A Tour of Paradise

The Scents of Paradise

And how is this payment? Wallahi, the sound, the scent... you know, the smell. Sometimes you have... for our sisters, the hadith is loud and clear: if a woman walks out of the home wearing a perfume and so on and turning the head, she is equivalent to one who has committed adultery. It's a hadith. We cannot deny it or debate it. You know, it's something that is very scary.

But in Jannah, you will have a scent - not turning your head. There's no point to turn your head, brother. It's yours. You don't have to turn. It's in front of you. You look this way, it's there. You want to look that way, it will be there in a split moment. It's yours. It belongs to you. It is controlled not by your voice, not by your iris, but by your thought. Imagine! By your thought. You're thinking and things are happening.

I don't think they're ever going to develop something of that nature today. We have, you know, senses. You walk near, the gate opens. You know, when you look at it and it opens, you touch it, it opens. Things happening. This is technology. But come up with something: you think about it and it's there every time, as you're thinking, and it doesn't get stuck. You know, here: "Oh, the battery is not working. You got to now fix the battery." No! Everything is completely perfect, done.

The Perfection Beyond This World

And this is why we say the scent, the sound, the look, the clothing, the jewelry - absolutely everything. Not only hers, but even yours. And she will look at you as she would like to see you, and you will be as you want. So it's something - it is a perfect condition. In fact, higher than perfection. It's created by Allah as a gift for us after the period of test which lasts on average 60 to 70 years in this ummah.

So are you ready to bear patience for between 60 and 70? A lot of us look like we're between 20 and 40 years, I think the bulk of us. It looks like that from my eyes. So you've got a few more years to go. Be patient. And the beauty is, if you've done wrong in the past, engage in tawbah. Here it is. What will you get in return? Whatever you wish for, beyond description.

Nothing is Haram in Paradise

We have the scent of paradise itself is according to your liking. What type of a scent? Amazing! That scent which follows you as and how you like. Wherever it is, it changes with the changing of what you wish. And at the same time, there is nothing haram in paradise. How's that one? Nothing haram! Imagine - zero haram. The word "haram" doesn't exist. That was only for the dunya. It was a ruling that Allah placed in order to test you. That's yours. It's your own.

You know, when you work for someone, you've got to clock in at 8 o'clock, leave at 5. When you become your own boss, you decide what time you want to go, what time you come back. But then again, you will have to stick to it because people might come to your business. In Jannah, there is nothing haram. No timetables in that regard. You know, no restrictions regarding haram. Everything is permissible.

Adam alayhi as-salatu wa's-salam - certain things were made prohibited for him. That is why some of the scholars go into the issue of the type of Jannah he was in. They call it jannatul ibtila - it could be a place of testing, special place created by Allah of testing. He was tested. But the jannatul khuld - the one which we will be going into - as we said, you enter, there is no exit. You won't think about exiting. You won't want to exit.

You know, today people rush to Britain seeking asylum. They never come out! Allahu Akbar. But this is not Jannah. I don't know what made me think of that example, but it's a reality because you may have certain, you know, points of ease perhaps. You know, it might have solved a few of your problems. But wallahi, Jannah - in reality, you enter it, you don't exit. It's over. The game is over. Yours, forever and ever.

No Death, Perfect Eating

Another thing: there is no death in there. Nothing at all. Death is something that will be brought forth and destroyed. There is no death after today - gone! Imagine death - something else. You will never ever be hungry, but you will never ever be full. You will always be ready to eat. Allahu Akbar! No gymming needed. Allahu Akbar! No shedding of weight needed. You eat what you want, how you want, as much as you want. No excretion, nothing. In fact, it is released as a scent of musk according to your desire.

So you eat what you want, how you want, as much as you want. You will never get full. You know, sometimes we're eating and it's the most beautiful, you know, food that we have. But after a limit, you start feeling a little bit, you know, full. Your belly starts, you know, feeling full. And if you had water, you can actually hear the water in it. And you've got to stop at that point. You know, they say if you upload, you've got to download! Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar!

Jannah is not of that nature. It is so beautiful that you have and you continue having, and you feel as light as you would like to feel, and you continue and continue.

