WHAT IS SAWAB?
So, you might have read the other articles on this website and may have been wondering "What exactly is sawab?"
Or maybe you already know what it is but would like to know more about it!
Either way, this section will (InshAllah) help you understand sawab a little better.
This section explains the backstory behind why we must earn sawab.
If you would like to skip to the explanation of sawab, please click HERE.
If you would like to skip to the explanation of sawab, please click HERE.
Now, to understand sawab, you must first understand the story of Prophet Adam (Peace be Upon Him).
We will (InshAllah) out up the detailed story about him soon. But for now, here is a brief explanation.
Prophet Adam (Peace be Upon Him) was the very first human Allah (The Almighty) created.
Before creating humans, Allah (The Almighty) had created other creatures such as the angels and jinns (genies).
One of these jinns did ibadath (worship) so well, that Allah (The Almighty) let him stay with the angels!
The angels never disobey Allah (The Almighty) because this is how Allah (The Almighty) has created them.
This jinn was named Iblis, later known as Shaitan (Satan/Devil).
Now, how did someone, who worshiped Allah (The Almighty) so well that Allah (The Almighty)let him stay
with the angels, become someone who misguides others from the path of Allah (The Almighty)?
When Allah (The Almighty) created Prophet Adam (Peace be Upon Him),
The Almighty added some of His noor (think of this as Allah's brightness/light) into him.
When Prophet Adam (Peace be Upon Him) was created,
Allah (The Almighty) told the angels and Iblis to bow down to Prophet Adam (Peace be Upon Him).
NOTE: Normally, we are not supposed to bow down to anyone other than Allah (The Almighty).
However, since Allah (The Almighty) had put His noor into Prophet Adam (Peace be Upon Him),
Allah instructed the angels and Iblis to bow down to him.
However, since Allah (The Almighty) had put His noor into Prophet Adam (Peace be Upon Him),
Allah instructed the angels and Iblis to bow down to him.
Immediately, all the angels bowed to Prophet Adam (Peace be Upon Him), as Allah (The Almighty) ordered.
But Iblis refused to bow down, and said that he (Iblis) was basically better than Prophet Adam (Peace be Upon Him). Iblis' refusal to obey Allah (The Almighty) resulted in him getting banned from Jannah (Paradise).
Because of this, Iblis challenged Allah that humans would not obey Allah and that he would misguide them to Hell (Allah Forbid).
After that, Shaitan misguided Prophet Adam (Peace be Upon Him) and his wife, Eve (Peace be Upon Her),
into eating a forbidden fruit that Allah (The Almighty) had told them not to eat.
As punishment, Allah (The Almighty) sent Prophet Adam (Peace be Upon Him) and his wife to Earth as a test.
The test is to do good deeds and listen to Allah (The Almighty) and not be misguided by Shaitan, in order to enter Jannah (Parasise).
Now that you know the story behind why we must earn sawab in the first place,
we can know talk in more detail about the "system" of sawab in a way that will be easy to understand (InshAllah).