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Showing posts with label Jannah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jannah. Show all posts

Saturday 4 November 2023

If you want an abode in Jannah, be fearful of thy Lord and restrain from evil desires

The world we live is an excellent example of the tug of war: We keep pushing away the evil, while the evil keeps pulling us towards it. Since man is inherently weak, more often than not succumbs to the charms and enticements of Evil. But those who are fearful of Allah, immediately repent if they get de-tracked and seek Allah's forgiveness. 

Unless a believer instill fear of his Lord in him and restrains from evil, he is likely to be rewarded in the life of hereafter. In fact, it is fear of retribution that keeps a believer right on the corrected path. Those whose hearts are devoid of Allah, keep following evil and make their lives entertaining that hinge on carefree platform.

The 40th and 41st verses of Surah 79. An Naziat carry this theme and gives glad tidings to the believers whose hearts are fearful of committing a crime or a sin and should they err, they immediately repent their misdoing and seek forgiveness. It is such people whom Allah loves and gives them glad tidings of an abode in Jannah:

وَ اَمَّا مَنۡ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّہٖ وَ نَہَی النَّفۡسَ عَنِ الۡہَوٰی  
(79:40) But he who feared to stand before his Lord, and restrained himself from evil desires,
فَاِنَّ الۡجَنَّۃَ ہِیَ الۡمَاۡوٰی
(79:41) most surely his abode shall be Paradise.
Here, in a few words, it has been told briefly what shall be the criterion of the final judgment in the Hereafter. One kind of the conduct of life in the world is that transgressing all bounds of service man should rebel against his God and should make up his mind that he would seek only the benefits and pleasures of this world in whatever way they could be sought and achieved. The other kind of conduct is that while man passes life in the world, he should constantly keep in view the truth that ultimately one day he has to stand before his Lord, and should refrain from fulfilling the evil desires of the self only for the fear that if he earned an unlawful benefit in obedience to his self, or enjoyed an evil pleasure, what answer he would give to his Lord. The criterion of the judgment in the Hereafter will be which of the two kinds of conduct he adopted in the world. If he had adopted the first kind of conduct, his permanent abode would be Hell, and if he had adopted the second kind of conduct, his permanent home would be Paradise. 

Tafsir Qur'an Wiki:
The one who fears to stand in front of God does not indulge in sin. If he slips and commits a sin, in a moment of weakness, his fear of God will lead him to repent and pray for forgiveness. Thus, he remains within the area of obedience, the central point of which is the control of one’s caprice and desires. Indulgence of desire and caprice is essentially the cause of all forms of tyranny and transgression. It is the spring of evil. Man, hardly ever falls for any reason other than succumbing to caprice and desire. Ignorance is easy to cure. Desire, once ignorance has been cured, is a plague which requires a long and hard struggle to overcome. Yet fear of God is the only solid defense against violent attacks of desire. Indeed, there is hardly any other defence which can withstand such attacks. Hence, the surah mentions fear of God and control of desire together in one verse. This fact is here stressed by God, the Creator of man and the only One who knows the human soul, its weaknesses and their effective cure.

God does not ask man to suppress his desires, because He knows that it is not possible for him to do so. He simply asks man to control his desires and not to let them control him. He tells him that fear of standing before his Lord, the Almighty, should be of great assistance. He has fixed his reward for this hard struggle: paradise as a dwelling place. For God knows perfectly well the hardships involved in this struggle and the high standards to which man is elevated by the same. This struggle, self-control and elevation help man fulfil his humanity. Such fulfilment cannot be achieved by giving way to all desires, and following caprice wherever it leads, on the pretext that desire and caprice are part of human nature. God, who made man sensitive to certain urges, also gave himself discipline. He also gives him paradise as a reward when he elevates himself to a high standard of humanity.

There are two types of freedom. The first is achieved through scoring a victory over one’s desires and releasing oneself from the chains of caprice. When man achieves such a victory, he finds himself able to fulfil these desires and caprices in a controlled and balanced way which emphasizes his freedom of choice. This type of freedom is human, one which suits the honour God has bestowed on man. The other type is animal freedom, represented in man’s defeat, his enslavement by his desires, and his loss of control over himself. This type of freedom is advocated only by those who have lost their humanity, so they try to cover their slavery with a dress of deceptive freedom.

