Title: Will People be Reunited in Heaven? Question: Does the Quran/ Hadith mention anything about the people in Heaven being reunited with their loved ones (family, friends) who go to Hell? Can they take them out of Hell since all requests in Heaven are met, assuming they know about the fate of their loved ones? What about the non-mahrem people they dearly love but go to Hell, can they also be reunited with them? Answer: The Qur'an clearly tells us: And those who [truly] believe and whose progeny followed their footsteps with faith, We shall join them with their progeny. And [this joining shall be in a way that] We shall not, in the least, reduce the reward of their deeds; but every soul shall be under the pledge of its own deeds [thus, only deeds shall relieve it from the everlasting torments of Hellfire]. ( Al-Toor 52: 21) A close look at the above verse shows that it is primarily a glad tiding for the believers that if their progeny follows their footsteps with faith, they shall all be joined in the heaven in a way that those qualifying for a lower cadre of heaven shall be brought up to the higher cadre for which their parent or child has qualified [1] . However, immediately after this good news, the Qur'an has admonished its addressees that even though God shall unite the relatives in such a manner, yet to qualify for this mercy, a person should prove himself deserving of entry to at least the lowest cadre of paradise, which would be purely on the basis of one's deeds [2] . Keeping this glad tiding of the Qur'an in perspective, let us now turn to your specific question. It is quite clear from the above verse that no person shall qualify for entry into the eternal bliss of paradise on the basis of anything besides his own deeds and faith. Thus, whether it be a relation, a friend or an acquaintance no one can be saved from facing the consequences of his/her deeds in the hereafter. Good deeds, and only good deeds, shall be a person's savior. No intercession, no request and no arbitration shall be able to save a person, whose balance tilts in favor of sins, rather than good deeds. Every person shall be under the pledge of his own deeds. Only deeds shall save him; and only deeds shall seal his eternal fate. You write: Can they take them out of Hell since all requests in Heaven are met, assuming they know about the fate of their loved ones? Those who qualify for the everlasting bliss of paradise have been promised that all their desires and demands shall, by God's grace, be met. However, the Qur'an is also quite clear to the effect that no person shall be able to enter into heaven on any other basis except his own deeds. Keeping these two aspects of the information provided in the Qur'an, it seems that on that day, God shall remove the love of the impious from the hearts of the pious and shall, thereby, make their stay in paradise clear of all regret and discontentment. August 27, 2000 [1] This, in my opinion, is what the words "We shall not, in the least, reduce the reward of their deeds" imply. It is obvious that when the Qur'an announced that the pious parents and their pious children shall be united; there arose a question of the method of this reunion in the minds of the believers. If a parent has qualified for a higher cadre of heaven, would the child be brought up to the parent's level or would the parent be brought down to the child's level? The Qur'an, in the referred words, has given an eloquent answer to this question by saying that the reunion would be in such a way that no one shall be deprived of his/her rewards. Which, obviously, implies that those qualifying for a lower cadre shall be brought up to the higher level and shall get the rewards of the higher cadre, purely by God's mercy, rather than vice versa. [2] This, in my opinion, is the obvious implication of the words: "but every soul shall be under the pledge of its own deeds".