I was requested to speak about the characteristics of ‘The People of Paradise’ on earth. I pray to Allah Azza wa Jal that He makes you and I amongst those who would enter Paradise! Researching the subject was mind blowing simply because I had thought that okay, I am going to talk about 3 or 4 deeds and characteristics that would allow a person to be among the people of Jannah, and I found more than 214 and stopped counting. If we go on talking about this subject, the time from now until Fajr would not be sufficient! However, we will try to have a holistic idea, something that will draw us closer to Jannah, with the Grace of Allah Azza wa Jal, and I hope we succeed in reminding one another of these characteristics and trying to implement them in our lives. Without a doubt, Paradise is everyone’s objective, this is what we live for and if this is not your objective, then you are in the wrong place and actually, you are living a wrong life. Because you are depriving yourself of so many things just to be a Muslim, yet you are not doing the right things that would entitle you to go to Jannah! Therefore, it is each and every-one’s objective. For the sake of Jannah, we quit sins; we have done things that are not so likable to ourselves. We wake up early in the morning, it is so cold sometimes, still we perform Wudu and pray, and we go to the Masjid. We fast, we deprive ourselves from eating, drinking and doing things that are usually done by us, if we were not fasting, we do not listen to music, we do not go to nightclubs; we do not watch things that would anger Allah and I know a lot of you might say, “Well, we do that!” Well, then I came to the wrong place! You should not be doing that because you are Muslims.
So Jannah, as described by the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam, is surrounded by things that are not preferred by each and every one of us. In order to enter it you have to do the things that we do not prefer and like. Whereas Hell is the opposite; it is surrounded by lusts and desires, so the minute you fall into these lusts and desires, you will enter Hell {May Allah save us all from it}. Now Paradise is Allah’s Mercy, and whomever He wishes to allow, to enter it means that He has bestowed His Mercy upon this person. If you like to talk about the things that allow you to enter Paradise, among the very first that comes to mind is Allah’s saying, “And those who believe and do righteous good deeds, they are dwellers of Paradise” {may Allah make us amongst them}. Now Allah’s generosity is overwhelming! Allah did not restrict the things, did not limit the acts that will entitle you to go to Jannah; so, those who can fast, Allah made for them a separate gate to enter Paradise. How many gates are there in Paradise? ‘8’ you should know, this is where you are going, In Shaa Allah! Moreover, how many gates are there in Hell? ‘7’! There are eight gates in Paradise and one of them is called ‘Ar Rayyan’: Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam told us that this is the gate for the people who fast. There is another gate for those who pray Salah, another one for those who give charity etc. If you are able to fast, voluntary fasts, Allah will make you enter Paradise. Some people say, “I can’t stay away from food and water for so long, I am so tempted, but I can pray night prayer for 3 hours every night.” Masha Allah, this is good. The other one would say, “I can’t pray night prayers and I can’t fast, but I have lots of money to give in charity, for Da’wah, for building Masjids etc”; Masha Allah Tabarakal Allah, you are on the right track. Therefore, Allah has diversified the means for us to get to Paradise. Now there are deeds that you do from the heart, if you believe in it, there are things that you say, words, and there are deeds that you actually do, physically. There are deeds that only benefit the individual, there are deeds that benefit others, and there are deeds that if you do not do them then you will enter Paradise. If you look at these divisions, you would be amazed at Allah’s Mercy: It is as if Allah wants you to enter Paradise, He is making it easy for you to choose deeds that would help you in entering Jannah. This is exactly true, Allah the Almighty created Paradise for you! Now it is up to you whether you want to enter it or not.
The Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “All of my Ummah will enter Paradise, except those who disobey.” You know that the Ummah, is divided into two types. 1)Ummah that includes the Believers and the disbelievers and they are called the ‘Ummah of Da’wah’ (the ‘Ummah of Call’); so even the Christians, the Jews and all other denominations are considered to be part of this Ummah, they are not the part of the Ummah of Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam but they are ‘Ummah of Da’wah’. 2) And there is a particular part which is the Ummah of those who responded to the call of the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam and followed him. Therefore, the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam says, “All of my Ummah (which includes both parties) will enter Paradise except those who refuse.” The Companions said, “Who refuses to enter Paradise?!” He said, “Whoever obeys me enters Paradise and whoever disobeys me is refusing, he has chosen his destiny!” therefore, this is the greatest means of entering Jannah; you have to go through your life, you have to scrutinize ‘Belief’, you have to look at the way you live. Are you following the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam, are you obeying him in every single thing? If yes, then, In Shaa Allah, you are among those who would enter Paradise!
If we look at many Muslims nowadays, it is not a good picture! I was talking with one of the brothers yesterday and we were discussing how people flip sides. There are so many people who used to be students of knowledge; callers to Islam; who used to be on the righteous path, following Qur’an and Sunnah strictly and suddenly they flipped sides, as they say, ‘They chose the other side of the force’! If you look at this, you would be shocked; these people were considered as potential Scholars, what happened to them? This shows you that ‘the hearts are indeed between two fingers of Allah and He flips them as He wishes,’ as the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said. The Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “Whoever says ‘La ilaha illa Allah,’ sincerely for the sake of Allah and this concludes his life, {meaning that this is the last thing he does before dying}, Allah will put him in Paradise!”Therefore, it is very essential to encourage the people who are dying to say ‘La ilaha illa Allah’. If they say it once, leave them; do not speak with them, because if they pass away in this condition, In Shaa Allah this part of the good signs that they will go to Paradise.
The Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam says, “Whoever fasts for the sake of Allah and he dies and this is the last thing he did, he will enter Jannah.” And whoever gives money in charity and if this was the last thing he did, the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam says that he would be admitted into Paradise, which means that every deed we do, it depends on the conclusion, the last hour, the last minute. That is why you cannot ‘pick and choose’ and say, “Ok, I will divide my day into prayers, fasting, giving charity and then there is portion of my day that I reserved for fun. Overall, I am Ok but only one night of the week I would like to party! I may get wasted {get drunk}, I may go on a date with my girlfriend!” The other day a brother came to me, {he is Masha Allah a revert.} He has a girlfriend and has three kids with her, they are not married, she is not even a Christian or a Jew and this person is a practicing Muslim! Now she is expecting, the brother is now asking me what to do! He is living with the woman who is not his wife and he is asking me what to do! It shows that all our deeds depend on the conclusion.
There are many things that make you eligible to enter Paradise; the following Hadith shows how generous Allah is!! The Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “Anyone of you who performs Wudu and he washes his limbs thoroughly and then after concluding his Wudu says: ‘Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasooluhu’, all the 8 gates of Paradise will be opened for him to enter from any gate he wishes.” Who says this while contemplating its meaning, and not just, because it is a habit? Only a few of us!! Just imagine Allah’s mercy: giving us this beautiful reward for just one act of saying this Kalimah after doing Wudu. After knowing that these gates are open for you for performing Wudu, Wallahi you will perform Wudu for every Salah you make, just anticipating this reward so that whenever you die you are ready!
The Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam was approached by one of his Companions, Rabi’ah ibn Ka’b {may Allah be pleased with him}. He used to serve the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam. The Prophet salla Allahu alaihi said, “Ask me what you want from me.” If I was in his shoes, I would have said, “O Prophet of Allah, I want a house in the best place on earth,” and stuff like that but this Companion did not ask for such worldly things. Look at what they wanted, he said, “O Prophet of Allah, I ask for your companionship in Paradise.” This is what they lived and worked hard for!! the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “Anything else?” The Prophet was giving him room to ask and the Companion said, “No, that’s it.” At this the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “Help me by offering as many Sujood as you can.” It means offer prayers as much as you can because you cannot offer Sujood {prostrations} on their own outside of the prayer unless it is prostration of ‘Forgetfulness’, prostration of ‘Gratefulness’ to Allah or prostration whenever there is prostration for reciting the Qur’an (‘Sajda Tilawa’). Going in Sajda for no reason {like so many people do; when you ask them, “Why did you just go into Sajda?” They say, “I was making dua’a!” this is a biddah; Innovation} Therefore this above mentioned Hadith is an indication that the more you pray the closer you are to Paradise and to the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam.