AS can be seen from the aforementioned explanation of the selected verses of today, it can be concluded that the vicious cycle of evil commences from the evil desires that germinate in our mind. Those who can shun this right in the thought process, are the believers of the highest standard. But those who cannot harness evil desires ultimately fall prey to doing what was cooking in their mind. Therefore, every effort must be made to restrain the evil desires within so that these do not lead us to evil without.
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى‎) help us understand Qur'ān and follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which is embodiment of commandments of Allah contained in the Qur'ān. May Allah help us to be like the ones He loves and let our lives be lived helping others and not making others' lives miserable or unlivable. May all our wrong doings, whether intentional or unintentional, be forgiven before the angel of death knocks on our door. 
وَمَا عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡبَلٰغُ الۡمُبِيۡنُ‏ 
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”
That is Our duty is only to convey to you the message that Allah has entrusted us with. Then it is for you to accept it or reject it. We have not been made responsible for making you accept it forcibly, and if you do not accept it, we shall not be seized in consequence of your disbelief, you will yourselves be answerable for your actions on Day of Resurrection.

Reading the Qur'ān should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully. It will also help the Muslims to have grasp over social issues and their answers discussed in the Qur'an and other matter related to inter faith so that they are able to discuss issues with non-Muslims with authority based on refences from Qur'an.

May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.

Note: When we mention God in our posts, we mean One True God, we call Allah in Islam, with no associates. Allah is the Sole Creator of all things, and that Allah is all-powerful and all-knowing. Allah has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life.

For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'anYou may also refer to our Reference Pages  and Understanding Al Qur'an for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
Photo | Tafsir References: | 1 | 2

An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Qur'ān from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that the exegesis of the chapters of the Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.  
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided, additional input has been interjected from the following sources: 
  • Tafsir Ibn Khatir
  • Muhammad Asad Translation
  • Yusuf Ali Translation
  • Translation Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
  • Qur'an Wiki
  • Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
  • Towards Understanding the Quran
In addition, references of other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.

Disclaimer: The material for this post has been collected from the references given above. If anyone differs with the material contained in this post, one may consult the references and their authors.  If someone has more material about the subject, he/she is most welcome to share in the comments box to make the post all encompassing.

If you like Islam: My Ultimate Decision, and to keep yourself updated on all our latest posts to know more about Islam, follow us on Facebook

Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, WhatsApp or any means on social media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Qur'ān - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.

Monday 14 September 2020

Allah calls you to the Abode of Peace


Islam is a religion of peace, calling believers to walk the path of true truth, the path as explained at a number of places in the Qur'an. It has been promised that those who leave the worldly gains and eye for the promised bounties after the Hereafter would be the ones who would be blessed ones. However, to walk on the razor edge thin path of truth is not easy as man has to sacrifice so many of worldly wishes, lusts and temptations to please Allah and be blessed on the day when those who enjoyed the worldly life who would thrown into the raging fire of hell.

Under this theme, we are today sharing three verses from Surah 10. Yunus. In the first verse, Allah calls believers to the way that leads to the abode of peace in the Hereafter, while the following two verses explain who will be the blessed ones and who would not be:

وَاللّٰهُ يَدۡعُوۡۤا اِلٰى دَارِ السَّلٰمِؕ وَيَهۡدِىۡ مَنۡ يَّشَآءُ اِلٰى صِرَاطٍ مُّسۡتَقِيۡمٍ‏ 
(10:25) (You are being lured by this ephemeral world) although Allah calls you to the abode of peace and guides whomsoever He wills to a straightway.

In this verse, “The abode of peace” means "Jannah" - the Paradise, where there will be no fear whatsoever of any loss, calamity, sorrow, pain and trouble.

The renowned Muslim scholar and exegete Ibn Kathir explains this verse as under:

When Allah mentioned the swiftness of this world and its termination, He invited people to Paradise and encouraged them to seek it. He called it the Abode of Peace. It is the Abode of Peace because it is free from defects and miseries. So Allah said: (Allah calls to the Home of Peace and guides whom He wills to the straight path.) 

It was narrated that Jabir bin `Abdullah said: "Allah's Messenger came out one day and said to us:
" I have seen in my sleep that it was as if Jibril was at my head and Mika'il at my leg. They were saying to each other: `Give an example for him.' He said: `Listen, your ear may listen. And fathom, your heart may fathom. The parable of you and your Ummah is that of a king who has built a house on his land. He arranged a banquet in it. Then he sent a messenger to invite the people to his food. Some accepted the invitation and others did not. Allah is the King and the land is Islam, the house is Paradise and you Muhammad are the Messenger. Whosoever responds to your call enters Islam. And whosoever enters Islam enters Paradise. And whosoever enters Paradise eats from it."  Ibn Jarir recorded this Hadith.
It was also reported that Abu Ad-Darda' said that Allah's Messenger said:  " Two angels descend every day in which the sun rises and say that which all Allah's creatures would hear except Jinn and humans: `O people! Come to your Lord! Anything little and sufficient is better than a lot but distractive.') And He sent this down in the Qur'an when He said: ("Allah calls to the Abode of Peace''.) Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn Jarir recorded this.

