How many of our Ummah will enter Jannah?

80 rows out of 120!

The prophet (pbuh) said:” the people of Jannah are dividing into 120 rows. 80 rows will be from this Ummah and 40 from all of the other Umam combined.

He (pbuh) also says :”I would be the first intercessor in the paradise, and no apostle amongst the apostles has been testified by such a large number of people as I have been testified. (I have the largest Ummah). And verily, there would be an apostle from amongst the apostles that would be testified by only one man from his people.”

Filling the horizon!

Our prophet (pbuh) said: “I was shown the nations, and some Prophets passed by with a few followers, and some Prophets passed by with no followers. Then I was shown a great multitude, and I said, ‘What is this? Is this my ummah?’ It was said, ‘No, this is Moosa and his people.’ It was said, ‘Look at the horizon.’ There I saw a huge multitude filling the horizon. And it was said, ‘Look there, and there, on the horizons of the sky.’ There was a multitude filling the horizons. It was said, ‘This is your ummah, and of these, seventy thousand will enter Paradise without being brought to account.’” Then he [the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)] went inside, without explaining further. The people started to discuss what he had said, saying, “We are the ones who have believed in Allah and followed His Messenger; we are they” or, “It is our children who were born in Islam whilst we were born in Jaahiliyyah.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) heard about what was being said, so he came out and said: “They are the ones who do not seek ruqya, do not believe in bad omens and do not use branding; they put their trust in their Lord…”

What the hadeeth means is that there is a group of this ummah who will enter Paradise without being brought to account, not that the number of inhabitants of Jannah from this ummah is seventy thousand. The seventy thousand referred to in this hadeeth are of a high status in this ummah because of some special qualities that they have.

What is meant by not treating oneself with ruqya?

People in the days of ignorance before Islam used all sorts of ruqyas or charms, or incantations, or spells, etc. to remove their afflictions, and believed that some specific charms, incantations, spells, etc. could remove their afflictions. They would put their full trust and belief in the powers of these ruqyas, rather than in the Power and Strength of Allah (Swt).

In another narration: “My Lord promised me that seventy thousand of my ummah will enter Paradise without being brought to account or being punished; with each thousand of them will be another seventy thousand, plus three handfuls of the handfuls of my Lord, may He be glorified.” We ask Allah to make us among them.

Just imagine: seventy thousand, with each thousand of whom is another seventy thousand – how great will be the total number of people who will enter Paradise without being brought to account? How many will be in each handful “scooped up” by the Merciful, Compassionate, Generous Almighty Lord? We ask Allah to make us among that number.

Moreover, our prophet (pbuh) said to his Companions one day, “Would you be pleased if you were a quarter of the people of Paradise?” They said, “Yes.” He said, “Would you be pleased if you were a third of the people of Paradise?” They said, “Yes.” He said, “Would you be pleased if you were a half of the people of Paradise?” They said, “Yes.” He said, “By the One in Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, I hope that you will be half of the people of Paradise. No one will enter Paradise except a Muslim, and among the people of shirk you are like a white hair on the hide of a black bull, or a black hair on the hide of a red bull.”