A’ayat Al Kursi is the greatest A’ayah in the Qur’an. There is no comparison to any other A’ayahs and the greatest Surah in the Qur’an is Al Fatiha, chapter no.1. A’ayat Al Kursi is so great that the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “Whoever maintains reciting A’ayat Al Kursi at the end of (after) his every Fard Prayer, nothing prevents him from entering Jannah except death.” Meaning that if you die now and you had recited A’ayat Al Kursi after your last Fard prayer, you would go to Paradise, In Shaa Allah, by reciting this great A’ayah! Yet, some Muslims tend not to memorize it by heart, not only in Britain but also in Saudi Arabia. I used to teach in High School, the students were mostly Saudis and Arabs and out of around 300 students that I taught in one year, I made a survey: ‘Who knows A’ayat Al Kursi by heart?’ The result was shocking; only 5% knew it by heart! This indicates our negligence towards our Deen. We know a lot of things by heart: the top 40 songs, top 10 movies, Footballers, Cricketers, Rugby players so on and so forth but when it comes to Islam, something seems to be keeping us away from it; this thing that is keeping us away from Islam, is keeping us away from Paradise.
If you ask people who have not performed Hajj yet, “When do you want to perform your mandatory Hajj?” Majority of them will say. “After I have finished my graduation, after my Masters, after my PHD, after I get married, after my children are grown up so that we can all go along as a ‘whole happy family’!” and so many fail to achieve this. Yet the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam tells us, “A perfect Hajj has no reward at the Sight of Allah except Jannah.” Now what do you want, a hundred million good deeds? This would not be enough. Maybe you want Allah to forgive your sins. Yes, but you might do more sins later on in life. Therefore, what does Allah tell you? ‘There is no reward except Paradise for an accepted Hajj!’ Subhan Allah! This should be an encouragement for you to save a little bit so that you may plan to go for Hajj whenever you have the means, or will you always keep Allah’s instructions at the end of the list? Your answer will show whether you are a strong or a weak Muslim!
Umm Habeeba, the wife of the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam narrated a hadith. I know a lot of you are wondering, “Who is this, never heard of her before!” I did another survey in school, where I was teaching, {that is why I left teaching!} I asked about the names of the wives of the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam and I got strange names: Fatimah! Asma! They were the wives of the Prophet?! Subhan Allah! I asked them about the ‘10 heaven-bound companions’, one student said, “Amr ibn Khattab” {I never knew Umar radi Allahu anhu had a brother!} The list can go on and on, it is sad though! It is a shame! Imagine if Allah admits us to Paradise and we do not know anybody there! If we ask “Who is this?” “This is Abu Bakr”. “Oh! Who is he?” “He is a Companion of the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam.” “Masha Allah, nice to meet you” “Who is this?” “This is Uthman; he married 2 of the Prophet’s (salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) daughters”. Imagine we would not be able to recognize these people of Jannah! If you ask to peek at the people of Hell, you might be like, “Ohhh, I know everybody here!” Is not it a shame that we have this ignorance about our history, our heritage? We claim to love our Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam, we get really sentimental and say that we are ready to do this and that for him, we are ready to fight for the Sake of Allah with the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam!” Do you know anything about Islam, about its history, about its legacy, about Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam’s Seera, his wives, his sons, his daughters, his Companions? ‘No.’ What kind of love, are you then proclaiming about if you even fail to do this?
I will give you another example, if you love the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam and I am certain that you do. However, this life cracks you down and you need someone to slap you on your face {but slapping on the face is Haraam!}, so maybe a slap on your back just to wake you up every now and then! Umm Habeeba said that the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “Whoever prays 12 Rakahs during the day and night (every day and night), Allah will build him a palace in Paradise.” The Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said in another Hadith about these 12 Rakahs: 2 before Fajr, 4 {2 and then 2} before Zuhar, 2 after Zuhar, 2 after Maghrib and 2 after Isha {12 rakahs in all}; this is it, get this in your system and, In Shaa Allah, you will get your palace in Jannah! Therefore, these deeds are things that will benefit the individual to enter Paradise.
