Salaam guys, im having a problem, motivating myself in working towards Jannah
When i do my fard its not because im excited about going to jannah, its because i just dont want to go to Hell.
Its a problem because like a kid at school who believes a good education will get him nothing worthwhile, im not putting
effort into my ibadah anymore (even though its 10 days of zhul Hija - best days) im neglecting sunnah and nafl and just
doing bare minimum fard.
Secretly i wish right now there was a third place (a larger planet like Dunya) that i could go to and live on after death.
My problem is obviously weak emaan, but it goes deeper...
Everything i want is in Dunya-style world.
Give me 1 moment to explain...
From the description I have heard of Jannah...
Its a large and luxurious garden-like world full of good and pious people and large masions under which river flows of milk and honey, lots of
free food and fruits and alcoholic drinks with no side effects. You have to spend eternity with your wife, and you will have 2 Hoor-al-Ayn who are
more beautiful than you can imagine.
Okay sounds great, and i can see why this would appeal alot to somebody who lived a life of struggle in the deserts of Arabia or even the middle ages,
but i just dont see the point ?
My personal issues:
1. I am not particularly pious (my idea of paradise is having lots of money + girls that change every night - think of a Millionaire living in Thailand) so i will be out of place even if it get in.
How will i look the Prophets (pbut) and the shahudah in the eye ?
Knowing i didnt act on the teachings of the Prophets, nor sacrifice my life or wealth for islam ?
2. There is No Money in Jannah.
I know this sounds ridicilious but in my view the life of a rich person is the real life.
To be a Billionaire + Have Free Will to do whatever the hell you want is the ultimate gift Allah (swt) can give a person in dunya.
But in Jannah, there is no Money.
Everything is Free.
So everyone is "equal" you cant 'hire or fire' a builder, a gardener, a chef - everything just instantly appears or manifests in front of you.
Some of you are thinking "Great" but not me.
3. There is no progress (or Work) in Jannah.
What i mean by progress is that i plant a seed, then i water it, then i watch it grow a little, then i give it some plant food...after 30 days
its a plant that will start bearing fruit. It made progress, and i feel like i did something to achieve the goal (fruit), its satisfying.
Now imagine the plant just grew in a instant and the fruit popped into my hand, where is the fun in that ?
Same with building a Home, i want to lay the foundations, i want to plan and upgrade, i dont want it to magically appear.
This is also linked to Point 2 (because there is no money, you cant negotiate a deal, you cant go to the market and buy a Vase for
your living room, there is no profit and loss, there is no stock market).
So without money (which is another word for 'exchange of value') there is no 'value' because everyone has everything they want, and if they want anything
they wish for it and it just appears (sorry Amazon, no need for your next-day delivery in jannah), gold is worthless if there is too much of it, no doubt there will
be other minerals and things to collect but you can just wish and get them so no work.
There is no ibadah in Jannah as we understand, i think even when you eat a fruit you will easily utter words of praise, so even the Ibadah will be automatic.
Problem 4: You cant Upgrade in Jannah.
We know there are 100 levels in Jannah.
If your friend, who was more righteous than you ends up in Jannah Level 77 and you were Mr.Average-faasiq-Repenter all your life and you end up in Level 2 of Jannah, thats pretty much your home (for eternity).
Imagine how cool you will feel living in your Palace on Level 2, until you visit your friend up in the 77th Level and see his Level 77 Palace for the all good deeds he did in Dunya.
Since you cant go back to Dunya (it doesnt exist anymore, because we are talking post-D Day) for a 2nd shot and since there is no known economy (i.e. Money, Gold, Hasanat, Good Deeds) you can accumulate anymore your basically going to have to stay where you are for rest of eternity, on the plus side i think jealousy and ill-feeling will be deleted so you wont 'feel it' but unless you have a complete memory-reset you might still remember what a idiot you was for not doing the good deeds/staying away from sins (how ironic to write this)
Point 5. You are compelled to live forever.
Okay so everything is perfect...but what will i do after year 1 ? year 10 ? year 100, year 100,000 ???
