before their Lord, they are the Companions of the Heaven, remaining in
it timelessly, for ever. (Surah Hud, 23)
Sincerity means being deeply devoted to Allah by heart. A sincere
person has a deep fear for Allah, profoundly believes in Him, sees and
advocates the righteousness in the best way. A sincere person is the
one who believes in Allah with certainty, the Hereafter, prophets, the
Heaven and the Hell and angels.
WHAT IS ESSENTIAL IS NOT ONE'S SEEING HIMSELF SINCERE BUT THE
RECOGNITION OF HIS SINCERITY BY ALLAH.
The Prophet Muhammad(may Allah bless him andgrant him peace), the
Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him), the Prophet Moses (pbuh), the
Prophet Abraham (pbuh), the Prophet Solomon (pbuh), the Prophet Joseph
(pbuh), the Prophet Jonah (pbuh), the Prophet Job (pbuh) and all the
other prophets are the sincere servants of Allah. We are aware of
prophets' sincerity because Allah sees them sincere and declares them
to be so. All of the prophets were blessed people who were devoted to
our All-Mighty Lord with great love and experienced sincerity in
itsmost profound state. Likewise, due to their sincerity, all the
prophets were blessed people who absolutely engaged in the most
accurate act, whose deeds resulted in good and beauty and who truly
turned to Allah in all their deeds.
Due to his fear for Allah and profound love of Allah, a sincere person
is someone who readily discriminates between theright and the wrong,
who absolutely implements what is right according to the Qur'an and,
without seeing any limits in closeness to Allah and lovefor him, who
discharges allthe requirements of the religion in the most accurate
and absolute manner. Consequently, sincerity is the kind of attitude
which appears with fear of Allah, and closeness and love of Him and is
experienced in the form as depicted in the Qur'an. If a Christian is
devoid of any Islamic knowledge, we may hope for his enterance to the
Heaven, as long as he advocates Allah's existence and unity,believes
in the Heaven andthe Hell, has faith in the destiny and the Hereafter,
performs his regular prayers ( salat ), fasts albeitin his own way,
and pays the alms. Similarly, if a Jewhas no knowledge about Islam,
then we can hope that he can go to the Heaven as long as he observes
what is lawful and unlawful, has faith in the destiny and Hereafter,
performs his regular prayers (salat) and fasts. All of these are the
commandments stated in the Torah and the Gospel. If he is sincere and
has no knowledge about Islam, by Allah's leave, we may hope that a
Christian or a Jew can also enter the Heaven as long as he
wholeheartedly fulfills all these religious obligations.
When one examines the Qur'an with a sincere heartone can immediately
see that the Qur'an is the true Divine book. But if someone has never
had access to the Qur'an, then he is AHL AL-FATRAT , but if he
believes in the one Allah, loves and fears Allah, does good works
forHis approval and prays, fasts and performs his religious duties as
required by the religion, then that person may hope for Paradise.
Becausethis person may not implement some parts of the Qur'an, out of
ignorance, but if he lives by the remaining of the Prophet Abraham
(pbuh) then since this person is ahl al-fatrat he may hope to enter
Paradise.
However, nobody can everbe certain that either he oranyone else will
go to Heaven or Hell. One can never say for certain that anyone, be he
Christian, Jew or Muslim, will go to Heaven or Hell. So long as a
morally virtuous person lives for the approval of Allah he may hope
for Paradise from Him, and one may hope that this person will be one
of the saved, though one can never be certain of this. As Allah
reveals in the Qur'an,all believers live "betweenhope and fear:"
Their sides eschew their beds as they call on theirLord in fear and
ardent hope. And they give of what We have provided for them. (Surat
as-Sajda, 16)
Since sincerity can only be experienced with unconditional belief in
Allah, hoping for the Heaven merely saying, "I am sincere", without
fulfilling the decrees of thereligion is an insincere view that only
deceives the person himself. It is a great collapse of reason to
appear with a reasoning commanding that "satanists can go to the
Heaven if they are sincere" and try to show acriminal person who
overtly murders a human being and who evidently denies Allah asa
sincere person deserving the Heaven.
A person who denies Allah,commits crimes and engages in immoral acts
commits all these misdeeds due to his insincerity and his disbelieving
and rebellious mind.
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