Islam is a\nreligion of peace and the Prophet SAWS was sent to us to deliver a message of glad\ntidings and as a blessing and a mercy on mankind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately,\nsome cultures both here and abroad lay the focus during childhood on how Allah\nSWT will send us to hell if we sin and how we must live in a state of fear over\nthis possibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, it is\ntrue that we are being tested here and that hellfire does exist for those who\nwill be deemed deserving of this on the Day of Judgement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, it\nis worth remembering that our lives are not designed to avoid Hellfire. We are\nnot, unlike other faiths, by default, going to Hell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the\ncontrary, our religion teaches us that each and every soul in this world is born\nwith a clean slate and with every opportunity to achieve Allah SWT\u2019s mercy and\nforgiveness. Our default is not Hellfire, our default is the highest station in\nJannat and it is our test in this world to achieve that potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember,\nthe primary goal of Shaitaan is not to lead us to making mistakes in our\nworship but in actual fact, for us to feel such despair at our actions that we become\nfull of pessimism for Allah SWT\u2019s mercy and instead we resign ourselves to the\nfact that we are bound for Hell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This then\nleads to the person thinking that there is no point to do better because we\nhave already done so badly that it is game over for us on the Day of Judgement.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Allah SWT and\nthrough his Prophet SAWS instructs us that this is merely a trick of the shaitaan\nand that everyone is able to obtain His pardon and His forgiveness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so today\u2019s\nreminder is there to uplift each and every one of us. To remind us that we are\nall destined for Paradise insha\u2019Allah and it lists just some of the ways in\nwhich we can achieve this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Firstly, the\nprimary condition is that we worship Allah SWT alone and associate no partners\nwith Him. The imam reminded us of the 82nd<\/sup> ayat of Sura Baqarah which\nis translated to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for those who believe, and do good deeds, they are the\npeople of Paradise – there they will live forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dear brothers,\nwe are educated here on the requirements of paradise. To believe is an integral\npart of it and the remainder is the test of this life. Sometimes we will pass\nthe test, other times we will fail. But each time, we must never let go of the\nbelief in Allah SWT\u2019s mercy and forgiveness, this is the key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Secondly, it\nis to follow the teachings of the best of all creation SAWS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Abu Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying, \u201cAll my\npeople will enter paradise except those who refuse.\u201d On being asked who\nrefused, he replied, \u201cHe who obeys me will enter paradise, and he who disobeys\nme has refused.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dear\nbrothers, we should firstly take comfort and thank Allah SWT for all the sunnah\nacts we are already doing. Sometimes we don\u2019t even realise the quantity, from\nthe way we pray to the manners of fasting and living our day-to-day lives, we\ntake for granted the manners we have adopted that go all the way back to the\nProphet SAWS. However, we cannot become complacent, and we should always be\naiming to add more and more to our habits and manners. Even if it\u2019s one annually,\nthe point here is we are always looking to grow in our worship and our adoption\nof the mannerism of the Prophet SAWS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lastly, we\nshould remind ourselves that the first thing we will be asked on regarding our\ntime in this dunya is our Prayers. The imam reminded us of this in Sura Muminoon,\nayat 1 and 2 which is translated to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Success is really attained by the believers who concentrate\ntheir attention in humbleness when offering Salah i.e prayers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dear\nbrothers, we are tested on this point the most. From busy lifestyles to phones\nthat buzz\/ring even when in masjid and praying our salah, we are fighting\nour lifestyles and our habits to offer\nthe salah in submissiveness to Allah SWT. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\npractical tip I give myself and others here is to pray in congregation. And if\nthe masjid is too much of a distraction with friends who want to catch up with\nyou then go to a house of Allah that you don\u2019t usually go to. Go to another\nmasjid in the neighbourhood. Tell yourself the primary reason is a concentrated\noffering of Salah and so it\u2019s worth the extra effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The key here\nis to find a place 5 times a day where nobody can steal your attention away\nfrom your Salah. If you have to pray at home, make sure everyone knows you are\noffering Salah so all distractions are paused whilst you dedicate time to the\nSalah. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dear\nbrothers, Allah SWT and his Messenger SAWS have guided us to understand that\nParadise is our destiny. We must embrace this fact and not let Shaitaan tempt\nus with despair or negativity. Alongside this, let us reciprocate the glad\ntidings and blessings to be the best that we can be, both to show our gratitude\nto Allah SWT and also to be an example for others around us that we are of the Ummah\nof the gift to mankind that was Muhammad SAWS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Islam is a religion of peace and the Prophet SAWS was sent to us to deliver a message of glad tidings and as a blessing and a mercy on mankind. Unfortunately, some cultures both here and abroad lay the focus during childhood on how Allah SWT will send us to hell if we sin and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_regular_price":[],"currency_symbol":[],"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"blocksy_meta":[],"post_slider_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","post_slider_layout_landscape_large":"","post_slider_layout_portrait_large":"","post_slider_layout_square_large":"","post_slider_layout_landscape":"","post_slider_layout_portrait":"","post_slider_layout_square":"","full":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2735\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}