Purification of Self: the Only Path to Jannah

The ultimate destination for humans is the Hereafter. It is the realm of peace and safety, the eternal kingdom. The Noble Quran has termed it as “Jannah” (Paradise) and has used various descriptions such as “Jannah al-Firdaus”, “Jannāt al-Na‘īm”, “Jannātin tajrī min taḥtihā al-anhār”, and multiple other expressions to illustrate it. It has been described as the gardens of Paradise¹, the gardens of tranquility², and the orchards of eternal bliss³. Rivers flow beneath these gardens⁴. It neither contains scorching heat of the sun nor the biting cold⁵. The gardens contain pure living places for the dwellers⁶. This is the best abode for tranquility⁷. Its comfort is eternal⁸. People therein will be adorned with gold bracelets and pearls, and their garments will be of silk. And they will be reclining therein on adorned couches⁹. For them therein are fruits of all kinds, whatever they wish for. And they will be provided with whatever they request¹⁰. In it, the inhabitants will attain nearness to their Lord, and their Master will serve them the drink of pure wine¹¹. Therefore, there is no doubt that this “Jannah” (Paradise) of God is the land of goodness and well-being, the realm of comfort and solace, and the kingdom of satisfaction and contentment. The life of this world, in comparison, is lower and of the least significance. Paradise is higher, superior, and loftier in every aspect. Esteemed Scholar Javed Ahmed Ghamidi writes: “This is an eternal abode. In contrast to worldly life, where life is coupled with immortality, pleasure with permanence, joy with sorrow, tranquility with restlessness, comfort with distress, and blessings with retribution; there is no concept of death.Its tranquility is eternal, its pleasure is limitless, its days and nights are everlasting, its safety is eternal, its happiness is imperishable, its beauty is infinite, and its perfection knows no bounds.”(Meezan, 197)

Mankind have been sent to this world to attain that very paradise.Thus, Allah has guided them to remain engaged in lifelong endeavors to attain it.Allah Almighty says: as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the righteous. (Q 3:133)

At another occasion, the Almighty encourages mankind to compete with one another in striving for its attainment. He says:

Allah’s religion has been revealed to guide humanity towards this Paradise. The divine books guide towards the path leading to it, and the prophets are tasked with educating and nurturing humanity to attain it. It is stated in the Noble Quran that when Allah ordained Adam and Eve and their descendants to inhabit the Earth as a test, He promised to bestow His mercy upon humans and provide guidance to them in the form of religion. Those who value and act upon that guidance shall be deemed deserving of that paradise where there will be no fear or sorrow.

The Almighty says:

Commenting on the above verse, Javed Ahmed Ghamidi writes: “It is evident from this that from the very time of his creation, the real objective of man is to enter Paradise. He has been sent in this world to become eligible to it; thus the driving force behind all his deeds is Paradise. Even if he has not rightly placed this motive in his undertakings, he cannot remain indifferent to it. For in such cases, he would use all his abilities to attain it in this very world. This is something which has been ordained in his nature and he lives and dies for this very objective even if he does not want to.”(Al-Bayan 1/54)

The prescribed way by Allah to attain the pinnacle of Paradise, Jannah al-Firdaus, is through the purification of the self (tazkiyah nafs). It means that the gates of the Garden of Bliss will be open for those individuals who strive to purify themselves both externally and internally in every aspect. Allah Almighty says:

Explaining these verses, Maulana Islahi writes:

[For this reason,] strive fervently while outdoing one another towards the forgiveness of your Lord and for a Paradise as vast as the heavens and the earth. It has been prepared for those who truly believe in God and His messengers. Such is the grace of

God: He bestows it on whomsoever He wills and great is God’s grace. (Q 57:21)

We said: “Get down from here all of you; then if ever comes to you any guidance from Me, follow it because those who follow this guidance of Mine, their reward is Paradise. So, there they shall neither have any fear, nor shall they grieve.” (Q 2:38)

Contrary to this, those who come before Him as believers, who have done righteous deeds, then it is such people for whom there are high ranks,orchards of eternal residence beneath which streams flow. They shall live in them forever. And this is the reward of those who adopt purity. (Q 20:75-6)

“This is the reward for those individuals who purify their outward and inward selves, as well as their beliefs and actions. It means that it is not attainable through false desires; rather, only those deserving will attain it. They are the ones who strive to purify themselves from all kinds of impurities, whether they are intellectual or moral, in thought, action, or conduct, to achieve it. Allah has outlined in His Book the ways to overcome the hurdles encountered along this path. Moreover, due to human frailty, the blessings meant to aid them in their weaknesses have also been granted.”(Tadabbur e Quran, vol. 5 pg 69)

The same reality is clarified in a different manner in Surah An-Nazi’at (79). There, it has been stated that Paradise will be for those who refrain themselves from following vain desires. The verses read: “And he who feared the standing before his Lord and restrained his soul from lowly desires, then Paradise only shall be his abode.” (Q 79:40-1)

This detailed explanation makes it entirely clear that the purpose of human life is to attain Paradise, Jannah al-Firdaus. It is essential to purify oneself in order to attain it. Allah’s prophets teach humanity the method through which individuals can choose to purify themselves.Religion refers to this very method taught by the prophets. Therefore, the purpose of religion is the purification of the self. That is, its duty is to enlighten people about the ways to attain purity.The honorable teacher, Javed Ahmed Ghamidi writes:

The objective of this religion mentioned in the Quran is termed as ‘Tazkiyah‘ in the terminology of the Quran. Its meaning is to purify individual and societal life from impurities and to guide its thoughts and actions towards the right direction. The Quran repeatedly emphasizes that the ultimate destination for humans is the Gardens of Paradise and the kingdom of ‘contentment well-pleasing.’ The guarantee of success and prosperity is for those individuals who purify themselves in this world.