Stop thinking of the roasted chicken and chips, please, my brothers! That will not be there because you are thinking of it. It is something else. It is the birds of paradise which will be granted to you or me in terms of food - something that is beyond imagination.

The Food of Paradise

Allah says that which you will want, you will want it. You will look forward to it - something. The Quran describes types of food that may look similar, but they will taste totally different - totally different. So you have something, and you will perhaps think, "This is what this is," and next thing, the taste of it is

according to your imagination. And you'll say, "Oh, this thing is... it seemed like it was that, but your imagination changed as it came through, you know, your eyes as they looked. You could suddenly taste it in your mouth." Allahu Akbar!

Servants in Paradise

And you have servants and slaves serving you. The word is "servants" that are used - that would be serving you, created by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. In some instances, those who have lost little children, they will be there. Some of the Mufassireen have made mention of it in some of the verses of the Quran that speak of that - that they may be servants in paradise. They may be birds, and they may come in a condition that Allah would like them to come to you and in the condition that you would like to see them.

So those who have lost children, remember, may Allah make you the means of entry into paradise. When you get there, you meet them by the will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. In what condition? The most beautiful condition, so beautiful. And on top of that, even though you would not really need someone to serve you, but that is an honor. It's an honor. You can do certain things yourself; it will happen automatically. Like I say, you look and we are taught that you will already begin to taste just by the look. You begin to taste by the look, Allahu Akbar! But still you have servants.

The Fruits Come to You

And the hadith makes mention of the fruit of paradise being so close at hand - close at hand meaning you see the fruit and it is within an arm's reach. If you would like to pick it, the whole tree, everything comes right to you and it's taken. What happens today? The fruit of the tree usually grows quite high up, and that is a good fruit. So people have to climb up or shake the tree before it actually comes down to you. You see, it comes down to you. There, the tree will actually bring the fruit to you. This is what is described in the Quran - the fruit comes to you. It comes to you.

The Appearance of the People of Paradise

And we have something else described: the faces of those in paradise will be shining brighter than the full moon on the eve of the 14th. There, out there, you have seen it on some occasions - a huge white and shining completely. The shine is what is of importance. You will be of the complexion you want, but you will have a shine that is beyond description. Each one will be of that.

Jewelry and Adornment

And something else described is the jewelry - or should I say the adornment - of the people of paradise. Amazing adornment of the people of paradise. They will be adorned with whatever they wish. And the terms that are used: pearls, rubies, aquamarine, various other words are used in the Quran. But remember, it is not exactly what we know here in the dunya. It is something beyond that. Like I told you

a pearl, 60-meter pearl. Where is that? If you had to see that, I think, you know, you would own half the world, to be honest with you. But we would have that. We will have it in the akhira as we want.

The scent will be that of misk - misk, it is described as musk, but not exactly as we know it. Far beyond - the perfect musk, the scent that would really soothe you, that which makes you happy.

The Houses of Paradise

On top of that, the houses that are built with the bricks - what is between the bricks is made up of different types of jewelry, different types of items. You know, what is described also in the hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam, very, very beautifully, is how thin - how thin the jewelry will be. You know, the warik - it is actually like a leaf, a leaf of gold. And the gold, if it is very thin, usually it becomes very weak and soft. So they mix it with something here in the dunya to make it a little bit harder because gold by nature is quite soft. And so the carat becomes lower and the value of it drops. But it is very thin there - no! It is as thin as is, as pure as is, and it is yours. It belongs to you.

The Last Person to Enter Paradise

This is why the description of the person who will enter Jannah - the last person to enter paradise - there is a description of it in the hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam. And he says it is a long hadith, beautiful hadith. And this man, after having asked Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant him closeness to the door, thereafter, you know, "Let me get into the door," and so on. And when he sees the light, you know, he thinks perhaps this might be Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and he wants to... he thinks of prostrating. And immediately he hears the caller calling that "I am the gatekeeper of paradise, and I am at your service." And he says, "Oh, you know, this is just a gatekeeper." And then he is directed further towards his own Jannah.

