Aḥmad has also transmitted it—through Sulaymān ibn al-Mughīrah, from Thābit, from Anas ibn Mālik— that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“I shall come to the gate of Paradise on the Day of Resurrection and request that it be opened. The keeper will ask, ‘Who are you?’ I will answer, ‘Muḥammad.’ He will then say, ‘It is you that I have been commanded not to open for anyone before you.’” (1)

Muslim relates—Abū Kuraib Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAlāʾ narrated to us; Muʿāwiyah ibn Hishām narrated to us; from Sufyān; from al-Mukhtār ibn Fulful; from Anas ibn Mālik—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“I shall have the largest following of all the prophets on the Day of Resurrection, and I will be the first to knock at the gate of Paradise.” (2)

Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim likewise states: “Allah will gather the people; when the Garden is brought near for the believers, they will rise and go to Adam (peace be upon him) and say, ‘Our father, intercede for us that Paradise may be opened for us.’ He will reply, ‘Was it not your father Adam’s sin that expelled you from Paradise? I am not fit for that …’” He then quoted the rest of the ḥadith as cited earlier (3). This provides a strong corroboration of what is mentioned in the ḥadith of the Trumpet: that they will again approach the prophets, seeking through them permission from Allah to enter the Garden, until the matter is finally reserved for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—just as the supreme initial intercession to settle judgment among creation was his alone, as has already been explained.

ʿAbd Allāh, the son of Imām Aḥmad, said: Suwayd ibn Saʿīd narrated to us; ʿAlī ibn Mushir informed us; from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Isḥāq; who narrated from al-Nuʿmān ibn Saʿd, who said: We were sitting with ʿAlī when he recited the verse, “On the Day We shall gather the God-fearing to the All-Merciful as honoured guests (85) and drive the guilty to Hell like thirsty herds (86)” [85–86]. He then said, “No, by Allah, they will not be gathered on their feet, nor will honoured guests arrive on foot. Rather, they will be brought noble she-camels the like of which creation has never seen, with saddles of gold. They will mount them until they reach the gates of Paradise.”

Ibn Jarīr and Ibn Abī Ḥātim also related this through the chain of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Isḥāq, adding: “as honoured guests, riding upon mounts whose saddles are of gold and whose reins are of emerald,” and the remainder is the same (4).

Ibn Abī Ḥātim further said: My father narrated to us; Abū Ghassān Mālik ibn Ismāʿīl al-Nahdī narrated to us; Maslamah ibn Jaʿfar al-Bajalī narrated to us; I heard Abū Muʿādh al-Baṣrī say: One day ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib was with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he recited the verse, “On the Day We gather the righteous before the All-Merciful as honoured guests” [Maryam: 83]. ʿAlī remarked, “I think that honoured guests must be riders, O Messenger of Allah.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, “By Him in whose hand is my soul, when they emerge from their graves they will be met—” or