What's the Bare Minimum to Enter Paradise?

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Alhamdulillah.

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For.

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The This afternoon, I'd to share a narration with you all that tells us of the bare minimum that the human being has to hold within his heart in order to enter and pass under the threshold of Islam in order for a person to be a Muslim. The starting point then is what is mentioned to the prophet sallall.aii wasallam here in this narration. It's a narration which is incredibly important and in it our messenger Muhammad sallall.aii alaihi wasallam tells us of the beginning and foundations upon which the rest of our faith and relationship with Allah is built. This is the foundation. This is where it all begins. At this point, the human being becomes a Muslim and becomes eligible for paradise and is considered a follower of the best of mankind Muhammad sallall.aii wasallam and a follower of all of the prophets and messengers. This narration is collected by both bkari and Muslim. What does it mean when we say some a narration per se is collected or reported or documented by Bkari and Muslim alkari he has his most famous book which is known as it's an authentic compilation and it's referred refer to askari. But its name that the author originally gave it is that this is an authentic compilation of the prophet sallall.aii Wasallam's days and acts, traditions and statements. Alam Muslim is one of Bkari's students. It's his most prominent student and he wrote a book which he intended to be a companion and complimentary to Sah Bkari. It's known as Sah Muslim. And this these two books are the most authentic books after the book of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Immari didn't just write overnight. It took him 17 years to write this book. And he made for every single narration that he wrote into his and al Muslim based his book largely on Bkari and he expounded upon it. These two books, they're not new. They haven't just been released 20 or 30 years ago or two or three years ago. These books have been around for almost 1300 years. And these books have been rigorously dissected by thousands upon thousands of scholars. and every single generation of Muslims since the second and third gener century after Hijra. Thousands of men and women from each of those generations have narrated Sah Bkari and Sah Muslim. And these two books have been agreed upon amongst the scholars of Islam to be the most authentic books. And the highest level of authenticity that any narration can have in the science of hadith is that the narration is what is referred to as it is agreed upon. This word agreed upon means that Bkari and Muslim both agree upon this narration. Its wording, its meaning and its chains of narration and agreed upon though in the science of hadith means it was reported by Bkari Muslim. It also holds the meaning of agreed upon amongst the scholars of Islam because every single narration that is agreed upon the narration itself the chains of narration are a different issue but the narration itself agreed upon have been accepted by the scholars of Islam one generation passed down to the next. This narration is of the highest authenticity and it's a narration that is critical. The prophet sallallah.aii wasallam is narrated here by his companion narrates that the messenger of Allah. Wasam saidchech.

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So in this narration tells us that the messenger of Allah sallallam gives us the criteria of those who enter paradise. Every human being who has lived on this earth that will enter paradise after the prophet sallallah.aii alaihi wasallam after the prophet Muhammad's lifetime and during his lifetime after he was appointed as a messenger this is the bare minimum criteria for entering paradise tells us that the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaii wasallam said whomever testifies whoever testifies that none is rightfully worshiped but Allah alone without any partners and that Muhammad is his slave and messenger and that Isa is the slave of Allah and his messenger and his word which he cast to Muriam and cast upon Miam and a soul of his creation. And whoever further testifies that paradise is a true literal reality and that the hellfire is a true and literal reality. Allah will enter him into paradise based on his actions on whatever subsequent obedience to Allah this person musters up. So we see here that the prophet sallall.aii wasallam mentions four or five key points. Number one, the person testifies that none is rightfully worshiped but Allah. This is the meaning ofahillah.ahill. This doesn't just mean that Allah exists or there's no creator except for Allah. Most people believe that in one way or another, even if their actions or even if the details of their beliefs may differ, most of humanity historically and even till today believe that there is one creator of all that exists. even even religions that are known for polytheism and idolatry. Say for instance Hinduism. Hinduism, if we were to take all of its sects and all of its different groups and all of the different fringe groups all together and calculate it's said that there are more than 20 million different gods and saints that are worshiped by Hindus collectively. Now even in this religion very chaotic an educated Hindu a scholar of Hinduism knows that these are all either saints or representations of the one true godhead that they refer to as some call him Brahman some call him Shiva different sects different groups But they still even though they have all these idols and all these gods, they still believe in one essential creator. However, their belief is different in the sense that it's a pantheus belief, meaning that everything is God and God is everything. This of course is radically different than the beliefs of Islam and Judaism and Christianity and so forth. Even the magians in the time of the prophet sallall.aii wasallam al- majus they believed in two primary creators light and darkness. But even in that they still believe that light was superior to darkness because from light comes good and from darkness comes evil. And so when a person deduces deduction and reasoning always brings a person to the conclusion that there can only be one creator. So this is not necessarily unique to Islam. However, Islam is not just that a person believes that there's only one God, but that a person worships only that one God. This is where the mushri of Quraysh differed with our prophet sallall.aii wasallam. They believed that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was the creator. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,.

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If you were to ask them who has created the heavens and the earth them here being Abu Jah and Abu and the people of and the people of and the pe if you were to ask them who has created the heavens and the earth they would say Allah. And so the dwa of our prophet sallall.aii wasallam was that he came to the people who believed in that one creator and he sallall.aii wasallam said being that he is your only creator then why do you worship other than Allah worship then only Allah because only Allah is worthy of your worship. This is embodied in the statementahill. None is rightfully worshiped but Allah. And so this statement became the hallmark of the believer that differentiates the Muslim from all other religions. It is not there is only one creator. That doesn't differentiate a Muslim from other religions. What differentiates a Muslim from other religions is the worship of Allah alone without any partners. This is where the rubber meets the road. This is the difference between the Muslim and the non-Muslim. And so here the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam says, "Whoever testifies that none is rightfully worshiped but Allah alone without any partners.

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He says and that Muhammad is his slave and messenger. To Allah he is a slave. To us he is a messenger. to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the highest rank any person can ever obtain is the rank of being a true servant and and slave to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that is why in the most honorable mention of our prophet sallallahu alaii wasallam in the Quran Allah doesn't refer to him as by his name he doesn't refer to him by his title as messenger or prophet. He refers to him as his slave. Subhan one the greatest night of his life. The most honorable night of his life. The night when he was taken from his bed and brought before the throne of Allah. He walked where not even Gibl was permitted to to walk. And he was brought within proximity to Allah that no other angel, human or jin had ever been brought before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And in this instance, in this honorable mention, Allah refers to him as what? As his slave, as his servant. Subhan Allah. Receiving the Quran, the greatest book to the greatest of messengers. What is he referred to as? criterion the Quran upon his servants etc. You'll notice this is mentioned throughout the Quran this pattern and that is that in the highest honors that our prophet is given Allah refers to him as his servant his slave and not only that but those who truly obey him. He says the slaves of Alman. These are the best of people. Allah refers to them with that title. Why? Because the human being was created as a servant. He was created as to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And being that that is what we were created for the human being, no matter what he does, he will always be a slave to something. He can merely choose whether to be a slave to Allah and receive with that all honor and mention or a slave to someone or something else. for.

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And so we will continue this inshall next week.

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Alhamdulillah.

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Allah Allahb I Sh. I shall.

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I shall. Oh, I s I Father.

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Allah. Oh,.

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Alhamdulillah. foreign.

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Yeah. foram.

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Allah. for.

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There are three hallmarks. These are the hallmarks of the people of paradise. These three traits, these three attributes, these three dimensions of our servitude and worship of Allah, the more intensely they are found in a human being, the higher this human being will be found in paradise. These three traits, they are the hallmark of all goodness and happiness, true happiness in this life and in the hereafter. If we were to say, what are the traits of the people of paradise? If we were to sum it all up, what is it that a person is expected to be at every waking moment of his conscious adult life? They are free. He tells us in his that the hallmarks of happiness are three. That when a person receives a blessing, he is thankful. Gratitude. And when a person is put through a trial or difficulty or experiences tribulation, he is patient. Patience. And when a person sins and makes mistakes, that the person is contrite, that the person is repentant. For these three traits, they are the hallmarks of happiness. Gratitude, patience, and repentance. Because every moment of your waking life, every conscious moment that you or I ever have or experience, we are in one of three states. We are in either in a state of receiving blessing from Allah, receiving ease, comfort, help, security, health, satisfaction. And when a person is the recipient of blessing, he is expected to be thankful to Allah, to have gratitude. that gratitude is so important that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala refers to the people of belief as the only truly grateful or a person is in a time of difficulty, a time of tribulation, a time of crisis, a time of discomfort. In which case it is the human being's responsibility to exhibit patience for the sake of Allah for the pleasure of Allah or a person is in a moment of weakness a moment of sinfulness a moment of disobedience in which a person is to exhibit repentance. and contrition. And so gratitude, patience, and contrition, repentance, these are the hallmarks of the people of paradise. Thankfulness and gratitude to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is not just lip service. It is a worship of Allah and it is quantifiable. It is not just something that you know kind of exists or it is something that can be quantified. It is an act of worship. Allah has commanded it in the Quran. Therefore, anything he commands is an act of worship. He says subhanahu waala is he says be thankful to me. Now if we were to say how do I thank Allah? Just salah is an act of worship. Just fasting is an act of worship. Hajj is an act of worship. Every act of worship in Islam can be quantified. It can be defined. And every act of worship in Islam, it has pillars and conditions. The pillars of thankfulness and gratitude to Allah are three. If a person is to exhibit gratitude, these three things must be present in their gratitude. That a person acknowledges in his heart who is responsible for this blessing, where it has come to them from. And that a person when he speaks, he refers this blessing to Allah. subahala and that a person implements this blessing in a way that pleases Allah. This is what gratitude is. This is how you thank Allah generally and specifically for any blessing. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives you the blessing of a child for instance then your responsibility is to exhibit gratefulness gratitude and thank Allah how do you thank Allah with acknowledging that this is from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that this is a blessing that has been given to me not because I deserve that Allah give me not because I have earned it but because Allah is generous and merciful that a person refer this blessing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the way that he speaks that a person says alhamdulillah this is a blessing from Allah and third that the person raised this child in a way that pleases Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is how we exhibit gratitude. Allah subhanahu waala has always given and when he gives the recipient is expected to show gratitude. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has always made it his allegiance between his creation and himself. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us that Allah has stated in every book with every messenger to mankind in no uncertain terms that if you thank me I will increase you and if you show ungratefulness know that my punishment is a very severe one. And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he teaches us in the Quran and in the prophet sallall.aii wasallam sunnah not just how to be grateful but but how to see gratitude truly that it not just be superficial but that it come from every fiber of our being. Because gratitude is the believer and the believer is the great grateful one. If we were to say what is a synonym of a believer in the Quran, what is a synonym of the word in the Quran? It is a sh a Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has said that he created the human being and gave him gifts and faculties for the human being to then choose whether to be grateful or to be ungrateful. whether to be a believer or a disbeliever, whether to be a Muslim or a non-Muslim, whether to be a follower of the messengers or an enemy to them. And my brothers and my sisters, gratitude is not natural to the human being. This is a discipline. It's a learned discipline. You and I, we're not naturally grateful. The human being naturally is an ungrateful creature. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says he says subhanah he says subhanahua and if you were to attempt to enumerate the blessings of your lord you would be unable to do So indeed the human being is oppressive by nature and ungrateful by nature. But that is what the book is for. That is what the Quran came to teach us. What did the Quran come to teach us? What is the messenger? What was he sent to teach us? How to be grateful, how to be patient, how to be contrite and repentant. That is what he came for. Those are the disciplines that he came to teach us. The human being is not naturally grateful. For this reason, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala focuses in the Quran on the obedience to one's parents. Why? Because it's unnatural. Naturally, the human being is an ungrateful creature. As for being good to one's children, most people are already good at that because it comes naturally to them. But what they have to learn is gratitude. And the believer is not anything if not grateful, especially to Allah. And so gratitude is taught to us. We are taught not only how to speak with gratitude, how to act with gratitude, but how to think and truly feel with gratitude. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala teaches his messenger this lesson. He says,.