Jannah means a garden. You have a garden. As we said, minimum garden is not mentioned by... is not measured by meters or kilometers. You see, when the hadith speaks of distance by travel, distance... listen to this very carefully - some very, very important point. The distance, we know it as meters and kilometers. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, 1400 years ago, he used a different measurement to describe distance. What was that? Time. He used time to describe distance.

Time as a Measure of Distance

If I were to ask you who is the first person to use time to describe distance, you have to say Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam. Today scientists use time to describe distance. What is a light year? So they say it is 15 light years away, 4 light years away. The distance, the speed of light for 4 whole years - that is called 4 light years. Who started that? Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam. Where did he get it from? Wahi, revelation.

So don't think these people are a big deal. They came up with something that was already there. But people said, "How is this described as 2000 years of distance? It says 2000 years." Didn't I say moments ago a traveler would travel 2000 years? That is the distance of the smallest garden. Today they actually tell you, "Yes, years can... the term 'year' can actually be used to measure distance." Allahu Akbar!

A few years ago you would be foolish if I told you, for example, "How high is that?" and you say, "In 3 seconds." Allahu Akbar! You would be foolish. People would say, "What are you talking about?" But wallahi, we need to know this: it is Islam that came up with the use of time to measure distance. Allahu Akbar! And this is for paradise more than anything else. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks of this.

The Garden Experience

So this man, when he gets to his own garden, he sees the pathway leading to it full of pebbles of gold and silver and different types of pearls and rubies and so on. And the door is open automatically, and he sees even a bigger light. And that happens to be the gatekeeper of his own garden. And as he enters, he has a peep at what is going on - one foot in, one foot out - and he is waiting, and he is looking, and he is seeing. 500 years passed, and he is still watching. Allahu Akbar! "Wow, this is mine." Like he said, you are neither hungry nor you are full, but he is just watching because if it was us, you know, lunch time, we would have to go if it was the dunya. So he is looking until he is told, "You are not going to come in?" And who is telling him that? Subhanallah!

We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant us this Jannah. Wallahi, we work towards it, and we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to bless us in every single way.

The Trees of Paradise

And this is why if you take a look at the description of the trees of paradise - the bark, another description of gold and silver - one bark of gold, another bark of silver. But what type of silver? See- through gold, see-through. Can you explain see-through perhaps? Purest. Today we stop at 24 carat. What if I were to tell you 2400 carat?

It is like what we said the other day: people get excited, "Hey, the camera of my phone is now 16 megapixel. That is the top." Brother, your eyes are 576 megapixel, your eyes and mine. And still we never ever roll our eyes: "Let me focus there." It never happened. And we don't realize the gift of Allah. So use your eyes in a way that will result in you entering paradise.

When you lower your gaze for the sake of Allah, you deserve something in that sight. Payment is coming. When you swallow your anger, payment is coming. Sometimes you are told - it is in the hadith - "You choose whichever you would like." May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant it to us. May He open our doors.

The Rivers of Paradise

So then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the Quran describes something important. Every time we hear, we say jannatin tajiri. I am sure the word tajiri is always there. You know, the little children, they ask me sometimes, "What is the meaning of tajiri? Is tajiri going to be in Jannah?" And you start saying, "No, tajiri means that which is flowing." But the Arabic language has mentioned after the term "flowing" what is going to be flowing. So what will be flowing?

"Beneath this garden there will be flowing rivers" (Quran 2:25)

But rivers of what? So these rivers will be everlasting. They never run dry. They are at a distance that you would like. Now, how is my garden going to be? Only Allah knows. But what I do know is if I want to see that river flowing, I will be able to see it. Who does it belong to? Me. How long is it? The least would be 2000 years. Remember, we are using time to describe distance - the least of my river.

And what is the river? So Allah describes river of pure honey. Imagine - why pure honey? Do you know 90% of the honey in the market is not pure? Do you know that? Everyone is looking at me. Believe me, 90% of the honey that is available in the stores is not actually pure honey, even though they write "100% pure." It is not actually pure. Pure honey is something else. Pure honey is extremely expensive, and there is a big shortage of it on the globe. They cannot make ends meet. So this is why they have a specific way of this farming - honey farming - where half of it is actually sugar. Allahu Akbar! Allah protect us. Imagine we are saying Allah protect us from sugar. What that means is Allah protect us from the deception. There is a lot of deception going on.

