Mentioning Someone Will Enter Paradise

I have heard that we cannot say with certainty someone is going to Paradise unless it was mentioned specifically by the Prophet Muhammad ((Allah bless him and give him peace)). Can we say that Aisha, the mother of believers, is going to Paradise with certainty?

Answer:

Wa alaykum salam wa rahmatullah

In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

May Allah grant us the companionship of the Prophet and his family in Paradise.

Suspending judgment on the eternal destination of another human being is not to be taken lightly, as you emphasize correctly in your question.

However, there are specific narrations that convey to us with certainty that Aisha, the mother of the believers, will be in Paradise.

‘Ammar bin Yasir said, “She [Aisha] is his wife in the world and in the Hereafter.” [Tirmidhi]

Aisha herself asked, “O Messenger of God, peace, and blessing upon him, who from your wives will be in Paradise?” He replied, “You are among them.” [Sahih Ibn Hibban, Mustadrak al-Hakim)

Once `Aisha became sick, and Ibn `Abbas went to see her and said, “O mother of the believers! You are leaving for truthful forerunners, i.e., for Allah’s Messenger (Allah’s peace and blessing upon him] and Abu Bakr. [Bukhari]

Regarding this hadith, Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani, the well-known commentator on Sahih al-Bukhari, mentioned, “In it [this hadith], absolute certainty that she will enter Paradise since he would not say it unless it was divinely ordained.” [Ibn Hajr, Fath al-Bari)

And Allah knows best

[Ustadh] Nail Kadi

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani