Ismail ibn Musa Menk Khutba
By Mufti Menk | 2026-01-12T07:12:44.874187+00:00 | Topic: Quran
Khutba: The Deeds That Lead to Paradise
Opening and Introduction
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. - (بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim) All praise is indeed due to Allah - (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ) Blessings and salutations upon Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), his entire household, his companions, may Allah bless them all. - (وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ).
May Allah bless everyone of us and may Allah bless humanity at large. May Allah grant us mercy in this beautiful month of Ramadan. May Allah make us from those who are granted freedom from hellfire and entry into Jannatul Firdaus, ameen.
The Mercy of Allah in Ramadan
My beloved brothers and sisters, it is absolutely important for us to realize that this month of Ramadan is a month wherein the mercy of Allah descends onto the earth and every single person is granted the mercy of Allah if he or she would like to achieve that mercy of Allah. And this month of Ramadan is a month wherein every night there are names of people who are granted freedom from hellfire.
So make your name from among those names by seeking the forgiveness of Allah. If we are to ask Allah protection from hellfire thrice every day, hellfire itself asks Allah to protect us from it. So it is amazing how Allah has granted us such a favor.
If we were to ask AllahJannatul Firdaus,
The Dua for This World and the Next
My beloved brothers and sisters, we are going to be speaking for the next hour about the deeds that we need to do in order to get paradise. We know that we would like goodness in this world and the next. The dua that we are taught in the Quran:
Our Lord, grant us goodness in this world and grant us goodness in the next and save us from the fire or the punishment of the fire. That's a dua.
It goes to show that what is important for you and I, we want a decent life on earth. And on top of that, we would like a decent death and we would like that which is good in the hereafter. We also would like to be saved from the punishment in the grave, from the punishment of the hellfire.
The Foundation: Belief and Good Deeds
So we ask this to Allah, but He taught us some simple things to do to earn Jannatul Firdaus. Remember my brothers and sisters, Jannatul Firdaus is the paradise that belongs to Allah. He owns it. And He will decide what deeds you will do that will deserve entry into Jannah. But ultimately, it is His mercy, (رَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلٌ - rahmatullahi azza wa jall) - the mercy of Allah that will actually make us enter into Jannatul Firdaus.
This evening, mashallah, we fulfilled beautiful Salatul Taraweeh. How do I know that Allah has accepted it? I hope in His mercy because I tried my best, right? Sometimes the concentration span is not 100%, sometimes we could have done better, sometimes we have a small distraction, yet this is Salah for the sake of Allah.
My brothers and sisters, your duty is to try your best. Then you ask Allah:
O our Lord, accept it from us, for indeed You are all-hearing, You are all-knowledgeable.
First Foundation: Iman in Allah
So my beloved brothers and sisters, the first reason or the first point that we would need to have within us in order to earn Jannatul Firdaus, is Al-Imanu Billah, to believe in Allah. A person who does not believe in the hereafter, what do they want? There are people who believe that this is just the world:
They said, the kuffar of Quraysh, they used to say, it is only this worldly life, we are dying and we will be alive, that's it. There is nothing more than death and life, nothing in the hereafter.
For them, can they expect Jannah? Can they expect paradise? When they did not believe in it. So to expect Jannatul Firdaus, we need to believe that after death, there is something indeed, I will be taken account of, Al-Hisab. Everything is going to be taken account of.
The Necessity of Good Deeds
And this is why Allah always tells us, two things are needed from us. Not only Iman, but together with Iman, there is something known as Al-'Amalus Salih, which means good deeds. Every time Allah says:
Indeed, those who believe and do good deeds, for them, they are the dwellers of Jannah or of paradise.
So remember my brothers and sisters, it's not enough for us to say, I'm a believer, and you stop there without doing anything. You still need to do good deeds. And what are these good deeds? They are the good deeds that were taught to us by Allah through the messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him).
May Allah make us from those who really believe and do good deeds.