Renowned exegete Muhammad Asad notes that in contrast with the ephemeral and uncertain pleasures of this material life, there is a higher life to which Allah is always calling. It is called the Home of Peace. For there is no fear, nor disappointment nor sorrow there. And all are called, and those will be chosen who have sought, not material advantages, but the Good Pleasure of Allah. Salam, Peace, is from the same root as Islam, the Religion of Unity and Harmony.

Yusuf Ali adds that Allah "guides whom He wills onto a straight way". As regards the expression salam, rendered here and in many other places as "peace" and elsewhere as "salvation". It is obvious that the term dar as-salam "  دَارِ السَّلٰمِؕ " ("abode of peace") denotes not only the condition of ultimate happiness in the hereafter - alluded to in the allegory of paradise - but also the spiritual condition of a true believer in this world: namely, a state of inner security, of peace with God, with one's natural environment, and within oneself.

As explained earlier, the meaning of this verse 25 is explained in the next two verse in which Allah spells out who are the lucky ones that will be granted a peaceful abode in Jannah and who will find a horrible abode in the hellfire:

لِلَّذِيۡنَ اَحۡسَنُوا الۡحُسۡنٰى وَزِيَادَةٌ ؕ وَلَا يَرۡهَقُ وُجُوۡهَهُمۡ قَتَرٌ وَّلَا ذِلَّـةٌ ​ ؕ اُولٰٓـئِكَ اَصۡحٰبُ الۡجَـنَّةِ​ ۚ هُمۡ فِيۡهَا خٰلِدُوۡنَ‏  
(10:26) For those who do good there is good reward and more besides;33 neither gloom nor humiliation shall cover their faces. They are the people of the Garden and in it they shall abide.

وَالَّذِيۡنَ كَسَبُوا السَّيِّاٰتِ جَزَآءُ سَيِّئَةٍ ۢ بِمِثۡلِهَا ۙ وَتَرۡهَقُهُمۡ ذِلَّـةٌ  ؕ مَا لَهُمۡ مِّنَ اللّٰهِ مِنۡ عَاصِمٍ​​ ۚ كَاَنَّمَاۤ اُغۡشِيَتۡ وُجُوۡهُهُمۡ قِطَعًا مِّنَ الَّيۡلِ مُظۡلِمًا ​ؕ اُولٰٓـئِكَ اَصۡحٰبُ النَّارِ​ ؕ هُمۡ فِيۡهَا خٰلِدُوۡنَ‏ 
(10:27) Those who do evil deeds, the recompense of an evil deed is its like,34 and humiliation shall spread over them and there will be none to protect them from Allah. Darkness will cover their faces as though they were veiled with the dark blackness of night. These are the people of the Fire and in it they shall abide.

For the people who will be escorted to the Paradise and for those who will be shown the door to the hell,  Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once explained:
"A person who led the most prosperous life in this world will be brought up and dipped once in the Fire. He will then be asked: `Have you ever found any good or comfort' He will reply: `No.' And a person who had experienced extreme adversity in this world will be brought up and dipped once in the bliss (of Paradise). Then he will be asked: 'Did you ever face any hardship or misery' He will reply: `No.'"
May Allah help us understand Qur'an and help us to act upon the commandments of Allah contained therein. Aameen.

For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an

You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran.
Photo | Exegesis References: | 1 | 2  | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Reading the Holy Quran should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully.


An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Holy Qur'an from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that:
  • The plain translation has been taken from the Holy Quran officially published by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. [1]
  • The exegesis of the chapters of the Holy Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi. [2]  
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided by [2], additional input has been interjected from following sources: 
  • Towards Understanding the Quran
  • Tafsir Ibn Khatir
  • Muhammad Asad Translation
  • Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
  • Al-Quran, Yusuf Ali Translation
  • Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
In addition the references of  other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.

If you like Islam: My Ultimate Decision, and to keep yourself updated on all our latest posts to know more about Islam, follow us on Facebook

Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, WhatsApp or any means on Social Media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Holy Qur'an - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.

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