saw the Hell-fire and I had never seen such a horrible sight. I saw

that most of its inhabitants were women.’ The people asked, ‘O Messenger

of Allaah, why is that?’ The Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) replied, ‘Because of their

ungratefulness.’ It was asked, ‘Are they ungrateful to Allaah?’ The

Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, ‘They are ungrateful

to their life companions (husbands) and ungrateful for good deeds. If

you are kind towards one of them throughout life, then she sees anything

(undesirable) in you, she will say, “I have never seen anything good

from you.”’”

(This version narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1052; also

narrated by Muslim, 901)

And the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) saw Paradise in his dreams,

and the dreams of the Prophets are a form of wahy (revelation) and are

true; he saw al-Rumaysa’ in Paradise; he saw a palace belonging to ‘Umar

ibn al-Khattaab in Paradise; and he saw Paradise on the night of the

Mi’raaj when the Sidrah (lote-tree of the utmost boundary) was covered

with what it was covered with. And Allaah knows best.