Free from Psychological Complexes

To make oneself deserving of Paradise, one must try to forget bitter memories and rise above all kinds of negative feelings and psychological complexes.

According to a tradition, the Prophet of Islam once said of a man who passed by the place where he was sitting that he would go to Paradise. One of the men sitting with the Prophet started wondering what that special act was that had caused the Prophet of Islam to say that he would go to Paradise. Therefore, he went to the man’s house and, with his permission, stayed there for three days. On the third day, when he was leaving, the host enquired as to why he had come there. Then the guest told him what the Prophet had said about him, and that he had come there to watch what special thing he was doing, but he had not seen any special act which was greater than that of the common believer. Then the host replied, “I am as you saw me but there is one thing in me perhaps because of which the Prophet had spoken like this. It is that I don’t bear any malice toward anyone.” (Musnad Ahmad 12697)

In the modern world it happens repeatedly that one person has a grudge or a complaint against another. Living in society without complaints is not possible. Sometimes someone utters bitter words. Sometimes someone does not fulfil your expectations. Sometimes you are harmed by someone. Sometimes someone injures your ego or casts a slur upon your honour.

In this way bitter memories are often accumulated and to obliterate them is impossible. This is the point where a person is being tested. This is the point where he can make himself deserving of Paradise. To pass this test, a person must try to forget bitter memories and, even if he is reminded of them, he should not come under their influence. One who rises above these negative feelings, will be ushered into the gardens of Paradise.