بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Exploring the actions of Hellfire and Paradise
From the Fatwa of Ibn Taymiyyah (728H)[1]
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
All praises belong to Allah the Lord of All the Worlds and we ask Allah to continue to shower His Peace and Blessings on His final and last Messenger Muhammad.
Shaykhul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah was asked about the actions the people of Paradise and Hell practice. Ibn Taymiyyah gave an excellent summary mentioning the deeds we need to do to earn Jannah and the acts we must avoid to bypass Jahannam. In Ibn Taymiyyah’s answer a few footnotes were added for the reader to comprehend his message clearer and I pray to Allah its made clearer with extra benefit.
Ibn Taymiyyah was asked.
What are the actions for the People the Paradise and the actions of the People of the Hell?
Answer:The Praises belong to Allah ,Lord of All the Worlds. The actions for the People of Jannah are; Iman and Taqwa and the actions for the People of Hell include Al-Kufr (disbelief) Al-Fusuq(wickedness) and Al-‘Isyan(to disobey Allah and His Messenger)[2]
The actions for the people of Jannah include belief in Allah, His Angels, His books, His Messengers, The Last Day along with the good and bad things that happen from the Qadr.[3]
The People of Jannah attest that there is absolutely no deity worthy of worship, but Allah, and acknowledge that Muhammad is Allah’s Messenger. [4]
The actions for the people Paradise consist of establishing the Prayer, paying the Zakah, fasting in Ramadhan, and performing Hajj, and to worship Allah as if you can see Him, and even though you can’t see Allah, you are aware that He can see you. [5]
Likewise the deeds of the people of Jannah involve honesty when speaking, fulfilling trusts, and keeping promises when made.[6]
Being dutiful to the parents, maintaining family ties, being kind to the neighbors, the orphans, the less fortunate, and showing compassion towards those under your care ,and animals are all included among the acts for the People of Jannah.[7]
Also, amongst the actions for the People of Jannah is sincerity to Allah,[8] relying on Allah, having love for Allah and His Messenger, having fear of Allah, and at the same time having hope for His Mercy.[9]
Repenting to Allah,[10] and remaining patient with His decree and expressing gratitude for the blessings He gave you are amongst the actions for the people of Paradise.
The actions for the People of Paradise are the reading of the Quran, remembering Allah, and Supplicating to Him in desire of His reward.[11]
Commanding the good and preventing the evil are among the deeds the People of Paradise practice. They strive in Allah’s Cause against the Kuffar and the hypocrites to spread Islam.
Among the deeds for the inhabitants of Jannah is to connect with those who have cut ties with you, to give to those who prevent you, and to pardon those who have oppressed you. Verily Allah has promised Jannah for the God Fearing, who spend their wealth during good times and bad times.[12]
Controlling anger and excusing people are among the deeds the People of Jannah do, and Allah loves those who do good towards others.[13]
In addition to everything mentioned, Justice and fairness in every affair for every human being, including the non-Muslims are from the deeds for the people of Jannah.[14]
Now as for the deeds for the People of Hell, then it’s to join partners with Allah[15], deny His Messenger, to disbelieve in Allah and His Messengers, and to have envy, to lie and to be deceitful. (All)Oppression, sinning, betrayal and severing ties are the actions for the people of Hell.[16]
Being a coward in the path of spreading Islam, being stingy and acting differently in private from how you carry yourself publicly, and being despair of Allah’s Mercy ,and to feel secure against the Plan of Allah ;are all included among the deeds of Hellfire.[17]
Acting impatiently during calamites, acting arrogantly and looking down on the favors of Allah are the acts the People of Hell do. They also, abandon Allah’s obligations, exceed the boundaries He has put in place, and violate His sanctities.[18]
The deeds from the people of Jahannam are fear of creation instead of fearing the Creator;[19] they have more reliance on creation instead of the Creator. They depend on on human-beings and not on Allah. The acts for the people of Hell are doing performing deeds to be seen and heard of. The inhabitants of Hell do things contradictory to the Quran and the Sunnah ; and they obey creation and disobey Allah.