The Development of Taqwa Through Fasting
Secondly, what we need to realize is the consciousness of Allah. We need to be conscious of Allah at all times. Whatever you do, remember, you are answerable to Allah. Allah is watching. There is a record being taken. Remember that.
Now we are in the month of Ramadan. Did you know that the verse that makes the fasting prescribed actually has at the end of it the reason of the prescription of fasting. You may have heard this so many times. Let's read the verse, surah al-Baqarah:
O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed upon you the same way it was prescribed upon those before you in order that you achieve taqwa.
Taqwa is the consciousness of Allah. If you are conscious of Allah, you are aware of what goes into your mouth, you are aware of what comes out of your mouth, you are aware of your actions, your deeds, your words, your movements, you are aware of everything because you are conscious of Allah. So let's learn to develop this as well.
The Gift of Repentance
The fasting month is a beautiful month whereby we can develop these beautiful qualities for the sake of Allah. What is also absolutely important my brothers and sisters, something that is a gift of Allah. Do you know what it is? Something known as attawbah, repentance, the seeking of forgiveness and the forgiveness of Allah.
It is a gift. When I make a mistake, imagine if Allah did not forgive, what would happen? We would be doomed because everyone of us makes mistakes. (كُلُّ بَنِي آدَمَ خَطَّاءٌ - kullu bani Adam khattaa') - All the children of Adam, they make many mistakes. (Reference needed for exact hadith)
The term (خَطَّاءٌ - khattaa') in the Arabic language refers to one who makes so many mistakes, not just one. But the hadith says:
(Tirmidhi hadith)
The best from among those who makes mistakes is he or she who constantly repents to Allah. So seek Allah's forgiveness.
Do you know what Allah says? He says, when He speaks about tawbah, He speaks about the punishment of Allah and then He makes an exception. And He says:
That is a verse of Surah Maryam where Allah speaks about the punishment and then He says the exception, which means those who will not be punished are those who ask Allah's forgiveness and they do good deeds thereafter. Allah says, they will be granted entry into Jannatul Firdaus.
The Path to Knowledge as a Way to Paradise
Another quick way of making your path to Jannah very easy is in the hadith of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) which is reported in Sahih Muslim where the Prophet (peace be upon him) says:
(Sahih Muslim)
Whosoever treads a path to seek knowledge, Allah makes for him the path of entry into Jannah easy for him.
Tonight we have come here to do what? To learn something. I pray that Allah accept it from us. We want to be motivated. We want to feel good about our Islam and Iman. We want to come close to Allah. We want to change our ways and habits. We want to listen to a lecture that will inshaAllah educate us. We want some knowledge.
So therefore, my brothers and sisters, it is important for you to know that this effort you have made is considered by Allah. It is written down by the angels. They know and Allah knows. And Allah says, because of this effort He makes your path to Jannah very easy.
This is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) says:
(Bukhari hadith)
Every one of you will enter Jannah besides he who refuses to enter Paradise. So the Sahaba said, who would refuse to enter Paradise? So he said, whoever follows me will enter Jannah. Whoever does not follow me has refused. They have refused to enter Jannatul Firdaus.
The Importance of the Two Difficult Prayers
Another way of entering Jannatul Firdaus, my brothers and sisters, is hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari where the Prophet (peace be upon him) says:
(Bukhari hadith)
What that means is, whoever makes sure that they read Salatul Fajr and Salatul Asr, they will enter Jannah. That does not mean there are two Salats for a Muslim.
You know, you cannot take the hadith and say, right, I heard the hadith tonight, I'm going to read two Salat out of five, that means I will go to Jannah. No! Because those Salat are quite difficult because people are sleeping early morning, and you know how difficult it is to get up for Salatul Fajr, go to the masjid, the smallest crowd is for Fajr. Salatul Asr.
