Not Equal Are the Companions of the Fire and the Companions of Paradise

Occasion: Transcription of an ʿIshāʾ khatira delivered on 12 August 2024 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — [Watch the original video on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg7T6WEgtL4)

Praise be to Allah, and prayers and peace be upon His servant, His Prophet and His Messenger. O Allah, we ask You for the good of this night, the good of what is in it and the good of what comes after it, and we seek refuge in You from the evil of this night, the evil of what is in it and the evil of what comes after it. O Allah, set right for us our religion, which is the safeguard of our affairs; set right for us our worldly life, in which is our livelihood; set right for us our Hereafter, to which is our return; and make life an increase for us in every good, and make death a relief for us from every evil, O Lord of the worlds.

The criterion in Sūrat al-Ḥashr

Allah the Exalted favoured us in the ʿIshāʾ prayer with the recitation of a verse that recurs on the tongues of reciters in the prayers: ﴿لَا يَسْتَوِي أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ وَأَصْحَابُ الْجَنَّةِ ۚ أَصْحَابُ الْجَنَّةِ هُمُ الْفَائِزُونَ﴾ (Not equal are the companions of the Fire and the companions of Paradise. The companions of Paradise, they are the attainers [of success])^[1]. During the prayer I was thinking: what is the criterion? What distinguishes the companions of Paradise from the companions of the Fire?

The answer to any truth that comes in a surah of the Noble Qur'an must be contained within the surah itself. If Allah informs of a truth in one of the surahs of the Qur'an, search before the text or after it within the surah and you will find the answer. So trace the states of the surah and you will see.

Practical glorification: harmony with the universe

First, the matter of glorification (tasbīḥ). Remarkably, you see it at the beginning of the surah as at its close; the first verse of Sūrat al-Ḥashr opens with His words, exalted be He: ﴿سَبَّحَ لِلَّهِ﴾ (Has glorified Allah), and at its end glorification comes again: ﴿يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۖ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ﴾ (Whatever is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise), in both places. The matter of glorification is not merely verbal glorification, but practical glorification; that is, the whole universe glorifies the praise of the Most Merciful, meaning it proceeds along the pattern that Allah, blessed and exalted, has set for it and does not deviate from it. You do not see a sparrow disobeying Allah in any matter, nor a plant growing other than in the place Allah intended for it, nor a creature transgressing against another creature, except human beings; and this is of the creation of Allah, blessed and exalted.

So when Allah says: ﴿وَإِن مِّن شَيْءٍ إِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِ وَلَٰكِن لَّا تَفْقَهُونَ تَسْبِيحَهُمْ﴾ (And there is not a thing except that it glorifies [Allah] by His praise, but you do not understand their glorification)^[2], the matter of understanding comes in there, and it shows that we must understand the implications of words. The matter of glorification, which is harmony with the universe in its carrying out of the command of Allah, blessed and exalted, means that the servant does not disobey the Lord of the worlds, and that he is among the companions of Paradise.

Knowing the enemy

Then comes in the surah after that: ﴿هُوَ الَّذِي أَخْرَجَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ مِن دِيَارِهِمْ لِأَوَّلِ الْحَشْرِ ۚ مَا ظَنَنتُمْ أَن يَخْرُجُوا…﴾ (It is He who expelled those who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture from their homes at the first gathering. You did not think they would leave…) to the end of the verses. These words indicate that there is knowledge of the enemy: knowledge of his capabilities and resources, knowledge of his conditions and shifts, and knowledge of his plans and strategies. This is something that must be present in the companions of Paradise who seek it one day; otherwise heedlessness, ignorance, lack of perception and awareness are among the soldiers of Satan, which he sets upon the people of faith to make them heedless of the reality of their situation so that they become among the people of the Fire.

Obstinacy: ﴿شَاقُّوا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ﴾ (they opposed Allah and His Messenger)

Then you pass through the verses and see that the Lord of Might, glorified and exalted be He, warns against this: ﴿ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ شَاقُّوا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ﴾ (That is because they opposed Allah and His Messenger). It is the matter of obstinacy towards the Lord of the worlds, glorified and exalted be He. What makes a servant obstinate towards the Lord of the worlds? And what are its fields? (And each of these details needs explanation.) But in general, what makes a servant oppose Allah, blessed and exalted, is caprice, desire, vanity, arrogance, and this empty haughtiness that fills the hearts of some people, so that he sees himself as greater than the Qur'anic text, greater than the prophetic indication, greater than Islamic law. He sees himself consuming the rights of his sisters, for example, while at the height of his strength, and feels that in this way he is doing what is right! Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says such-and-such, but "my self says"; Allah the Exalted indicates such-and-such, but "my mind indicates." This is his desire and his whim within him.

The condition of giving

Then the verses continue so that you see that the people of faith must fulfil a basic condition. What is this condition? The condition of giving. And in both of its forms: giving in the form of leaving behind, which is the state of those who were driven from their homes, those who emigrated; and giving in the form of bestowing: ﴿وَالَّذِينَ تَبَوَّءُوا الدَّارَ وَالْإِيمَانَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ يُحِبُّونَ مَنْ هَاجَرَ إِلَيْهِمْ وَلَا يَجِدُونَ فِي صُدُورِهِمْ حَاجَةً مِّمَّا أُوتُوا وَيُؤْثِرُونَ عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ وَلَوْ كَانَ بِهِمْ خَصَاصَةٌ﴾ (And those who settled the home and [adopted] the faith before them love those who emigrated to them, and find no want in their breasts of what they were given, and give [them] preference over themselves, even if they are in need). Then Allah the Exalted describes them as the successful.^[3] The matter of success (falāḥ) in the Noble Qur'an goes beyond the matter of achievement; the successful one (al-mufliḥ) is he who has passed all the stages of salvation and is among the elite, the select of the select, the choicest of the choice who stood before the Lord of Might, glorified be He, exalted in His loftiness.

