Sayyiduna Fadala bin Ubaid (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "O Allah! Whoever believes in You and bears witness that I am Your Messenger, make the meeting with You beloved to him, make Your decree (i.e., death) easy for him, and make the world little for him. And whoever does not believe in You and does not bear witness that I am Your Messenger, do not make the meeting with You beloved to him, do not make Your decree (i.e., his death) easy for him, and increase for him the worries and difficulties of (this) world."

Sayyiduna Sahl bin Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“The people of Paradise will look at those in the upper chambers (i.e., those who are in a higher rank than themselves) as you see a shining star on the horizon in the east or west. This is because of the difference in ranks between them.”The people asked: O Messenger of Allah! Will these be the special stations of the Prophets, which no one else will be able to reach? The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: Yes. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, there will be people who believed in Allah and affirmed the Messengers. (So they will receive this reward and recompense.)

Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: What is Allah’s right over His servants? The people replied: Allah and His Messenger know best. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: That people worship Allah and do not associate anyone with Him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: When they do this, then what right will those people have over Allah? The people replied: Allah and His Messenger know best. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (It is that) Allah will forgive them and not punish them.

(Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) In this narration, there is a clear statement that those narrations which we have mentioned earlier are concise and not detailed, and some branches of faith are such that when a person commits them, Paradise does not become obligatory for him at all times. Have you not considered that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has declared Allah’s right over the servants to be that they worship Him and do not associate anyone with Him? And the worship of Allah is affirmation by the tongue, confirmation by the heart, and action by the limbs. Then, when the Muslims asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about their right over Allah, they asked: What right will those people have over Allah when they do this? They did not say: What right will those people have over Allah when they say this. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not reject these words either. So, in what we have stated, there is a clear statement that Paradise does not become obligatory for a person who fulfills some branches of faith in all conditions; rather, every narration has its own generality, and the ruling has a specific context. As we have mentioned earlier.

Sayyiduna Awf bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Once, the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) camped at night, and each of us spread out the arm of his mount (i.e., began to rest). The narrator says: At some part of the night, I woke up and saw that there was no one in front of the camel of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). I set out to search for the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and I saw Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Qais (may Allah be pleased with him) standing. I asked: Where is the Messenger of Allah? Both of them replied: We do not know, but we heard a sound coming from the upper part of the valley. It was like the sound of a millstone turning. The narrator says: We stayed there for a while, then the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) came to us and said: An angel from my Lord came to me and gave me the choice between half of my Ummah entering Paradise without reckoning and intercession, or (absolutely) granting me intercession. So I chose intercession. The people said: O Messenger of Allah! We beseech you by Allah and by your companionship, include us among those who will be eligible for your intercession. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You will be eligible for my intercession. The narrator states: When those people mounted, the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I make all those present here witnesses that my intercession will be granted to every individual of my Ummah who dies in such a state that he does not associate anyone with Allah."

Sayyiduna Rifa’ah bin ‘Arabah Juhani, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates: We were returning from Makkah with the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. People began to seek permission from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, began granting them permission. Then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:“What is the matter, that the side of the tree closest to the Messenger of Allah is more disliked by you than the other side?”(Meaning, you do not wish to walk with me.) The narrator says: I saw every person present there weeping. The narrator says: Sayyiduna Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, began to say, I think that after this, whoever seeks permission from you will be foolish. Then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, stood up and praised and glorified Allah. Whenever he took an oath, he would say:“By the One in Whose hand is my soul.”(He said:)“I bear witness before Allah that whoever among you believes in Allah and then remains steadfast (i.e., continues to act upon Islamic commands), that person will enter Paradise. My Lord has promised me that He will admit seventy thousand individuals from my Ummah into Paradise without reckoning or punishment, and I hope that those people will not enter Paradise until you and your righteous wives and children reach your places in Paradise.”The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:“When half the night—(the narrator is unsure, perhaps these are the words)—when the night falls, Allah descends to the lowest heaven and says: I do not ask My servants about anyone other than Myself. Who is there who asks of Me, so I may grant him? Who is there who seeks forgiveness from Me, so I may forgive him? Who is there who supplicates to Me, so I may accept his supplication?”(The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says:) This continues until the break of dawn.

Sayyiduna Abu Dharr Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Jibreel came to me and gave me the glad tidings that whoever from my Ummah dies in such a state that he does not associate anyone with Allah, he will enter Paradise, even if he committed adultery or theft.”The narrator named Sulaiman says: I said to the narrator named Zaid: This narration has also been transmitted from Sayyiduna Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him). Imam Ibn Hibban (may Allah have mercy on him) says: The statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):“Whoever from my Ummah dies in such a state that he does not associate anyone with Allah, he will enter Paradise,”means: He has not committed any such act regarding which I have warned of entering Hell. Its second meaning is that whoever does not associate anyone with Allah and dies in that state will inevitably enter Paradise, even if, before entering Paradise, he is punished for a fixed period.

Abdur Rahman bin Ghanm narrates: He heard Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) relating this from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I said, "Tell me about an action that will admit me to Paradise." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You have asked about a great matter, and it is easy for the one for whom Allah makes it easy. Perform the obligatory prayers, give zakat, and do not associate anyone with Allah." (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) The statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Do not associate anyone with Allah" means the command to abandon shirk.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Allah smiles at two men, one of whom kills the other, yet both of them enter Paradise. One man is killed while fighting in the way of Allah, then Allah grants the killer the ability to repent, and he too is martyred while fighting in the way of Allah.”

Ubaidullah bin Abdullah narrates: Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: When the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away and after him Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) became the Caliph, some people from among the Arabs turned to disbelief. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Abu Bakr! How will you fight with the people when the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I have been commanded to fight the people until they testify that there is no deity except Allah. Whoever says: There is no deity except Allah, then he has protected his wealth and his life from me, except for its due right, and his reckoning is with Allah." Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: By Allah! I will fight with the one who differentiates between prayer and zakat. Indeed, zakat is the due right of wealth. By Allah! If they withhold from me even a young she-goat which they used to give to the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), I will fight them for withholding it. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I realized that Allah had opened the heart of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding fighting, and I came to know that this was the correct matter.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: When the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) became the Caliph, and some people among the Arabs turned to disbelief, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him): "How will you fight against these people when the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'I have been commanded to fight the people until they say: There is no deity except Allah. Whoever says: There is no deity except Allah, he will protect his wealth and his life from me, except for its due right, and his reckoning is with Allah the Exalted.'"

Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: "By Allah! I will surely fight against the one who differentiates between prayer and zakat. Indeed, zakat is the due right of wealth. By Allah! If they refuse to give me even a rope which they used to give to the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), I will fight them for their refusal."

Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says: "By Allah! I realized that Allah the Exalted had opened the chest of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding fighting, and I came to know that this stance was correct."