The Reward of Hajj
Similarly another very important quality, a person who fulfills hajj, when it is compulsory upon him or her to fulfill hajj, obviously we need to follow the rules and the laws. You know, you don't just break the rules and laws and fulfill the hajj against the rules. But you fulfill the rules, regulations, and you have made sure that you did your hajj, you need to know that Rasulullah (peace be upon him), again in a hadith of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), he says:
(Bukhari hadith)
The Umrah and the next Umrah that you make will expiate the sins between the two Umrahs. You will achieve forgiveness, so make Umrah in abundance if you can, because you will achieve forgiveness of the sins between the two. But when you fulfill your hajj, the reward of an accepted hajj is only Jannah. It is nothing besides Jannatul Firdaus.
And this is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) says:
(Bukhari hadith)
A person comes back from hajj similar to the day or as clean as the day that his mother gave birth to him. May Allah make it easy for us to go for hajj. And may Allah accept it from us.
The Virtue of Voluntary Fasting
And may Allah grant us the ability to thank Him. Brothers and sisters, another special way of entering Jannatul Firdaus is to fast often for the sake of Allah. Fasting is not only in the month of Ramadan. In the month of Ramadan it is compulsory:
Whoever witnesses the month of Ramadan should fast. That's the instruction of Allah in Suratul Baqarah.
But we need to know something. There are voluntary fasts. Just like salah, there is farad, there is sunnah, there is nafil. The same applies to zakah. There is that which is farad, compulsory, and that which is nafilah, you can give sadaqat. You can do good deeds for the sake of Allah.
The same applies when it comes to the issue of fasting. You fast during the month of Ramadan. The hadith says:
Whoever fasts Ramadan and follows it through with fasting six days of the next month which is known as shawwal, they do not have to be consecutive. They can be separated, no problem. Allah says, you will have the reward of having fasted the entire year because your good deed is multiplied by ten.
But, there is another sunnah fast, three days every lunar month, 13th, 14th, and 15th. They are known as ayyamul biid. You fast those three days, you have the reward of having fasted the entire month because three by ten is thirty. Then, two days a week, Monday and Thursday, sunnah of Rasulullah (peace be upon him).
I promise you, my brothers and sisters, if you try to achieve this, you will earn jannah, not any ordinary jannah, through a special door known as ar-rayyan:
(يُقَالُ لَهُ الرَّيَّانُ - yuqalu lahu ar-rayyan) (Bukhari hadith)
It is a door known as ar-rayyan, only for those who are fasting for the sake of Allah.
The Night of Rewards
On the last day of Ramadan, it is known as Laylatul Ja'iza. Once the moon is sighted, the prize giving comes out. And the hadith says, Allah, He boasts to the angels about us, that, do you know what is the reward of my worshiper who stayed away from his food and his drink and his desires only for me? Subhanallah. So the angels, obviously, they are waiting for what Allah is saying, and He says:
O angels, bear witness that I have forgiven them. Subhanallah.
The Power of Prostration
Another very important hadith of Rasulullah (peace be upon him) which is the hadith of Rabi'ah ibn Ka'b al-Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him). He says, once I came to Rasulullah (peace be upon him) with a bit of water for his wudu. And with that water, he told me, sal, which means ask, ask what you want.
Subhanallah. Imagine Muhammad (peace be upon him) saying, ask, what do you want? What would you say? Do you know what he says?
He says, I ask you for your companionship in Jannah. Wow. Allahu Akbar. Look at how beautiful. I think our children would ask for an iPhone.
But he says (أَسْأَلُكَ مُرَافَقَتَكَ فِي الْجَنَّةِ - as'aluka murafaqataka fil-jannah) - I ask you your companionship in Jannatul Firdaus. So the Prophet (peace be upon him) says, help yourself to achieve that by Kathratul Sujood, by prostrating a lot. Help yourself.
You can get it. Anyone of us can get (مُرَافَقَةُ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - murafaqatun-nabiyyi salla-llahu 'alayhi wa-sallam). We are not Sahaba. We are not companions in the dunya. But that does not negate the fact that we can be companions in the hereafter.
The hadith says:
The closest that a slave can be to Allah, is in the condition of Sajdah.
