Heavenly Personality

A heavenly personality is free from all kinds of negative feelings: he is free from hatred, revenge, anger and does good turns, only as a duty without any hope of recompense.

Abu Hurayrah, a Companion of the Prophet, narrated a tradition of the Prophet in these words: “Such people will go to Paradise whose hearts are like the hearts of birds.” (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2840)

The bird may be an animal, but it has an exceptional quality which is not found in any other animal and, that is that the bird is free of all feelings of hatred and revenge. All other animals possess the instinct of defensive attack. But the bird is totally free of this. Look at the bird. You will find it to be innocence incarnate. That is why the pigeon is held to be a symbol of peace. According to this hadith, it is this quality which is required of one who is a seeker of Paradise.

The Hadith shows that a heavenly person is one who is free from all kinds of negative feelings. While the bird possesses positive qualities as a matter of instinct, the heavenly person acquires these positive qualities by the exercise of free will.

A heavenly man is one who trains himself in such a way that his heart is free from hatred, revenge and every other such negative influence. He refrains from anger, he does not react negatively, he does good turns without any hope of recompense. He lives with others as if they were sisters and brothers, he shuns the company of Satan and makes the Angels his companions. He fulfils the rights of others and asks for his rights only from God (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 7052). Such are the superior qualities which will entitle one to gain entry into Paradise.