Characteristics that Lead you to Paradise - Shaykh Mustafa Abu Rayyan

Khutbah al-Hajah — Opening

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَصَفِيُّهُ مِنْ خَلْقِهِ وَخَلِيلُهُ، أَرْسَلَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَى النَّاسِ كَافَّةً بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا، فَبَلَّغَ الرِّسَالَةَ وَأَدَّى الْأَمَانَةَ وَنَصَحَ الْأُمَّةَ، وَتَرَكَنَا عَلَى الْمَحَجَّةِ الْبَيْضَاءِ لَيْلُهَا كَنَهَارِهَا، لَا يَزِيغُ عَنْهَا إِلَّا هَالِكٌ، فَصَلَوَاتُ اللَّهِ وَسَلَامُهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ وَمَنِ اهْتَدَى بِهَدْيِهِ وَاسْتَنَّ بِسُنَّتِهِ وَدَعَا بِدَعْوَتِهِ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.

My beloved brothers and sisters, I start by praising Allah and sending blessings and salutations upon our beloved messenger Muhammad, salawatullahi wa salamuhu alayh.

Before we start, I would ask some of you to try and move forward and make space for some of the brothers — or perhaps sisters — at the back, insha'Allah. Please provide space for each other.

The Two Things That Lead to Jannah

My beloved brothers and sisters, Allah in the Quran speaks about a great many things, but there is a focus on character, morals, and manners. And when the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa salam, was telling us the two things that will lead to Jannah — a destination that no doubt me and you and all of us want to end up in — the two things that will lead you to Jannah the most:

Piety — fear of Allah, being conscious of Allah at all times — and having good moral character. (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2004)

I want to reflect upon a few ayahs in the Quran where Allah discusses some of those characteristics that will lead you to Jannah.

Hasten to the Forgiveness of Your Lord

And hasten to the forgiveness of your Lord. Rush, hasten, hurry to the forgiveness of your Lord. And a garden — a Jannah — whose width is that of the heavens and the earth. It is prepared for those who are pious.

In this ayah, Allah is telling us to rush, to hasten, to hurry. Generally speaking, in dunya-related matters we are not told to rush or to hurry. When Allah was discussing the dunya and the provisions in it, Allah mentioned that He is the one who tamed the earth for us — walk in its slopes. When you are looking for your dunya, walk. But when you want Jannah, rush, hasten. That should be your mindset.

That when it comes to your work versus your Salatul Jumu'ah, when it comes to your business versus your Salah, your Hajj, your Umrah, your worship — which one do you prioritise? Which one should have a sense of urgency? It is your Akhirah, your afterlife, seeking the pleasure of your Lord.

Now ask yourself: is that the case with you? Is that the case with us? Where we are much more urgent, much more eager for our Akhirah, for our Ibadah, for the forgiveness of our Lord? Or is it the case that you are much more eager chasing the dunya? And if that is the case, then we must change that mentality in us.

What is ajeeb is, when Allah was speaking about the dunya, Allah said: walk. When He was speaking about His forgiveness and Jannah, Allah said: rush, hasten. And when Allah was speaking about Himself, He said:

Flee to Allah. So that priority has to be — Allah comes first. First and foremost, before any relationship, before any business, before anything dunya related, Allah comes first. And my priority here in this world is to gain Allah's pleasure, to gain His forgiveness, to gain Jannah.

One of the Salaf read this ayah and he cried. He was asked: "Why are you crying? This is an ayah that gives us hope — Allah is telling us to rush, forgiveness, Jannah. This should make you glad, happy, encourage you. Why are you sad?" He said: "I am sad because, yes, it is vast. Yes, it is equal to the heavens and the earth. But do I know I have a spot in it? Can I guarantee I will stand in it?"

May Allah make us among those that will have that joy and enter Jannah.

The Characteristics of the People of Taqwa

Now, who is Jannah prepared for? For those who have taqwa. Those Jannahs that are prepared — who are the people of taqwa? Allah describes them.

First Characteristic: They Give in Charity

They are those that spend — those that give sadaqah — in easy times and in difficult times. When they can afford it and when they cannot afford it. When they need it and when they don't need it. They are those that spend in the way of Allah.

