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Afterlife

How to Plant Trees in Jannah | Episode 9

March 30, 2023Dr. Omar Suleiman

As Ibrahim (as) said so long ago, Jannah is a fertile plain, and its seeds are dhikr and tasbeeh. Declarations that seem so simple to us—subhanAllah, alhamdulillah, Allahu akbar—are greater than the kingdoms of this world, and each utterance of them sprouts mighty trees in Paradise. So keep planting, O believer; your harvest will be worth it.

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DISCLAIMER: All depictions of Jannah are purely conceptual and only vocals were used in the making of the soundtrack.

Transcript

This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
The Prophet Sulaiman Alayhi Salaam was once walking with his entire entourage. And his entourage is not like the entourage of anyone else. He has the birds forming a canopy above him. He's got the humans at his disposal, animals, insects, and even jinn are moving at his order Alayhi Salaam. And as he's walking by with this entourage, he passes by a worshiper. And the worshiper, who's a humble man, he looks at Sulaiman Alayhi Salaam. And he says, O son of David, Allah has given you a magnificent kingdom. So Sulaiman Alayhi Salaam, he heard what the man said, and he stops the entire entourage. And he goes up to that man and he says, you see this entire kingdom of mine, all of it with its glory. He says, He said, I swear by Allah that one Tasbeeh, one word of glorifying Allah from any believer is better than all of this, which has been given to the son of David. Because everything that's been given to the son of David is going to perish. And this Tasbeeh of yours is going to remain forever. SubhanAllah, in one moment, you can plant a tree in paradise that is greater than the greatest kingdom of all time to exist in this world. Now we've spoken about the gardens, the soil. Now, what do you plant in those gardens? What does it look like to actually harvest the crops of those gardens? The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, I met Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam on the night of al-Isra wal-Mi'raj, on the night journey.
And he said, O Muhammad, give my Salaam to your Ummah. Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam sending Salaam to us through our Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. And he said, It's a land whose soil is pure and its water is sweet. And he said, It's an empty white plain and the trees of that plain are planted with SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah, La ilaha illallah, Allahu Akbar. So you plant trees in paradise with your Tasbeeh. And you think about how many trees we have failed to plant in our garden. SubhanAllah. And what are these trees like? So let's actually go through the descriptions. This takes some time when you go through the Quran and the Sunnah of the various trees and plants that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la mentions to us. So let's start with the smallest plants in paradise. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la mentions to us that in paradise, there are aromatic plants. So everything smells good, of course. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, So there is rest and Rayhan, Rayhan. And Rayhan literally is sweet smelling plants. And here it's used as a symbol of complete satisfaction. So if you think about your eyes being closed and you're laying down in Jannah and you smell the plants that are all around you and the plants don't necessarily have to be outdoor. So that's just the plants, Rayhan. So what are the trees like if the flowers and plants are so beautiful that you would admire them for decades without worrying about the time? For one, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said that the trees of paradise are of dhahab. They are of gold. And in one narration from Ibn Abbas SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, they are green emerald with branches of red gold. And of course there's diversity in Jannah. And if you think about the trees of this world,
what's the least attractive part of the tree? It's the trunk, right? But here in Jannah, the trunk itself is so striking. Imagine the trunk itself is made of gold and emerald. And then the branches and what those branches bear is even better. Even the branches themselves, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, lush branches, lush branches. Let's not even talk about the production, just what they look like. And then he goes on to say in Surah Ar-Rahman, that in these gardens, there is plentiful fruits, palm trees, palm greens. And SubhanAllah, the wonder of these trees is that the beauty doesn't compromise what they produce and vice versa. You know, usually beautiful trees don't have anything to bear in this life. But look at how Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la describes them in Surah Al-Waqi'ah. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, Banana clustered with spreading shade, constantly flowing water. And Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, And you have abundant fruit, never out of season, never out of stock. Now, if you know trees, you'd notice that this is really out of this world. And so one day, a Bedouin came and he said, Allah has mentioned a tree in paradise that drives us crazy. And I don't think that there is a tree that causes more harm to people than this tree. And RasulAllah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, what tree are you talking about? He said, the Sidr, this lote tree, it drives us crazy here. It has all sorts of thorns. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, well, doesn't Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la say, a thornless lote tree? The Arabs had never seen that before. And what it is, is that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
and replaced every thorn with a fruit. So the same place that we knew the tree to have thorns, it now bears fruit instead. Now you may have noticed, I also said bananas. And yes, banana trees in Jannah are amazing. And Imam Malik Rahimahullah, he loved bananas for this reason, because he said they're the most similar to the fruits of paradise. And unlike all the other fruits in this world, because you can find them in any season of the year. But don't feel guilty if you're not crazy over bananas here, because you will be in Jannah InshaAllah Ta'ala. So this is the general theme of trees in the Quran. They're lush, they're beautiful, and they are satisfying. But then we have some specific trees that are mentioned in the Sunnah. And first you have this tree that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, So when Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, there is a tree in paradise that a swift rider on a swift horse would take a hundred years to pass beneath. And some of the scholars say perhaps this is referring to the tree known as Tuba. Now Tuba, you may have heard the word, like the word Kawthar, it has a general meaning of glad tidings, but it specifically refers to a tree in paradise as well. Just like how Kawthar can refer to the specific Kawthar, the fountain of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, or it can refer to glad tidings. So in the famous Hadith, when the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says, glad tidings to the strangers. Specifically, this may mean glad tidings to the strangers of the tree of Tuba in paradise. And there is a connection here. You are to be a stranger in this life. Just like a traveler, as the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, who takes a break under a tree and then proceeds with his journey. So the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam is saying,