The Beautiful Names of Allah
Then we have another very very important way of entering Jannah. Allah has so many names. So many names. Way beyond 120, 140. In fact we don't know the exact number of names that Allah has. He has beautiful names.
But there are 99 names of Allah. If you were to memorize 99 of the names of Allah, you know them, you memorize them, you understood them, you live by them, you use them to call out to Allah, He says, whoever does that, dakhalal jannah. They will be granted entry into Jannah because they have recognized Allah.
This is in the hadith of Rasulullah (peace be upon him). It's a hadith of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) in Sahih Al-Bukhari. He says:
Allah has 99 names which if you were to memorize, you would get jannah. Whoever memorizes them and has encompassed them will be granted jannah.
This does not only mean to know them off by heart, but you are living in the nightclubs or you are living in haram. No. You need to know them and try your best to live by them.
Never Lose Hope in Allah's Mercy
Remember this evening, the key word is try. Try your best. Keep trying. Don't lose hope in the mercy of Allah. No matter what you have done. One of the ways of earning jannah I told you is seeking the forgiveness of Allah. Allah says:
O Muhammad (peace be upon him), tell my worshippers who have transgressed against themselves, never lose hope in the mercy of Allah. Allah will forgive all of your sins. For indeed, He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.
This verse proves that anyone who loses hope in Allah is insulting Allah. When Allah told you don't lose hope and you are losing hope, you are telling Him, I know better than you. (أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ - astaghfirullah) - Don't ever do that.
The Importance of Good Character
Now we want to move on to some of the characteristics. You see there is a hadith where Rasulullah (peace be upon him) speaks of (حُسْنُ الْخُلْقِ - husnul-khulq) - good character.
And he says, myself and the one who has good character, will be together in Jannah. Good character. Many of us think that Islam is only about salah, and that's it, you know, Quran, and I dress appropriately, I've got a nice big name that sounds very Islamic, I look like a good Muslim, I read my salah, and that's it, subhanallah.
Helping Others and Removing Harm
My beloved brothers and sisters, may Allah grant us the ability to smile in Jannatul Firdaus. So, remember that if you are to alleviate the suffering of someone in this world, Allah will alleviate your suffering in this world and the next. If you help someone in the dunya, Allah will help you in this world and in the next, no matter who that person is.
So, Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) makes mention of a hadith of Rasulullah (peace be upon him) wherein he said, there was a man who was passing a path, and he noticed a shrub that was growing on that particular path, and he decided, you know what, people are going to walk on this path, they are going to perhaps get hurt and injured by this shrub, let me spend a moment to remove it, and he removed it, and he threw it aside. So, the Prophet (peace be upon him) says, Allah loved the deed so much that He granted him entry into Jannah, because He saved people, it's known as:
He removed harm from the path of the people, so Allah loved the deed and gave him Jannah.
Building Houses of Allah
Then another way of earning Jannah. The hadith says, and this is a beautiful hadith also in Sahih al- Bukhari of Uthman ibn Affan:
Whoever builds a masjid for the sake of Allah, Allah builds a house for him in Jannah.
Now you might be sitting here and thinking, I don't have the money, right? I don't have the money. What should I do? Well I tell you, contribute somehow towards the building of a house. Because when Allah gives you, He's not just going to give you one brick. If there was a full masjid and one brick was mine, I'm quite certain the mercy of Allah will give me the whole house. Allahu Akbar. So contribute.
Going to the Masjid
Remember my brothers and sisters, to go to the masjid is also a very very great way of earning jannah. SubhanAllah. The hadith says:
Give good news to those who walk to the houses of Allah in the darkness, on the Day of Judgment they will have a full nur. Go to the masjid.
Ayatul Kursi After Every Prayer
I want to teach you another quick way of going to jannah. After every salah, read ayatul kursi once. And Allah will give you jannatul firdaus. It is a hadith of Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him) in sunan an-nasa'i, where the Prophet (peace be upon him) says:
Whoever reads ayatul kursi after every farad salah, there is nothing between him and entering jannah except death.