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He teaches his messenger gratitude and he draws his attention to the blessings of Allah upon him even when he didn't ask even when he was unable to ask. He says subhanahu wa ta'ala were you not an orphan but Allah gave you sanctuary protection? Were you not poor and Allah then gave you wealth? Were you not unaware and Allah gave you guidance and knowledge? So as for the orphan, do not be harsh with him. And as for the one who asks, do not turn him away harshly. And as for the blessings of your Lord, then ascribe them and thank him to to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And this is how we learn gratitude. When we go to think, we look not to what we don't have or what we wish we had. We look to what we do have and what things could have been like. The prophet sallall.aii wasallam said in the narration of.

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He said, "When you look to those besides yourself, look to those who are less fortunate than yourself. And do not look to those who are seemingly more fortunate for that is more likely for you not to belittle the blessings of Allah upon you. A person has a knack. The human being by nature, by his very nature is usually most drawn to that which is pessimistic, most drawn to that which is negative. He is most aware of that which he wishes and that which he doesn't have. He is more hyperfocused on disappointment and very rarely is able to see the blessings that he has. And so the prophet sallall.aii wasallam teaches us how to beware of this incredibly dangerous trait and that is belittling Allah's blessing. that you scoff and thumb your nose at Allah's blessing it's not good enough. How does a person do that? He tells us look to those who are less fortunate. You have two legs, look to those who only have one. You have one leg, look to those who have none. Look to those who are less fortunate. You have one meal a day, look to those who have none. No matter how bad your situation seems to be, there will always be someone out there who is suffering more. It was said that as was collected by in his Aubam was tested by Allah and he was given immense wealth and he was given great health and vigor and he was given a huge family with many children. Much pride he took in that which he had and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala praised a yub for his patience and gratitude and so wished to turn this man into someone ungrateful and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allowed a shan to cross boundaries his children and his family were all taken from him in a moment, in a flash. One minute he is the father and patriarch of a a family of 20 or more members and the next moment in the blink of an eye they are all gone. He buried every one of them. His health was so bad that he was permanently quarantined for decades. No one dared to come and visit him. That all of his wealth had dissipated till he was considered to be the example of poverty, the epitome. And his wife was the only one there with him that was enduring. He narrates that a couple of men passed by a yub and overheard him in these circumstances saying alhamdulillah. A yub was very sick. He endured illness to the point that he was permanently quarantined. People didn't even dare to come visit him. the prophet of Allah and he was overheard saying under these circumstances alhamdulillah and they said for what alhamdulillah for what look at you you have nothing you know it's very easy to look at the half that is that is empty in the glass and to say this is the messenger the prophet of Allah he's sick he has no health he has no wealth he has no family he has no standing and so they said alhamdulillah for what listen to the believer a person who knows Allah a person who has seen the majesty of Allah he said alhamdulillah He said, "Alhamdulillah that Allah has given me a tongue by which I can still praise him." This is how a person shows gratitude and for this reason a he didn't even have to ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to give him and give him. He didn't even have to ask for Allah to heal him. If you notice, his dua that he made to Allah, he never explicitly said, "Oh Allah, heal me. Oh Allah, give me my wealth back. Give me my family back." He never said that. Why? Because he knows that what Allah chooses for him is infinitely better than what he chooses for himself. And he's not sure. Maybe maybe sickness and illness is the best for him. Maybe that brings out the best for him and maybe health will be a hindrance and will jeopardize his relationship with Allah perhaps. So he never asked for that outright. All he had to do was barely gesture that he is uncomfortable. In his dua he said he said oh Allah I have been afflicted and you are the most merciful. That's all he said immediately. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave him and gave him. It said that his wife came to him and said, "Will you not make dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to reverse what has happened to us?" 18 years it said that he spent in this state. 18 years, never once did his faith waver. It said that she asked him will you not ask Allah to reverse this? He said how many years did we spend in comfort and ease and wealth? She said 40 years. He said when we reach 40 years in difficulty maybe then I can muster up the boldness to ask for Allah to reverse this. This is a man who's truly seen Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Not a man that wishes away Allah's blessings and belittles them. Raheem. Alhamdulillah.

