Who are the People of Jannah?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

If Allah can take your breath away at the sight of His magnificent creation or the beauty of the world, imagine what magnificence and beauty awaits the people of Jannah (Paradise). And imagine looking at the One who made it all.

What Allah has prepared for His believing slaves are much, much, so much better beyond our expectation and wildest imagination, for Allah said in a hadith Qudsi, “I have prepared for My righteous servants what no eye has seen and no ear has heard, nor has it occurred to human heart.”

Who are the people of Jannah? They are the 'muttaqeen' (people conscious of Allah)

إِنَّ ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ فِى جَنَّـٰتٍ وَعُيُونٍ ﴿٤٥﴾ ٱدْخُلُوهَا بِسَلَـٰمٍ ءَامِنِينَ ﴿٤٦﴾ وَنَزَعْنَا مَا فِى صُدُورِهِم مِّنْ غِلٍّ إِخْوَ‌ٰنًا عَلَىٰ سُرُرٍ مُّتَقَـٰبِلِينَ ﴿٤٧﴾ لَا يَمَسُّهُمْ فِيهَا نَصَبٌ وَمَا هُم مِّنْهَا بِمُخْرَجِينَ ﴿٤٨

Truly! Those who have Taqwa, will dwell in Gardens and water springs. (It will be said to them): ‘Enter therein (Paradise), in peace and security.’ And We shall remove from their breasts any deep feeling of bitterness, (so they will be like) brothers facing each other on thrones. No sense of fatigue shall touch them, nor shall they (ever) be asked to leave it.”

[Qur'an, Al-Hijr 15:45-48]

What will get us into Jannah is not our deeds. How small are our deeds to be repaid with Jannah! It is by Allah's mercy that we may enter Jannah. Allah has attributed the obedience of Himself and His Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) with the one who is hopeful of getting mercy of Allah. So anyone hoping to obtain mercy of Allah needs to first change his attitude towards the obedience of Allah and his Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace). There is no mercy outside the obedience.

وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱلنَّارَ ٱلَّتِىٓ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْكَـٰفِرِينَ ﴿١٣١﴾ وَأَطِيعُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ ﴿١٣٢

And fear the Fire, which has been prepared for the disbelievers. (131) And obey Allah and the Messenger that you may obtain mercy. (132)

[Qur'an, AleImran 3:131-132]

Allah repeats the same thing many times in the Qur'an. And the proportions to which something is mentioned more, it illustrates that how quickly people forget that which is more. So if Allah mentions taqwa over 200 times, it is because even if you know about taqwa, you forget to apply it. You forget to think about it, you forget to realize it when the time comes. So we need to be reminded over and over again.

In the following ayaat, there are specific attributes that we should try to remember and implement to gain taqwa.

--Hasten to forgiveness from Allah:

وَسَارِعُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰ مَغْفِرَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا ٱلسَّمَـٰوَ‌ٰتُ وَٱلْأَرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ ﴿١٣٣

And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden as wide as the heavens and earth, prepared for the righteous (133) [Qur'an, AleImran 3:133]

Allah is giving us something else to run towards. The first thing, forgiveness from your Lord. Also, we must understand here that we never run towards something that we don't need. You rush to work because you need to get there on time. You hit the books because you need to pass the exam. We rush to things when we are in need of them. So first of all, we need to acknowledge that we are in utter need of Allah's forgiveness. And who will realize they need to be forgiven by Allah except the one who realize they have done something wrong. The first thing that a believer needs to internalize is that no matter how good a Muslim we are, we are not free of sin. We are not free from disappointing the standards that Allah set for us.

--Spending for Allah's sake:

ٱلَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ فِى ٱلسَّرَّآءِ وَٱلضَّرَّآءِ

Who spend [in the cause of Allah] during ease and hardship ...(134) [Qur'an, AleImran 3:134]

Spending is not limited to your wealth, but also your time, your youth, your energies, your priorities, your planning. You give that up for the sake of Allah. You sacrifice things for the sake of Allah. And we let go of it for the sake of Allah to acquire this attribute of taqwa.

--Restraining Anger:

وَٱلْكَـٰظِمِينَ ٱلْغَيْظَ وَٱلْعَافِينَ عَنِ ٱلنَّاسِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ ﴿١٣٤

... and who restrain anger and who pardon the people - and Allah loves the doers of good; (134) [Qur'an, AleImran 3:134]

By saying the word 'kazimeen,' Allah demonstrates that we need to have such a good control over our temper, that when you do come across something that makes you upset, and as upset as it makes you, not only you have to be quiet, you cant even show the anger on your face. You have to swallow it as though its not even there. The imagery is incredible. You have to have this self control and this self control is becoming increasingly difficult especially for young people. Somebody says something that you don't want to hear, your face fires up.

Learn to swallow your anger. Learn to persevere through all these things. Don't let things annoy us. It's not worth losing Jannah over.

--When they commit immorality and shamelessness, they remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins:

وَٱلَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُوا۟ فَـٰحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ فَٱسْتَغْفَرُوا۟ لِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَمَن يَغْفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ وَلَمْ يُصِرُّوا۟ عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلُوا۟ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ ﴿١٣٥

And those who, when they commit an immorality or wrong themselves [by transgression], remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins - and who can forgive sins except Allah? - and [who] do not persist in what they have done while they know. (135) [Qur'an, AleImran 3:135]

Any act of shamelessness, whether what the chests is hiding, whether it was stealing of the eyes, gazing at something they shouldn't have, whether it was a billboard, whether it was a banner, whether it was some facebook friend you made, whether it was some texting you were doing In the middle of the night, whether it was some inappropriate interaction. Whatever it was, whatever shameless thing you did, Allah sees it, knows it. The mutaqqeen are being described-- they may fall into this trap too. They are not immune. We live in a culture of fahisha. We are breathing in and out fahisha. Allah is describing the muttaqeen like this. Why? Because they will do mistakes. But there is something that they do after the mistakes. The true muttaq, when he does something wrong, he immediately remembers Allah and seek forgiveness.

May Allah make us true muttaqeen. May Allah make us of those who are generous, who suppress their anger, who forgive others lovingly, out of love for Allah. May Allah make us of those, who when wrong themselves, immediately turn to Allah. May Allah make us of those who never loose hope in Allah. May Allah protect us and our families. May Allah grant us His Noble Countenance. Ameen

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam.

And Allah knows best and He alone grants success.

Wassalaam