How to Save Our Souls from Hellfire? Part-1

Deciding the final abode

Each man and woman enjoys the full freedom to select any one of the two final destinations -one in heaven and the other in hellfire. There is no third endpoint. Each of these two final abodes has its own distinctive roadmap. The life that ends in hellfire meets the ultimate failure. And the life that takes to heaven brings the ultimate triumph. This is the most important truth in life. Freedom is always tagged with responsibility; and demands the highest level of wisdom for its rightful exercise. Moreover, there is no trial-free and struggle-free route for success in life. And the most crucial test of human wisdom and knowledge is not in passing the school exams or professional success or making scientific discoveries, but in discovering the Truth. The success or failure of the whole survival in fact, depends on correctly exercising the freedom. The most basic test of humans’ intelligence indeed starts here. The human wisdom can only deserve any meaningful reward if it shows the success in discovering the Truth and following the right road map. The ultimate abode in the hereafter, in hell or heaven, entirely depends on it. In fact, no other success in life can undo the disastrous consequence of failing this most fundamental test.

Hence, the most important issue in life is not the length and the strength of the survival, rather pursuing the right goal and the right roadmap of the survival. Even many animals may possess strong body and long life. But such strong and long sustenance on earth doesn’t add any greatness to these creatures. Greatness comes only from greatness of aim of one’s survival. Only such greatness of aim glorifies his or her existence on earth and fulfils the noble purpose of the creation. The aim of humans’ survival is not to be invented: it is the sole domain of the Creator. It needs only to be discovered in its right form –as revealed in all Divine Books. The sole reason for humans’ presence on earth is the servitude to the Creator -Allah Subhana wa Ta’la -as has been intended by Him even before the creation.  The holy Qur’an reveals: “Wa ma khalaktul jinna wal insana illa li’yabudun” (And We have not created the jin and the man other than that they should worship Me”. And worship has its special connotation. It entails full and exclusive submission to Him and total obedience to all of His orders that has been revealed in the holy Qur’an.

The word “Muslim” is itself the subject of the verb “asalama” meaning an act of submission. The object of such submission in none else but Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la. Such all-time and full-time servitude is called ibadah in Islam. With such servitude a Muslim becomes a full-time slave (abed) of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la. Any noncompliance or incomplete compliance with the Divine order makes him a complete kafir or non-Muslim. The Qur’an repeatedly reveals how a single act of noncompliance of Iblis made him a full devil (Shaitan). Such non-compliance only earns the curse of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la’ and takes down the way towards hellfire; no amount of supplication help rescue from such a consequence. In ibadah, a Muslim does not possess any choice to invent his or own way: rather needs to be pursuing the Qur’anic sharia and the prophetic Sunnah (tradition). It is indeed the only Divinely prescribed roadmap (siratul mustaqeem) to heaven. Any innovation can only deviate directly to hellfire. It is so crucial to follow the right roadmap that Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la needed to send more than a hundred thousand prophets to show it directly. It was also the part of the same Divine strategy to teach people how to be fully compliant with such a roadmap.

All’s well that ends well

“All’s well that ends well” – holds true in all ages and for all humans. What can be more disastrous if all successes in professional life, at the end, lead one to an eternal place in hellfire? While on a journey, one needs to be fully focussed on his final destination. Even an excellent piece of driving can take one to the wrong end if the driver forgets his destination and the right roadmap. For a Muslim, Jannat is the final endpoint and siratul mustaqeem –as shown in the holy Qur’an is the right roadmap. Hence it is crucially important to stick to this Divine roadmap (Qur’an) in every step of the journey. Otherwise, deviation from the roadmap and missing the final goalpost in Jannah becomes the ultimate outcome. Such constant remembrance of the final endpoint and all-time adherence to the roadmap is the lifelong zikr of a believer. The sole purpose of all religious rituals like recitation of the holy Qur’an, five times prayer, month-long fasting, haj, zakat and jihad is to keep such zikr always alive in the Muslim mind.

