The Circles and Gatherings of Knowledge Are Indeed the Gardens of Paradise in This World
Shaykh ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Badr
Shaykh ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-ʿAbbad (حفظه الله) said:1 Verily, the gatherings of remembrance are the gardens of Paradise in this world.
Imam Aḥmad, al-Tirmidhī and others narrated on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik (رضي الله عنه) that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “When you pass by the gardens of Paradise, then feast.” They said: “And what are the gardens of Paradise?” He said: “The circles of remembrance.”2
[Furthermore,] Ibn Abī al-Dunyā and al-Ḥakīm and others have [also] narrated this from the Ḥadith of Jābir ibn ʿAbdillāh (رضي الله عنه) who said: “The Messenger (ﷺ) came to us and said: ‘O people! Feast in the gardens of Paradise.’ So we said: ‘O Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ)! What are the gardens of Paradise?’ He said: ‘The gatherings of remembrance.’ Then he said: ‘Remember Allāh in the morning and in the evening, and whoever wishes to know his status with Allāh then let him look to see what Allāh’s status with him is. For indeed, Allāh gives the slave the status the slave has given Him for himself.’”3 This Ḥadith is ḥasān by virtue of the two aforementioned chains.4
Ibn al-Qayyim (رحمه الله) said: “Whoever would like to reside [in] the gardens of Paradise in this world, let him take up residency [in] the gatherings of remembrance, for verily, they are the gardens of Paradise.”5
Endnotes:
- Fiqh al-Adʿiyah wa-al-Adhkār vol. 1, pg. 29. Translated by: Abū Wāʾil Musa Shaleem
- Reported by Imām Aḥmad in his Musnad 3/150 and al-Tirmidhī (no. 3510).
- Al-Mustadrak 1/494.
- Refer to Ṣaḥīh al-Targhīb wa-al-Tarhīb (no. 1511).
- Al-Wābil al-Sayyib pg. 145.