Jannah

 Late night thoughts~~

     I was once raised by grandparents who were very strict about religion. Even though I was only 5 years old at the time, I was taught to pray and fasting. As a kid of course I would question "Why do I must to do all of this?"

    The answer I received from my grandmother: "because Allah would not allow people who do not pray and fasting to go to Jannah (heaven), otherwise they will enter hellfire. No one want to enter the hellfire because it far hotter than the fire in this world. The fire of this world already watered with sea water for seven times." Thus, after receiving the answer I understand that we only can go to Jannah if we perform the obligation as Muslims. If someone did not pray or fasting, automatically they will go to Hellfire.

    But one day, one religious teacher told a story about a prostitute who was able to enter heaven because of one her kindness. The prostitute gives water to a thirsty dog and enter the Jannah because of it. Based on the prostitute's story the religious teacher told us, we are not entering Jannah because of our deeds. Instead, we only can enter it because of His blessings. Hence, it not necessarily if a Muslim is someone who keep violate His commandments they will put into the Hellfire. Maybe there are any of their good deeds that will allow them to enter His Jannah.

     After hearing that,  I questioned to her "why do we must to do God’s commandments and avoid His prohibitions, while we already know that He can give anyone He wants to enter His Jannah??" Then she answered: "As a Muslim, we need to do all of the command from Allah and avoid His prohibitions because that is our effort to gain the blessings from Him. We never know which of our deed that will bring us to Jannah, so we need to keep on doing good deed with intention to get His blessings."

    That's all from me. I hope you can get some benefit from my sharing today. Hope all of us will strive our best to enter His Jannah. I'm so sorry if there is any mistakes from my content in this blog. Thanks for reading!