Living with zikr is so important that Allah Subhana wa Ta’ala made the emphasis by repeated admonition in the holy Qur’an. It was revealed 4 times in the same chapter of Sura Qamar with the same narrative: “And certainly We have made the Qur’an easy to keep zikr (remembrance) alive, but is there anyone to pursue such remembrance (of Allah and his or her own duties and obligation unto Him). Any distraction from such remembrance can only cause deviation from siratul mustaqeem; it is indeed an act of a revengeful devil. Whatever institutions or activities distract people from such remembrance are indeed the tools of Shaitan. There exist numerous state and non-state agents and institutions in every society and state to cause such distractions. Muslims need an Islamic state not only to have full practice of sharia but also to demolish such Satanic institutions and their agents. As an individual, a Muslim needs to be fully and constantly alert to get protected from such distractions: as he or she needs to be all-time alert while driving on a motor way. Sightseeing, amusements or other acts of distraction can only cause disasters to a driver. The same is true for a believer. He or she must avoid such distraction while making the journey in a way riddled with so many diversions and crossroads. Such constant alertness is called taqwa of a true believer.

The danger of neo-jahaliya

Final success or failure in life never appears all on a sudden: rather journey to that end point starts much earlier. Abode in Jannat or in hellfire is indeed the final end of a long process of rightful living or devilish deviation. Failure in one’s life indeed begins at a time when all inherent interest for discovering the Divine Truth get annihilated by the overwhelming worldly priorities -mostly set by the political, cultural and ideological forces of occupation of the state or the society. It starts with the active or passive distraction from the assigned Divine agenda of life. Journey to hellfire then takes its route through multitudes of deviations from the siratul mustaqeem long before the arrival of death. In absence of the Divine roadmap, the best efforts and skills only accelerate the speed towards hellfire. Amidst such overwhelming ignorance, pursuing the roadmap of hellfire becomes the dominant cultural, political and religious phenomenon of life. Such devilish deviations get more reinforced by the occupying evil forces. They indeed set the agenda of people’s life; and also select the cultural, political and religious pathway. These are the most harmful collateral consequences of an un-Islamic state.  This is why it is a great sin to let such devilish forces to take control over a state. And no other deed is more important than demolishing such devilish occupation. Islam calls such a malicious state of affairs the exact jaheliya -as was the prevailing norm in pre-Islamic Arabia. The same jaheliya with new forms and new norms (the neo-jaheliya) have indeed overwhelmed the people of the modern world.

The calamity of secular education

Every failure has its own embedded seeds; it never descends from the sky. Education is not only the key to success; can also generate horrific failures. For the Muslims, nothing proved to be more devastating than secular education. Secularisation means disconnecting people’s deeds, motives, aspirations and professions from any Divine objectives like pleasing Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’alaa. It entails focussing exclusively on enhancing the worldly wellbeing. The agenda of seeking success in the hereafter is out of the domain of secularism. Therefore it opens only the door of hellfire. The secularists ask to confine religious or spiritual agenda in the private arenas, not to bring that in the public life. The process of secularisation not only engulfs the education, politics, culture and warfare; but also all other areas of life and thoughts.

Education turns secular or Islamic depending on the intention, values and philosophy attached to it. If the driving force for seeking education is achieving the worldly gains then it is purely secular. Even a student of religious schools or an Imam of a mosque or a leader of an Islamic party may pursue a secular agenda if he or she engages in education only for money, power and fame. It may turns as a powerful tool of Shaitan to take people away from Islam. In fact, such a phenomenon already overwhelms the Muslim World:  as a result the followers of Islam grow up not as true Muslim, rather as deformed Muslims –much dissimilar from the early Muslims. Such deformed Muslim families and states then opt for moving away from the process Islamisation. They stand as arch enemy of sharia, khelafa, shura, jihad and other fundamentals of Islam.