Jannah - the Quran says pure honey, not Langnese honey that is found down the road. No, pure honey. And what is it? A river! So the benefits of pure honey in the dunya - it is something that will be found in the purest of its form in paradise. I cannot describe the purest form for you, but Allah has sent it down to us through the bee in order for it to be a shifa for me and you. The Quran says that. But in its form, in the dunya, we form... in the form that is made specially for this world.

You know, it is like the spec. We, in my part of the world, we are allowed to import motor vehicles directly from Japan. And what happens is when you want to order cars, vehicles, they tell you, "This spec is only for Japan." Wow, what a beautiful vehicle, so beautiful. "It is only for Japan. You don't get it anywhere else. It is a top spec." And if you were to see in a country like this, that spec doesn't even exist here.

Why am I saying this? Because man always needs examples to understand. You know, so although we are using a far lower example for something far higher, but just to bring it closer to the mind. If I were to tell you honey in the dunya, do not think it is going to be the same spec of honey in the akhira. Don't. It is a totally different spec. You don't get it here. You won't know about it. You need to get there first, and then inshallah you will see what it is talking about.

The same applies to milk that doesn't go bad. Neither does the color change, nor does the smell change, nor does the taste change. Milk a river of milk. Imagine white. Today you have the Thames down the road, as dirty as it is. Nobody would take a cup and put it in and drink to say, "The Thames - I have drunk the water of the Thames." Nobody would do that, nobody, because we know that the minute there is a little bit of pollution this way, that way, the water needs purification before you drink it.

There, the honey don't need no purification. The milk don't need no purification. Neither does it need pasteurization, homogenization, whatever else the honey... meaning the milk goes through. It doesn't need any of that. It is yours. It is as pure, and it has the benefits that you would like it to have, and it will quench you. And at the same time, as much as you drink, you will feel quenched. And when you want more, you will still feel like you need more, and you continue drinking as you wish, how you wish.

And don't worry, you will never have too much of the dairy products because the beauty of it - it's not going to be the milk of a cow. It is the milk of Jannah. Like we said, the honey is not the honey of a bee; it is the honey of Jannah. How Allah has it there, He knows. If He has chosen a method, He knows. Whatever He has described to us, we stop there. We don't need to add or subtract. So we say there will be honey of its own nature. There will be milk of its own nature.

There will be water also that is so pure it can be drunk immediately. And at the same time, it has the benefits of quenching, the benefits of a taste that is unique. And on top of that, there will be flowing rivers of what is termed as

"wine, delicious for those who drink" (Quran 47:15)

The Mufassireen say here the term khamr does not refer to the blocking of the brain. Normally the term khamr refers to that which intoxicates. But there, there is no intoxication in that. It is pure, pure, completely pure. How? Well, let's get there inshallah. We will find out. May Allah grant that to us.

You know, we have fruit juices of a pure blend. If you have them from certain valleys - even some valleys in Cape Town and so on that I have actually, you know, tasted some juices of - and from it's amazing. It has a taste that you would never ever have guessed existed until you taste it. You wouldn't have guessed that taste exists. So people say, "Well, you know what? I really love this, and I like that." You like it because that's what you know, or that's what you heard about. Here, neither do you know, and you may have heard about, but you need to wait to get a taste of it before you would actually appreciate what it's all about.

No Tiredness or Anger in Paradise

And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us so much, and the description is something amazing. Like we say, there is no tiredness. Nobody will get tired in paradise. Imagine you get tired. You know, people go for little vitamin B jabs. People go for this and that, and people say, "I'm tired. We need to rest," and so on. No! You want to rest? You will rest, not out of tiredness. No tiredness, no anger of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He is radi. He is happy. He is... over. He is pleased with you. There is nothing that you will

become angry about, nor will Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala become angry about anything because that is all over - the anger of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at that particular time. He won't be angry with anyone of those of Jannah, and they will not be angry and upset.

