The Craving for Paradise,
The Fear of Hell

Those people who craved Paradise more than anything else, and started fearing Hell more than anything else, will be held worthy of gaining entry into eternal Paradise by God.

According to Sunan Al Tirmidhi, on behalf of one who asked for Paradise three times, Paradise will say to God, “O God, grant him Paradise.” And on behalf of one who seeks refuge from hell three times, hell will say, “O God, grant him refuge from hell.” This tradition has been recorded in different books of Hadith. (Sunan Al Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 2572)

In this tradition, three times does not mean just three times, but rather three occasions. This does not mean that the person who speaks these words three times numerically will be held deserving of this reward. It means that it is those people who discover Paradise and Hell, with such intensity that it became a part of their thinking process, those who craved Paradise more than anything else, and started fearing Hell more than anything else, who owing to their heightened consciousness have come to think that if they failed to find Paradise, they would be ruined for all eternity: it is people such as these who would be held worthy of Paradise.

Such a person’s words were put on record by the angels. He called God in his solitude to include him among those chosen servants who will be rewarded with Paradise, and who will be saved from Hell. In this way, the Angels will record his fervent prayer. According to the Hadith, this will apply to those who have been in this tumultuous state at least three times. This Hadith, in actual fact, simply describes states of being rather than mere numbers.