Final Comment: the ONLY thing that motivates me to work towards Jannah is to get into it so i can ask Allah for Earth-Simulator 2019 - basically coming back to a simulated Dunya-like world as a Billionaire or as as Military Ruler and doing whatever you want with NCP (non-playable characters), although i think even this game (Earth-Sim) would get boring if you were playing for eternity.
btw, i didnt write this for a chuckle, i am actually serious, and i understand most people never though about it this deeply, we just hear the same lines "brother just get to jannah first" as if that is motivation, when im trying to fight the 5 thoughts above ?
Re: How to gain motivation for jannah ? (my 5 problems with jannah)
It seems like your main points seem to revolve around having money and power. Brother, there is a billionaire in prison right now for molesting girls. There are millionaires who are locked up because of their greed where they stole from others and have even killed people to get more money. There are rich people who are killing themselves for being miserable in their lives. There are "leaders" in the world who are hated by their own people. In the end, poor or rich, we will all die. That money and so called power means nothing. Those people can't buy their way out of any punishments nor will it buy them access to Jannah. When compared to the next life, think of this more as being a dream than anything due to our limited time here. Even the Day of Judgement is said to be 50,000 years long. Our time here is insignificant.
Don't look at the descriptions of Jannah at face value. Regardless of all the descriptions we have regarding it, we will never comprehend what it's like. Even the concept of time won't be the same. On average, we spend less than 100 years here in this life. The day of judgement alone is said to be 50,000 years. We can't even comprehend what that's like, so how can we comprehend what eternity is like? Our life here is nothing in the grand scheme of things. My time is limited, but I recommend listening to lectures about this subject if you haven't already.
Re: How to gain motivation for jannah ? (my 5 problems with jannah)
The descriptions of paradise are for people to make a comparison with the good things of this life, when you see the owner of a criminal enterprise or cia drug kingpin relaxing on the beach with wh0res and drinks, all leaning back on sun beds and chatting as their poorer victims live a life of oppression and degredation ... rather than strain your eyes, you can make a comparison.
It wouldn't make much sense to give you fantastic descriptions which you can't comprehend, even though we are informed that there are delights which the eyes have never seen, they are similitudes of better products.
The Arabs were the primary receivers of the message, and the descriptions are usually aimed at the primary audience - this is not surprising at all, and people who understand how motivational targeting and promotional literature works on human psychology can easily appreciate that that everything comes after the primary audience who are part and parcel of the staging, and once they realise that the descriptions given are similitudes of what wealthy and happy people (in their opinion) enjoy .... working out the rest is quite easy.
To them will be passed round, dishes and goblets of gold: there will be there all that the souls could desire, all that their eyes could delight in: and ye shall abide therein (for eye).
English - Sahih International
Circulated among them will be plates and vessels of gold. And therein is whatever the souls desire and [what] delights the eyes, and you will abide therein eternally.
Re: How to gain motivation for jannah ? (my 5 problems with jannah)
format_quote Originally Posted by keiv
It seems like your main points seem to revolve around having money and power. Brother, there is a billionaire in prison right now for molesting girls. There are millionaires who are locked up because of their greed where they stole from others and have even killed people to get more money. There are rich people who are killing themselves for being miserable in their lives. There are "leaders" in the world who are hated by their own people. In the end, poor or rich, we will all die. That money and so called power means nothing. Those people can't buy their way out of any punishments nor will it buy them access to Jannah. When compared to the next life, think of this more as being a dream than anything due to our limited time here. Even the Day of Judgement is said to be 50,000 years long. Our time here is insignificant.
Don't look at the descriptions of Jannah at face value. Regardless of all the descriptions we have regarding it, we will never comprehend what it's like. Even the concept of time won't be the same. On average, we spend less than 100 years here in this life. The day of judgement alone is said to be 50,000 years. We can't even comprehend what that's like, so how can we comprehend what eternity is like? Our life here is nothing in the grand scheme of things. My time is limited, but I recommend listening to lectures about this subject if you haven't already.
Perhaps you are right but the way i look at it is like this...
We live on a financial planet. Every day we are reminded of this fact. If you want to do anything (even eat) you need money. If you run out of money you cant do anything here, you will be on the street. Then you cant even worship Allah (swt) properly.
Your said Millionaires are unhappy and commit suicide, yes because some of them are just miserable people who ended up with money. If they are miserable with money, chances are they would be even more miserable without it.
