Broke his Sheath

Abu Bakr ibn Abdullah ibn Qays said that he heard his father say whilst he was facing the enemy: "The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, 'Verily the Gates of Paradise are under the shades of swords', so a man with a shabby appearance stood up and said: 'O Abu Musa - did you hear the Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) say this?' He said, 'Yes', so he returned to his companions and said, 'I send my (farewell) Salaam to you', then he broke the sheath of his sword, threw it away, went with his sword to the enemy and fought with it until he was killed." [Sahih Muslim]

Note that the man with the shabby appearance first asked, "Did you hear the Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) say this?" So the first thing that we should do is remove all that is not authentically attributed to the Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) - so that we do not act upon anything unless it is verified to be from Islam. Should we not be more enthusiastic than this man in doing this, for he was living in the best of eras?

Then, after he removed this important barrier, the man broke the sheath of his sword - not even thinking about returning. Similarly, the great Companion who asked the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) about his place if he were killed (in fighting), as soon as he heard about Paradise, threw away the dates that were in his hand and rushed into the battle. He only did this because he believed that these dates would delay and hinder him from entering Paradise. Dates are from that which Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) has made halal - so what about those haram things that hold us back and keep us from responding to Allah's call?