People of Jannah...

Surah ‘Ali ‘Imran; 133-136 (133) وَسَارِعُوا إِلَىٰ مَغْفِرَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden as wide as the heavens and earth, prepared for the muttaqin (righteous,pious).

Surah ‘Ali ‘Imran; (134) الَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ فِي السَّرَّاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ وَالْعَافِينَ عَنِ النَّاسِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ Those who spend [in Allâh's Cause - deeds of charity, alms, etc.] in prosperity and in adversity, who repress anger, and who pardon men; verily, Allâh loves Al-Muhsinûn (the good doers).

Spending when it is easy and when it is difficult. People tend to show gratitude when things are good. We tend to have an attitude to give thanks when we are feeling good. But when things are bad, we feel like we're never going to get it (what we give) back. Whoever has taqwa Allah will make for him a way out. Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam promises us that our money will never experience loss when we give sadaqah. Everything we give will be returned to us eventually, and it will be returned and multiplied! All because of our taqwa to Allah. Giving for the sake of Allah subhana wa ta’ala is an opportunity to become more conscious of Allah’s presence. Thus, this strengthens our iman. Allah subhanah speaks to us in terms of trading for we can understand. Verily what we spend is not ours, even He owns our souls.
 

Yet Allah says, “If you loan Allah a goodly loan, He will multiply it for you and forgive you. And Allah is Most Appreciative and Forbearing.” (Surah at-Taghabun; 17) Indeed Allah knows that humans are greedy.

Note that in this ayah (‘Ali ‘Imran; 134) Allah does not mention what these people spend. Allah does not specify further thus it is not limited to wealth only. So what you spend here can also include your time, your energy. It includes your priority for you give, sacrifice, for you invest those you love for the sake of Allah to acquire this attribute of taqwa, and to attain His mercy — Jannah. The next characteristic: swallowing anger. And who restrain anger الْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ is to swallow anger. The important thing to understand is swallowing. For example when someone's eating an apple, you can see that the person is chewing it. But when someone swallows it, can you see if something's there? It's gone. But for us, sometimes when we try to restrain our anger, it still shows on our faces, we have a certain look that people can tell from or a certain behaviour when we're in anger. There's an expression of anger. The meaning from these ayah is those people completely restrain their anger as though nothing happens; as though nothing is wrong. They do not chew it, but swallow it completely. They do not express their anger and so there is no chance for the people around them to ask, ‘What’s going on?’ It doesn't even come to that point because they can't even see it in their faces. And they do this continuously, consistently. And the He says, who pardon the people - those who lovingly forgive the people over and over. You can forgive people and still be mean to them, by mentioning that they have wronged you. What do you achieve by saying that? You are silently insulting him/her. This is a show of arrogance. When you truly forgive someone it is in private. When you make du'a for yourself you make du'a for him too.

In the seerah, sometimes Rasulullah sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam was upset with the sahabah. Until the ayah came down- It is from the mercy of Allah that you are lenient towards them. If you were hard hearted and harsh and stern, they would have run away from you. The sahabah would have run away from Rasulullah. The sahabah who's iman is much greater than us! So when you truly forgive someone, do it completely,lovingly and privately and even they make du'a to ask Allah to forgive the people, and never recall to insult. They forgive not for those who don’t deserve, but solely for the sake of Allah. When someone has wronged you, assume that you have two choices: to continue showing your anger because that person deserves it, or, to forgive that person for the sake of Allah for you can attain His forgiveness? and Allah loves the doers of good; And truly Allah subhanah, our Lord, our Creator, loves those who excel in their deen. The 3 characteristics: -those who spend during ease and hardship, -those who swallows their anger, -and those who forgive (out of love). And Allah loves the muhsinin, those who excel in their deen. May Allah make us from them, ameen..

Muslims have to be more forgiving and loving... we can never judge a person and know where is a person's position with Allah. Maybe that person whom we are harsh to are much closer to Allah than ourselves... Some people even choose the masajid to pray at just because of differences in ideologies. There is a lack of priority which prevents us from thinking clearly. The next ayah, after Allah says run to forgiveness and jannah:
(135) وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُوا فَاحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُوا أَنفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا لِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَمَن يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا اللَّهُوَلَمْ يُصِرُّوا عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلُوا وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ And those who, when they have committed Fahishah (illegal sexual intercourse etc.) or wronged themselves with evil, remember Allâh and ask forgiveness for their sins; - and none can forgive sins but Allâh - And do not persist in what (wrong) they have done, while they know.

And those who, when they commit an immorality فَاحِشَةً means shamelessness, it can be by seeing, words, or eyes, or deeds, anything shameless to fulfill our lust. It is when you do something because you are overwhelmed by lust. And then the next kalimah 'Auzalamu anfusakum' means- or they've wronged themselves. something you do that does not bring any worldly benefit but you do it anyway, i.e jealousy, ghibah, etc. or wrong themselves [by transgression], zakarullah- Remember Allah (immediately) and seek forgiveness for their sins - Allah does not say ‘THEN remember Allah’. Sometimes when we have wronged someone, we tend to avoid them. Because we feel shamed to have acted in a bad way to them.

Syaitan uses this against us. In this condition, we are not doing wrong to our parents or teacher we can avoid, but we have disappointed Allah! While Allah is Most Forgiving. Another example is when a mother spanks a child. He cries, but who does he run to? His mother, who spanked him in the first place. Why? Because all the other people are strangers, and only she can protect him, even if she's mad at him. He still goes to her. Ponder that for a while. Why do we have to run away from Allah? Everyone who has sinned, there is still hope :) So those people mentioned in this ayah — as soon as they did wrongdoing, they remember and mention Allah simultaneously, immediately. And who can forgive sins except Allah? and [who] do not persist in what they have done while they know. إِلَّا اللَّهُوَلَمْ يُصِرُّوا عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلُوا وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ When these people sincerely make tawba, they do not insist upon what they had done. Although one day they would do the sin again, it would be unintentional deed and they would immediately remember Allah and seek forgiveness. When we have sinned, and we ask forgiveness from Allah, we would feel shame.

We have done something hideous and we mention his name, we would feel shame if our tawba is genuine. When you say sorry to someone, you look sorry, you feel sorry. Even more so when we ask Allah for His forgiveness... May Allah gift us with understanding of this deen.
(136) أُولَٰئِكَ جَزَاؤُهُم مَّغْفِرَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَجَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ وَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعَامِلِينَ 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.
Notice that these characteristics of the people of Jannah are ‘sandwiched’ by the mention of Jannah. SubhanAllah!

May Allah make us among these people. Ameen ya Rabbal ‘alameen.