Answered by Shaykh Abdullah Anik Misra
Question
Since the martyrs’ souls are in green birds in Jannah, are the Prophets’ souls also in Jannah? Will Prophets be questioned on the day of judgment, or will they be among those with no hisab (questioning)?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate
Yes, the souls of the Prophets can certainly be in Paradise. The clearest proof of this is when the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) went for the Mi’raj (Ascension) beyond the seven heavens during the Night Journey (Isra’), he visited each heaven and found a different prophet waiting to greet him there.
The Prophet [Allah bless him and give him peace] also saw them on earth in the city of Jerusalem prior to that, and during the journey to the Masjid al-Aqsa, witnessed Moses (peace be upon him) praying from within in his grave. (Ibn Alawi al-Makki, al Anwar al Bahiyya)
What this shows is that the souls of the Prophets of Allah (peace be upon them) are wherever their Lord wills for them to be, whether in their graves, somewhere on earth, or in the heavens. And Allah knows best.
Will the Prophets Be Taken to Account?
The Prophets (peace be upon them) will not be taken to account in the usual sense of how believers will be taken to account for their good and bad deeds because they were divinely protected from committing sins in the first place. Their eternal destination is not in question.
However, they will be asked to act as witnesses over their followers, and that may include giving an account of what they left their nation upon.
Allah Most High says in the Qur’an:
“We will surely question those who received messengers and We will question the messengers themselves.” (Qur’an, 7:6)
Imam Baydawi comments on this, saying, “We will surely question those who received messengers regarding the acceptance of the message and their response to the messengers, and we will question the messenger as to how they were responded to.” (Baydawi, Anwar al Tanzil)
Please see also:
The Soul After Death – SeekersGuidance
Wassalam,
Shaykh Abdullah Anik Misra
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Abdullah Anik Misra was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1983. His family hails from India, and he was raised in the Hindu tradition. He embraced Islam in 2001 while at the University of Toronto, from where he completed a Bachelor of Business Administration. He then traveled overseas in 2005 to study the Arabic language and Islamic sciences in Tarim, Yemen, for some time, as well as Darul Uloom in Trinidad, West Indies. He spent 12 years in Amman, Jordan, where he focused on Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith Sciences, Prophetic Biography, and Islamic Spirituality while also working at the Qasid Arabic Institute as Director of Programs. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies (Alimiyya, Darul Uloom) and authorization in the six authentic books of Hadith and is currently pursuing specialized training in issuing Islamic legal verdicts (ifta’). He holds a certificate in Counselling and often works with new Muslims and those struggling with religious OCD. He is an instructor and researcher in Sacred Law and Theology with the Seekers Guidance, The Global Islamic Seminary.