The Faces of Heaven Inhabitants (By KH Bachtiar Nasir)

By: KH Bachtiar Nasir (Leader of Ar-Rahman Qur’anic Learning (AQL) Islamic Center)

Quran Surah al-Ghasyiyyah verses 8 to 10

وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَاعِمَةٌ
لِسَعْيِهَا رَاضِيَةٌ
فِي جَنَّةٍ عَالِيَةٍ

Meaning: “Many faces on that day will be radiant. Feel happy for the effort. In high heaven.”

Every action or effort we make in this world will surely be rewarded by Allah Subhanahu Aa Ta’ala in the hereafter.

On that day, there were those who saw “wujuhuy yauma idzin khoosyiah” (bowed face, humiliated) and some were seen “wujuhuy yauma idzin naa’imah” (a radiant face). Some are downcast and some are beaming with joy.

Of course, very lucky people whose faces are radiant, because their practice and endeavors to reach the pleasure of Allah in the world, are accepted by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala. This is the face of the prospective inhabitants of heaven.

Then what are the conditions for our faces to be radiant when we meet Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala in the afterlife? There are four things that we must strive for while living on earth.

First, faith. In the life of the world, on the face of a pious person, there is a light that hints at him as a candidate for the inhabitants of heaven. The radiance actually comes from the faith that underlies every good deed he does.

Faith itself is proven by word and deed. Expressing faith verbally for people who are not born as Muslims, really requires sacrifice. This is evidence for the faith declared orally.

After verbally, faith must also be proven by deeds. For example prayer. In prayer, there are two pillars, namely the pillars of fi’liyah which means actions and the pillars of qauliyah which are words. Both must be done.

Second, be sincere. After faith by word and deed; The next foundation of righteous deeds is sincerity. Sincere, actually is doing everything only for Allah Subhanallahu wata’ala alone. In practice, sincere people often hide their righteous deeds. This is because he does not want his sincerity to be contaminated with the desire to be appreciated by others.

However, sincerity alone is not enough. This is because, many of us when worshiping only follow feelings, but lack knowledge. So, it is not in accordance with the guidance of the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam.

Following the guidance of the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alaihi wasallam is the third condition. Thus, doing a righteous deed must initially be oriented to sincerity for the sake of Allah and then, must be accompanied by knowledge that is in accordance with the guidance of the Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alaihi wasallam. These are the steps we must take in doing the best of charity.

The fourth condition, oriented to the hereafter. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala says in Surah Al Isra ‘verse 19:

وَمَنْ اَرَادَ الْاٰخِرَةَ وَسَعٰى لَهَا سَعْيَهَا وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَاُولٰۤىِٕكَ كَانَ سَعْيُهُمْ مَّشْكُوْرًا

“And whoever desires the hereafter and strives towards it earnestly, while he is a believer; then they are the ones whose efforts are well rewarded.”

The highest vision of a Muslim in the life of this world is the hereafter. However, unfortunately, most humans live their lives in the world as described in Surah Al Kahf verse 104.

اَلَّذِيْنَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِى الْحَيٰوةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُوْنَ اَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُوْنَ صُنْعًا

“(That is) people whose actions in the life of this world are in vain, while they think they have done their best.”

This is a wretched man, his best efforts just stalled for the world. In the eyes of God, their actions are in vain. When one has no afterlife orientation; do not have a vision of the future to get to heaven, so at night only used to sleep.

Whereas with a lot of sleep, automatically the privilege of being a servant at night will be lost. Or, because they are too busy with business and career matters, then sleep too late.

So that the time for tahajjud has passed. The morning was too late. The special times of a third of the night were gone. However, this is not the case with the hard worker who is oriented towards the afterlife, sleeping late no matter what and in any tired condition he will still keep his special time with Allah in the last third of the night.

That is, this is where the strength of our way of thinking will support the consistency and productivity of a Muslim to continue to do good deeds that will lead him to set foot in heaven.

Most of us are oriented to be rich. However, not many people are aware of the hadith of the Prophet sallallaahu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam which describes that the rich can only enter heaven after being selected for 500 years; after the poor believer who enters heaven.

That is, here is our way of thinking or our mindset about wealth that must be changed with an afterlife orientation mindset. So, be a rich person whose entire assets and soul are for the afterlife, such as Abu Bakr ra, Uthman bin Affan ra, and Abdurrahman bin Auf ra.

Finally, let us always remember that the world is short. Therefore, let us tread life with the four things above, namely faith, sincerity, following the sunnah of the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wasallam, and oriented to the hereafter. With Allah’s permission, our faces will be radiant in the hereafter and our life in this world will also be happy. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)