Do you, my brother — do you, my sister — want to be among those whose Jannah is prepared? Then be among those that do infaq, that give charity. Give sadaqah, give zakat. Ask yourself: do you think that you are among those, or can you do better? No doubt, we can all do better.

Alhamdulillah, especially those among us that live on this side of the world — that have steady jobs, that have businesses, that have regular income — we can support those parts of the world where people are far less fortunate.

And remember, my brothers, when we are talking about infaq, when we are talking about spending, when we are talking about sadaqah — don't think that you have to give a lot. Even if it's half a date, the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said:

Protect yourselves from the Fire, even if it is with half a date. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1413; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1016)

My brothers and sisters, do not underestimate the one pound, the two pounds. I believe right now in this masjid there are about three thousand people here. If each one of us gave a pound, that's three thousand pounds — that can help so many people, my brothers. Do not underestimate something that is small, for indeed with Allah there is no such thing as too small a good deed. Get into the habit of giving — and especially when you find it difficult to give. They give in times of ease and in times of difficulty.

Second Characteristic: They Swallow Their Anger

And Allah gives us another characteristic of these people. The first one was: they are charitable regardless of their circumstances. The second one: they are those that swallow and hide their anger.

No doubt your co-workers will make you angry. Your children will make you angry. People on the road will make you angry. Your spouse will make you angry. If you want to be among those for whom Allah has prepared Jannah — if you want to be among those Allah called Al-Muttaqeen, those that have piety — then get into the habit of managing and hiding your anger. Anger only brings bad results, my brothers and sisters.

The Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — a companion came to him and asked: "Ya Rasulallah, give me advice." And the Prophet repeated several times:

Do not get angry, do not get angry. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6116)

And in another narration: do not get angry and you will find Jannah.

So my brothers and sisters, there is an opportunity every time someone angers you. Use it as an opportunity — you know what? I can control my anger and get closer to Allah because of it. And the best among us, the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said, are those who, when they are upset and angry and they can do something about it — they can retaliate — they choose not to. It is not an easy task, but the reward is so great that it is worth it, my brothers and sisters.

So start enacting this. Start with your family. No doubt, today, tomorrow, the day after, this week, next week — sometime, someone will anger you. Allah is telling us: do you want to be among those whose Jannah is prepared, who are people of taqwa? Then control and manage your anger.

And there are many acts of Sunnah that you can do when you are angry that the Prophet taught us. In a narration he said: when you are angry, do not speak — for no doubt, when you are angry, you will say things that you do not mean, to hurt the other person, and you might fall into sin. So control your mouth and do not speak. He told us to seek refuge from the shaytan, who relishes in our anger and our hatred towards each other. He taught us to make wudu. He taught us that if you are standing, sit down, and if you are sitting down, lie down — to disengage, to take control of our emotions, to manage them properly.

And if we did that, my brothers and sisters, we will see a lot of khayr within us, and no doubt, insha'Allah, the reward with Allah is also great.

Now, these habits that are being talked about — these akhlaqiyyat that you are learning from the Quran and the Sunnah — they are not like: "Oh, some people have it and some don't." "Oh, that brother is just patient." "Akhi, I am just an angry person." "That's just who I am." No, no, none of that.

Each one of us — just like we can build a muscle — we can practice and build character. There is no such thing as "this is who I am." Yes, some of us may have different temperaments — the temperament may be different — but that doesn't mean you can't work on yourself. The Prophet said in a hadith, when he praised a particular companion's character, the companion asked: "O Prophet of Allah, is this something from Allah that I have just been bestowed with, or is it something that you can work on?" The Prophet said: this is something that you can work on.

Knowledge comes by learning, and forbearance comes by practicing forbearance. (al-Mu'jam al-Awsat of al-Tabarani; also referenced in al-Khatib al-Baghdadi's al-Faqih wal-Mutafaqqih)

So controlling your anger and managing your anger is something that each one of us can work on and practice. Start practicing today — that is, if you want to be among those that Allah promised Jannah to.

Third Characteristic: They Pardon and Forgive People

And they are those that pardon and forgive the people. If you want Jannah, forgive those that have transgressed against you. No doubt, each one of us here — many of us here, some of us here — have had problems with other people. It may be that right now you are not on speaking terms with someone. It may be that not so long ago someone upset you so much that you decided you are not going to forgive them, you cut them off.