the reward for that is a permanent tree that you forever rest under as a believer in your actual home. In another narration, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, He said, SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, Tuba for the one who saw me and believed in me, and Tuba for the one who did not see me yet still believed in me. And he repeated the seven times SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. And that is the way of the stranger. We cling to the example of the one who already passed from under this tree of Dunya. And we wait to be gathered with him SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam under the tree of Tuba in paradise that was promised to us through him SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. Now what's so special about this tree of Tuba? The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, that this isn't just a huge tree in Jannah, but it's also the tree that produces the fabric for the clothing of the people of paradise. He said, SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, Tuba is a tree in paradise that has a journey of a hundred years under a shade. And the clothes of the people of paradise come out from the outer parts of its flowers. And there was a Bedouin once again, who asked the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam the question, and they always used to ask the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam questions. They said, so are the clothes woven or are they created? And people laughed and the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, why are you laughing? He said, they grow out of the branches of the trees of paradise. So yes, clothes actually come out of the branches of this particular tree in Jannah SubhanAllah. And how strange and what a beautiful reward for the strangers, Tuba Lil Ghuraba. Another tree the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam mentioned is Shajarat Al-Shuhada, a special tree for the martyrs. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, that the souls of the believers are birds hanging from a tree of paradise until Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la returns them to their bodies on the day of resurrection.
And of course, with the Shuhada, they have their own specific tree, their own particular place where they get to enjoy the shade of the throne of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la as well as the tree of Al-Jannah. Then of course, there is not just any Sidra, not just any lote tree, but Sidrat Al-Muntaha, the ultimate lote tree, which marks the highest boundary of paradise. And this is the only place that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam saw Jibreel Alayhi As-Salam in his full form, other than the revelation of Surat Al-Muddathir. So he said that Jibreel Alayhi As-Salam at that point was staring upwards and he was in awe, and it was like he was flattened Alayhi As-Salam. And he said SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, that when I reached that lote tree, Sidrat Al-Muntaha, he said its fruits look like the clay jugs of Hajar. Its leaves were like the ears of elephants. And one of those leaves could cover the whole of this Ummah. And he said it had colors that are absolutely indescribable. And SubhanAllah, if you've ever been to the bottom of the ocean, scuba diving or snorkeling or whatever it may be, and you've seen the colors at the bottom of the ocean, they're not just incredible, they're actually indescribable. So imagine if that's the color at the bottom of the ocean, what the colors in the highest heavens are. And some of the scholars, they make an observation about our connection as Muslims to the idea of the lote tree and the application of the lote tree. And that is when the messenger of Allah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam entered upon his daughter as she had passed away. And he said SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, wash her with water. And then some of the leaves of the lote tree and put on her Kafura, camphor in it, in the last wash in particular. So we have connections to the trees of paradise and how we plant trees now
and how we reflect those trees in our lives. And SubhanAllah, you even see that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la describes the faith of the believer like what? Like a palm tree, but not just any palm tree. He says, SubhanAllah Wa Ta-A'la, Asluha Thabit Wa Far'uha Fissama Its foundations are strong and its branches are high in the sky. Tu'ti ukulaha kulli heena bi-idni rabbiha It produces fruits at all time by the permission of the Lord. So the tree of faith is not seasonal. And the trees that it produces in paradise are consistent as well. And the reward of the believer who is like a tree to everyone else in this life is literally trees that extend their shade in paradise and beautiful low hanging fruits always in production and within reach. And the more that the fruit of your knowledge is beneficial to others, the more the fruit of your reward in the hereafter. So the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, when the Muslim visits his sick brother or sister, he is harvesting the fruits of paradise until he returns. So it's not just that the visit itself, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la gives you with a garden, but every single moment that you are there and bringing comfort to that person, Allah is harvesting fruit for you and increasing your share because Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la will always bless you with more, even when you think you're doing so little. So whether it's that one tasbih, SubhanAllah, or when the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, the lowest branch of iman is removing a branch from the road. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, I saw a man strolling in paradise because in this dunya, he saw a branch of a tree laying on the ground and he removed it because he said, I don't want this to harm the believers. And as a result, what? Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la allows him trees in paradise under which he can stroll and he can enjoy everything that is there.
So you have your trees, you have your garden, you have your fruits. Now, how sweet will the rivers be beneath you?
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