Look im not saying money and power is everything, but im saying they are good to have because whats the opposite ? Poverty and Weakness ? Even Allah (swt) likes the Strong Believer, the Prophet (saw) said poverty can lead to kufr etc. So Money and Power are just tools, they are good to have.
If you want to nail something, its easier if you have a hammer.
Those Millionaires and Billionaires who have money and are doing evil, well thats them, they dont know or care to use their Money for good and they dont know
how to LEVERAGE it for Akhirah. Abu Bakr (ra) and Usman (ra) leveraged their wealth for Akhirah. Look if you had Wealth of Bill Gates right now you could sit at home and write a Cheque and build 1000 Water Wells in Africa - you would eliminate physical thirst in a entire continent, how many millions and billions of hasanat would that be ?
Good thing about Dunya is its a Blank Canvas, you can make it what you strive for. Bad News about Dunya is most of us dont have the tools (Money and Wealth to do the good we want to do) and secondly by the time you get them you cannot do much because your time on Dunya is Temporary.
Good news about Jannah is everything is Free and Forever. Bad News is there is nothing to do beyond basic functions (eat, drink, relax, repeat). Nothing needs fixing so theres no need for tools.
Re: How to gain motivation for jannah ? (my 5 problems with jannah)
format_quote Originally Posted by Abz2000
The descriptions of paradise are for people to make a comparison with the good things of this life, when you see the owner of a criminal enterprise or cia drug kingpin relaxing on the beach with wh0res and drinks, all leaning back on sun beds and chatting as their poorer victims live a life of oppression and degredation ... rather than strain your eyes, you can make a comparison.
Yes but there are plenty of rich people that didnt oppress and kill people to get their wealth, they helped improve peoples lives, invent products that are useful to humans for generations to come etc.
Regarding the kingpin chilling on the beach with girls and drinks, you cant copy that in Jannah because your restricted to 1 wife and 2 Hoor-al-Ayn (unless your in the very few % that are shaheed then you get hooked up with 72, massive upgrade, but to even get a chance of getting that status you have to give up 100% of your dunya so most people cant/wont)
Look trust me I have thought of all the variables, and in the end, i have answered my own question.
Step 1. Scrape a entry "pass" into Jannah on minimum points,
Step 2. Wait until Judgement is over, until Allah (swt) anger has cooled down because Allah (swt)
will be angry with the creation like never before on Judgement Day.
Step 3. In Jannah quitely ask Allah for Earth Simulator.
btw, im not the only one who is weak in this regard... there was a Sahabi like me who wanted to do Agriculture in Jannah! shade:
Bukhari :: Book 3 :: Volume 39 :: Hadith 538
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Once the Prophet was narrating (a story), while a bedouin was sitting with him. "One of the inhabitants of Paradise will ask Allah to allow him to cultivate the land. Allah will ask him, 'Are you not living in the pleasures you like?' He will say, 'Yes, but I like to cultivate the land.' " The Prophet added, "When the man (will be permitted he) will sow the seeds and the plants will grow up and get ripe, ready for reaping and so on till it will be as huge as mountains within a wink. Allah will then say to him, 'O son of Adam! Take here you are, gather (the yield); nothing satisfies you.' " On that, the bedouin said, "The man must be either from Quraish (i.e. an emigrant) or an Ansari, for they are farmers, whereas we are not farmers." The Prophet smiled (at this).
This is the only Hadith i found on the matter that gives me some reassurance.
1 thing i would add that the Sahabi (ra) didnt is i would slow down the process of growth...from the hadith it seems instantaneous or rapid growth.
Re: How to gain motivation for jannah ? (my 5 problems with jannah)
walaikum assalam rahmatullahi barakatuh
Jannah is nothing like we can imagine so it's really much better than you think...
We know from hadith that the beauty of oneself and wife will continue to increase so there will always be 'new' pleasure experience as if you're being intimate with someone completely new and much more beautiful
Also once the people first enter jannah, they will experience a burst of joy, Allah will inform them that this will continue to increase forever..... so life will really be something totally different to how it's on earth and boredom will certainly not be a part of it
Also in jannah we will get whatever you wish for so if you want something (,like that man wanted to grow seeds) you will have it
Re: How to gain motivation for jannah ? (my 5 problems with jannah)
format_quote Originally Posted by ukakhi
Yes but there are plenty of rich people that didnt oppress and kill people to get their wealth, they helped improve peoples lives, invent products that are useful to humans for generations to come etc.
