WOMEN OF PARADISE
The Quran describes all the essential qualities that a woman of Paradise must possess. These traits make a woman deserving of forgiveness and great reward. They guarantee her salvation from punishment in the Hereafter. According to the Quran (33:35 and 66:5), these qualities are as follows:
Faith, Islam, Devotion, Truthfulness, Patience, Humility, Charity, Fasting, Guarding Chastity, Remembrance of God, Repentance, Worship, and Spiritual Discipline.
1. Faith means the conscious recognition of the Creator and Master. That is, to discover one’s Lord in such a way that He becomes central to one’s thoughts, takes hold of the heart, and one’s entire personality becomes illuminated with divine light.
2. Islam means submission. It refers to making oneself obedient to God—living one’s life in accordance with God’s will. Every spoken or practical expression of your will should be exactly in line with what God has commanded.
3. Devotion (Qunoot) refers to sincere obedience. It means adopting the path shown by God and His Prophet with complete mental focus and wholehearted willingness. When obedience is accompanied by inner humility and inclination, it is called qunoot.
4. Truthfulness means alignment of word and deed. That is, to say only what you intend to do and to do only what you have said. Live among people as a woman of integrity and upright character.
5. Patience is a courageous trait. It means to remain firm in fulfilling the commands of religion even if it causes hardship. To persist in religious duties despite the temptations of the ego and Satan. To stay steadfast on God’s path despite opposing influences.
6. Humility (Khushu’) refers to modesty and submissiveness. It is the inner state that arises from recognizing the greatness and full authority of God. It causes the believer’s heart to tremble before Him, and their body to shiver in awe.
7. Charity means giving from one’s wealth to those in need. Just as your own needs compel you to spend on yourself, you should not remain indifferent to the needs of others.
8. Sawm (fasting) means to observe a fast for the sake of Allah. It is a form of training in gratitude. Fasting is, in essence, a way of putting oneself in a state where one becomes deeply aware of their dependence on God. Through this experience, a sense of thankfulness is awakened within the heart for the sustenance that God, from His treasury of mercy, has bestowed upon us.
9. Guarding Chastity (Hifz al-Furuj) literally means protecting one’s modesty. It refers to living a life of virtue and moral integrity, avoiding indecent acts, and fully respecting the natural veil of modesty that God has placed.
10. Remembrance of God (Dhikr Allah) means to recall God abundantly. Constant remembrance of God is a natural result of true awareness of Him. Whoever genuinely finds God begins to remember Him in every moment. Their soul becomes so filled with the thought of God that His remembrance continues repeatedly.
11. Repentance (Tawbah) literally means to return. That is, after committing a mistake, to turn back to the right path. This is a special quality of a believing woman. In this world of trials, everyone errs again and again. In such situations, a believing woman, after a moment of weakness, should feel the fear of divine accountability and immediately turn back to seek God’s forgiveness.
12. Worship (‘Ibadah) means acts of reverent submission. That is, devotional actions performed in recognition of God’s greatness and majesty. Such worship is permissible only for God. A woman of Paradise is one who has become a devotee of the One God alone.
13. Spiritual Discipline (Siyahah) refers to ascetic acts like fasting. Its essence is detachment from worldly things (zuhd). When the concern for the Hereafter becomes so dominant in a believing woman that she loses desire for worldly things and no longer finds delight in them, her life becomes one of spiritual discipline. This is what is referred to here as siyahah.
