In Islam, Jannah (, pl. jannāt, lit. "paradise, garden") is the final abode of the righteous. According to one count, the word appears 147 times in the Qu'ran. Belief in the afterlife is one of the six articles of faith in Sunni and Twelver Shi'ism and is a place in which "believers" (Mumin) will enjoy pleasure, while the unbelievers (Kafir) will suffer in Jahannam. Both Jannah and Jahannam are believed to have several levels. In the case of Jannah, the higher levels are more desirable, and in the case of Jahannam, the lower levels have a higher level of punishments. — in Jannah the higher the prestige and pleasure, in Jahannam the severity of the suffering. The afterlife experiences are described as physical, psychic and spiritual.
Jannah is described with physical pleasures such as gardens, beautiful houris, wine that has no aftereffects, and "divine pleasure". Their reward of pleasure will vary according to the righteousness of the person. The characteristics of Jannah often have direct parallels with those of Jahannam. The pleasure and delights of Jannah described in the Qu'ran, are matched by the excruciating pain and horror of Jahannam.
Jannah is also referred to as the abode of Adam and Eve before their expulsion. Most Muslims hold that 'Jannah and Jahannam co-exist with the temporal world, rather than being created after Judgement Day. Humans may not pass the boundaries to the afterlife, but it may interact with the temporal world of humans.
TerminologyJannah is found frequently in the Qur'an (2:30, 78:12) and often translated as "Heaven" in the sense of an abode in which believers are rewarded in afterlife. Another word, samāʾ (usually pl. samāwāt) is also found frequently in the Quran and translated as "heaven" but in the sense of the sky above or the celestial sphere. (It is often used in the phrase as-samawat wal-ard "the heavens and the earth", an example being Qu'ran 38:10.) The Qu'ran describes both samāʾ and jannah as being above this world.Jannah is also frequently translated as "paradise", but another term with a more direct connection to that term is also found, (Arabic: ), the literal term meaning paradise, which was borrowed from the Persian word (), which is also the source of the English word "paradise". is used in Qu'ran 18:107 and 23:11 and also designates the highest level of heaven.
In contrast to Jannah, the words , , , , and other terms are used to refer to the concept of hell. There are many Arabic words for both Heaven and Hell that also appear in the Qu'ran and in the Hadith. Most of them have become part of Islamic beliefs.Jannah is also used as the name of the Garden of Eden in which Adam and Hawa (Eve) dwelt.
Salvation/inhabitants
Scholars do not all agree on who will end up in Jannah, and the criteria for whether or not they will. Issues include whether all Muslims, even those who've committed major sins, will end up in Jannah; whether any non-Muslims will go there or all go to Jahannam.
Inhabitants according to Quran
The Quran specifies the qualities for those allowed to inhabit Jannah (according to Smith and Haddad) as: "those who refrain from doing evil, keep their duty, have faith in God's revelations, do good works, are truthful, penitent, heedful, and contrite of heart, those who feed the needy and orphans and who are prisoners for God's sake." Another source (Sebastian Günther and Todd Lawson) gives as the basic criterion for salvation in the afterlife more detail on articles of faith: the belief in the oneness of God (), angels, revealed books, messengers, as well as repentance to God, and doing good deeds (amal salih). All these qualities are qualified by the doctrine that ultimately salvation can only be attained through God's judgment. Jinn and angels The idea that jinn as well as humans could find salvation was widely accepted, based on the Quran (Q.55:74) where the saved are promised maidens "untouched before by either men or jinn" – suggesting to classical scholars al-Suyūṭī and al-Majlisī that jinn also are provided their own kind of houri maidens in paradise. Like humans, their destiny in the hereafter depends on whether they accept God's guidance. Angels, on the other hand, because they are not subject to desire and so are not subject to temptation, work in paradise serving the "blessed" (humans and jinn) guiding them, officiating marriages, conveying messages, praising them, etc. Salvation of non-Muslims Muslim scholars disagree about exact criteria for salvation of Muslim and non-Muslim. Although most agree that Muslims will be finally saved – shahids (martyrs) who die in battle, are expected to enter paradise immediately after death – non-Muslims are another matter.