The actions for the companions of Hell are fanaticism to falsehood,[20] to ridicule Allah’s verses and to deny the truth. At the same time they also, conceal the things that should be known while being fully aware of them.[21]
Practicing magic, disobeying parents, murdering a soul unjustly and devouring the wealth of orphans are among the deeds for the people in the Fire. Furthermore, the dwellers of Hell indulge in Riba, flee from the battlefield, and slander the chaste and weak Muslim women.[22]
It’s really not possible to go into detail for the actions of Hell and Jannah, however in short the actions for the people of Jannah are all related to obedience to Allah and His Messenger and for the People of Hell-fire it’s the opposite.
Allah said: and whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad ) will be admitted to Gardens under which rivers flow (in Paradise), to abide therein, and that will be the great success.
And whosoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad), and transgresses His limits, He will cast him into the Fire, to abide therein; and he shall have a disgraceful torment.[ An-Nisa’ 13-14][23]
And Allah knows best.
Prepared by :
Abu Aaliyah Abdullah ibn Dwight Battle
Doha,Qatar 1437©
[1] This Fatwa is in the Majmo’ Fatawa vol 10/pg 422
[2] Ibn Taymiyyah began by explaining a trait of the pious that are promised Jannah and the characteristics of those promised Hell. The proof for this can be found in Al-Hujjarat/7. Allah said: And know that, among you there is the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). If he were to obey you (i.e. follow your opinions and desires) in much of the matter, you would surely be in trouble, but Allah has endeared the Faith to you and has beautified it in your hearts, and has made disbelief, wickedness and disobedience (to Allah and His Messenger) hateful to you. These! They are the rightly guided ones
[3] The 1st following actions that Shaykhul Islam is going to mention are found in the Hadith of Jibril which the Prophet (ﷺ) defined as the Religion.
[4] This is the first pillar of a Islam. A person must acknowledge that all worship must be directed to Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger. A person’s testimony of faith is incomplete and therefore of no benefit if he attests Allah is the Only true God,but doesn’t acknowledge Muhammad to be His Messenger. Likewise if someone confirms Muhammad is Allah’s Messenger, but rejects Allah ,then his testimony of faith is useless.(refer to المنحة الربانية /pg 36,Shaykh Salih Al-Fawzan)
[5] These are the other four pillars of our religion that are a must for the person to carry out and perform as long as he has the ability to do so.
[6] The following the three actions are among the 6 things the Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned among the 6 things that guarantees a person Jannah. Refer to : https://www.abuaaliyah.com/2016/02/17/6-things-that-can-guarantee-you-jannah/
[7] Allah said: And give to the kindred his due and to the Miskin (poor) and to the wayfarer…[Quran:17/26] and showing compassion towards animals is found in the hadith. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “A man saw a dog eating mud from (the severity of) thirst. So, that man took a shoe (and filled it) with water and kept on pouring the water for the dog till it quenched its thirst. So Allah approved of his deed and made him to enter Paradise.”[ Sahih Al-Bukhari 173]
[8] Sinceirty(Ikhlas ) is the first of two pillars for the acceptance of deeds. Allah said: So whoever hopes for the Meeting with his Lord let him work righteousness and associate none as a partner in the worship of his Lord.”[Al-Khaf 110]
[9] Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned that love, fear and hope are all acts of worship. Ibn Taymiyyah said fear and hope are connected together and the people who fear Allah and hope for His Mercy are those whom Allah praised.[Majmou 7/21]
Maintaining fear of Allah is a means for His forgiveness. Allah said: Verily! Those who fear their Lord unseen (i.e. they do not see Him, nor His Punishment in the Hereafter, etc.), theirs will be forgiveness and a great reward (i.e. Paradise).[Al-Mulk:12]
[10] Allah said: “And turn in repentance and in obedience with true Faith (Islamic Monotheism) to your Lord and submit to Him, (in Islam), before the torment comes upon you, then you will not be helped.[Az-Zumar :54]
The people who repent to Allah do so by one of three ways;
1-They turn to Allah and abandon sinning.
2-They turn to Allah through doing actions of worship.
