The Messenger of Allah ﷺ rose one morning and called for Bilal, saying, "Bilal, how did you precede me into Paradise? I have never entered Paradise without hearing the rustle of your footsteps ahead of me. Last night I entered Paradise and heard your rustling, and I came upon a tall, towering palace of gold. I asked, 'Whose palace is this?' They replied, 'It belongs to a man from the Arabs.' I said, 'I am an Arab. Whose palace is this?' They said, 'It belongs to a man from the Muslims of the nation of Muhammad.' I said, 'I am Muhammad. Whose palace is this?' They said, 'It belongs to Umar bin Khattab.'"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said, "Were it not for your protective jealousy, Umar, I would have entered the palace."Umar replied, "Messenger of Allah, I would never feel jealous toward you."He then said to Bilal, "By what deed did you precede me into Paradise?"Bilal answered, "I never broke my ablution without performing wudu again and praying two rakahs."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "It was by this."
أصبح رسول الله ﷺ فدعا بلالا فقال: يا بلال بم سبقتني إلى الجنة؟ ما دخلت الجنة قط إلا سمعت خشخشتك أمامي، إني دخلت البارحة الجنة فسمعت خشخشتك، فأتيت على قصر من ذهب مرتفع مشرف، فقلت: لمن هذا القصر؟ فقالوا: لرجل من العرب. قلت: أنا عربي، لمن هذا القصر؟ قالوا: لرجل من المسلمين من أمة محمد، قلت: فأنا محمد، لمن هذا القصر؟ قالوا: لعمر بن الخطاب. فقال رسول الله ﷺ: لولا غيرتك يا عمر، لدخلت القصر. فقال: يا رسول الله، ما كنت لأغار عليك. قال: وقال لبلال: بم سبقتني إلى الجنة؟ قال: ما أحدثت إلا توضأت، وصليت ركعتين. فقال رسول الله ﷺ: بهذا.
Narrated by Tirmidhi (3689) and Ahmad (22996), and Ibn Hibban (7086) graded it sahih, all of them through Husayn bin Waqid, who said, Abdullah bin Burayda narrated to me, my father Burayda (who is Ibn Husayb) narrated to me, and he mentioned it. Its chain is hasan because of Husayn bin Waqid, for he is one whose hadith is hasan.Tirmidhi said, "This is a hasan sahih gharib hadith," and he said, "The meaning of this hadith, 'Last night I entered Paradise,' is that he saw in a dream as though he had entered Paradise, this is how it has been reported in some versions of the hadith."In some versions of the hadith there appears an addition, the statement of Bilal, "O Messenger of Allah, I never gave the adhan without praying two rakahs." This is munkar, and I have not come across anyone who recommends praying two rakahs after the adhan.