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The thin dividing line between Heaven and Hell
PROPHET Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "I swear by Allah, other than whom there is no God, certainly,
One of you will perform the deeds of the people of Paradise until there is not between him and Paradise except an arm’s length and then what has been recorded will overtake him and he shall perform the deeds of the people of Hell and enter it.
And, certainly, one of you will definitely perform the acts of the people of Hell until there is not between him and Hell except an arm’s length and then what has been recorded will overtake him and he shall perform the deeds of the people of Paradise and enter it." (Bukhari and Muslim)
Dear readers, to the intelligent, religion is directly proportional to prosperity. In other words, belief in Allah has always and will enable the faithful to break free from the seductive chains of hedonistic and immoral civilisations and overcome heedlessness by recognising that human science and philosophy look at the world as being fixed and constant. They take the surroundings for granted and discuss the nature of beings and their characteristics in detail but do not speak of our duties to the Creator.
Islam, on the other hand, looks at the world as being transient, passing, deceptive, unstable and undergoing revolution. It speaks briefly of the nature of beings and their superficial and material characteristics, but mentions in detail the meaningful duties they are charged in front of the Creator.
The above quoted prophetic saying is a beautiful example of Divine Instruction concerning itself with the manners in which meaningful duties of worship are to be discharged and highlights the consequences of those who purposely fall short. Through the noble Prophet, Allah has described someone who has for almost his entire life performed the deeds that lead to Paradise and then before his death, exchanged his good actions for bad ones. He stops doing the deeds of the people of Paradise and starts performing the deeds of the people of Hell-fire and it seems as though the only thing between him and Paradise is his death. Not continuing to strive patiently in righteousness deprives him from the rewards of Paradise and the change in him before his death puts him amongst the condemned.
This is indeed a very scary thought. This hadith makes it clear that a person will be judged according to his belief and actions at the time of his death. So what does this hadith suggest the Muslim to do? This means that every Muslim needs to be on guard at all times and not stray from the right path doing his/her duties to Allah. It means that he cannot look to his present deeds and feel assured and relax because it’s possible that he could go astray and condemn himself to the Hell. He must always pursue the way of faith and strengthen his belief through knowledge and practice.
Dear readers, Allah tests the believers in different ways and it is faith and practice that help us pass the test. Sometimes people change their ways just because they are tested from their Lord and instead of being promoted in degrees of faith, find themselves way off track. This hadith is a reminder to those people who have stopped trusting Allah due to a test in wealth or family. The last part of this hadith also offers hope to those who have erred. If they continue to strive and work hard they will God willing someday be able to change their ways. The day they do that, they will start performing the deeds of the people of Paradise and die in that state. This is indeed a warning from Allah. Those who have gone stray should amend their ways and turn to Allah, the All-Loving, the All-Forgiving.
Abid Ishaq can be reached at thelinguist75@yahoo.com
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