However, there are deeds that are transferable; things that would benefit others. Allah mentioned that in the Qur’an and Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam mentioned that in the authentic Sunnah. Among the deeds that are beneficial to others are: acquiring knowledge, knowledge of the Qur’an, knowledge of the Sunnah, Fundamentals of Fiqh etc, so this does not benefit me alone, it benefits others as well if I sit down and teach that to others, like I am doing now and benefiting you {at least I hope!} Therefore, if I do this, I will get the reward of everyone who applies in their lives what I taught them. For example, when I go home and sleep and if someone says, “Tonight I am going to offer night prayers because the Sheikh said that this will lead me to Paradise.” Therefore, while I am sleeping, I am getting the reward. Therefore, this is one of the greatest deeds through which you can get closer to Allah and to Paradise: by benefitting others!!
The Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “Whoever walks a path seeking knowledge, Allah will pave him a way to Paradise.” Subhan Allah, this is of course the knowledge of the Shariya, knowledge of the Qur’an and Sunnah. If someone says, “I am doing engineering, would this count?” No, this would not count; this Hadith only includes those who are seeking true Islamic knowledge! But if your intention in doing engineering or Medicine or anything, is to benefit the entire Muslim Ummah, to benefit humanity, to do well, to be a role model for the people who would say, “Look, he is a Muslim and yet he is successful. He is truthful; he is honest, he looks okay”, then In Shaa Allah, you will be rewarded; but you would not be included in this Hadith but other Hadiths.
The Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam also tells us about a man who was walking on the road and he saw a tree, an obstacle in the way, with thorns that would harm the people and thought, ‘I am going to remove this obstacle, this tree, so that it would not harm others.” The Hadith goes that Allah forgave his sins and admitted him into Jannah. Why? Because he removed a harmful thing from people’s way! Now compare this with someone who plants landmines or compare this with a suicide bomber, or compare this with someone who intimidates people, who harms or kills people; if the former would go to Paradise, then the latter would go to Hell because this is not part of Islam, neither from the Qur’an nor from the Sunnah.
I receive millions of E-mails from people all over the world complaining about their offspring, complaining about their children that they are disrespectful to their parents. That they are disobedient, that they do not go out of their way to be kind to them and these are all major sins, they are not minor. You can find someone attending classes of knowledge, attending classes with the Shuyukh, listening to the Qur’an, travelling to a foreign country to learn Arabic, and these are all good deeds. However, he is not obedient and polite to his parents. This is a major sin, that will erase every good thing he did, and it would prove to us that the deeds are by their conclusion and that Allah did not choose to conclude this person’s deeds with good deeds. The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “The most major sins in Islam are:-
1) Associating others in worship with Allah.
2) Being disrespectful or unkind to your parents.”
He associated the two, first, Shirk, and then being disobedient and being rude to your parents. One of the Companions came to the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam and said, “O Prophet of Allah, I would like to fight in the cause of Allah, and I seek your advice.” The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam asked, “Do you have a mother?” He said, “Yes I have a mother.” The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “Stay with her, because Paradise is under her feet.” Subhan Allah. He wants to fight for the Sake of Allah, to die in the Cause of Allah! But the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam told him to stay with his mom, be kind to her, serve her, bring her the days that bring joy to her soul, make her happy, make her laugh, make her joyful, and this is the way to Paradise. What about the father? “I’d like to smack him, he is drunk, he is rude, he doesn’t make money, and he does not support me.” Well, even your father. Even if he is this evil, the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said to one of his Companions, “The father is the middle gate of Paradise.” Therefore, the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam is saying to either preserve this gate or lose it, meaning that you will not enter Paradise from the middle, which is the easiest way to go in, unless you are kind and obedient to your father. Even if he is a non-muslim, even if he is rude, even if he is abusive, even if he does not support you, even if he is not kind to you, even if he does not love you. You have to obey your father and respect him, as long as he does not instruct you to sin.