The First Words of Islam
Then something very important, the hadith of Abdullah ibn Salam. Remember this hadith, because it is absolutely beautiful. It's a hadith also muttafak alayh. Where the Prophet (peace be upon him), when he came to Madinah Munawwarah, and I'm sure we may have heard this before.
There was a Jewish rabbi, and he was later known as Abdullah ibn Salam (may Allah be pleased with him). He says, I had read in my scriptures that there is a man going to come in this region, and he will be a prophet. And I knew some of his signs.
The hadith says, I heard Muhammad (peace be upon him) says:
O people, spread the salam, feed the food, maintain family ties, and pray at night when the people are sleeping, you will enter the paradise of your Lord in peace.
Spread the Salam
First word. Look, it rhymes, isn't it? The words are rhyming. This was the first words that Abdullah ibn Salam heard. O people, Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, O people, spread the salam. Salam means peace. So spread peace. But primarily it is the greeting. As-salamu alaykum.
What is the meaning of as-salamu alaykum? We say peace be upon you. If you look at what it actually means, it means, I promise you I will not harm you. That's what it means.
Feed the Food
The second one, (أَطْعِمُوا الطَّعَام - at'imutal-ta'am) - Which means, feed the food. Feed the food here. To whom? Two types of people. Those who may be wealthy and those who are poor as well. Your relatives and those who are not related.
The hadith says:
Spend, O son of Adam. And it shall be spent upon you. Allah will grant you sustenance.
Maintain Family Ties
Then, silul arhama actually means to maintain your family ties. Every extended family has to have some form of politics. Remember that. It is impossible to have a big extended family without some misunderstanding. Why? Because that is part of your test from Allah.
Night Prayers
And then, the last part of that hadith, the Prophet (peace be upon him) says:
(وَصَلُّوا بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّاسُ نِيَامٌ - wa sallu bil-layli wan-nasu niyam)
Pray at night when the people are sleeping, call out to Allah.
The hadith says:
When Allah loves you, He tests you.
Visiting the Sick
Another way of entering Jannah. Visiting the sick and the ill. Iyadatul Mareed. Imagine how many different ways there are to enter Jannah.
There is a beautiful hadith, subhanallah. Hadith of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked a question to the sahaba. He said, who is fasting today? So the sahaba (may Allah be pleased with them all) Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said, Ana, I. Then he says, who has followed the janazah today? Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said, Ana, I.
Then he says, who has fed a poor person today? Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said, Ana, I. Then he asked, who has visited a sick person today? Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) says, Ana, I. All of these things.
So the Prophet (peace be upon him) says, and this is the hadith of Abu Huraira in Sahih Muslim. He says, whoever has done all of these, will get jannah. Subhanallah.
Imagine visiting the sick. Why? The sick, they need a boost. They need a moral boost, subhanallah. They need someone to at least say, inshallah you'll be okay, don't worry. Mashallah, we are with you. Sometimes they are tired, they are bored.
But my brothers and sisters, you need to know how long to sit. And you need to know whether to go or not. Sometimes a brother is in intensive care, fighting for his life. You say, no, ayyadatul mareed, sunnah, it's a sunnah, I'm going. And you fight with the people at the hospital, and you go there, and you want to sit and take your tea and talk to him. My brother, relax.
The hadith also speaks of:
مَنْ زَارَ أَخَاهُ فِي اللَّهِ )Reference needed for exact hadith(
Whoever visits a brother for the sake of Allah, not necessarily sick. You visit one another.
Being Merciful in Business Transactions
Then there is a very easy way of entering Jannah, but not very easy at the same time. Where the Prophet (peace be upon him) has said in many different narrations. He speaks about how a person who is merciful upon the buyer, when he is selling his goods, and he is merciful upon the seller, when he is buying his goods, will be given Jannatul Firdaus.