The Ultimate Gift - Seeing Allah

And we were speaking about mazeed. What does Allah have extra? You will ask the people of Jannah: "Oh people of Jannah!" after they've entered. "Do you have what I promised you to have - absolutely everything?" They will say, "Yes." "Is there anything else?" "No, now we have something we would like to give you. What is it?" Then the barrier between them and Him shall be lifted, and they will see Him for the first time. They will see Him, Rabbul Izzah. And that will be the biggest gift that the mu'mineen will be having in Jannah - to see Allah.

May Allah grant it to us. Imagine... you know, I'm sorry to be giving this example that I'm giving, but I have to because we are human beings. You know, you see something beautiful. You see, for example, whether it's a little baby or whether... you know, you may have had that first halal glance at someone who might be of the opposite sex... ya... where is it? Let's hope it's not too long.

You know how the brothers say, "Hang on, don't let me... it's too much gaze. That's not how it works. You got to look down. You got to look down. Remember, you want that paradise? Look down. You look down, you will get that paradise." Allah knows what you did, and you need to carry it on. Not just today: "I'm feeling holy, you know. The sheikh was telling us so inshallah. Today I look down. Tomorrow I'm going to go to Jannah. Let's see. We will make tawbah inshallah."

It doesn't work that way. That's the weakness of man. Don't allow that to happen to you. You engage in tawbah. You make tawbah properly, sincerely. You look down today, you look down every day. Don't spoil it.

Imagine a glass of milk, and suddenly one day you put a droplet of urine in it. What happens? The milk is gone. May Allah grant us purification. May He make us preserve that milk of ours.

So, look, we're diving so deep into Jannah that I'm even, you know, losing track of what I was saying. Allahu Akbar! Can anyone remind me? Brothers, you also in Jannah already? Yes, mazeed. Jazakallah khair, habibi. Now that doesn't mean you're still in the dunya.

So Allah says this... the beauty that I was saying. We get excited when we see something gorgeous around. There is nothing. Wallahi, it is zero, nothing, no, not. Imagine the One who created the skies and the earth and everything beautiful and gorgeous - from the scenery to the human beings to everything else and all the planets and everything that's flowing and whatever has come, anything in the entire creation. Who made it? You're going to see Him. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar!

Who made me, you, your eyes, your teeth, the pixels, everything? We want to meet Him, and we will meet Him. That will be the biggest ever gift that anyone could ever have. And it's going to be over and above what Allah has promised me and you and what you'll be happy with. We'll already be happy. I mean, you're happy. You know, you give a child one sweet, the child says, "Oh, I'm happy, very, very happy." And you throw the bag at the child. What will the child do? Fall! Oh, that... You know, this is a human being description. It's something minor, small, something very, very finite, something that will come to an end. With Allah, it's infinite. There's no stopping. And you meet Allah. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant that to us.

And may He... you know, the hadith speaks of a beautiful word:

"Oh Allah, grant us the sweetness of looking at You, Ya Ilah al-Alameen. Oh Allah, grant us the sweetness..."

It means it's going to be so sweet to the eye to look at Allah. Imagine! If you think things are gorgeous here and it's sweet to the eye and you're looking at it, look down, my brother. There is Allah that you need to look at. That will be the true sweetness of your eyes.

And this is why make dua. Ask Allah. Use the dua of Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wasallam. Like Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wasallam used to make the dua: "Ya Allah, grant us this. Grant us paradise. And in paradise, grant us, you know, the sweetness of looking at You," and so on.

The Levels of Paradise

That brings me to another point. There will be different levels of paradise. One narration makes mention of 100 levels of paradise, and the top will be for the top. Not to say that the bottom are bad people, but the levels - it depends how hard you work, what rank you've achieved, how much you really love the Anbiya. We heard moments ago: you love him, you prove that love for him, you achieve that rank. You achieve that rank.

May Allah make us from amongst those who do not merely pay lip service to the love of Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wasallam, but we really become those who understand.