Therefore, the person who purifies his self, i.e. cleanses his self from the impurities of thoughts, actions, as well as the soul and body, is contented in the sight of Allah, and only such people will be granted permission to enter the realm of raziatan marziyyah. They will be told: “[To the others,] He will say: “O you with a contented heart, return to your Lord, such that He is pleased with you and you are pleased with Him. So, enter among My servants, and enter My Paradise.”” (Q 89:27-30)

Therefore, in religion, the utmost and ultimate purpose is to achieve purification.Allah’s prophets were sent for this very purpose, and the entire religion was revealed to guide humanity towards achieving this objective and reaching this ultimate goal. Allah Almighty says:

However, successful shall be he who spiritually purified [himself]and for this, he remembered his Lord’s name, then prayed. People! you do not have any sound argument. In fact, you give preference to worldly life even though the life to come is better and more lasting also. (Q 87:14-17)

It is He who brought forth among the unlettered a Messenger from among them, who recites to them His revelations and purifies them and for this instructs them in the Law and in Wisdom. (Q 62:2)

Explaining the verse “return to your Lord, such that He is pleased with you and you are pleased with Him” Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi writes: “Indeed, this is a word of praise and commendation from Allah. Addressing those individuals, it is guidance that congratulates them on their remarkable success in the field of examination where they were put by their Lord. Now return to your Lord with satisfaction and contentment, for you have proven that in all conditions, whether favorable or challenging, you remained pleased and content with your Lord. Moreover, you have achieved this high station where you have become beloved in the sight of your Lord. Just as you did not express any complaint against your Lord in any phase, similarly, your Lord found you unmatched in any aspect. You are content with Him, and He is content with you!” (Tadabbur e Quran vol. 9, pg 362)

It is evident that through His Messenger, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Allah presented a religion that calls for the purification of individual and societal life. The foundation of self-purification is the awareness of good and evil, which is an essential part of human existence. Just as human beings are inherently bestowed with abilities such as birth and reproduction, hearing and sight, speech, comprehension and perception, as well as reason and knowledge, similarly, the awareness of good and evil has also been endowed upon them. This awareness is inspired within their nature. Therefore, they possess the complete capability to distinguish between good and evil without any external guidance and have the ability to discern and differentiate between them.”It’s as if it’s a moral sense through which one can differentiate between good and bad ethics, understanding which components are beneficial and which are detrimental to their personality. The Quran has chosen the words ‘inspiring it [with discernment of] its wickedness and its righteousness’ for this inherent moral sense and ethical awareness” for this moral sense. The Almighty says:

Explaining these verses, Javed Ahmed Ghamidi writes: “ just as the Almighty has blessed a person with eyes to see and ears to hear, similarly, he has blessed him with a faculty which distinguishes good and evil for him. A person is not mere body and intellect. He is also a moral being. This means that the ability to distinguish good from evil and the appreciation that good is good and evil is evil is innately ordained in him. In some other verses of the Quran, this aspect is referred to as: )3 :76(إِنَّا هَدَيْنَهُ السَّبِيلَ ) We inspired in him the way of good and evil, (76:3)) and(90: 10)وَ هَدَيْنَهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ (have We not shown him both paths? (90:10)). This appreciation of good and evil is a universal reality. Thus when the most evil of persons does something wrong, he tries to hide it in the first phase. When Adam’s son, Cain, tried to hide the body of his brother, Abel, after killing him, it was because he knew that he had committed a sin. Same is the case with good. A person loves what is good and respects and reveres it. When he establishes a society, he always sets up a system of justice in it. This is ample testimony of his innate ability to distinguish between good and evil. No doubt, at times, a person may justify a sin he commits, however, at the very time he invents excuses for this justification, he very well knows that he is inventing these excuses against his nature. The reason for this is that if someone else commits the same sin against him, he regards it to be an evil without any hesitation, and vehemently protests against that person.” (Al-Bayan, vol. 5, pg 465-6)

“Then inspired it with its evil and its goodthat the Day of Judgement is certain to come; [hence,] he succeeded who purified his souland he failed who corrupted it. (Q 91:7-10) This sense of good and evil prepares humans for self-purification. Based on this, one is convinced that goodness and wickedness are not the same in their essence and in their apparent and hidden aspects. Hence, their consequences cannot be the same either. This difference requires that their recompense should also be distinct, not identical, but rather different from one another. Hence, individuals realize that they are not absolutely free and autonomous but rather bound by certain limits and restrictions. If they abide by these limits, they will attain success, but if they transgress them, they will face ruin. Respected teacher Javed Ahmed Ghamidi has explained this matter in light of the mentioned verses of Surah Shams. He writes:

“The second question is: What is the actual motivator that prepares a person for moral purification? The answer to this question, as provided by the Quran in these verses, is that the actual motivator is based on the inspiration related to the understanding that the outcomes of both good and evil cannot be the same for an individual. He feels the sense that the goodness of good and the badness of evil demand from its own existence that the consequences of both should happen according to their nature. This reality makes it clear to him that he is not an unaccountable being and that he will inevitably face the consequences and repercussions of his actions. Quran here refers to reaching that understanding and becoming aware of the consequences, whether they lead to success or failure. This indicates that a sense of fear and hope arises within a person, acting as a driving force to purify their character despite their natural inclinations. When a person embraces faith, this very sense becomes associated with God. At that time, the Quran demands that the real motivator for adhering to good morals and avoiding bad conduct should solely be the love for God, seeking His pleasure, and fearing His displeasure. This is because He is the Knower of the unseen, Wise in His judgments, Aware of all secrets, and fully acquainted with every motion and aspect of the heart and sight.” (Meezan, pg 204)

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