To read part 5, click here
Being denied entry into Jannah
Imagine all the 29/30 days you spent in ibadah during the month of Ramadhan; exerting yourself, never missing taraweh, waking up for tahajjud, staying up in the night, making dua every moment of the day, giving charity and giving and giving…then at the end of it, you are told that your deeds were but a waste. How would you feel? Devastated right?!
Now imagine coming on the day of judgment (not 30 days anymore but rather an entire lifetime this time round) while hopeful because you know you believed, and you were among the worshippers, then Allah Subhanahu Wataala declares you among the dwellers of hellfire. Not because of Allah’s injustice, for our Lord is never unjust, but because of your other bad deeds, you are denied entry into Jannah.
Here are some individuals who will be denied entry into Jannah:
1. One who severs ties of kinship:
Narrated Jubair bin Mut`im: That he heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, “The person who severs the bond of kinship will not enter Paradise.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 5984)
2. Whoever disobeys the prophet peace be upon him:
Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “All my followers will enter Paradise except those who refuse.” They said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! Who will refuse?” He said, “Whoever obeys me will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys me is the one who refuses (to enter it).” (Sahih al-Bukhari 7280)
3. Mistreating those under one’s authority:
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq reported the Prophet as saying, “One who treats badly those under his authority will not enter paradise.” (Mishkat al-Masabih 3358)
4. A ruler who doesn’t serve the Muslims as he should:
It has been narrated on the authority of Abu Malik that Ubaidullah b. Ziyad visited Ma’qil b. Yaser in the latter’s illness. Ma’qil said to him: “I am narrating to you a tradition. If I were not at death’s door, I would not narrate it to you. I heard the Messenger of Allah (may peace he upon him) say: A ruler who, having obtained control over the affairs of the Muslims, does not strive for their betterment and does not serve them sincerely shall not enter Paradise with them.” (Sahih Muslim 142g)
5. Those who do these three acts:
The Prophet peace be upon him said: “No one who reminds others of his favors, no one who is disobedient to his parents and no drunkard, will enter Paradise.” (Sunan an-Nasa’i 5672)
6. Those who are arrogant:
It was narrated that Abdullah said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘No one will enter Paradise who has even a mustard-seed’s weight of arrogance in his heart, and no one will enter Hell who has even a mustard-seed’s weight of faith in his heart.'” (Sunan Ibn Majah 59)
7. Committing shirk:
Narrated `Abdullah: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Anyone who dies worshipping others along with Allah will definitely enter the Fire.” I said, “Anyone who dies worshipping none along with Allah will definitely enter Paradise.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1238)
8. Those who mistreat their neighbours:
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “By Allah, he is not a believer! By Allah, he is not a believer! By Allah, he is not a believer.” It was asked, “Who is that, O Messenger of Allah?” He said, “One whose neighbour does not feel safe from his evil”.
Another narration of Muslim is: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “He will not enter Jannah whose neighbour is not secure from his wrongful conduct”. (Riyad as-Salihin 305)
9. Those who participate in calumny (the making of false and defamatory statements about someone in order to damage their reputation; slander):
Hudhaifah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “The person who goes about with calumnies will never enter Jannah.” (Riyad as-Salihin 1536)
10. Example of the woman who mistreated her cat:
Narrated `Abdullah bin `Umar: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “A woman was tortured and was put in Hell because of a cat which she had kept locked till it died of hunger.” Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) further said, (Allah knows better) Allah said (to the woman), ‘You neither fed it nor watered when you locked it up, nor did you set it free to eat the vermin of the earth.’ (Sahih al-Bukhari 2365)
11: Example of the man who judged his fellow with regards to his sins:
Narrated AbuHurayrah: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: There were two men among Banu Isra’il, who were striving for the same goal. One of them would commit sin and the other would strive to do his best in the world. The man who exerted himself in worship continued to see the other in sin.
He would say: Refrain from it. One day he found him in sin and said to him: Refrain from it.
He said: Leave me alone with my Lord. Have you been sent as a watchman over me? He said: I swear by Allah, Allah will not forgive you, nor will he admit you to Paradise. Then their souls were taken back (by Allah), and they met together with the Lord of the worlds.
