The Forty Hadiths of al-Nawawi
On the authority of Abu ‘Abdullah Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah al-Ansari, may Allah be pleased with them both,
that a man asked the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, saying:
"Do you see that if I perform the prescribed prayers, fast Ramadan, treat the lawful as permissible,
and treat the forbidden as prohibited, and do not add anything to that,
shall I enter Paradise?" He replied, "Yes." Narrated by Muslim.
The meaning of "treating the forbidden as prohibited" is that he avoided it, and the meaning of "treating the lawful as permissible"
is that he performed it while believing in its lawfulness. And Allah knows best.
The hadith clarifies that the path to Paradise is clear and accessible,
based upon realizing the oneness of Allah (Tawhid) and performing the obligatory duties that Allah has imposed upon His servants.
Entering Paradise is not achieved through complex deeds,
but rather by upholding the pillars of Islam with sincerity and uprightness.
The hadith emphasizes that the greatest means by which a servant draws near to Allah
is by adhering to the obligatory duties before expanding into supererogatory acts,
because the obligatory duties are the foundation of religious integrity and a person's salvation in the Hereafter.