Someone wants to buy, you know what is your price, you are merciful on them. For that, inshaAllah, you'll get Jannah. Someone wants to sell, you know that you have the money, you won't squeeze them so
much because the man bought it at 40 dirhams, he wants to make a profit, sell it at 50 dirhams, you want to squeeze him to give you at 30 dirhams, and you know that he's going to make a loss.
Don't do that. Give him a little bit of a profit, bismillah, you have the money and inshaAllah, he will benefit, he will make du'a for you. And the du'a of other people is more likely to be accepted for you than your own du'a.
Also, if a person owes you money to give them time to pay, to have mercy on them, it will have a direct effect on your ease of the day of judgment. Did you know that? If you can give someone time, say they owe you money, yes, if you are in a difficult situation and you need it, you are allowed to squeeze them a little bit obviously because they owe you the money.
But we are talking of the needy people who sometimes have borrowed money and they are finding it difficult to pay back. You have a lot of money but you are squeezing them and squeezing them. And they don't know, they are stressed and depressed. They cannot concentrate in salah.
But if you make ease for them, Allah will create ease for you in the dunya as well as the akhirah. Going all the way back to the hadith of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) in Sahih Muslim where he says, there was a man who was asked, what do you do? What did you do in the dunya? In the akhirah he was asked, what did you do in the dunya? He says, you know, I just used to do a lot of borrowing and I used to give so much of time to the people who owed me and I used to even forgive. So Allah says, today we are forgiving you.
Caring for Children, Especially Daughters
Like I said, there are so many other hadith of Rasulullah (peace be upon him). Another hadith, Sahih Muslim of Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him). Then I move on to the good deeds.
If you are to look after your children in a proper way, to give them an upbringing, especially your daughters and you get them married off in the correct way that Allah and His Rasul have taught you and you have been kind to them. Allah says, as a result of that we give you Jannah. Why? Why daughters? Why not sons? The hadith says, whoever has three daughters, looks after them and gets them married to proper places, was kind to them, we will give him Jannah.
Why? Because you brought up someone and you spent money on them, you invested on them, preparing them for someone else. That's why. Did you hear that? It's not easy to give your daughter away.
This is why, if you have someone else's daughter and you are married, look after her. Subhanallah. Be careful how you treat her. She was someone else's daughter. They spent money on her. They brought her up. They loved her. They kissed her. They played with her. She grew up for 20, 25, 30 years. Then she got married to you. Subhanallah.
You make sure you treat her correctly because her father brought her up for you. That's why he's getting Jannah. Now do you see why? Because it's not easy to give the children away.
And this is why, when the Prophet (peace be upon him) teaches us about marriage, he tells us that these children actually belong to Allah. You will get them married according to what Allah has asked you to do:
If a proposal comes to you for your child from someone whose religion and level of character, is satisfactory, then let them get married. If you don't let them get married, there will be great chaos and corruption on earth.
So remember my brothers and sisters, today, if you ask me, I can tell you, there are thousands of cases of people who want to get married because of the social media and technology. They have gotten to know one another somehow. And there is nothing wrong with the man, or the boy, or the girl. But the father says, no, what am I going to show my family? What is going to happen in my society?
Simple. Look at the level of character, look at the level of deen. If the person is respectable, responsible, let them get married. If not, you are not doing the right thing. How then do you want Jannatul Firdaus? May Allah make it easy.
Having Mercy on Others
My brothers and sisters, so many other beautiful deeds that I can make mention of. One of them is to have mercy, to have mercy on one another:
Those who have mercy upon one another, Allah will have mercy on them. Have mercy upon those on earth, and the one in the heavens will definitely have mercy upon you.
Remember that. Have mercy upon those on earth, and Allah will have mercy upon you. So be merciful to people, be kind. Develop your character. It's a beautiful month of Ramadan.
Tonight we've come here to sit, not just to say, mashallah I heard a good talk. Change your life. My brothers and sisters, it's enough what we are doing. The bad and the evil, it's enough. The world is struggling and suffering. Wallahi we are waiting for everyone so that the world can improve.
If there is a problem somewhere on the globe, Allah says:
Allah will not change the plight of the ummah or a nation until every individual changes his or her self.