Amongst the causes that admit an individual to Paradise is upbringing 3 girls of your offspring. The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “Whoever has 3 girls, and 1)he shelters them, 2)provides for them, and 3)has mercy over them, then definitely Paradise is his.” Contemplate these 3 points: ‘he shelters them’, “Yeah, they live with me, they are my daughters.” ‘He provides for them’, “Well, I buy food, they eat with me” ‘And he has mercy over them.’ Many of the parents do not have this mercy. “I am young, I am still in the prime of my life and I’m ‘blessed’ with these daughters. I cannot enjoy myself, I cannot travel, and I cannot do this and that. I am still young, I am 45 years old” (sarcasm intended). Ma Shaa Allah! You’re spent on your grave, my friend. You have to have mercy over these girls. You have to cuddle them, you have to love them, and you have to hug them and kiss them and show them mercy. This mercy will entitle you to be admitted into Paradise. In the hadith, one of the Companions asked, “What about 2 girls?” The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “Even if you have 2 girls,” and another Companion said, “I think, I reckon that if I asked, ‘What about 1?’ he would have said, ‘Even 1.’” This is the Grace of Allah Azza wa Jal. In Arabia, unfortunately, many Arabs, who are not practicing Muslims, think of girls as a disgrace, because they do not know what the future might hold. If it was a boy, “Yeah, boys can do whatever they want, they get married fast.” However, girls are like glass; once it is broken, cannot be mended. Well, the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam is fixing this, he is telling us how to treat girls, and he himself had 4 girls. So those who are blessed with girls, they are a blessing. Take care of them, up bring them in the way that Allah wants and likes, and Allah will admit you to Paradise with them.
Among the things that benefit others; building mosques or contributing in building mosques. Whoever builds a mosque or contributes in building a mosque, Allah will build him a palace in Paradise. Subhan Allah. However, this Hadith is directed to those who have money!! Therefore, if you have money and you find yourself tired, unable to fast voluntary fasts, or pray night prayers, the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam is showing you the way to be admitted to Paradise. It also includes being kind to others, being tolerant, financially. The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam tells us, “A man was brought in front of Allah on the Day of judgement, and Allah is asking him, ‘Do you have any good deeds?’ So the man says, ‘No, nothing.’ So Allah tells him, ‘Are you sure you have nothing at all of that which is good?’ and the man says, ‘Well, come to think of it, the only good deed that I would reckon would qualify is that I used to trade with people. I used to sell them the goods and not collect the money from them. Those who were wealthy and capable of paying, I would leave them until they pay. I would not immediately ask them to pay; I would let them pay whenever they want. And those who are unable to pay, because they are poor, they are disadvantaged,’ the man says, ‘I would forgive them, I would let them keep the money, it’s theirs, I don’t want it, I don’t call for it.’ Allah says, ‘Well, because you used to forgive others, We are more entitled to forgive you. I forgive your sins, and admit you into Paradise.’” Imagine this beautiful Hadith! How many people you have lent money and they are not paying it back. Unfortunately, this is widely spread among Muslims. If I make a survey now, I believe everybody would raise his hands (even those who borrowed money). Many of the Muslims are faced with this!! They, as a good gesture, give money to their friend, a thousand quid, for example and, as they say, when they come to collect money from you, they kiss your hand, but when you go to collect your money from them, you kiss their feet because they take ages before they give it back. Well, do not think of it as a bad thing, rather think of it as a positive thing. You have secured a place in Paradise if you forgive people, if you tolerate their injustices and the things that they do.
Now, among the great things that would admit you to Paradise: is to be a person with good character, with excellent moral ethics, with good conduct and behavior. This allows you to go to the top of Paradise. The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “The closest of you to me on the Day of Judgement and Paradise are those who have the excellent character and moral ethics and perfect behavior.” The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam says, “Guarantee 6 things for me and I guarantee Paradise for you.” If the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam guarantees Paradise for you, this means that you will definitely be able to get what he promised. He Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam says:
1) Be truthful when you speak.
2) Fulfill your promise when you give a promise.
3) Give, what you were entrusted with to those, who entrusted you with it!!
4) Preserve your private parts (meaning; do not fornicate).
5) Lower your gaze.
6) Restrain from using your hand. (This can be interpreted in two ways!! either physically: do not extend your hand, do not abuse people, do not hit people and do not do something wrong with your hand, do not shake hands with the opposite sex, for example, this is Haram. It can also mean to hold back your hand from Haram money, do not take what is not lawfully yours.)
