Thus, on the Day of Resurrection—if Allah so wills—each one of us will have in his hand a Jew or a Christian who will be cast into the Fire in his stead, serving as his ransom from the Fire.

This, however, does not mean that the number of Jews and Christians will be equal to that of the Muslims. The unbelievers—Jews, Christians, idolaters, and others—are in fact far more numerous than the Muslims, for out of every thousand descendants of Adam, nine hundred and ninety-nine will enter the Fire and only one will enter Paradise.

The author also cites a hadith in which the Messenger ﷺ addressed the Companions, saying, “Are you not pleased to be one quarter of the people of Paradise, one third of the people of Paradise?” When they replied, “Indeed we are,” he added, “I hope you will be one half of the people of Paradise.” In other words, half of the inhabitants of Paradise will belong to this ummah, while the remaining half will come from all the other nations combined. This indicates the great size of this community, for it is the last of the nations and will remain until the Day of Resurrection.

Another report found in the Sunan collections and the Musnad states that the ranks of the people of Paradise will number one hundred and twenty: eighty of those ranks will be from this ummah, making it two-thirds of the dwellers of Paradise. Such is Allah’s mercy and the favor granted to the Messenger ﷺ, for he will be given the reward of everyone who follows his sunnah and his law.