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We often times speak about the courage, the valor, the dignity of the prophets and messengers, the dignity of our prophet and messenger sallall.aii wasallam. And we think usually when citing evidences of their courage, of their audacity, their times in battle, their times in the face of their enemies. And that surely is a sign of courage. But a real sign of courage is generosity. Real courage is forgiveness. Real courage is the audacity to not lose hope in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That takes courage. Anyone can be stingy. That is rooted in fear. Anyone by nature can be ungrateful and pessimistic. Anyone can look and say, "Well, that would never happen to me cuz my life is terrible." as if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has some personal vandetta against a person. But real courage is for a person to look poverty in the eye and say, "I'm not afraid of you." For a person to look wealth in the eye and say, "I will spend you for the sake of Allah." It was said by anis in that a man would come to the prophet Sam to become Muslim. The only reason he would come to accept Islam is because of the wealth that the Muslims were enjoying at the last years of his life. And that everyone who was there would know that this man came to accept Islam only for a dunya. And the prophet sallall.aii wasallam would accept his Islam and he would make him a the equivalent of a millionaire in a moment that a man would come wanting only the dunya and accept Islam. And the prophet sallall.aii Wasam would give him an entire valley of livestock just because that person would enter into Islam with those intentions and after being exposed to true Islam and the Muslims and the messenger and the Quran would only be for a few days before Islam is more beloved to him than the dunya and everything in it. And all that wealth would go right back to the Muslim. Why? Because it is not wealth that made the Muslims. It is not it is not power or military strength that made the Muslims. It is their faith. It is their audacity to believe. Their audacity and boldness to have faith and hope in Allah when all else seems hopeless. The audacity of Moses standing at the shore of the Red Sea with Pharaoh closing in and his own companions saying, the audacity of Moses when his own people are saying we are done. There's no hope now. The the the Red Sea is in front of him. Pharaoh is behind him. And in those circumstances, he still has the courage to say, "Allah is with me. He will not let me loose. Allah is with me. He will not bring me to this point in order to humiliate me and forsake me now. And with that kind of faith, the sea itself will turn solid. With that kind of faith, even the sea will obey his stick because that is the faith that is what gave our predecessors that gave our our our forefathers, our ancestors that gave them the world in their palm because they didn't ask for it and they didn't want it. All they wanted was Allah's favor. All speech. foreign.

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Allah. for.

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Allah. When becoming.

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Alhamdulillah. Allah. I shall I Yeah. Heat.

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Stand shouldertosh shoulder. Close all of the gaps. Align your shoulders and your feet with the shoulders and feet of your two neighbors on either side of you. Please do not join a row until the row ahead of you is completely filled to capacity. I think what you alhamdulillah many Fore! Foreign! Foreign! Foreign speech. Foreign foreign foreign speech.

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Let me come on here. for.

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Tell me Allahel.

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Allahel.

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Alhamdulillah. for.

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Amen.

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All the me Allah Allahel Allahel.

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I can go down shadow. No more time.

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Allah. Allah want to set up.

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I just have a few announcements inshallah. I imshallah every Saturday and Sunday after fudger prayer he has Quran for brothers where inshallah they recite a juz from the Quran. So please join. This is Saturday, Sunday after faj every Saturday and Sunday inshallah. the youth group has an open play time that would be after every day. So any any youth that to join just come in after there will be something going on inshallah. Also a reminder for the announcement that we have done last week. Basically what we have done we designated the back part of the gym to be a place for a a quiet time for people who come in early who wants to go there and pray some Quranshallah I mean read some Quran and that's from 12:30 to 1 and then after 1:00 it's designated for ladies sisters who come with in strollers or they have babies they can also go there they will be able to hear the inshallah And the entrance to that section is through the parking lot. The door will be open. There's chairs there. There's runners there. You can pray there. And you can join with us just you were here. But you will be at least with you know with your children. please donate gener. And don't forget to that we are doing the education tax credit starts now. So basically, whoever done it, it's time to start doing it again for this year. Tax season is coming up with us. So please take advantage of that because it doesn't cost you anything.