❖ Introduction
الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام علىٰ رسول الله، أما بعد!
The question raised relates to the nature of human bodies in Paradise, whether they will be physical (material) or spiritual, and whether they will consume food and drink—and if so, how bodily functions will be managed. This article presents a comprehensive analysis rooted in Qur’ān and authentic Sunnah, affirming the real, physical nature of Paradise and the enhanced capabilities of its inhabitants.
❖ ① Paradise: A Real, Physical Realm
◈ According to Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamāʿah, Jannah is not allegorical, imagined, or metaphorical.
◈ It is a real, external, created realm, greater and more perfect than this world.
◈ Its pleasures, dwellers, and rewards are literal, though far superior to anything worldly.
❝No soul knows what comfort is hidden for them as a reward for what they used to do.❞
(Sūrat al-Sajdah: 17)
❖ ② The Believers Will Enter with Physical Bodies
✔ Inhabitants of Jannah will enter bodily, not merely as souls.
✔ However, these bodies will be superior, with no illnesses, fatigue, or aging, unlike worldly bodies.
"They will not experience therein any fatigue, nor will they ever be removed from it."
(Sūrat al-Ḥijr: 48)
❖ ③ Qur’ānic Evidence of Eating & Drinking in Jannah
The following verses affirm that Jannah’s inhabitants will eat, drink, and enjoy companionship:
| No. | Sūrah Name | Verse |
|---|---|---|
| ① | Al-Dukhān | 55 |
| ② | Al-Ṭūr | 20 |
| ③ | Al-Insān | 14, 5, 17 |
| ④ | Al-Sajdah | 19 |
| ⑤ | Al-Dhāriyāt | 15 |
| ⑥ | Al-Ḥijr | 45 |
| ⑦ | Al-Naml | 42 |
| ⑧ | Al-Ḥāqqah | 24 |
| ⑨ | Al-Ṣāffāt | 41, 46 |
| ⑩ | Ṣād | 51 |
| ⑪ | Al-Wāqiʿah | 20, 31–32 |
| ⑫ | Al-Raḥmān | 68 |
| ⑬ | Al-Tawbah | 21 |
"Eat and drink in satisfaction for what you put forth in the days past."
(Sūrat al-Ḥāqqah: 24)
❖ ④ Bodily Waste in Jannah – No Excretion
◈ Despite consuming food and drink, there will be no urination or defecation in Paradise.
◈ Excess material will be excreted as fragrant perspiration, resembling musk.
❝Their food will produce belching like musk, and their perspiration will be perfume.❞
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, 4/2181)
❖ ⑤ Hadith References
✔ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī
“People will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised.”
(Kitāb Badʾ al-Khalq, 4/85)
✔ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
“The people of Paradise will eat and drink, but will not urinate or defecate…”
(Kitāb al-Jannah, Ḥadīth: 3835)
✔ Sunan al-Nasāʾī (via Fatḥ al-Bārī)
A Jew questioned the Prophet ﷺ about eating in Jannah. The reply:
❝Yes, but their need will exit through sweat with the fragrance of musk.❞
(Fatḥ al-Bārī, 6/373)
❖ ⑥ Logical Fallacies in Denial
◈ Measuring Paradise by worldly logic is invalid.
◈ Paradise is beyond human comprehension and worldly laws do not apply.
◈ Denying the physicality of Jannah was the error of Greek philosophers, Sar Sayyid Ahmad Khan, and some modernists.
❝No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no heart has imagined the delights of Paradise.❞
(Ḥadīth, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)
❖ ⑦ Scholarly Refutations of Modernist Theories
✔ Tafsīr al-Kabīr – Refutation of abstract interpretations
✔ Tafsīr Ḥaqānī, vol 1, pp. 38–43; vol 2, p. 109 – Clarification of material realities of the Hereafter
✔ Scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah have rejected the metaphorical view of Paradise & Hell
❖ ⑧ Physical and Marital Pleasures in Jannah
◈ Jannah includes physical enjoyment, including marital intimacy with spouses and ḥūr ʿīn.
◈ This is supported by multiple verses and aḥādīth.
"They and their spouses will be reclining on adorned couches."
(Sūrat Yāsīn: 56)
"They will be married to ḥūr ʿīn."
(Sūrat al-Raḥmān: 72)
❖ Conclusion
✔ Jannah is a real, physical realm, not symbolic.
✔ Believers will enter it with enhanced material bodies.
✔ They will eat, drink, and enjoy companionship without any impurity or physical harm.
✔ All such matters are firmly established through clear verses and authentic narrations.
✔ Any notion of metaphorical Paradise is contrary to the Qur’ān, Sunnah, and consensus of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamāʿah.
هٰذا ما عندي، والله أعلم بالصواب
