How can a Muslim guarantee for himself salvation from eternal abode in the Fire?
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The questioner : How can a Muslim guarantee for himself salvation from eternal abode in the Fire?
The Shaykh : No one can guarantee that for himself, because the hearts are between two fingers of the Most Merciful, and He turns them as He wills. However, the believer hopes for mercy and salvation from the Fire through what he has done of worshipping Allah alone, having no partner for Him, obeying the command of Allah, and avoiding the prohibitions of Allah, as Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said:[Ali 'Imran 3:133-136] So, if a person fulfills what Allah has made obligatory upon him and leaves what Allah has forbidden to him, being sincere to Allah in that and following His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), then he hopes that Allah will save him thereby from the Fire and admit him into Paradise. In this state, he should have a good opinion of Allah and not be despairing of the mercy of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. But along with that, every person fears that his work may not have been accepted, because a person is a human being; there may be in his heart some self-admiration of his work that destroys it, or there may be in his heart some showing off, or there may be in his work some religious innovation. Therefore, the guarantee is not obtained in a specific sense, but in a general sense we say: Allah the Exalted said: [An-Nahl 16:97].
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : No one can guarantee that for himself, because the hearts are between two fingers of the Most Merciful, and He turns them as He wills. However, the believer hopes for mercy and salvation from the Fire through what he has done of worshipping Allah alone, having no partner for Him, obeying the command of Allah, and avoiding the prohibitions of Allah, as Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said:
(133) And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden as wide as the heavens and earth, prepared for the righteous (134) Who spend [in the cause of Allah] during ease and hardship and who restrain anger and who pardon the people - and Allah loves the doers of good; (135) And those who, when they commit an immorality or wrong themselves [by transgression], remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins - and who can forgive sins except Allah? - and [who] do not persist in what they have done while they know. (136) Those - their reward is forgiveness from their Lord and gardens beneath which rivers flow [in Paradise], wherein they will abide eternally; and excellent is the reward of the [righteous] workers.
وَسَارِعُوا إِلَى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا السَّمَوَاتُ وَالأَرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ * الَّذِينَ يُنْفِقُونَ فِي السَّرَّاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ وَالْعَافِينَ عَنِ النَّاسِ وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ * وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُوا فَاحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا لِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَمَنْ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَلَمْ يُصِرُّوا عَلَى مَا فَعَلُوا وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ * أُوْلَئِكَ جَزَاؤُهُمْ مَغْفِرَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَجَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعَامِلِينَWhoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer - We will surely cause him to live a good life, and We will surely give them their reward [in the Hereafter] according to the best of what they used to do.
مَنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا مِنْ ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنثَى وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَلَنُحْيِيَنَّهُ حَيَاةً طَيِّبَةً وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْرَهُمْ بِأَحْسَنِ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَThe questioner : May Allah bless you.