Choose the fate of your soul
Choose Freedom or Destruction
Every morning, you decide the fate of your soul
Imam Muslim narrated a long hadith on the authority of Abu Malik al-Ash‘ari رضي الله عنه, one of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ. Abu Malik and Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari are two different companions. It is Abu Malik who narrated this hadith, and the part we are focusing on today is where the Prophet ﷺ says,
“Each morning, every human being trades with his own soul, either liberating it or destroying it.” (Sahih Muslim)
The Prophet ﷺ is opening a window for us onto the unseen. We have no idea that every morning this trade is taking place. But out of his mercy, he wants us to understand how to make the best trade.
He used the word bā’iʿ (بائع), someone who sells. Why? Well, why do most of us go to work in the morning? You run a business. You earn your living. You get up in the morning and go to work, nine to five. We have some exceptions, of course, but let’s leave those aside.
So every morning you have a choice. As the Prophet ﷺ tells us, you can do one of two things. You can trade your soul with Allah and free yourself from His punishment by following His commands. Or you can do the opposite and destroy yourself.
Which path will you choose?
Having mentioned selling, the Prophet ﷺ used two words. The first is muʿtiquhā (مُعْتِقُهَا), setting it free. It’s the word we use for freeing a slave. So when you do this business with Allah, you are working to free yourself from His punishment. How do you do that? We’ll come to that later, insha’Allah.
Or you choose the other path. The word the Prophet ﷺ used here is mūbiquhā (مُوبِقُهَا). It comes from the verb awbaqa (أَوْبَقَ), which means ahlaka (أَهْلَكَ), to destroy. From that very root we have al-sabʿ al-mūbiqāt (السَّبْعُ الْمُوبِقَاتِ), the seven destructive sins. These are among the major sins. Why did he ﷺ use that word? Because of what sin can destroy. It can destroy the person and ruin his akhirah, his life to come.
You choose which path you follow. You have freedom of choice, but you need to know the consequences of each choice. This is why Allah sent messengers and prophets in the first place, to warn people against what leads them to the Fire.
Even his own daughter Fatimah
When the Prophet ﷺ received the ayah, “And warn your closest relatives” (Surah Ash-Shu‘ara, 26:214), he went up Mount Safa in Makkah. He began calling out to the tribes, one by one, and they gathered around him. He told them,
“Redeem yourselves from Allah’s punishment. I cannot protect you in the slightest against Allah’s punishment.” (Sahih Bukhari)
He called members of his own family. Among them was Fatimah, his own daughter, the most beloved to his heart. He ﷺ said to her,
“O Fatimah, redeem yourself. I cannot protect you against Allah’s punishment.” (Sahih Bukhari)
You can see his concern for them in another example the Prophet ﷺ gave. A man lights a fire in the evening, and moths and insects begin to gather around it. Out of compassion, the man tries to keep them away. But they get past him and throw themselves into the very fire he is trying to save them from.
The Prophet ﷺ said,
“I hold you by your belts to keep you away from the Fire, but you break away and throw yourselves into it.” (Sahih Bukhari)
He is holding on to them, trying to pull them back. And he is sad because they are not listening.
No small print when you deal with Allah
Allah puts it beautifully in the Qur’an. He says,
“Allah has bought from the believers their souls and their wealth in exchange for Jannah.” (Surah At-Tawbah, 9:111)
If you accept the trade, then, as with every trade, you have a contract. There are terms and conditions to fulfil. No small print when you deal with Allah. Clarity is a key word. Allah says,
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ رَسُولٍ إِلَّا بِلِسَانِ قَوْمِهِ لِيُبَيِّنَ لَهُمْ
“We only ever sent a messenger in the language of his people, so he could make things clear to them.” (Surah Ibrahim, 14:4)
Clear about what? About what is right and what is wrong. Allah is telling the believers that they can make a trade with Him. What do they give? Their souls and their wealth. And what does Allah offer them in return? Jannah. At the end of that same ayah, Allah says,
“Rejoice in the bargain you have made with Him. That is the supreme triumph.” (Surah At-Tawbah, 9:111)
If they are ready, they can sign the contract and fulfil its conditions. Otherwise, they can do business with Shaytan. And Shaytan has his contract, by the way. It’s much, much easier to fulfil the conditions of his contract. All you need to do is let yourself go. Follow your whims and desires.
