Surah Maryam (19) — Ayah 63

(Ayah 63) {تِلْكَ الْجَنَّةُ الَّتِيْ نُوْرِثُ … :} That is, the inheritor of Paradise will be the one who obeys Allah and His Messenger and is very cautious of disbelief, polytheism, and sins. In this verse, it is mentioned that the righteous will be made the inheritors of Paradise. The same thing is stated in Surah Al-Mu’minun (1 to 10) and Al-A’raf (42, 43). The question is, whose heirs will the people of Paradise become? One answer is that their father Adam was given Paradise, and children inherit the property of their father. The second answer is that Allah Almighty has made places in both Paradise and Hell for the children of Adam. The people of Hell, due to their evil deeds, will be deprived of their place in Paradise, so the people of Paradise will inherit it. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ كُلُّ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ يَرٰی مَقْعَدَهُ مِنَ النَّارِ فَيَقُوْلُ لَوْلاَ أَنَّ اللّٰهَ هَدَانِيْ فَيَكُوْنُ لَهُ شُكْرٌ، وَ كُلُّ أَهْلِ النَّارِ يَرٰی مَقْعَدَهُ مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ فَيَقُوْلُ لَوْلاَ أَنَّ اللّٰهَ هَدَانِيْ فَيَكُوْنُ عَلَيْهِ حَسْرَةٌ ] [صحیح الجامع : ۴۵۱۴۔ مسند أحمد : 512/2، ح : ۱۰۶۶۳۔ مستدرک حاکم : 436/2، ح : ۳۶۲۹، عن أبي ھریرۃ رضی اللہ عنہ ] “All the people of Paradise will see their place in the Fire and will say, ‘If it were not that Allah guided me (I would have been here),’ so he will be very grateful, and all the people of the Fire will see their place in Paradise and will say, ‘If only Allah had guided me (I would have been here),’ so for him there will be great regret.” But in this answer, the thought arises that the people of Paradise will only receive the place of the people of Hell as inheritance, whereas they also have their own share in Paradise, as He said: «{ اُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِيْنَ }» [ آل عمران : ۱۳۳ ] “(This Paradise) has been prepared for the God-fearing.” Therefore, this meaning is less preferred. That is why most commentators have interpreted {’’نُوْرِثُ‘‘} to mean that We will make the righteous people the owners of it in every way; it will never be taken back from them, rather it will become theirs just like an inheritance, because the most secure form of ownership is inheritance, since in all other forms of acquiring ownership, there is a possibility of losing it—whether it is through sale, gift, or usurpation, the owner can take it back or change it, but the heir does not have this worry. This meaning is also strong.