Those who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture

And you pass through the verses of the noble surah to see: ﴿أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ نَافَقُوا يَقُولُونَ لِإِخْوَانِهِمُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ لَئِنْ أُخْرِجْتُمْ لَنَخْرُجَنَّ مَعَكُمْ…﴾ (Have you not seen those who were hypocrites, saying to their brothers who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture, "If you are expelled, we will surely leave with you…"). Dr. Ahmed holds that whenever the word of disbelief is joined to the People of the Scripture, that is, whenever the phrase "those who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture" occurs in this context, the reference is then specifically to the Jews. When the term "People of the Scripture" comes separate from the word of disbelief, it denotes the general. But when the two come together, their meaning in context indicates that they are the ones meant.^[4]

The point is that the Lord of Might, glorified and exalted be He, speaks to us once again about the matter of awareness, and about the plans that are concluded in secret, which are not perceived by the people of sight alone, but by the people of thought and the people of action.

﴿وَلْتَنظُرْ نَفْسٌ مَّا قَدَّمَتْ لِغَدٍ﴾ (And let every soul look to what it has put forth for tomorrow)

Then the verses after that come to command us with a very great command: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَلْتَنظُرْ نَفْسٌ مَّا قَدَّمَتْ لِغَدٍ﴾ (O you who believe, fear Allah, and let every soul look to what it has put forth for tomorrow). Many of the people of ḥadīth, the people of theology and the people of sermons and admonitions, when they speak of His words: ﴿وَلْتَنظُرْ نَفْسٌ مَّا قَدَّمَتْ لِغَدٍ﴾ (and let every soul look to what it has put forth for tomorrow), speak of the latter tomorrow and do not speak of the first tomorrow. They do not speak of a short-term and long-term strategic plan, or a medium- and far-term one; they do not speak of what we will accomplish within a year, within five years, within ten years and within fifty years. We do not speak! It is as though this understanding, the understanding of management, contained in the Noble Qur'an so very abundantly, is absent from the minds of the people of action.^[5]

Here we draw a distinction, or point to one: there is a Muslim of deeds and a Muslim of words. The one of words repeats speech that does not go beyond his mind or beyond his chest, while the one of deeds repeats speech to remind himself of what that speech contains.

Why do we repeat al-Fātiḥah?

To illustrate this, and it is a question I ask everywhere: why does the Lord of the worlds command us to repeat Sūrat al-Fātiḥah seventeen times a day? Why does Allah command us to repeat the same words, with the same verses, in the same order, with the same wording, with the same Qur'anic rulings, seventeen times every day at least, even if you do not pray a single rakʿah of the voluntary prayers, nor the witr? Seventeen times in the obligatory prayers alone! Why is it repeated? Because repetition builds within you a mindset that perceives what you ought to remind yourself of and live as a state.

The point is that the Lord of Might, glorified and exalted be He, said: ﴿لَا يَسْتَوِي أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ وَأَصْحَابُ الْجَنَّةِ﴾ (Not equal are the companions of the Fire and the companions of Paradise) so that the people of Paradise are distinguished from the people of the Fire, and so that we grasp the dimensions of the Qur'anic recitation in our hands. We ask Allah the Exalted for good sight and good insight. May Allah keep you safe, may Allah the Exalted be pleased with you, and may Allah reward you with good. Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: al-Ḥashr, verse 20. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: al-Isrāʾ, verse 44. The other verses are from al-Ḥashr: 1 and 24 (glorification), 2 (﴿أخرج الذين كفروا…﴾, "expelled those who disbelieved…"), 4 (﴿شاقوا الله ورسوله﴾, "opposed Allah and His Messenger"), 9 (﴿والذين تبوءوا الدار…﴾, "those who settled the home…"), 11 (﴿ألم تر إلى الذين نافقوا…﴾, "have you not seen those who were hypocrites…"), 18 (﴿اتقوا الله ولتنظر نفس…﴾, "fear Allah, and let every soul look…"). ^[3]: Editor's documentation: the close of verse 9 of al-Ḥashr: ﴿وَمَن يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفْسِهِ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ﴾ (And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul, it is those who are the successful); the speaker referred to it by saying "those are the successful," so its wording has not been given in the text. ^[4]: Editor's documentation: this is a rule the speaker sets out in the context of Sūrat al-Ḥashr. Al-Bukhārī (4882) narrated from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr that he asked Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both) about Sūrat al-Ḥashr, and he said: "It was revealed concerning Banū al-Naḍīr." ^[5]: Editor's documentation: Ibn Kathīr said in explaining the verse: "That is: take account of yourselves before you are taken to account, and look at what you have stored up for yourselves of righteous deeds for the Day of your return and your presentation before your Lord"; taking "tomorrow" to mean planning in this world is an inference by the speaker.