Specialities of Nabi ﷺ

The First to be Resurrected and The Pond of Abundance

On the day of Qiyamah, the very first person to be resurrected will be none other than Nabi ﷺ.

النَّاسُ يَصْعَقُونَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَإِذَا أَنَا بِمُوسَى آخِذٌ بِقَائِمَةٍ مِنْ قَوَائِمِ الْعَرْشِ قَالَ فَأَكُونُ أَوَّلَ مَنْ بُعِثَ فَإِذَا مُوسَى آخِذٌ بِالْعَرْشِ

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “The people will fall unconscious on the Day of Resurrection, then suddenly I will see Moses holding one of the pillars of the Throne.” Abu Huraira RA said: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “I will be the first person to be resurrected and will see Moses holding the Throne.” [Bukhari]

Thereafter, one of the other specialities of Nabi ﷺ is that Allah has granted Nabi ﷺ a special pond in Jannah.

إِنَّآ أَعْطَيْنَـٰكَ ٱلْكَوْثَرَ

O Muhammad, surely We have granted you the Kauthar (countless blessings – it is also the name of a special fountain which will be granted to Prophet Muhammad on the Day of Judgement). [Kawther 108: 1]

In Islamic terminology, al-Kawthar has two meanings:

1.      It is a river in Paradise which Allah has given to His Prophet ﷺ. This meaning is what is meant in the above verse.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏”‏ أُنْزِلَتْ عَلَىَّ آنِفًا سُورَةٌ ‏”‏ ‏.‏ فَقَرَأَ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ ‏{‏ إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ ‏}‏ حَتَّى خَتَمَهَا ‏.‏ قَالَ ‏”‏ هَلْ تَدْرُونَ مَا الْكَوْثَرُ ‏”‏ ‏.‏ قَالُوا اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَعْلَمُ ‏.‏ قَالَ ‏”‏ فَإِنَّهُ نَهْرٌ وَعَدَنِيهِ رَبِّي فِي الْجَنَّةِ ‏”‏

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: A surah has just been revealed to me. He then recited:”In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Lo! We have given thee Abundance” until he finished it. Then he asked: Do you know what Abundance (al-Kawthar) is? They replied: Allah and His Apostle know it better. He said: It is a river of which my Lord, the Exalted, the Majestic has promised me to give in Paradise. [Abu Dawud]

In another Hadith, Nabi ﷺ said:

هُوَ نَهْرٌ فِي الْجَنَّةِ ‏”‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏”‏ رَأَيْتُ نَهْرًا فِي الْجَنَّةِ حَافَتَاهُ قِبَابُ اللُّؤْلُؤِ قُلْتُ مَا هَذَا يَا جِبْرِيلُ قَالَ هَذَا الْكَوْثَرُ الَّذِي قَدْ أَعْطَاكَهُ اللَّ

“It is a river in Paradise.” He said: “The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘I saw a river in Paradise, whose banks had tents which were made of pearl. I said: “What is this O Jibril?’” He said: “This is Al-Kauthar which Allah has granted you.” [Tirmidhi]

Nabi ﷺ gave a further description of this river when he ﷺ said:

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ “‏ الْكَوْثَرُ نَهْرٌ فِي الْجَنَّةِ حَافَّتَاهُ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ وَمَجْرَاهُ عَلَى الدُّرِّ وَالْيَاقُوتِ تُرْبَتُهُ أَطْيَبُ مِنَ الْمِسْكِ وَمَاؤُهُ أَحْلَى مِنَ الْعَسَلِ وَأَبْيَضُ مِنَ الثَّلْجِ

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Al-Kauthar is a river in Paradise, whose banks are of gold, and it flows over pearls and corundum. Its dirt is purer than musk, and its water is sweeter than honey and whiter than milk.” [Tirmidhi]

2.      It is a great cistern – a tank for holding water – which will be set up in the place of gathering on the Day of Resurrection, to which the ummah of Muhammad ﷺ will come.

The water of this cistern will come from the river of al-Kawthar which is in Paradise, hence it is called the Cistern of al-Kawthar. The evidence for that is the hadith narrated by Muslim in his Sahih from Abu Dharr RA, that “into the Cistern will flow two pipes from Paradise.” The apparent meaning of this hadith is that the Cistern will be next to Paradise so that the water from the river that is inside Paradise will be able to flow into it, as Ibn Hajar said in al-Fath 11/466. And Allah knows best.