طَرِيقُ الْجَنَّةِ حَزْنٌ بِرَبْوَةٍ، وَطَرِيقُ النَّارِ سَهْلٌ بِسَهْوَةٍ
“The way to Jannah is a rugged path uphill, and the way to the Fire is smooth and easy.” (Quoted by al-Qurtubi in Al-Mufhim)
The way to Jannah is like a steep hill. You need to climb. The way to Jahannam is like a slippery slope. You let yourself go, aʿūdhu billāh, and you get there. You don’t need to sign any contract. Just let your whims and desires control you. Listen to your desires. Do whatever they tell you. You get to Jahannam easily. Getting to Jannah is the big deal.
This is why the Prophet ﷺ is telling us that every morning we make a choice. Either you take the path to Jannah or you take the path to Jahannam. Either you do business with Allah or you do business with Shaytan. You choose.
What would you sell your soul for?
This hadith is among the jawāmiʿ al-kalim, the concise, comprehensive sayings of the Prophet ﷺ. Imam an-Nawawi included it in his Forty Hadith. Many scholars have commented on it, and the best commentary is that of Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, Jāmiʿ al-ʿUlūm wa-l-Ḥikam. A beautiful commentary. It’s been translated into English, and you can read it online.
Ibn Rajab draws our attention to those few words of the Prophet ﷺ. A person sells his soul, “either setting it free or destroying it”. Obeying Allah sets the soul free. Following Shaytan and giving in to every desire brings it to ruin. Another narration brings out the meaning of setting it free,
“People set out in the morning. One sells his soul and brings it to ruin, while another pays its ransom and sets it free.” (Tabarani)
Allah says,
“By the soul and the One who fashioned it, and inspired it to know its wickedness and its taqwa. Successful indeed is the one who purifies it, and the one who buries it has failed.” (Surah Ash-Shams, 91:7–10)
Ibn Rajab draws attention to that image of burying something in the earth. Obedience cleanses the soul and raises it. When a person persists in disobedience, he pushes his soul further down. What would it mean to lose that bargain? Allah says,
“Say, ‘The true losers are those who lose themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection.’ That is the clear loss.” (Surah Az-Zumar, 39:15)
And who gains? Allah describes the person who willingly gives himself for His sake,
“Among the people is one who sells himself seeking Allah’s pleasure. And Allah is most kind to His servants.” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:207)
Some of the early Muslims took this very much to heart. Ibn Rajab mentions Habib Abu Muhammad, who gave away all his wealth, and Khalid al-Tahawi, who gave his own weight in silver several times. Others devoted themselves to good deeds. ‘Amr ibn ‘Utbah used to say, “I am a captive working to buy my freedom.”
Abu Bakr ibn ‘Ayyash remembered a man who spoke to him when he was young. He told him to do all he could in this life to free himself from captivity in the next. “By Allah,” he said, “I never forgot it.”
Al-Hasan al-Basri put it in terms that anyone who goes out to earn a living can understand,
“Son of Adam, you go out in the morning and return in the evening seeking a profit. Let your concern be your own soul. You will never gain anything like it.” (Ibn Rajab, Jāmiʿ al-ʿUlūm wa-l-Ḥikam)
One of the early Muslims would weep and say, “I don’t have two souls. I have only one. If I lose it, I won’t find another.” A poet quoted by Ibn Rajab asks what the whole world could offer in exchange for that one soul. Suppose you sell it for something you want in this life. One day, what you bought will be gone. And what will have become of the soul you gave for it?
Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah said,
“Allah has made Jannah the price of your souls, so do not sell them for anything less.” (Ibn Rajab, Jāmiʿ al-ʿUlūm wa-l-Ḥikam)
How do we redeem ourselves before Allah?
So we have that choice. But how do we fulfil the conditions? How do we gain Allah’s pleasure and enter Jannah?