He (Allah) said to this man who had striven hard in worship; Had you knowledge about Me or had you power over that which I had in My hand? He said to the man who sinned: Go and enter Paradise by My mercy. He said about the other: Take him to Hell.
AbuHurayrah said: By Him in Whose hand my soul is, he spoke a word by which this world and the next world of his were destroyed.” ( Sunan Abi Dawud 4901)
12. One who dies upon bad deeds:
Sahl b. Sa’d reported God’s messenger as saying, “One man does the deeds of those who go to hell but is one of those who go to paradise, and another does the deeds of those who go to paradise but is one of those who go to hell, for judgment is given according to one’s final actions.” (Mishkat al-Masabih 83)
*
The scariest thing is that none of us is sure which kind of deaths we’ll have or which of our sins could potentially ruin our chance to enter Jannah. This should make us mindful of our acts of worship and especially how we interact with our fellow human beings (we mostly underestimate the effect of this on our book of deeds), lest we become among the losers and the poor on the day of judgment.
Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: Do you know who is poor? They (the Companions of the Holy Prophet) said: A poor man amongst us is one who has neither dirham with him nor wealth. He (the Holy Prophet) said: The poor of my Umma would be he who would come on the Day of Resurrection with prayers and fasts and Zakat but (he would find himself bankrupt on that day as he would have exhausted his funds of virtues) since he hurled abuses upon others, brought calumny against others and unlawfully consumed the wealth of others and shed the blood of others and beat others, and his virtues would be credited to the account of one (who suffered at his hand). And if his good deeds fall short to clear the account, then his sins would be entered in (his account) and he would be thrown in the Hell-Fire. (Sahih Muslim 2581)
This is not meant to make us fall into despair with regard to our sins or shortcomings. Indeed no good deed goes done sincerely goes to waste and moreover, none of us will enter Jannah because of our deeds, but rather from Allah’s mercy. And our Lord is the Most Merciful. It is thus important that we constantly strive in getting close to Allah and make dua to Him to make us worthy of His love and mercy.
So we hereby bring those fears to Allah Subhanahu Wataala…
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ الْجَنَّةَ .اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ الْجَنَّةَ . اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ الْجَنَّةَ
“O Allah, I ask You for paradise. O Allah, I ask You for paradise. O Allah, I ask You for paradise.”
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ الْجَنَّةَ وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ النَّارِ
“O Allah, I ask You for paradise and seek Your protection from the fire”
االلَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ الْجَنَّةَ وَمَا قَرَّبَ إِلَيْهَا مِنْ قَوْلٍ أَوْ عَمَلٍ وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ النَّارِ وَمَا قَرَّبَ إِلَيْهَا مِنْ قَوْلٍ أَوْعَمَلٍ وَأَسْأَلُكَ أَنْ تَجْعَلَ كُلَّ قَضَاءٍ قَضَيْتَهُ لِي خَيْرً
“O Allah, I ask You of Paradise and every deed or speech that will be a means of drawing near to it; and I seek refuge in You from the Fire and from every deed or speech that will be a means of drawing near to it; and I ask You that You make whatever You have decreed for me a means of good.”
رَبَّنَآ إِنَّنَآ ءَامَنَّا فَٱغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ
“Our Lord! We have believed, so forgive our sins and protect us from the torment of the Fire.”
. رَبِّ هَبْ لِى حُكْمًۭا وَأَلْحِقْنِى بِٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ .وَٱجْعَل لِّى لِسَانَ صِدْقٍۢ فِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرِينَ . وَٱجْعَلْنِى مِن وَرَثَةِ جَنَّةِ ٱلنَّعِيمِ .
“My Lord! Grant me wisdom, and join me with the righteous. Bless me with honourable mention among later generations. Make me one of those awarded the Garden of Bliss.”