Islam never allows making the agenda of succeeding in the hereafter a peripheral matter, rather the most central and pivotal matter of life. It is also an important public matter, too. Hence becoming a true Muslim means full Islamisation of thought, deeds, behaviour, education, culture, politics, economics, judiciary, warfare and all others arenas of life. The holy Qur’an emphasises on full Islamisation by commanding “Udkhul fis slime ka’affa” which means enter into Islam fully.   The early Muslims did that. And the Muslims of all other ages must follow the same route. This is also the only route to heaven. But the secularists stand as barrier against that.

Studying medicine, engineering, agriculture, warfare or other science subjects is not secular on their own. Education on such subjects may even serve a greater Islamic purpose if these are taken as tools to do the good for the people, prevent the wrong on earth and to please Allah Sub’hana Wa Ta’ala. Islamic knowledge must be integrated with the knowledge of science and technology. Such education indeed may be highly helpful to get heavenly abode in the hereafter. Weapons may be used for worldly gains; then it is called the secular use of weapon. It can also be used for Divine purpose – as used in jihad to demolish the devilish occupation of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la’ land. The same is also true for education. Apart from making doctors, engineers, scientists or other professionals, the Muslims’ education must help them getting connected with the mission of khelafa –only reason for humans’ creation and their existence on the earth.  But the secularisation of education –as introduced by the colonialists in the Muslim World is working against such objective.

The tool of deep de-Islamisation

The indicators of educational failure are many. It has caused the most catastrophic damage by deep de-Islamisation; this way it pushes hard towards the hellfire. As a result of profound de-Islamisation, the Muslims no more behave or act like true Muslim. They are indeed far removed from Islam of the early Muslims. The spread of literacy, although helps them get economic benefits; but it is awfully failing to save their souls from hellfire. In fact, morally and spiritually the Muslims were much better hundreds of years ago. In those days, none of the Muslim countries was so infamous worldwide for corruption as it is now. Islam immunises Muslims’ minds and intellect against evil ideologies only through Islamic education. With such immunised mind and intellect then they can survive even in kufr environment –as did the early Muslims in Makkah. But in absence of Islamic education, the Muslims are now affected by virulent virus of nationalism, tribalism, secularism, socialism and many others. The murderous autocracy and fratricidal divisions never could cause such a huge damage as are being inflicted now. The Muslims were never divided into more than 55 states before.

The secular education does not help people know the Divine Truth; hence fails to fulfil the most important educational need. But it shows tremendous success in sowing the seeds of neo-jaheliya (ignorance) vis-à-vis Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la and Islam. As a result, with the spread of education, the alienation from Islam too, is deepening. Those who built pyramids in ancient Egypt, and made beautiful houses inside the stony mountains in Petra or raised the Great Wall on long range of mountains in China were not illiterate or uneducated. Rather they were on the top in civil engineering, architecture, agriculture and science in the contemporary world. But such high skill and knowledge couldn’t help them discover the Truth (Haq). The Divine parameter of assessing the life’s success or failure is altogether different from that of the secularists. In the Divine scale, discovery of Truth receives the highest importance; the failure brings the most painful punishment. Despite amazing worldly achievements, those ancient jahel (ignorant) people were labelled as the most unsuccessful people on earth. They will turn fuel in hellfire.

The failure of the modern civilization isn’t different either. It has failed to offer anything good for the eternal life. Like their old and dead cultural and ideological cohorts, they too, pursue the same route to hellfire. Their own scientific achievements have turned science into massive tool of torment and bloodshed.  In fact, the mankind suffered the worst atrocities in history not by the wild beasts, rather by its own tools of destruction.  Only in two World Wars, there were 75 million deaths and massive destruction of wealth by their own hands. Even the Divine punishment for the people of A’ad, Samud, Lut (AS) and Pharaoh were not so huge and global. Their successes in the field of technology, agriculture, media and medicine cannot undo those failures.