Don't Insult the Prophet

Don't insult him. What is the way of insulting Nabi salallahu alaihi wasallam? By innovating in the deen. That's the biggest way of insulting the messenger. Why? He was sent to me and you to show me and you how Allah wants to be worshipped. That was his job. He came here to tell us about Allah and how Allah wants to be worshipped. What is it Allah wants? Halal, haram was shown. How to worship Allah was shown. And then we believe that the deen was completed and sealed - totally sealed. Whatever was in it, it was in it, and there is nothing out of it that's supposed to be in at all.

So that was his job. He asked the Sahaba in Hajjatul Wada: "This is my job. Have I delivered?" They said, "Yes." He says, "Oh Allah, bear witness that they bear witness that I have delivered." And we come and innovate! Allahu Akbar!

You know what an innovation means? It means there is one thing you forgot that the sheikh down the road knew. That's what it means. That's the meaning of innovation. How can we get paradise if we want to come up with something more than what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is required?

He sent the best of creation to show you how He wants to be worshipped, and we want to worship Him in a way that was not there. This is why we say you want paradise, you want everything. Alhamdulillah, we described it. But this is a small explanation of how we would be insulting Rasul sallallahu alaihi wasallam.

Come on! He was a Nabi, Khatam al-Anbiya. We believe that he conveyed the message in the most eloquent form, in the highest form, and he definitely delivered all the goods - delivered. There are no goods that he forgot to deliver. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us that love so that we can meet him in paradise.

And it is reported that if all the creatures who were supposed to be in paradise had to be brought on to one level, they would be fitting on that level with ease. But still, Allah will separate them into 100 different levels. This is also the gift of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala really may He grant that to us, and may He open our doors.

A Powerful Hadith

We are only on page 3, my brothers. You know, I'd like to end with a hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam where he makes mention of how if a disbeliever knew the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala had, he would never lose hope in paradise, and he would work towards it. And if a believer knew what Allah had prepared in terms of adab and in terms of punishment for the kuffar, he would never feel secure from that particular punishment, and he would work to protect himself from it.

May Allah make us from amongst those who work to protect ourselves from Jahannam and who work towards achieving Jannah and who work for the pleasure of Allah.

Three Types of People

People are more or less three categories:

One: Those who are motivated by listening to paradise and the description of it. So what happens? They want to work towards it. When you read salah - this is obviously my example that I'm giving you - when you read salah, it is a payment towards what? Your building in the akhirah, your garden, your Jannah.

Today we have, you know, this issue of mortgages, and I'm sure in this country a lot of people understand it. And the people who come up with what may or may not be Sharia-compliant mortgage and so on. And everyone says, "Yeah, I need to buy the house." And when we get the house, we're excited. Mashallah! And I'm speaking reality.

People are excited. They say, "No, I got it from, you know, Amanah or Takafur or whatever else they have it from." And they say, "No, I will be paying every week, you know, so it gets automatically deducted. So if my salary, for example, is 400 pounds a week, 200 pounds go towards my house, and I'm excited, and it's going to happen for the next 20 years." Am I right? This is what goes on, isn't it? Yes.

So for 20 years, I'm going to pay half of my salary, and it's gone towards what? The house. So if I'm delayed, what happens? Sometimes you have people who want to compound - interest is added. If it is Sharia-compliant, one wonders what exactly they would do, and that is what makes it different. Sharia- compliant, non-Sharia-compliant - is this interest default factor. May Allah protect us.

So a person is ready to pay every week half of his salary, which means... listen to what it means. Listen carefully: You work so hard from one time to another. Half of that went in order to pay for a house that you are not going to live in for more than 20 to 30 years. You know that? When you finish paying for your house and it's really yours, I think you won't really have more than 10-20 years to live. I'm sorry to say that, but it's a fact. If you're lucky, you may live a little bit longer.

We're ready to pay half of the effort we have made in this world in terms of work to have a home here. What can I tell you? Allah says it's far easier to pay for your Jannah. Just get up for salah - payment number one. Get up for Zuhr - payment number two. Lower your gaze - automatic bonus payment. Allahu Akbar! Wallahi, it's a fact.