But Allah says in the Quran:

And for you to pardon and forgive those that harm you and hurt you is closer to piety and taqwa — the same taqwa that will lead to Jannah.

It is said that one of the righteous women of the Salaf had a servant — a slave girl — who was carrying something hot and spilled it on her, and it burned her. She became angry and upset. And this servant read the ayah:

And she didn't react. She stopped. The ayah affected her. And then the servant said: "And those who pardon." She said: "I forgive you, I pardon you." And then the servant finished:

And Allah loves the doers of good. And she said: "I free you for Allah."

This is the kind of impact and effect the Quran should have on us — when we hear these statements, we rush to act upon them. And remember the beginning: Allah said, "Rush to the forgiveness of your Lord." You rush to the forgiveness of your Lord by acting upon these ayahs, by doing what Allah is telling you here.

You go to Jannah. The Prophet is telling us: piety and good character will take you to Jannah. What is piety and good character? Read the Quran.

When Sayyidatuna Aisha, our beloved mother, was asked about the character of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, she said that he was the Quran — what she meant was that the morals, characters, principles, and values that are in the Quran, he embodied them and acted upon them.

So when you hear today from the minbar that you need to pardon people if you want Jannah, you need to hide your anger if you want Jannah, you need to spend and give sadaqah and charity — and spend not only when it is easy but even when it is difficult — if you want Jannah: these are the moral characteristics that you have to embody. And we all want Jannah.

I ask Allah to make us among those that have these characters. I ask Allah to make us among those that have these values and principles and enter Jannah.

Fourth Characteristic: They Return to Allah in Repentance

My brothers and sisters, we are describing some of the characteristics of those that Allah prepared Jannah for. So far I have mentioned several: they are pious, they give charity in ease and in difficulty, they hide their anger, and they forgive and pardon the people. There is a final characteristic mentioned in these ayahs.

They are those who, when they commit a fahisha — a major sin — or when they wrong themselves by sinning, they remember Allah.

Now hold on — how are they pious? How are they people that Allah has prepared Jannah for, and now we are being told that they can commit a fahisha? Because human beings are not perfect. It is possible that you commit a fahisha. But when they do — what is so special about them?

ذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ — they remember Allah. Being sinful is something everyone will experience, but not everyone will be remembering Allah and feeling remorse and wanting to come back to Allah. That is what makes them special.

ذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ — they remember Allah. They remember the one they transgressed against. They remember the rules and the laws they have broken. And when they remember Allah, it pushes them to what? The same thing we were told to rush to in the beginning:

Rush to the forgiveness of your Lord. فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا لِذُنُوبِهِمْ — they seek forgiveness for their sins. They ask Allah to forgive them.

My brothers and sisters, when was the last time we honestly raised our hands and asked Allah to forgive us for our shortcomings and sins? May Allah forgive all of us. May Allah forgive our sins — those that we have done in secret and in public, major and minor, whatever they may be. O Allah, forgive us.

Our beloved Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, would make istighfar and say:

More than a hundred times a day — and he was infallible.

وَمَن يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ — and who forgives our sins except Allah? There is nowhere else to run. There is nowhere else to go but to Allah. No matter how far you go, no matter how bad you think you are, there is no way for you except towards Allah.

Flee to Allah. In His hands are everything.

Your provisions, your Jannah, your Akhirah, your dunya — everything is in the hands of Allah. So rush to Allah and seek Allah's forgiveness.

وَلَمْ يُصِرُّوا عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلُوا — and they do not continue in what they have done. They do not continue sinning. This is another characteristic. Look: they sin like everyone else, but then they remember Allah, then they seek forgiveness, and they do not pursue the sin further. They do not continue doing it.

Closing Du'a

This, insha'Allah — if we act upon these values — insha'Allah Allah will come to you in dunya and Allah will make you among those who are pious and deserve Jannah in the Hereafter.

So I ask Allah to make us among those that embody these characteristics. I ask Allah to make it easy on us to give charity, to make it easy on us to hide our anger, to make it easy on us to pardon people, and to make it easy on us to be doers of good — from the Muhsineen — and that we are often going back to Him in forgiveness, even when we sin. May Allah protect us from sin, and when we fall into it, may Allah guide us to repentance and to the forgiveness of the Almighty. Ameen.