|
All
praise is due to Allaah, Lord
of all the worlds. May peace and blessings of Allaah be upon the
Prophet, his household and companions.
Fellow
Muslims! I urge you and myself to fear Allaah. Fear Allaah and
seek for what is with Him. Do not let yourselves be deceived by
the life of this world for it only causes distress and difficulty.
May Allaah bless a slave who is given strength and uses it to
worship Allaah and a slave who is weak but refrains from all that
He forbids.
Brethren
in Faith! Every Muslim in every hour of his life owes a duty
to his Lord which he must carry out according to his capability
and this duty runs through his life. Allaah says,
“And
worship your Lord until there comes to you the certainty (i.e.
death)”
(Al-Hijr
15:99)
He
also says,
“Say:
Verily, my prayer, my sacrifice, my living and my dying are for
Allaah, the Lord of the Worlds. He has no partner.”
(Al-An‘aam
6:162-163)
This
is in addition to what Allaah endowed the Muslims with of blessed
seasons like the month of Ramadaan especially its last ten days
and the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah and the Day of ‘Arafah.
Hajj and its rites are additional blessings and reward. These
occasions necessitate that a wise Muslim do righteous deeds.
Fellow
Muslims! Dear Pilgrims of the House of Allaah! Righteous deeds
occupy great position in Islaam. It is always mentioned along with
eemaan in the Book of Allaah. Allaah says,
“And
he who works deeds of righteousness, while he is a believer, then
he will have no fear of injustice, nor of any curtailment (of his
reward)”
(Taahaa
20:112)
He
also says,
“Verily
those who believe (in the Oneness of Allaah) and do righteous
deeds, shall have Gardens of Paradise for their entertainment”
(Al-Kahf
18:107)
The
Qur’aan and Sunnah have detailed explanations for those
righteous good deeds, its fruits, its impacts and the causes for
its acceptance.
Brethren
in Islaam! Belief in the Oneness of Allaah, knowing the truth,
sincerity, adherence to Sunnah, eating lawful things and
repentance are all types of righteous deeds. Whoever knows Allaah
but does not know the truth will not benefit and whoever knows the
truth but does not know Allaah will not benefit. Also, whoever
knows Allaah, knows the truth and is sincere but is not on Sunnah
will not benefit. If he has all this but does not eat lawful
things and refrain from unlawful things and sins he will not
benefit.
Fellow
Muslims! No one should hope for acceptance of his deeds except
him who is sincere in his acts of worship, fears for his sins,
belittles his acts of worship and recognizes the greatness and
knowledge of Allaah.
Dear
Pilgrims! The righteous deeds should be free of all acts of shirk.
Allaah says,
“Whoever
hopes for the meeting with his Lord, let him work righteousness
and associate none as partner in the worship of his Lord.”
(Al-Kahf
18:110)
Good
deeds should also be free from innovation. The Prophet said,
“Whoever innovates anything in this religion of ours which is
not part of it, it will be rejected.” He also said, “Every
innovation is error and every error leads to Hell.” One must
follow the Messenger of Allaah in all acts of worship. Allaah
says,
“Say
(O Muhammad to mankind): If you really love Allaah , then follow
me, Allaah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allaah is
Oft-Forgiving, Most-Merciful.”
(Aal-‘Imraan
3:32)
It
is by following Sunnah that one can be fortified against
innovations.
Further,
sincerity is also a condition for the acceptance of good deeds.
Lack of sincerity of purpose is the great invalidator of any good
deed. The Prophet said, “Beware of hidden acts of shirk.
An example in this regard is a man who prays and endeavours to
perfect his prayer because he sees someone looking at him. That is
hidden shirk.” (Ibn Khuzaymah) If doing righteous
deeds for the sake of winning people’s attention is regarded as
showing off, working for personal worldly interest and not for the
sake of Allaah’s pleasure is more dangerous. It is indeed lack
of success and spiritual misery that leads man should do righteous
deeds for worldly gains.
Sincerity
means the agreement of deeds with intention. A sincere slave of
Allaah, carries out deeds of righteousness for the sake of Allaah,
whether he is seen by people or not; whether he gains anything of
this world or not, for he has no desire for anything except the
pleasure of Allaah and the Paradise. He never runs except from the
punishment of Allaah.