Six things and the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam guarantees you Paradise. Regarding being truthful, it’s amazing how in this country and other countries you find the non-Muslims being truthful, being honest (generally speaking because we don’t want the stereotype saying, “Oh, Masha Allah, non-Muslims are this and Muslims are that”). They were brought up this way: to say the truth and not to lie!! On the other hand, it is so shameful and embarrassing that when our religion tells us that lying is a sin, you still find many of the Muslims lying. Not only that, but they also give lying different shades of color. They say, “This is grey, this is a white lie, this is purple.” This is amazing! The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam tells us that lying is not a thing to be taken easily. He says that ‘you have to be truthful, because truth leads to Birr (righteousness), and Birr leads to Paradise. An individual would continue to be truthful until he is registered, at the Sight of Allah to be Siddiq!! (The man who goes out of his way to say the truth) Beware of lying because lying leads to Hell at the end. A man would continue to lie until he is registered as a liar at the Sight of Allah!!’
Among the major things that would allow you to enter, Paradise is repressing your anger. I know many brothers who complain of the rage they have, about the anger they have. Most of the brothers who write to me, unfortunately, are selective. They have these rage attacks against their mothers, against their younger sisters and brothers, against someone who is weaker than they are but if they meet someone who is 6’4”, full of muscles, then they would not have these rage attacks. They would know where they stand. Why is that? This is not true rage, this is selective rage and Allah will punish you for that. The rage that Allah will not punish you for is something that goes out of your control. Many of the brothers come to me and say, “Ya Sheikh, I was so angry with my wife that I said, ‘Talaq, talaq, talaq’ (divorce) 1000 times. I was angry, I was so upset!” Ya Akhi, nobody divorces out of happiness. You would not find someone sitting with his wife and saying, “I love you for the Sake of Allah and you are divorced!” All divorces happen due to anger, but the divorce that does not count when you are angry is when you are blocked and you cannot see. So after you wake up from your rage attack, people tell you, “You broke a window, you did this and you did that”, and you say, “Wallahi, I don’t remember.” This is the only case when divorce does not count. Because it is like intoxication, you do not see what you do, so Allah will not hold you accountable for things that are beyond your capability. Allah the Almighty tells us that you have to march forth to a Paradise whose width is as that of the heavens and the earth, and it is made for the Al Muttaqeen (righteous). “They are the ones who spent in prosperity and in adversity, their wealth. And they repress their anger.” So repressing your anger is a means of entering Paradise. So many times, someone who is below your physical strength or who is below your social status, someone you can inflict harm to, so many times they do bad things to you and you want to do something evil back to them, you want to eat them alive, and you can do it but you repress this. Why? “I’m afraid of the authorities.” No, you do this because you are afraid of Allah. You want Paradise, believing Allah will admit you to Paradise, because this is what Allah Azza wa Jal says in the Qur’an. A man came to the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam and said, “O Prophet of Allah, advise me.” The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “Do not become angry.” The man said, “OK, advise me more.” The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam repeated the same thing several times and in one narration he said, “Do not become angry and Allah will give you Jannah.” People say, “The English are quite calm. They don’t become angry.” This is not true because everybody becomes angry. The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam is not telling you to go against your human nature, because if someone attacks your wife, and you say, “I am not going to become angry”, this has nothing to do with Islam. No, you have to become angry. What the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam is telling you is to beware of the consequences of your anger. If you are driving down the motorway and someone does something wrong to you and you become angry, you have a choice: either to hit him, or repress your anger and go on your way. If you do this, if you repress your anger, Allah will give you Jannah. So many times, we need to repress our anger, especially with our loved ones, especially with our wives, especially with our children, our neighbours, our parents, our relatives; you need to repress your anger with so many people because Allah tells us that this is rewarded with Jannah!!
