of its inhabitants were the poor, and I looked into Hell and saw that most of its inhabitants were the wealthy and women.” (1)

The remainder of the narration has already been cited from the report of Ibn Abī Shaybah: “The first three who will enter Paradise were shown to me …” to its conclusion; it occurs in the section dealing with those who praise Allah in times of ease and in times of hardship. (2) — al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Jannah.

Section

Paradise and Hellfire exist at this very moment. Paradise has been made ready for the God-fearing, while Hellfire has been prepared for the disbelievers, exactly as the Noble Qur’an declares, and the reports from the Messenger of the Lord of all worlds about this have reached us through mass transmission. This is the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamāʿah—may Allah be pleased with them all—who cling to al-ʿurwah al-wuthqā (the firmest handhold), that exemplary sunnah, until the Day of Resurrection. It runs counter to the claim of those who say that the two abodes have not yet been created and will only be brought into existence on the Day of Resurrection. Such a view is held only by someone unfamiliar with the rigorously authentic hadiths—whose soundness and inclusion in the canonical works are unanimously accepted—or with the good reports whose abundance and fame make them impossible to reject. Their authenticity is firmly established in the Two Ṣaḥīḥs and in other reliable and well-known Islamic sources with sound chains of transmission.

Allah the Exalted says:
“And a Garden whose breadth is as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the God-fearing.” (Āl ʿImrān 3:133)

He also says:
“So fear the Fire whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers.” (al-Baqarah 2:24)

And He says:
“The Fire; they are exposed to it morning and evening, and on the Day the Hour is established [it will be said], ‘Make Pharaoh’s people enter the severest punishment.’” (Ghāfir 40:46)

And He says:
“No soul knows what comfort of eyes has been hidden for them as a reward for what they used to do.” (al-Sajdah 32:17)

In the Two Ṣaḥīḥs it is related from Abū Hurayrah that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Allah, Most High, says: ‘I have prepared for My righteous servants that which no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, and no human heart has ever conceived—an extra treasure beyond what I have already shown you.’” (3)

Likewise, the Two Ṣaḥīḥs record—through Mālik, from Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“When any one of you dies, his place is shown to him morning and evening. If he is among the people of Paradise, then he is shown a seat among the people of Paradise; and if he is among the people of Hell, he is shown a seat among the people of Hell. It is said to him, ‘This is your place until Allah resurrects you to it on the Day of Resurrection.’” (4)

And in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Ibn Masʿūd reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: “The souls of the martyrs are in the crops of green birds; they have lanterns …”