Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
Jannah is fundamentally different from this world, and its blessings cannot be measured by worldly standards. Islam teaches that believers will receive whatever their purified souls desire, but there is no authentic evidence that worldly haram things simply become permissible in Paradise. Instead, Allah replaces every sacrifice made for His sake with rewards that are greater, purer, and beyond human imagination.
Responding to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
The only authentic and safest way to think or speak of Jannah begins with a simple truth: it is not like this world. We describe it with familiar words, but its reality goes far beyond anything we can imagine. As Allah tells us, it contains what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no heart has ever conceived.
This is why Ibn `Abbas (peace be upon him) said that there is nothing of this world in Jannah except the names. The words may be the same, but the realities are completely different.
So when we read descriptions of Jannah, we should not confine them to worldly meanings. They are pointers, not exact copies of what we know. The Qur’an gives a clear principle: “Therein is whatever the souls desire.” But those desires will not be like the ones we carry now. They will be purified and elevated, and what is given will be complete—free from any flaw or harm.
This becomes clear even in the example of wine. It is forbidden here, yet in Jannah there is something called wine that carries none of its harms—no intoxication, no regret, no wrongdoing. The name is familiar, but the reality is entirely different.
Because of this, we should avoid trying to map Jannah onto this life. Imagining that specific forbidden things will simply become permissible there is not grounded in clear evidence, and it reduces something vast to something small.
More importantly, the person themselves will not be the same. The soul will be transformed. It will no longer be drawn to what is impure or harmful.
A better way to understand it is this: whatever a person leaves for the sake of Allah here is not lost. It is replaced—fully and generously—with something better, in a form beyond present understanding.
Jannah, then, is not a place where the forbidden becomes permissible. It is a place where the soul is refined and given what is greater than it ever knew to seek.
So instead of holding onto specific images, hold onto this certainty: Allah does not deprive. He gives—and what He gives will surpass every expectation.
Let us, then, turn our focus to striving sincerely and asking Allah to grant us entry into Jannah.
- Is Jannah Only About Physical Pleasure?
- Do Women in Jannah Stay in Tents and Indoors Only?
- Can Non-Muslims Go to Jannah?
- Do Raised Ranks in Jannah Mean Equal Rewards?
- Can You Change Your Gender in Jannah?
- How to Get to the Highest Level of Jannah
- How Will Women Be Rewarded in Paradise?
- La Hawla Wa La Quwwata Illa Billah: A Treasure from Jannah
- What Are the Rewards for Women in Jannah?
- Will a Non-Muslim Child Go to Jannah?
Almighty Allah knows best.