he had cut away from the middle of the road because it used to harm the Muslims.’ Narrated by Muslim.

Another wording says: ‘A man passed by a branch lying across a road and declared, “By Allah, I shall remove this from the Muslims’ path so it does not hurt them,” whereupon he was admitted to Paradise.’

A further version recorded by both of them states: ‘While a man was walking along a road, he found a thorny branch blocking the way. He pushed it aside, and Allah appreciated his deed and forgave him.’

[Explanation]
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—relates from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘I was shown a man turning about in Paradise because of a tree he had cut away from the middle of the road that had been harming the Muslims.’ In another narration, the report mentions that he entered Paradise and Allah forgave him for removing a branch from the Muslims’ path, whether that branch had been hanging overhead, striking their heads, or lying on the ground, injuring their feet. What matters is that it was a thorny limb harming the Muslims; he removed it, pushed it aside, and distanced it. Allah thanked him for that act and admitted him to Paradise. Although the branch harmed only their bodies, Allah still forgave the man and granted him Paradise. This demonstrates the merit of clearing harmful objects from the road and that it is a means of entering Paradise.

The report also proves that Paradise exists even now, for the Prophet ﷺ saw the man roaming within it. Both Quran and Sunnah establish this, and it is unanimously affirmed by Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaʿah: Paradise is presently in existence. Allah the Exalted says, ‘Hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden as wide as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the mindful’ (Al ʿImran 3:133). “Prepared” means already made ready, indicating its current existence—just as the Fire also exists now. Neither of them will ever cease to be. Allah created them to endure, and those who enter them will not perish. Whoever is of the people of Paradise will remain therein forever and ever, and whoever is of the people of the Fire from among the disbelievers will likewise abide therein eternally.

This ḥadith further shows that anyone who removes harm from the Muslims earns this immense reward for a physical act—so how much greater must the reward be for removing harm in matters of belief and meaning? There are, may Allah protect us, some people of evil and affliction, with wicked ideas and vile manners, who divert people