Yes, you are correct in the assertion there are plenty of righteous wealthy people, however, i was attempting to provide a definable contrast - since sacrifice of worldly comforts (sometimes life) for al aakhirah is often required of a believer - whereas Allah informs us that the rewards of the rejecters good deeds are usually granted in full here on earth - and nothing awaits them in the end but torment.
The word "dhanee" comes from "worldly" (dunya) and is often used to describe people who possess wealth - even though it can be argued that there are some muscular women
They are those for whom there is nothing in the Hereafter but the Fire: vain are the designs they frame therein, and of no effect and the deeds that they do!
English - Sahih International
Those are the ones for whom there is not in the Hereafter but the Fire. And lost is what they did therein, and worthless is what they used to do.
And were it not that (all) men might become of one (evil) way of life, We would provide, for everyone that blasphemes against (Allah) Most Gracious, silver roofs for their houses and (silver) stair-ways on which to go up,
English - Sahih International
And if it were not that the people would become one community [of disbelievers], We would have made for those who disbelieve in the Most Merciful - for their houses - ceilings and stairways of silver upon which to mount
And also adornments of gold. But all this were nothing but conveniences of the present life: The Hereafter, in the sight of thy Lord is for the Righteous.
English - Sahih International
And gold ornament. But all that is not but the enjoyment of worldly life. And the Hereafter with your Lord is for the righteous.
format_quote Originally Posted by ukakhi
Regarding the kingpin chilling on the beach with girls and drinks, you cant copy that in Jannah because your restricted to 1 wife and 2 Hoor-al-Ayn (unless your in the very few % that are shaheed then you get hooked up with 72, massive upgrade, but to even get a chance of getting that status you have to give up 100% of your dunya so most people cant/wont)
Raised couches, embroidered silk bathrobes, the hottest women, fruit punch, calling for what they want ... it's what most kids dealing drugs and hitting gold shops dream of unless they consider the bigger picture in the matrix.
The "72" in chapter 55 verse 72 is a verse number, not necessarily a reading of 72 wide eyed maidens (hoors).
Possibly a misreading and mixing up of the verse number as a part of the verse?
Ar-Rahman 55:72
حُورٌ مَّقْصُورَٰتٌ فِى ٱلْخِيَامِ
English - Yusuf Ali
Companions restrained (as to their glances), in (goodly) pavilions;-
Look trust me I have thought of all the variables, and in the end, i have answered my own question.
Step 1. Scrape a entry "pass" into Jannah on minimum points.
Possible, unless one falls short from whence they never expected - a weightier stock of good deeds are needed to tip the balance in favour, and Allah runs the accounting office.
Best to simply carry on doing good and avoiding evil as we live through it - though we will sometimes slip.
format_quote Originally Posted by ukakhi
Step 2. Wait until Judgement is over, until Allah (swt) anger has cooled down because Allah (swt)
will be angry with the creation like never before on Judgement Day.
Wait where? and fold your arms and whistle?
format_quote Originally Posted by ukakhi
Step 3. In Jannah quitely ask Allah for Earth Simulator.
Some like vehicles, i would probably ask for a track that allows high velocity in my current frame of mind - where you fly off the track but get saved as you hurtle towards something (like those falling dreams where you suddenly wake up). This world would probably feel like a short dream then though and those things might feel like juvenile aspirations.
format_quote Originally Posted by ukakhi
btw, im not the only one who is weak in this regard... there was a Sahabi like me who wanted to do Agriculture in Jannah! shade:
Bukhari :: Book 3 :: Volume 39 :: Hadith 538
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Once the Prophet was narrating (a story), while a bedouin was sitting with him. "One of the inhabitants of Paradise will ask Allah to allow him to cultivate the land. Allah will ask him, 'Are you not living in the pleasures you like?' He will say, 'Yes, but I like to cultivate the land.' " The Prophet added, "When the man (will be permitted he) will sow the seeds and the plants will grow up and get ripe, ready for reaping and so on till it will be as huge as mountains within a wink. Allah will then say to him, 'O son of Adam! Take here you are, gather (the yield); nothing satisfies you.' " On that, the bedouin said, "The man must be either from Quraish (i.e. an emigrant) or an Ansari, for they are farmers, whereas we are not farmers." The Prophet smiled (at this).