Dear
Pilgrims! The issue of intention is a critical and delicate
one. It is the basis for acceptance or rejection of any act and
the way to success and loss. Sufyaan Ath-Thawree said, “I have
never treated anything that is more difficult than my
intention.” Fear Allaah therefore, dear brethren, for what is
required of righteous deeds is good intention and sincerity.
Sincerity
provides one with power to establish the truth, to have patience
and constancy. It brings manifold favours from Allaah and turns
mere lawful things into acts of worship hence making the whole
life of a Muslim spent for Allaah alone.
Brethren
in faith! Earning lawful things follows sincerity in
importance, for Allaah is Good and does not accept but good
things. The good things are those declared so by Islaam and not by
human taste. Allaah says,
“Say:
Not equal are evil things and good things even though the
abundance of evil may please you. So fear Allaah, O men of
understanding that you may be successful.”
(Al-Maaidah
5:100)
Among
the qualities of the Prophet is that he did and enjoined only good
and pure things and prohibited filthy and bad things. A Muslim is
supposed to be clean and pure in heart, body and speech; clean in
heart because of the faith he has; clean in tongue because of the dhikr
he does; clean in body because of good deeds he performs. Among
things that assist one to do good deeds is eating lawful things,
for righteous deeds cannot become pure except through eating of halaal
and Allaah commands the believer to eat lawful things as He has
commanded the Messenger. He says,
“O
you who believe! Eat of the lawful things that we have provided
you with and be grateful to Allaah, if it is indeed He whom you
worship.”
(Al-Baqarah
2:172)
Do
not forget, dear brother, while you are doing good deeds to be
constant on that for the Messenger of Allaah has said, “The best
of deeds is the one done constantly, even if it is little.” Ibn
Al-Jawzee said, “The one who does good constantly is consistent
in serving his Lord, for the one who stays at the door at a
particular time each day is not like the one who stays for a whole
single day and then stops.” One should also endeavour to be
moderate, balanced and considerate of his duties and rights to
others, for “your soul has a
right upon you and your spouse has a right upon you so give each
of them its right.”
It
is not also proper for a Muslim to exert effort on some
acts of worship and neglect others for the Messenger of Allah
said, “Be on the right course, be closer to each other, give
glad tidings and make use of the morning and evening as well as a
slight part of the night for acts of worship and be moderate in
order to achieve your goal.”
These
are the righteous deeds and its conditions, Although man is
naturally faulty and all the children of Aadam commit mistakes,
but the best of these are those who repent, do good deeds, have
sincere hearts and serious aspirations, far from heedlessness and
selfishness, seek for Allaah’s pleasure and fear His punishment.
“Those
who live in awe for fear of their Lord; and those who believe in
the verses of their Lord; and those who join not anyone in worship
as partners with their Lord; and those who give charity with their
hearts full of fear (whether their charity have been accepted or
not) because they are sure to return to their Lord for
reckoning.”
(Al-Mu’minoon
23:57-61)
Brethren
in faith! Heedlessness is the head of all sins. Al-Hasaan said,
“The righteous deed is a light in the heart and a strength in
the body and sin is a darkness in the heart and a weakness in the
body. The darkness of sin blows out the light of righteousness.
Hasten, therefore, to do good deeds.”
Allaah
says,
“And
for this they should strive those who want to strive (i.e. hasten
to the obedience of Allaah).”
(Al-Mutaffifeen
83:26)
Hasten
to do righteous deeds for death may come suddenly while delaying
action is an entry of Satan. Hastening to do righteous deeds helps
one to carry out one’s obligations, pleases Allaah and erases
sins.
Dear
brethren! The righteous predecessors were fearful of this
verse, “Verily, Allaah accepts only from those who are
pious.”
Fear
Allaah then dear brethren and examine yourselves. How can a man
know Allaah and not fulfil his obligations to Him? How can one
claim to love the Prophet and yet not follow him? How can one read
the Qur’aan and not work by it? How can one live by the favour
of Allaah and yet not thank him; not take Satan as an enemy, not
work for Paradise and not prepare for death? How can he talk about
other people’s faults and forget his own? This person and people
like him are heedless and forgetful. Satan has deceived them and
made them forget the rememberance of Allaah. They will certainly
come to regret if they do not repent.
|