Question:
Are Paradise (Jannah) and Hell (Jahannam) in existence?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
Answer:
Paradise and Hell are real creations of Allah. Both exist at present and were created to remain forever. They will never perish.
Prophetic Evidence:
❀ Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh رضي الله عنه narrated:
أريت أني دخلت الجنة وإذا قصر أبيض بفنائه جارية... قال: هذا لعمر بن الخطاب...
“I saw in a dream that I entered Paradise and there was a white palace, in its courtyard was a young woman. I asked: ‘O Jibrīl, whose palace is this?’ He replied: ‘This belongs to ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb.’ I wished to enter it and see it, but I remembered your (ʿUmar’s) sense of honor. ʿUmar said: ‘May my parents be sacrificed for you, O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, would I ever be jealous of you?’”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 3679; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 2394; Faḍāʾil al-Ṣaḥābah al-Nasāʾī: 23)
Scholarly Consensus:
❀ Ḥāfiẓ al-ʿIrāqī رحمه الله (806 AH):
فيه حجة لمذهب أهل السنة أن الجنة مخلوقة موجودة خلافا لمن أنكر ذلك من المعتزلة، والأحاديث الصحيحة التى تبلغ حد التواتر متظاهرة متضافرة على ذلك وعلى إبطال ما زعموه
“This ḥadīth is proof for Ahl al-Sunnah that Paradise is already created and exists, contrary to the Muʿtazilah who denied it. The authentic ḥadīths, which reach the level of tawātur, are clear and abundant on this matter, and they refute the claims of the Muʿtazilah.”
(Ṭarḥ al-Tathrīb, 2/60)
Conclusion:- Jannah and Jahannam are already created and exist.
- They are eternal abodes that will never cease to exist.
- This is affirmed by authentic ḥadīths at the level of tawātur and the consensus of Ahl al-Sunnah.