Now, women (cannot live with them, cannot live without them) The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam told us that, for them, there are special things, in addition to what was mentioned before. The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said for women who are married, “If a woman prays her 5 daily prayers and fasts the month of Ramadan and protects her chastity (she does not fornicate or commit adultery) and she obeys her husband, Allah will tell her, ‘Enter Paradise from any gate you wish.’” That is all?! Yes, that is all. The men are probably saying, “Can we be women! We have so many things on our back, we have so much burden on our back, we have to pray in the Masjid, we have to enforce virtue, and we have to prevent vice, and provide for our families, we have to provide for the kids, and do this and that.” Well, this is for women only. It is not easy by the way. Men think that this is easy. No, it is not. Maybe the first three are easy, praying, fasting and protecting your chastity. However, the fourth thing is the most difficult thing on earth. It is extremely difficult to go to a woman and tell her to obey her husband. They may say, “He stinks! He does not brush his teeth! He does not take care of himself! He does not do this. He does not do that. He is rude, he never tells me ‘I love you’, when I cook the food 3-4 hours a day, he does not say, ‘The food is great and it is excellent’, he does not do this! Moreover, you are telling to obey him! For what?!” Well, this is what Allah told you to do to enter Paradise. However, it is not easy; it is a very difficult thing. Those who are tolerant and patient among the woman, Allah will admit them into Paradise. Ya Allah! Admit all our woman into Paradise. The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “The Martyrs are 7, except for those who died in the cause of Allah.” Now I cannot mention all of them. The last one is, a woman who dies in labor. Subhan Allah! Allah would consider this kind of woman as a Martyr. Therefore, the woman would say, ‘Ok, that is nice. I would like to become pregnant every now and then and have many kids. Yes, this is what the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam tells us. Among the characteristics of the woman of Paradise is that they have many kids, and they love and care for their husbands. So having many children is your way to Paradise. Of course, it is not like having them and neglecting them. No, having them and upbringing them in the way that pleases Allah.
After saying all of this and hearing all of this, you have to know that, being admitted to Paradise is not by your own doing, it is by the mercy of Allah!! So even if you do all of this, at the end of the day, it is the mercy of Allah that will admit you to Paradise. The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “No one will be admitted to Paradise by his own deeds. So the companions asked, ‘O Prophet of Allah, even you?’ he said, ‘even me. I will not enter Paradise with or by or through my deeds unless Allah overwhelms me with His mercy.’” No one will come on the Day of Judgement and say, “Hey, listen. I did what I had to do. So I want to go to Paradise.” You will not enter Paradise because you prayed Tahajjud or fasted voluntary fasts. These are means of entering Paradise. However, at the end of the day you will not enter Paradise because of your deeds.
Secondly, you have to know that these previously mentioned characteristics or good deeds could only get you to enter Paradise if you do not nullify your Islam. Meaning, you can find someone who is praying on time, praying the 12 Sunnah Rak’ahs, who is kind to people, removing the harmful things from people’s way, who is acquiring knowledge, who is benefitting others, building mosques, giving charity, doing this and that, but he nullified his Islam. He associated others with Allah; he goes to graves and says, “O Maulana (scholar)! I have a problem. It has been 20 years and I do not have a child. So grant me a child.” He is going to the deceased, the dead person. He says, “He is a Wali. He does wonders!” Subhan Allah! I remember a person who told me, “I went to Makkah every single week for Umrah and I used to supplicate to Allah to grant me a child. I did this for 10-15 years and nothing happened. My wife would not conceive. Then a friend of mine told me to go to the grave of Al-Husain ibn Ali (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) in Cairo. This is funny thing: Husain apparently has three different graves: over in Syria, Iraq and Egypt so you do the Math. Anyhow, this person said, “I went there and supplicated, saying, ‘O Husain, I need a child. I don’t have any children of my own, so please grant me a child.’ Subhan Allah! In 9 months time, my wife was delivering a baby boy.” What do we understand from this? This is how people think. Allah tested this man for 15 years and the man failed the test because he associated others with Allah.
So, these characteristics, these deeds, if you do not nullify your Islam, if you are a true Muslim, you believe in the oneness of Allah, you don’t do anything that goes against Islam, you will be, with the Grace and Mercy of Allah, admitted to Paradise. But if you do all the good deeds yet you associate others with Allah or you do one of the things that nullify Islam like dealing in sorcery (a parent, for example, who doesn’t like his/her daughter-in-law, brings a sorcerer and he does some voodoo stuff and black magic to separate her from their son). This is blasphemous. This is something that is an act of apostasy. If you mock about Islam, if you mock about the Qur’an or the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam or ridicule one of the verses of the Qur’an or the companions or say anything bad or negative about them then this nullifies your Islam. So even if you do all the above-mentioned good deeds of entering Jannah, you will not be admitted to Paradise!! Therefore, you have to observe and protect your Islam and do as many of these deeds and then In Shaa Allah, with the grace of Allah we will meet in Jannah.
The quotations from the Qur’an and Hadiths in this article are a rough translation of the meanings of the original text!