Concept of Time in Heaven

Question

What do you think about time factor in Heavens? That is, if someone is talking to another person, once they finished talking, that would become past. That means there will be a time factor in Heavens, only aging process will be stopped.

Response

It seems that there is not going to be a time factor in Heavens. It can be derived from some of the verses. For instance, Quran says about those who are in Heaven that “there will be no fear upon them and neither will they grieve.” This is an oft repeated verse. This leads one to think that perhaps there will not be a feeling of future or past and the result of that is lack of fear or grieve.

The way I look at it is it that time is something that exists in this world, and it has been created by our Creator as part of the test of life. It is through this time that we become aware of various facts of life, and it is through this time that we learn about our journey from birth to death. This fact has also been mentioned in Quran. For instance, in Quran 84:16-19, twilight, night and full-moon are presented as testimony over the fact that man shall travel stage by stage towards His lord. As twilight brings news of the night, as night always falls twilight and the process repeats everyday, and as moon goes to the full-stage and then back to darkness every month, man is also traveling towards His lord whether he accept it or not. In another place, God says:

وَوَصَّيْنَا الْإِنسَانَ بِوَالِدَيْهِ إِحْسَانًا حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُ كُرْهًا وَوَضَعَتْهُ كُرْهًا وَحَمْلُهُ وَفِصَالُهُ ثَلَاثُونَ شَهْرًا حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ وَبَلَغَ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً قَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِي أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَى وَالِدَيَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَالِحًا تَرْضَاهُ وَأَصْلِحْ لِي فِي ذُرِّيَّتِي إِنِّي تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَإِنِّي مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ

"And We have enjoined on man doing of good to his parents; with trouble did his mother bear him and with trouble did she bring him forth; and the bearing of him and the weaning of him was thirty months; until when he attains his maturity and reaches forty years, he says: My Lord! grant me that I may give thanks for Your favor which You had bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I may do good which pleases You and do good to me in respect of my offspring; surely I turn to You, and surely I am of those who submit." (Quran 46:15)

If you go through these verses, it shows how one goes through various stages of life. Consequently, in my opinion, the concept of future and past exists as part of creation of this world. It seems that it probably will not exist in the Hereafter. Since the concept of time is a characteristic of our present creation in this world, and has an influence on our thinking, our mind and our imagination, it is not possible for us to understand how a chain of events will relate to one another in the Hereafter. Nonetheless, it is also important to know that this concept is to be considered as part of ‘mutashabihaat’ or allegories, the true reality of which we will understand in the Hereafter. That is the time when we will truly be able to understand this particular aspect of timelessness.