By contrast, whoever swears an oath against Allah—presuming upon His prerogative, exalting himself, and looking down on His servants—Allah will not fulfill that oath, for such a person is a wrongdoer. One illustration is the story of a devout worshiper who walked past a man given to sin and declared, “By Allah, Allah will never forgive So-and-so!” Why did he swear so? Is forgiveness in his hands? Is mercy his to dispense? Thereupon Allah, exalted is He, said, “Who is this who dares to swear by Me that I will not forgive So-and-so? I have indeed forgiven him and have nullified your deeds.” What a dreadful outcome—may Allah protect us! Allah did not honor his oath; instead, He rendered his deeds void because the man spoke out of self-admiration, vanity, and arrogance toward the servants of Allah.

Now consider the report of Usāmah ibn Zayd: the Prophet ﷺ said, “I stood at the gate of Paradise and saw that the majority of those who had entered were the destitute.” In other words, most of the inhabitants of Paradise are the poor, for they are generally closer to worship and fear of Allah than the wealthy—“No indeed! Man surely transgresses when he sees himself self-sufficient” (Q 96:6–7). The affluent man feels self-sufficient because of his wealth and is, on average, less devoted to worship than the poor, even though some rich people do surpass many of the poor in devotion. He added, “Whereas the people of fortune are being held back,” meaning the well-to-do are detained and have not yet entered Paradise; the poor will precede them. “Meanwhile, those destined for the Fire have already been ordered to the Fire.”