The answer is in the opening of the very same hadith. I deliberately left it until now to show you the way the Prophet ﷺ set out for us. In that hadith of Abu Malik al-Ash‘ari, the Prophet ﷺ says,
الطُّهُورُ شَطْرُ الْإِيمَانِ، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ تَمْلَأُ الْمِيزَانَ، وَسُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ تَمْلَآنِ أَوْ تَمْلَأُ مَا بَيْنَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ نُورٌ، وَالصَّدَقَةُ بُرْهَانٌ، وَالصَّبْرُ ضِيَاءٌ، وَالْقُرْآنُ حُجَّةٌ لَكَ أَوْ عَلَيْكَ، كُلُّ النَّاسِ يَغْدُو فَبَائِعٌ نَفْسَهُ فَمُعْتِقُهَا أَوْ مُوبِقُهَا.
“Purification is half of faith. Alhamdulillah fills the Scale. SubhanAllah and Alhamdulillah fill, or each fills, the space between the heavens and the earth. Prayer is light, charity is proof, and patience is illumination. The Qur’an is evidence for you or against you. Each morning, every person goes out and sells his soul, either setting it free or bringing it to ruin.” (Sahih Muslim)
In another narration, Abu Malik al-Ash‘ari reports that performing wudu thoroughly is half of faith, that tasbih and takbir fill the heavens and the earth, and that zakat is proof. It ends with the same choice we face each morning. (Tirmidhi, Nasa’i and Ibn Majah)
So every morning, how do you start? How do you do business with Allah Almighty? The Prophet ﷺ mentioned seven things.
1. You start with purification. Purity is half your faith. The scholars spoke here about inward and outward purity. Inwardly, there is your intention and your tawhid, your belief in the oneness of Allah. Outwardly, you wash and make your wudu. The water cleanses your body, and what you say and do for Allah cleanses your heart. Some scholars also understood faith here as a reference to salah, as in the ayah, “Allah would never let your faith go to waste” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:143). Here, faith refers to the believers’ prayers. And how do you prepare for prayer? You purify yourself.
2. Then comes gratitude to Allah. You say Alhamdulillah. All praise belongs to Allah. How long does it take to say those words? Yet their reward fills the Scale on the Day of Judgement. When you say them, remember what Allah has given you and praise Him with love and gratitude.
3. And then tasbih. You say SubhanAllah. You declare that Allah is free from every imperfection. The Prophet ﷺ mentioned these two phrases together, SubhanAllah and Alhamdulillah, and told us that they fill the space between the heavens and the earth.
4. And then salah. You enter into this deal with Allah by praying your salah. The Prophet ﷺ called prayer nūr, light. What does a light do for you? It helps you see where you are going. In the same way, salah helps you see the right course and turn away from wrongdoing. Through regular, sincere prayer, you keep your connection with Allah.
5. And sadaqah. The Prophet ﷺ called charity burhān, proof. You have wealth that you love, and you give some of it to someone who needs it because you want Allah’s pleasure. Your giving bears witness to your faith. When you are asked how you spent your wealth, you can say, “I gave it in charity.”
6. And sabr. For patience, the Prophet ﷺ used a different word, ḍiyā’, illumination. Think of sunlight. You feel its heat as well as seeing by its light. There is effort in sabr. Sometimes it takes patience to keep doing what Allah asks of you. Sometimes it takes patience to hold yourself back from something you want. And sometimes it takes patience to bear what has happened to you.
7. And the Qur’an. The Qur’an can be evidence for you or against you. You recite it, you reflect on what Allah is saying to you, and you put it into practice. When you read an ayah and recognise something in your own life, do you act on what you have read? This is how the Qur’an can speak in your favour on the Day of Judgement.
So the Prophet ﷺ mentioned seven things. These are the seven conditions of this contract. Fulfil these seven and, insha’Allah ta‘ala, you will reach Jannah.
Our dear Prophet ﷺ is teaching us how to run our day, every day. He is teaching us how to be close to Allah and how to keep ourselves from destruction by following His commands. Then we will be among those who have done business with Allah. And it is the most profitable business, the one that will last.
May Allah grant Jannah to all of us. Ameen.
Based on the Khutbah of Shaykh Haytham Tamim on 13th October 2026.