“How to know the Divine Truth and pursue the Divine roadmap” must be the prime objective of all educational efforts. Otherwise, the infinite life in the hereafter remains out of the sight. In such context, the failure of the modern education system is shocking. It has promoted huge ignorance cum disinterest vis-à-vis infinite life in hereafter. Instead of showing the right path, it has caused tremendous deviation. It has indeed revived the ancient sins like homosexuality, pornography, adultery, alcoholism as modernity. They have invented numerous weapons of mass destruction; and established mass-killing of industrial scale as an art of war and modernity. And, they also rejoice such art. Hence, millions of deaths in Algeria, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Syria and destruction of cities, town and villages didn’t generate iota of shame or remorse in the mind of the perpetrators, rather were celebrated as “mission accomplished”. How education can work as virulent virus of moral death –the West has given clear testimony to that. Occupation, colonialism, imperialism, racism, ethnic cleansing, slave trading, wars, World Wars, gas chambers, genocides, waterboarding, drone attacks and others tools of mass slaughter are indeed the robust symptoms of such moral death.

The free choice for heaven or hell

Life and death – none of the two can happen on its own. Both are the creations of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la to distinguish those who excel in their deeds. -(Sura Mulk, verse 2). Like birth, humans have no role in deciding their death too; hence get no credit for a longer life, neither discredited for a shorter one. His or her whole existence owes only to Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la. They get credit and earn rewards only for the niyat (intention) of their survival and for the good deeds they accomplish. While sitting in an examination hall, it would be foolish to spend time on amusement or activities that kill time. Such distraction only diminishes the chances of success. Any test or exam demands that all attention and potentials should be invested only to increase the score. The same is true for life on earth. However, men and women in chains can’t be tested for their intentions and deeds. They need to enjoy free choice to show their true merit and skills. Hence, along with enormous intellectual endowment, all humans have been given the full liberty to set their own moral, spiritual, intellectual and civilizational journeys. They can take the turn to whatever direction they like: this is the function of their niyah (intention). They can take the Divine route and serve the Divine assignment of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la, the prophets are the model of such life. Or can become a rebel and can take the satanic route towards hellfire: Pharaoh, Nimrod, Abu Lahab and Abu Jahal are the prototype of such rebellion.

Humans can also make miracles with the inbuilt physical and intellectual potentials. They can fly in the sky, land on the moon, and can make endless discoveries or inventions. These are the most invaluable Divine endowment in men and women to examine their real worth and intention. Such endowment can be used to discover the Divine Truth and differentiate the right from the wrong and to do innumerable good deeds. People thus can transform themselves into powerhouse for doing good deeds, enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong. This way, they become the part of the Army of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la and save their souls from hellfire. Such creative transformation of the highest order took place in the early days of Islam: it is indeed the greatest revolution in human history. With such powerful inner change, every human vied one another to present their best performances to promote good on earth. This way they get nearer to Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la. More than half of the companions of the prophet (sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam) sacrificed even their lives to please their Lord. With such a high spirit, enormous amount of moral value was added to the human civilisation. Hence, a small population of barren Arabia could become the most powerful moral and political superpower in the contemporary world, and could raise the finest civilisation on earth.

The greatest betrayal

Humans are blessed with an amazing brain mass that can work better than hard disc of a super-powerful computer. They are also blessed with the most powerful software like Al-Quran that can add enormous ability to the brain. When the amazing hard disc and the software work together they can do miracles. In fact, the early Muslims showed the miracles never outdone by anyone. The Almighty Lord expects that His greatest human creation must use all his amazing intelligence to recognise His unique greatness, to discover the revealed Truth and to serve His Divine cause. As a khalifa (viceroy), a Muslim must carry out all the assigned tasks as the life-long mission. Otherwise it becomes the greatest betrayal as well the ugliest disservice against His Divine project. Indeed, the real test of human wisdom takes place is such premise.