3-They turn to Allah by humbling themselves and supplicate to Him.[ Tareeq Al-Hijratain/pg 292/by Ibn Al-Qayyim]
[11] Aisha (May Allah be pleased with her) reported:
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “The one who is proficient in the recitation of the Qur’an will be with the honorable and obedient scribes (angels) and he who recites the Qur’an and finds it difficult to recite, doing his best to recite it in the best way possible, will have a double reward.”[Al-Bukahri 8/532/Muslim 798]
[12] Narrated Abu Huraira:The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “The word ‘Ar-Rahm (womb) derives its name from Ar-Rahman (i.e., one of the names of Allah) and Allah said: ‘I will keep good relation with the one who will keep good relation with you, (womb i.e. Kith and Kin) and sever the relation with him who will sever the relation with you, (womb, i.e. Kith and Kin).[ Al-Bukhari 5988]
[13] Ibn ‘Umar said, “There is nothing that is swallowed greater with Allah in reward than a slave of Allah who swallows and contains his rancour out of desire for the pleasure of Allah.”[ Al-Adabul Mufrad 1318]
[14] Allah commands fairness, balance and justice in everything, and especially when we judge between people in regards to their rights. We are prohibited from taking positions towards others unjustly. . He said: And if you judge, judge with justice between them. Verily, Allah loves those who act justly. [Al-Ma’idah:42]
Allah said: and that when you judge between men, you judge with justice. Verily, how excellent is the teaching which He (Allah) gives you! Truly, Allah is Ever All-Hearer, All-Seer.[An-Nisa’:58]
[15] Verily, whosoever sets up partners in worship with Allah, then Allah has forbidden Paradise for him, and the Fire will be his abode[Al-Ma’idah: 72]
[16] ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr said:“It was said to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): ‘Which of the people is best?’ He said: ‘Everyone who is pure of heart and sincere in speech.’ They said: ‘Sincere in speech, we know what this is, but what is pure of heart?’ He said: ‘It is (the heart) that is pious and pure, with no sin, injustice, rancor or envy in it.’”[Ibn Majah 4126].
Further reading check: https://www.abuaaliyah.com/2014/10/14/do-you-have-these-two-traits/
[17] Allah said: Did they then feel secure against the Plan of Allah. None feels secure from the Plan of Allah except the people who are the losers.[Al-‘Araf:99]
[18] A’isha, the wife of Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ), said that whenever he had to choose between two things he adopted the easier one, provided it was nor sin, but if it was any sin he was the one wio was the farthest from it of the people; and Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) never took revenge from anyone because of his personal grievance, unless what Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, had made inviolable had been violated.[Muslim 2327]
[19] Allah said: It is only Shaitan (Satan) that suggests to you the fear of his Auliya’ [supporters and friends (polytheists, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah and in His Messenger, Muhammad )], so fear them not, but fear Me, if you are (true) believers.[Quran:Al-Imran:175]
[20] Allah said: On the Day when their faces will be turned over in the Fire, they will say: “Oh, would that we had obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger.And they will say: “Our Lord! Verily, we obeyed our chiefs and our great ones, and they misled us from the (Right) Way.[Al-Ahzab 66-67]
[21] Allah said: And mix not truth with falsehood, nor conceal the truth[Al-Baqarah 42]
[22] Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned acts that can earn a person the punishment of Hell. Riba and killing someone unjustly have been mentioned among these acts and it’s important to note here that there is a difference between a sinner and Kafir remaining in Hell. Please refer to the speech of Shaykh Bin Baz: https://www.abuaaliyah.com/2014/10/16/the-difference-between-a-sinner-and-a-kafir-remaining-in-hell/
[23] Shaykh Abdur Rahman As-Sa’di said: This verse refers to this refers to those who follow Allah and His Messenger’s Commands. The greatest of their commands is Tawheed, followed by different acts of worship based on their status. The people mentioned in this verse should stay away from everything Allah and His Messenger prohibited and the most serious prohibition to avoid is Shirk followed by the various kinds of sins according to the major to the minor.[ Tafsir As-Sa’di]
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