رَبِّ ابْنِ لِي عِندَكَ بَيْتًا فِي الْجَنَّةِ
“My Lord! Build for me a home with You in Paradise”
للَّهُمَّ اقْسِمْ لَنَا مِنْ خَشْيَتِكَ مَا تَحُولُ بِهِ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَ مَعَاصِيكَ، وَمِنْ طَاعَتِكَ مَا تُبَلِّغُنَا بِهِ جَنَّتَكَ، وَمِنَ الْيَقِينِ مَا تُهَوِّنُ بِهِ عَلَيْنَا مَصَائِبَ الدُّنْيَا، اللَّهُمَّ مَتِّعْنَا بِأَسْمَاعِنَا، وَأَبْصَارِنَا، وَقُوَّاتِنَا مَا أَحْيَيْتَنَا، وَاجْعَلْهُ الْوَارِثَ مِنَّا، وَاجْعَلْ ثَأْرَنَا عَلَى مَنْ ظَلَمَنَا، وَانْصُرْنَا عَلَى مَنْ عَادَانَا، وَلَا تَجْعَلْ مُصِيبَتَنَا فِي دِينِنَا، وَلَا تَجْعَلِ الدُّنْيَا أَكْبَرَ هَمِّنَا، وَلَا مَبْلَغَ عِلْمِنَا، وَلَا تُسَلِّطْ عَلَيْنَا مَنْ لَا يَرْحَمُنَا
“O Allah, apportion to us such fear as should serve as a barrier between us and acts of disobedience; and such obedience as will take us to Your Jannah; and such as will make easy for us to bear in the calamities of this world.
O Allah! let us enjoy our hearing, our sight and our power as long as You keep us alive and make our heirs from our own offspring, and make our revenge restricted to those who oppress us, and support us against those who are hostile to us, Let no misfortune afflict our Deen; let not worldly affairs be our principal concern, or the ultimate limit of our knowledge, and let not those rule over us who do not show mercy to us.”
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ رِضَاكَ وَالجَنَّةَ ، وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ سَخَطِكَ وَالنَّارِ
“O Allah, I ask of Your pleasure and for Paradise, and I seek refuge from Your displeasure and from the Hellfire.”
رَبَّنَا اصْرِفْ عَنَّا عَذَابَ جَهَنَّمَ ۖ إِنَّ عَذَابَهَا كَانَ غَرَامًا إِنَّهَا سَاءَتْ مُسْتَقَرًّا وَمُقَامًا
“Our Lord! Avert from us the Wrath of Hell, for its Wrath is indeed an affliction grievous,- Evil indeed is it as an abode, and as a place to rest in.”
Ya Allah, don’t make us among the losers-those whose efforts in ibadah are unaccepted and valueless. Ya Allah please rectify our character, our deeds, and our relationships with You and other people.
Ya Allah, please grant us sincerity in all the good deeds that we do, accept them from us, and make us among those who die upon goodness.
Ya Allah, we ask You for Jannah; its pleasures, its companions (including our loved ones Ya Rab), its clothes, its houses, its beauty and to gaze upon your Glorious Face Ya Rab.
Ameen Ya Rabbal alameen!
***
Remember we started this series with the dua of one of the pious predecessors, Habibah al- ‘Adawiyah (may Allah have mercy on her) and we shall end with her other dua as well:
“O Allah! Here goes the night departing and here comes the day brightening, and how I wish to know, have you accepted this night from me so that I may congratulate myself, or have you rejected it from me so that I may extend myself condolences. By Your Might! This is my commitment for as long as you keep me alive. By Your might! Even if You scold me, I will never leave Your door, nor will anything but Your generosity and grace be felt in my heart.”
***
Eid Mubarak good people! May Allah accept our good deeds, elevate our status, answer our duas beautifully, forgive our sins and make us among those who continue doing good even after Ramadhan. May these blessed days be filled with joy, happiness and love, and for our loved ones in the graves, may Allah have mercy on them and make their graves to be from the gardens of Jannah, ameen!
Alhamdulilah, that brings an end to our Ramadhan – Eid series. May it be of benefit to me first, and then to you dear reader. Till the next post biidhnillah. Meanwhile, here’s a small reminder for us:
It was narrated from Abu Ayyub that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever fasts Ramadan then follows it with six days of Shawwal, it is as if he fasted for a lifetime.” (Sunan Ibn Majah 1716)
Fi AmaniLlah! 🙂