I ONLY OBSERVE THE OBLIGATORY THINGS

 

 

A man asked the Messenger SAWS

 

Abu ‘Abdullah Jabir bin ‘Abdullah al-Ansari, radiyallahu anhuma, reported that a man questioned the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, saying:

عَنْ جَابِرٍ، أَنَّ رَجُلاً، سَأَلَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ أَرَأَيْتَ إِذَا صَلَّيْتُ الصَّلَوَاتِ الْمَكْتُوبَاتِ وَصُمْتُ رَمَضَانَ وَأَحْلَلْتُ الْحَلاَلَ وَحَرَّمْتُ الْحَرَامَ وَلَمْ أَزِدْ عَلَى ذَلِكَ شَيْئًا أَأَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ قَالَ ‏ "‏ نَعَمْ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ وَاللَّهِ لاَ أَزِيدُ عَلَى ذَلِكَ شَيْئًا ‏.‏

روا مسلم

 

"Do you see, if I pray the prescribed (prayers), fast during Ramadhan, treat the lawful as permissible and treat the forbidden as prohibited, but do nothing more than that, shall I enter Paradise?” He (the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam) answered: “Yes.” 

[Muslim]

Lessons

 

This hadith indicates that the one who fulfils the obligations and avoids the prohibitions will enter Paradise. This meaning has been emphasized in a number of other hadiths.

This hadith emphasizes surrendering to the Will of Allah subhana wa ta'ala - to accept as permissible what Allah has permitted and to accept as forbidden what Allah has prohibited. This also emphasises Islam itself because Islam means to ‘fully surrender to the Will of Allah and to accept everything that has been commanded by Allah'.

In our contemporary times, there arise the issue of Muslims not fully adhering to the shariah, i.e. Allah's commandments. If this is because they are new Muslims or that they live in areas where there is a lack of knowledge or poor dissemination of information (e.g. there are no scholars to advise them), then this lack of adherence is excusable.

However, if a Muslim chooses to intentionally ignore or reject the obligations and prohibitions set by Allah without good reasons, then he may be in danger of losing his Islamic entity or identity.

These obligatory acts mentioned in the hadith that will lead a person to Paradise require strong belief in Allah, commitment and continuous efforts. Only then will it be an easy task to achieve.

This hadith implies that the mustahab (or sunnah or preferable deeds) are not necessary for one to be able to enter Paradise. What counts or what matters is fulfilling the obligatory acts. However, we are encouraged to perform preferable deeds according to our capacity and whenever
possible.

The significance of performing preferable acts is that it will lead us in getting closer to Allah subhana wa ta’ala. In addition, preferable deeds compensate for our shortcomings in performing the obligatory acts.

 

May Allah SWT increase our Imaan. Aameen