Will Allah Reverse Time For Me In Paradise?
Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Question
Assalamu ‘alaykum.
I am obsessed with a wish for reversal of time, and It’s hard to redirect my obsession to something healthy and normal. I have been born with OCD syndrome along with Autism and Asperger, and I have plenty of reasons why I wish for the reversal of time, and the reason is that I wish I can do things that I have not done so I can have good memories. And I wish Allah Almighty would bless me with skills in science, technology, engineering, creativity, and design. Will this happen?
Answer
Wa ‘alaykum assalam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh.
I pray you are well.
No, once we have moved on from this life and entered the Akhira, we don’t come back. Even in Paradise, time won’t be reversed to send you back to the dunya.
This might be difficult to accept due to your OCD, but there is much good in this for you. The pain, struggles, setbacks, and sadness you experience in this life are difficult to bear. They can leave a person full of regrets, remorse, feelings of being unfulfilled, and other negative emotions.
Looking back at these negative emotions and painful experiences when you are in Paradise will make your everlasting and supreme happiness there even more enjoyable. The stark difference will fill you with indescribable joy.
All the things you were tested with, and all that you missed out on, will end up as amazing gifts and rewards that will last with you forever. You won’t want to leave. The Qur’an says about the Believers in Paradise, “They don’t desire any alteration in the slightest.“ (Qur’an, 18:108) They won’t want anything about their situation to change due to the perfection of their blessings. Not even after trillions of years.
Your pain and suffering will make that experience sweeter. You may, if you want, wish for a simulation of what life would have been like with the gifts you desire. In Paradise, you just need to wish and it will be given to you. But you might find – when you get there, God willing – that such a wish is more far fetched than a homeless person wishing for a wet cardboard box to sleep under, after being given the presidential suite of a luxurious hotel!
May Allah grant you the best of both worlds.
[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began his studies in Arabic Grammar and Morphology in 2005. After graduating with a degree in English and History, he moved to Damascus in 2007, where, for 18 months, he studied with many erudite scholars. In late 2008 he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continued his studies for the next six years in Sacred Law (fiqh), legal theory (Usul al-fiqh), theology, hadith methodology, hadith commentary, and Logic. He was also given licenses of mastery in the science of Quranic recital. He was able to study an extensive curriculum of Quranic sciences, tafsir, Arabic grammar, and Arabic eloquence.