This is the only Hadith i found on the matter that gives me some reassurance.
1 thing i would add that the Sahabi (ra) didnt is i would slow down the process of growth...from the hadith it seems instantaneous or rapid growth.
Those are some amongst the endless pursuits that people who put their heads down and struggle receive as a reward - just as the student in his final year who soon has his own practice whilst the rude boys try to run from cops or avoid prison officers ... or clean the streets.
I pray that Allah gives and increases wisdom and scope of vision in our hearts and minds so that we can stay focused and on track to eternal happiness.
Re: How to gain motivation for jannah ? (my 5 problems with jannah)
Assalamu Alaikum,
Just a few points to the 5 issues you raised:
1. Well it's a good thing not to perceive your status before Allah too highly otherwise pride and arrogance can set it where we think we are better than others due to the good we do.
However you should not resign yourself when you have every opportunity right now to begin doing the best you can to follow the commands of Allah through the Quran and Sunnah and guidance of the righteous scholars. Allah will ask us "Did you not have enough time and opportunities to make changes"? So we will not have an excuse. You mentioned free will. Well now is your opportunity to go against your worldly desires and work for Paradise.
2 and 3. Paradise does have a currency and an entry fee: Your good deeds and the mercy of Allah upon us. So we must do everything we can to save and invest for the highest Jannah we can possibly gain by accumulating good deeds and working hard for the mercy of Allah as that is the only way we will be able to enter Jannah. The bricks, palaces, buildings, trees and plants of Jannah are being created right now by our good deeds. So the more of these you want then the more good deeds we must do to build our Paradise.
However there will be much to do in Jannah and it has been mentioned in Hadith that some people wish to grow crops in Paradise etc so everything will be possible within reason but what you have to realise is that the way we think right now with our limited understanding and corrupted hearts will not be the way we will think in Paradise as we will go through a cleansing process before entry. This cleansing will make us pure from all evils and corruptions which schew our thinking and perceptions.
4. This is about changing your mind set. Your progression in Jannah is NOW. The currency, savings and investments that we can put into gain the highest ranks of Paradise end when our souls leave our bodies. So what is stopping us right now except ourselves from progressing through the ranks? In this very moment whilst we are breathing is our opportunity to gain forgiveness for all our sins if we are sincere in our repentance and to begin from this moment to raise our ranks with hard work and good deeds to gain the mercy of Allah in order to make it to the highest ranks of Jannah. Again what will we say to Allah when he asks us "did we not have enough opportunities to gain the highest Paradise if that is what we desired"? So we must not resign ourselves when we have every opportunity at this moment to progress through the ranks.
The rich in this world make clever decisions in investments which yield long term gain. So surely if we want to achieve the highest gain in the Hereafter then we would put in the hard work from now until death to reach the highest ranks insha'Allah.
5. This point is irrelevant because you are basing the concept of infinite life on your limited worldly perception. After we are cleansed before entering Jannah there will be no more jealousy and envy for those who made it to the higher ranks. There will be no more corruptions in our hearts. Everything will become clear to us and we will not feel the way we are feeling right now.
So do not think too much into these things as this is from the tricks of shaythan to confuse your mind so that you become disillusioned and resign yourself before your time is even up. Do not waste your time thinking of things which will not benefit you in this life and the next. Remember just like the rich of this world who are working night and day to increase their riches but they are still not happy whereas Allah promises us that if we are successful in the Hereafter then we will have all we desire and we will be happy and content forever. So do we not trust his promise?
Please refer to the following link to get started now to gain the highest ranks of Jannah insha'Allah:
Hey there! Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.
When you create an account, we remember exactly what you've read, so you always come right back where you left off. You also get notifications, here and via email, whenever new posts are made. And you can like posts and share your thoughts. Sign Up
How to gain motivation for jannah ? (my 5 problems with jannah)
shade:
informs us that the rewards of the rejecters good deeds are usually granted in full here on earth - and nothing awaits them in the end but torment.
Hide
Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.
Bookmarks