In the day of judgement, no one will be punished for his poor physical health, short life, poor economy or professional failure. Nor will be discredited for failing to make any scientific discovery. But they will definitely burn in hellfire if fails in using the huge Divine endowments to know his Creator, discover the most fundamental Truth and fulfil the Divine assignment. Every man and woman has been provided with the necessary physical and intellectual competence to accomplish that. Those potentials get invested to earn the best livelihood, but why not be used to discover the Divine Truth and the Divine roadmap? Every failure has its painful consequence. Failure to discover the Truth is in fact the worst failure in life. As a result of the failure, he or she finds his or her final abode in hellfire. Warning of such an awesome consequence was reiterated again and again in all Divine Books like Torah, Gospel and the Qur’an.

The curse of kuffar occupation

What else can be the ugliest violation of the Divine trust (amanah) and the worst abuse of the Divine endowment than making war against the Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la? What can be more criminality than launching genocidal wars, World Wars, ethnic cleansing and serving lethal ideologies like racism, nationalism, colonialism, imperialism, fascism and communism? How one dare stand against the sovereignty of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la and oppose the practise of His sharia in His own lands? Can a Muslim turn silent or tolerant against such rebellion against the Almighty Lord? With such silence, can he or she still claim to be a Muslim? Silence is indeed the complicity in the crime. Such silence or inaction only leads to evil occupation of Muslim lands. In presence of such occupation, is it possible to have practice of sharia? The forces of occupation never allow that. This is why resisting evil occupation with all possible means is a Divine duty on every Muslims. Otherwise, enemy occupation turns deeper and takes the Muslims away from Islam. Under such devilish circumstances saving souls from hellfire and finding the road-map for heaven becomes more difficult. In fact, such a grave calamity has already engulfed the whole Muslim World, and the Muslims are suffering the brutal consequence. In Islam, no other job gets higher priority than encountering such malice; most of the early Muslims needed to sacrifice their lives to face that Satanic challenge. It is called holy jihad in Islam. Those who sacrifice their lives in such a holy war get direct access to heaven without a trial. No other deed gives such access to heaven -as promised to these martyrs.

Non-existence of jihad in a land has the dreadful consequences. The worst casualty is the invisibility of siratul mustaqeem (the Divine roadmap to Jannah). Instead, the occupying forces open the multitudes of seductive roads to hellfire. So, gambling, drinking, obscenity, pornography, adultery, homosexuality and other evils become rampant in societies. Such enemy occupation denies full practice of His prescribed way of life. The army of Nimrod didn’t allow Prophet Ibrahim (alaihis salam) to practise his faith. The army of Pharaoh didn’t allow Prophet Moses (alaihis salam) and his followers to do that either. The present days’ devils are executing the same ancient policies against Islam. Hence the rule of sharia does not exist anywhere. The whole world is now under the occupation of the secular forces. It is their global agenda that they will not allow any land to have the practice of sharia. Hence, with an attempt of implementation of sharia in any land, the aerial bombings and artillery shelling instantly start. A small city of Kobani in Syria had more than 1400 US bombs. No city in the world had such intense bombing in the whole history of mankind – even not in any World War.

Can a true believer capitulate to such evil occupation? How one can get access to heaven without practice of sharia? Can he ever think to reconcile or collaborate with the illegitimate occupiers? Faith in Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la never allows appeasement of the aggressors; it is a great sin in Islam. Fighting such occupation is an Islamic obligation. Hence, every aggression transforms the believers to instant and incessant warrior to end occupation. Islamic faith and its sharia laws could never get implemented in any land without jihad. The enemies never allowed that happening peacefully; nor would that happen in the future. Hence Islam always needed not only the preachers, but also the martyrs. Most of the companions of Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam) couldn’t have the luxury of dying in bed; they died in the war fields. Islam owes heavily to these martyrs for its rapid gains and vast spread in the early days. In later days, Muslims’ aloofness from jihad brought the enemy occupation and the continuous decline towards the current abysmal state. (01/08/2015