People of Jannah

"And rush towards forgiveness from your Lord, and towards a Paradise that can hold all the heavens and the earth in its width - prepared for the pious.

 Those who spend in Allah’s cause, in happiness and in grief, and who swallow their anger and are forgiving towards mankind; and the righteous are the beloved of Allah.

And those who, when they commit an immoral act or wrong themselves, remember Allah and seek forgiveness of their sins - and who forgives sins except Allah? And those who do not purposely become stubborn regarding what they did.

For such the reward is forgiveness from their Lord, and Gardens beneath which rivers flow - abiding in it forever; what an excellent reward for the performers (of good deeds)!"

Ali Imran 133-136

In these ayah ALLAH talks about people who run toward forgiveness and characteristic of people of Jannah. There are four characteristics mention in these four wonderful ayah. 

1) Who spend when easy or difficult.

Spending when you are easy its not to hard. When you got bonus or new project, you will spend freely. No hesitation. But, when things got bad, we felt as though when we give, we won't get it back. People who have taqwa won't have these kind of thought because they believe.

And whosoever has Taqwa of Allah, He will make a way for him to get out. And He will provide him from where he never could imagine.) meaning..." (33:77)

Whatever good you spend, it will be refunded to you. It will be given back to you and you will not be wronged.

2) Who swallow their anger over and over again.

Swallowing your anger is totally different from holding your anger. When we swallow something it will be gone. No one will know it was there. When you swallow your anger, people around you wont even notice that you are angry. They don't even have the chance to ask, "Whats wrong?", or  "Are you ok?" You suppressed it completely. And you do this over and over again each time you got angry. When you are angry you cannot think clearly. You'll make decision that you'll regret later.

3) Who lovingly forgive

When we talk about forgiving, its happen in private. In our heart. There is one day when Rasulullah was very upset with this particular sahabat. ALLAH advice him in a ayah,

"So by mercy from Allah , [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the matter. And when you have decided, then rely upon Allah . Indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him]". (3:159)

If Rasulullah does not forgive, what will happen? He still going to teach him, guide him, but the only different is he going to do it in harsh ways. Then, the sahabat will run away from him for sure. "..they would have disbanded from about you..."

When we forgive people we will also ask ALLAH to forgive him/her too. If you find your self making dua to them, then only you really forgive. 

4) Who make taubah.

"And those who, when they commit an immoral act or wrong themselves, remember Allah..." (3:135)

When you do shameful act or did something bad to others or your self, you remember ALLAH. Its not that you remember ALLAH after the act, but simultaneously when you doing it. 

When we disappointed someone, we will avoid any contact right?  We will be ashamed. In this case, when we committed sin, we 'disappointed' ALLAH. But despite of the shame we still ask for HIS forgiveness. Usually when this happen, when we committed sin syaitans will come and try to stop you from asking ALLAH forgiveness. To whisper thought that make you don't want to stand in front of ALLAH.

 " I have made a lot of sins. I'm sure ALLAH won't forgive me". Never have this thought in you mind. You don't have anywhere to run. Only ALLAH can cover you sins. ALLAH is al-Ghaffar. HE forgives,

 “Say: O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [39: 53]

But, when you make taubah, and somewhere in the back of your mind you were thinking like, "Next time week I'll be doing this again, then I'll make taubah again". Then, this does not apply.

Yes, we may without our intention, committing the same sin again. But be sincere when making taubah. Try your best to avoid it. Then you'll get very awesome prize: maghfirah(forgiveness) and jannah.

source: Characteristic of People of Jannah, Majesty of Divine Speech episode 5, by Nouman Ali Khan.     

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