So if you want to see an improvement across the globe, the beginning point is with myself. This is why we are here tonight, to encourage everyone, please improve yourself for the sake of Allah, for your own sake. Quit your bad ways, your bad habits. Quit your haram relationships. Quit that which is bogging you down. Go into the pleasure of Allah. Bear patience for the sake of Allah. And Allah will grant you Jannatul Firdaus.
The Main Causes of Paradise and Hellfire
Subhanallah. The hadith of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), and I will end insha'Allah on this note, where the Prophet (peace be upon him) was asked, which are the deeds that will most likely get a person entry into Jannah? Or the proper wording of the hadith is actually, the people of Jannah, the entry that they were granted in Jannatul Firdaus, what are the main deeds that made them get Jannah? He said two things. You know what he said?
تَقْوَى اللَّهِ وَحُسْنُ الْخُلْقِ )Reference needed for exact hadith(
The consciousness of Allah and good character. Good character. Subhanallah. Which means, they fulfilled their duty unto Allah, and they fulfilled their duty unto the rest of the creatures of the same Allah.
So Allah says, they will be granted Jannatul Firdaus. Most of the people in Jannah, if you ask them, what made you come here? They will say:
تَقْوَى اللَّهِ وَحُسْنُ الْخُلْقِ
Both of those. Subhanallah.
Did you hear that? And then the Prophet (peace be upon him) was asked a question, what about Jahannam? What will be the deeds that would have got people into hellfire? If you were to ask them, subhanallah, that why are you here? They would say one of two things:
الْفَمَّ وَالْفَرْجُ )Reference needed for exact hadith(
Two things. The mouth or the private parts? May Allah forgive us. The mouth or the private parts? Which means, hellfire will be filled with people who abuse their mouth and their private parts.
Now this mouth abuse is more dangerous because it affects people. Watch out how you use your tongue, and I call on you, and I plead with you. Let's improve the condition of our homes, because if your home is strong, the community will be strong.
Go back home and solve your problem. Say good words to your spouse. The hadith speaks about how a person who passes away with their spouse being happy with them, will enter jannah. That's also there in the hadith. We usually talk about the wives, but subhanallah, that does not give a license to the husbands to be bad.
The house is beautiful:
(Tirmidhi hadith)
The best from amongst you are those who are best to their wives.
I challenge you to ask yourself, am I the best? Am I good to my wife, to my family members? Go and improve. Wallahi, my brothers and sisters, it's important for us to know this, that Allah has bestowed favor upon us.
There are thousands of ways of entering Jannatul Firdaus, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) says:
(Bukhari hadith)
Whoever guarantees me the correct use of what lies between his cheeks and what lies between his thighs, what is between the tongue and the private parts, I guarantee him Jannatul Firdaus.
Seeking Forgiveness and Hope
Now I know many people must be saying, you know, I made a mistake, I did this, I committed this sin, I didn't use my tongue properly, what should I do now? I end off by saying, turn to Allah:
التَّائِبُ مِنَ الذِّنْبِ كَمَنْ لَا ذَنْبَ لَهُ Ibn Majah hadith(
Remember, a person who seeks the forgiveness of Allah is equivalent to the one who did not commit a sin at all. If you asked Allah's forgiveness, Allah wiped it out.
Because that was Allah's plan. You know when Allah created Adam (peace be upon him), Allah in His divine wisdom knew that he's going to commit a sin, he will seek forgiveness, then I will put him on earth so that his progeny, when they commit a sin, they need to know what to do. What should they do? They should seek forgiveness, then I will give them Jannah again.
Closing
May Allah bless us all, and may Allah grant us all Jannatul Firdaus. Indeed it was a beautiful evening here in Dubai. I ask Allah to accept it from everyone of us. Please remember me also in your prayers.
Glory be to Allah and with His praise. Glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise. We bear witness that there is no deity except You. We seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance. And may Allah send peace and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad. I conclude with these words.