Bonus Opportunities

If Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has placed you in a place where there are women walking past, Allah is giving you an opportunity - a bonus to earn points. Have you ever looked at it that way? Have you ever played these little computer games? When I was young, we played something called Pac-Man. You know that? And after you eat quite a few, there's a bonus that comes up, and you run for that bonus before it goes away, and you make sure you deal with it in the right way. That is Pac-Man. You know, your score becomes high. You become a winner. You get excited. Nobody's giving you a prize. It was just a waste of time. Believe me, I have skewed a tactic - kept you a little bit at ease because you had stress from here and there, and you know, Pac-Man kept you up.

But that bonus is what I'm talking about. So your salah is a payment, your zakah is a payment, your hajj is a payment towards your paradise - those... and with its conditions. And at the same time, all the other things - your protection from certain items is a bonus. Why we say that? To fulfill your obligations is a payment. To protect yourself from prohibitions is a bonus.

Have you thought of it? Because the protection from prohibition can only happen when that prohibition becomes accessible to you. So when Allah has put us in a country like Britain, we have so many more opportunities of bonuses than someone living in the city of Makkah. But they will also have the bonuses of a different nature - perhaps sometimes of a similar nature - because with us, to lower your gaze is far more valuable, far more... should I say priceless than someone who does not get that opportunity because it's not there - everyone is covered.

So that's a gift of Allah of a different nature. You have an extra opportunity of bonus. Why throw it away? For Pac-Man, you could understand how to deal with it. For this, you don't. What's it? What's more important - the paradise or the little game that you were going to clock the entire meter with? "I scored 99999." So what? It still had to go back to zero, didn't it? Allahu Akbar!

Final Reflections

My beloved brothers, we had a beautiful few moments that I spend with you. Really, I make dua. Ask Allah to grant us the paradise. Remember, everything is a payment. You make a payment, and sometimes you can pay more.

It's like when you have this house and suddenly, you know, a brother comes and say, "Brother, don't worry. I give you a million pounds." "Oh, wow! First thing to do - let me pay for my house." This is a bonus, and you can have your house. I don't think any brothers would actually give a million - we would not be seated here, brothers. But it's something good.

If you have an amount suddenly - your business did well - and you would sort out your debts very quickly, so that's an opportunity. The same applies with paradise. You can have a better place, a higher rank, and you can continue.

The Example of the Sahaba

This is why the last thing I want to say here inshallah - it will be the last thing - is the Sahaba radhiallahu anhum. You know, we can cry when we read that some of them were told by name that that's how it happened. You know that? Imagine Rasul sallallahu alaihi wasallam comes back from Mi'raj and he informs Bilal ibn Rabah radhiallahu anhum through a different story that "Ya Bilal, you know what? You're already there. You know, I heard your footsteps in paradise."

La ilaha illallah! What did they do? Were they excited, right? "I've got my place. Everything set. From today on, relaxing, sleeping, doing what I want. Everything is okay because my business class seat is booked or first class seat." That's not how it works! No waste! They worked even harder. It made them work more. They gave their lives after they were already promised paradise. Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, Umar al- Faruq radhiallahu anhum - wallahi, these were the champions of all.

Imagine they were known as al-Mubashshireen bil Jannah - given good news of paradise. Not one day did they slacken in their salah. They became even more regular. They were working towards what they knew. These are levels. "Let me work for my level now."

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us the highest levels of paradise.

Three Categories Continued

My brothers, inshallah, at some stage we may want to hear more of this. May Allah give us that opportunity. Like I said, three types of people:

One: Those who will enter paradise because they want to get to paradise, so they worked towards going into it because they heard about it.

Those who will enter paradise because they were fearing Jahannam. It's another group of people. Those who did their deeds because they were scared of the fire. So that's why it's good to know the description of Jahannam because if the description of Jannah doesn't make you work towards it, the description of Jahannam might prod you towards walking towards it - meaning working towards it.

And the third: Those with the highest level - they work for the pleasure of Allah. They work for the pleasure of Allah. This is done for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. They achieve both protection from Jahannam and enter into paradise.

Closing Dua

May Allah grant it to us any one of those three ways. May He grant it to us.