Sai’id ibn Musiyyab RadhiAllahu anhu met Abu Hurairah RadhiAllahu anhu in the Bazaar of Madinah. Abu Hurairah RadhiAllahu anhu said: “O Sa’id, I pray to Almighty Allah that you and I should meet in the Bazaar of Paradise, and you and I should get together there.”
Upon this Sa’id RadhiAllahu anhu enquired: “Will there be a Bazaar in Jannah?” Abu Hurairah RadhiAllahu anhu replied: “Yes indeed. I was informed by the Prophet of Allah (SAW) that when the companions of Jannah shall enter therein they shall lodge in various sections according to their deeds. Those whose deeds will be better and numerous will get better and lofty abodes.
Every Juma’ah the heavenly people shall be commanded to set out from their places. On receiving the command these people shall be honoured with the vision of their Lord and that day Allah shall bestow upon them immense bounties of His pleasure and special blessing. Allah Almighty will hold a special court in the biggest Garden of Jannah.
Various types of seats will be arranged there according to the protocol of honour and position. Some seats will be made of light; some made of pearls; some of rubies; some of emeralds; some made of gold; and some others made of silver.
Each heavenly person will take his seat according to his position. The most inferior among them will be seated on mounds of musk and camphor and the wonderful thing would be that people seated on the mounds will not feel whether those seated on the chairs are superior to them in position or vice versa.
For each one of the heavenly people will content in his status and will be thankful and will never aspire for a higher estate.”
After this Abu Hurairah RadhiAllahu anhu states: “I submitted to the Prophet (SAW), shall we have a vision of our Creator and Provider?” He (SAW) replied: “Yes indeed, you shall see Him. Do you doubt having sighted the sun and the moon of the fourteenth night?” I submitted, “No, I do not doubt having sighted the sun and the moon of the fourteenth night.”
The Prophet (SAW) replied: “Likewise, you shall not doubt having the vision of your Creator and Provider, and there shall be none in that assembly with whom the Almighty Allah will not converse directly.
They will be seated face to face with their Lord in an informal manner and there shall be no inhibitions between them. During the conversation the Lord Almighty will ask a man, “O son of so and so, dost thou remember the day when you said this and you spoke thus?”
And then Allah shall remind him of some of his acts of breach of faith which the person had committed during his lifetime. This man will submit, “O Lord, has Thou not forgiven my sins?” Allah will declare, “Why, yes I have forgiven thee. You entered this state due to the vastness of My Mercy and My Generosity.”
In the meantime a cloud will come and will shower such perfume that its scent will never have been smelt before. And during this shower of perfume, Allah the Almighty shall command: “Stay and reach for the thing which I had already prepared for thee and take freely of whatever you wish for.”
Upon hearing this command of Allah we will come to a Bazaar. The Angels will be posted on all four sides of the Bazaar. We shall see in these Bazaar things unseen and unheard of before, nor will such things have entered our imagination before this time.
Thereafter we shall be given our favourite things free of charge, for there shall be no trade of buying or selling in this Bazaar. The companions of Jannah will meet each other in this Bazaar. When a heavenly man of higher rank shall see a man of lower rank, neither of them will feel the difference of quality in their apparel, the superior one will have no feelings of superiority, and the inferior one will be free from distress on account of feelings of inferiority because he will have no such feelings.
In my humble estimation the state of affairs seems to be that as soon as the two heavenly men meet each other the apparel of the inferior one will be made as resplendent as the superior person, so that neither the inferior one should suffer distress on the account of inferiority, nor the superior person entertain any pride of superiority.
Thereafter when we reach our respective abodes our women shall see us and say: “Allah bless you! Welcome! How is it that you look so handsome? When you went forth you were not as attractive and charming as you look now?”
In the answer to this we will say: “Today we have been in the presence of Almighty Allah. Hence due to our presence in the company of Allah we have been beautified and we have returned to you in a more beautiful state.” (Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah)