Visions of Jannah, Punishments of Hell, and Seeing Dajjal During the Miʿrāj

Speaker note: During the Isrāʾ wal-Miʿrāj, particularly on the descent, the Prophet ﷺ narrated a series of visions across multiple separate aḥādīth. The speaker notes that we cannot determine the exact chronological order of these incidents; we only know that they happened on this night. These aḥādīth are compiled together.

❧The Glimpse of Jannah

The Prophet ﷺ said in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: ثُمَّ دَخَلْتُ الْجَنَّةَ, "Then I entered Jannah" (or in another version: ṭalaʿtu ʿalā al-Jannah, "I saw/surveyed Jannah"). He described:

- Structures/tents made of pearls

- The soil of Jannah made of musk, the most precious of perfumes

Timing wisdom: This occurred after the meeting with Allah ('Azza wa Jall), not before. The speaker notes: it is appropriate that on the ascent, the Prophet ﷺ went directly to meet Allah first; only after that meeting did he observe the other wonders.

Theological question: A hadith states that the first person to enter Jannah after Adam will be the Prophet ﷺ (after Yawm al-Qiyāmah). How do we reconcile this with his entering it during the Mi'raj?

Two scholarly interpretations:

1. He entered at the Miʿrāj and will enter again definitively after Yawm al-Qiyāmah. "The first to enter Jannah" still applies, the Miʿrāj visit was a special preview; the post-Qiyāmah entry is the permanent, final entry.

2. He did not actually "enter" Jannah but surveyed/observed it, supported by the alternate wording ṭalaʿtu ʿalā al-Jannah ("I looked upon Jannah"). Another consideration: there is a theological opinion that whoever enters Jannah will never exit from it. If he entered, how did he exit? This supports the "surveying" interpretation.

Both are valid scholarly positions. The Shaheed comparison: the martyrs fly near Jannah in the bodies of green birds, hanging from its chandeliers, they are close to Jannah but not within it living in it. Similarly, perhaps the Prophet ﷺ saw Jannah without "residing" in it. The fact that he also described punishments of Hell (without obviously entering it) suggests his mode throughout was that of an observer.

❧Five Punishments of Jahannam

The Prophet ﷺ described five categories of punishment he witnessed, each time asking Jibrīl "Who are these people?":

❧1. THOSE WHO STOLE ORPHANS' WEALTH

The Prophet ﷺ saw people with faces disfigured like the noses of camels, eating red-hot coals of fire. The coals went into their mouths and came out through their bodies. Jibrīl said: These are those who devoured orphans' wealth unjustly.

This directly fulfills Surah Al-Nisāʾ 4:10: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَأْكُلُونَ أَمْوَالَ الْيَتَامَىٰ ظُلْمًا إِنَّمَا يَأْكُلُونَ فِي بُطُونِهِمْ نَارًا وَسَيَصْلَوْنَ سَعِيرًا, "Those who unjustly consume the wealth of orphans are eating nothing but fire into their bellies, and they will burn in a blazing flame."

❧2. BACKBITERS AND SLANDERERS

The Prophet ﷺ saw people with copper nails, scratching their own faces and chests with them until the flesh was torn. Jibrīl said: These are those who used to backbite, gossip, and speak ill of others constantly.

The punishment mirrors the crime: they used to tear apart people's honor and reputation with their tongues (which is the "flesh" of a person's character). So in the Next World, their own flesh is torn. الْجَزَاءُ مِن جِنْسِ الْعَمَلِ, the punishment is in the same category as the crime.

❧3. FORNICATORS AND ADULTERERS (ZINĀ)

The Prophet ﷺ saw people with two plates of meat before them: one plate of pure, wholesome, fresh meat; another plate of rotten, putrid, infested meat. They were eating from the rotten plate while the pure plate was right there in front of them. Jibrīl said: These are the people who committed zinā (fornication and adultery). They had the ḥalāl, their lawful spouses, but chose the ḥarām instead. They left the fresh meat for the rotten, and in the Next World they feast on exactly what they chose.

❧4. CONSUMERS OF RIBĀ (USURY/INTEREST)

The Prophet ﷺ saw people with such bloated, distended bellies that they were completely unable to stand, pinned to the ground by the weight of their own bodies. Animals were then brought to trample over them. Jibrīl said: These are those who consumed Ribā (interest/usury).

The symbolism: the greedy person in this world fattened themselves through interest; in the Next World, they have all the "fatness" they ever wanted, and the animals they once owned as symbols of wealth now trample them. Their greed made them immovable in this world (ethically, spiritually), and in the Next World they are literally immovable.

❧5. THOSE WHO COMMANDED GOOD BUT NEGLECTED THEMSELVES

The Prophet ﷺ saw people cutting their own lips and tongues, slicing through them with scissors and knives made of fire and copper. As soon as the lips and tongues were cut, they regrew, only to be cut again. Jibrīl said: These are the people who used to command others to do good while forgetting themselves. The Prophet ﷺ said: "We seek Allah's refuge from being among such people."

The Quran says: أَتَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَتَنسَوْنَ أَنفُسَكُمْ, "Do you command people to do good while forgetting yourselves?" (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:44). The punishment: the mouths they used hypocritically to preach while neglecting practice are punished in kind.

❧Seeing Dajjal

The Prophet ﷺ also said: "And I saw Dajjāl." He described him across multiple aḥādīth:

- He is A'war (الأعور), one-eyed

- One eye is bloated and abnormal (non-functional)

- His left eye specifically is like a rotten, decayed grape

- The Prophet ﷺ said: "I tell you something about Dajjal that no other prophet has told his Ummah", specifically this left eye description

The significance of seeing Dajjāl during the Miʿrāj: The speaker draws an extraordinary connection. On this single night, the Prophet ﷺ physically witnessed (with his own eyes, mā zāgha al-baṣaru wa mā ṭaghā) concrete manifestations of every pillar of Imān:

- Imān in Allah: He approached the veil of Allah's nūr and heard direct communication with Allah

- Imān in the Angels: He saw Jibrīl in his original form (600 wings) at Sidrat al-Muntahā

- Imān in the Prophets and Books: He met all the Prophets and led them in Ṣalāh

- Imān in the Day of Judgment: He saw Adam with the people of Jannah (right) and Jahannam (left); he saw Heaven and Hell

- Imān in Qadar: He heard the Pen writing on the Preserved Tablet; he saw the Qadar of Adam's descendants already determined

This is the Miʿrāj's ultimate purpose as stated by Allah: لِنُرِيَهُ مِنْ آيَاتِنَا الْكُبْرَىٰ, "to show him of Our greatest signs." Every sign of Imān became tangible and visually real for the Prophet ﷺ on this night.