The Hereafter Series

Deserving Paradise

Pray and get closer to Allah.

And for those of you who pray regularly, like my friend, what you can do is, improve.

Improve how you pray and what you pray.

Make sure your wudu is proper, your postures are proper, and that you concentrate more in your Salaah.

One way of increasing concentration in Salaah is by knowing the meanings of the things you pray in Salaah. When you know the meaning, Salaah becomes very very amazing, you start to enjoy it even more. InSha Allah.

And start praying on time, don't delay prayer till the end. Pray as soon as you hear the call of prayer (adhaan).

Keep improving your Salaah, atleast every few months. You know like, if you don't pray, then start praying. Once you've started praying make sure you don't miss even one salaah. Once you achieved that make sure you pray on time. And then once thats done, start praying the extra rakats like sunnat and nafeel. Thats how we will improve, step by step, perfecting one thing at a time.

The next thing after Salaah about which we should be very very careful about is our fasts. Because fasting is one of the pillars of Islam, which means it comes under obedience too. Because Allah told us specifically to fast during the month of Ramadan.

Do it, and do it properly.

Your fast will be of no benefit to you if you continue to lie, to cheat, to lift up your gaze, to gossip and backbite and if you don't pray.

And yes, there are people, who fast but do not pray Salaah. Without Salaah our fasts don't have enough power to protect us from burning in Hell. So we should guard our fasts, so that we become better Muslims, better believers, better servants of Allah subhaanahu wata'ala. InSha Allah.

Next is recitation of the Qur'an.

Lets make a habit of reading surah Yaseen everyday or if thats too much start by reading atleast one page of the Quran everyday. Beleive me you would feel refreshed, you would feel a thrist to read the Qur'an if you start reading it regularly, it gets you addicted to it, in a good way. SubhanAllah.

For those of us who already recite the Qur'an everyday, lets go a step further, lets understand what we have recited. Start reading the tafseer or translation of those  Surahs which you recite the most in your Salaah, this way you understand the Qur'an and also improve the quality of your Salaah, because now you know what you're reciting in your Salaah. And it becomes that much more harder for satan to distract you when you're doing an even more amazing job of remembering Allah.

And while doing the tafseer, learn that particular surah. Do word to word tafseer, and then by heart the surah before you go to the next one.

Give charity. Don't be a miser. And charity could be anything, SubhaanAllah. I mean smiling is charity, speaking a kind word is charity, being nice with your family, friends, relatives and neighbours is charity, planting a tree, removing  something which might harm or injure a person is charity.

You need not only have money to do charity in Islam you know, these little things would also suffice.

Hijab, is mandatory on every male and female. So this comes under obedience too.

For male's, lower your gaze brothers, have some respect, show some dignity, some self control.

Start by keeping a beard, why? Because if nothing else atleast that thing on your face would remind you who you truly are, which is a Muslim. You would think twice before doing something bad.

I already have a huge list of complaints against you. Please stop ruining the pure image of your religion, be a man, show some self control to satans whisperings, because Allah made you strong, show that satan how strong you really really are. Be humble and respect women, remember what goes around comes around, may Allah protect the daughter's you have in the future. Ameen.

As for my dear lovely sisters, (i am being totally sarcastic over here, i have a list of complaints about you girls as well)

First understand why your wearing the hijaab. Its not the advantages of wearing the hijab that makes you wanna wear it, you should be doing it because Allah ordered you to, because you want to please Allah.

A guy should be impressed by your intellect and your husband by your body and intellect. Lol

Dress up, but show some modesty, your a Muslimah after all, don't fall prey to peer pressure. I know how that can be, been there thank God didn't become that.

Wear a hijab, keep checking how you could improve your hijab. Just like salaah, keep a check on your hijaab, every few months improve it, like at first probably it didn't cover much of your hair, now make sure your hair are properly covered. Then see that your neck, ears, chest are also covered up. Then see that you wear long sleeved clothes (wear what ever clothes you want at home or with your friends, but when non mehrams are around, be careful). Then make sure your clothes aren't tight and you know then slowly start wearing the abaya (the piece which covers the body), do these. Take steps, improve. Not for the sake of it, but for the sake of Allah and to become deserving of Jannah.

The last one.

Be good with your parents. Be gentle with them, do not talk back, do not say hurtful words to them. They are your parents, they raised you up, have atleast some respect for them. Raising a child isn't an easy feat you know, its hard work, its a lot of patience and loads of sleepless nights. (i know coz my nephew's are a handful masha Allah)

They did all that for us and more, and we can't even kill our ego and pride for them and show them some patience? You know there might have been times when they couldn't afford something but they somehow got it because you wanted it so much. Imagine what all they must have gone through. Have we Muslims fallen so deep into satans trap that our ego is far greater than apologising to our own parents? Have we Muslims left with no shame what so ever?

We owe them our lives for crying out loud. Obviously Allah ta'ala played a huge role in it, but then again He Himself as well as our beloved Prophet Mohammad pbuh has repeatedly told us about the importance of parents and the punishment for disobeying them.

When the next time you talk back to your father, remember that he is your door to Jannah.

And when that voice of yours increases while speaking to your mother, do not forget even for a second that Jannah lies under her feet.

You want to be deserving of Jannah? Then start acting like the peoples of Jannah. Throw your arrogance and ego down the drain before it drowns you into Hell Fire.

May Allah protect this Ummah from the evil of satan and the evil which has grown in their hearts. Ameen.