Ta'lim : Part XX

Rasullullah Sallallahu alaihi wassalam (saw), peace be upon him said: “There are obstacles in the way of every action before it reaches Almighty Allah swt, but recitation of Laa illah haillallah and the prayer of a father in favor of his son go up to Him unchecked.”
Going unchecked up to Almighty Allah swt means that these two actions are accepted without any delay. Whereas there are intermediate stages for other deeds before they reach Allah swt, these two things go to Him directly.
There is a story of a Kaafir king, who was extremely cruel and bigoted against the Muslims. It was so happened that, he was captured alive in a battle against the Muslims. As he had caused a lot of sufferings to the Muslims, they were naturally very revengeful. They put him in a cauldron placed on fire. At first, he besought his idol gods for help, but finding no response from them he became a Muslim and started continuous recitation of Laa illah haillallah. How sincerely and devotedly he must have been reciting can well be imagined. At once help from Almighty Allah swt in the form of heavy rain, which extinguished the fire and cooled the cauldron. It was then followed by a powerful cyclone which carried away the cauldron and dropped it in a city inhabited by non-believers. He was still engaged in the recitation of the Kalimah. The people there were wonderstruck by this scene, and after listening to his whole story all of them embraced Islam.
In another hadith, Rasullullah saw (peace be upon him) says: “On the Day of Resurrection, Hell would be forbidden for all those who recited Laa Illah haillallah with the sole aim of earning the pleasure of Allah swt.”