Your Own Sins and Shortcomings Need Your Attention

Ibnul-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (Rahimahullah) said:

❝If Allah wants well for a slave, He strips away from his heart the ability to see his own good deeds and speaking about them with his tongue (or having awareness of them while dealing with others),

and He preoccupies him with seeing his own sin, and it (his sins) continues to remain in front of his eyes until he enters jannah❞

[Tareeq al-Hijratain, 1/168-169]

{الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ}

Who believe in the Ghaib (unseen, Paradise, Hell, Angels, Devils etc.) and perform as-Salat, and spend out of what we have provided for them [i.e. give Zakat, not hoard; spend on themselves, in what improves their life and afterlife; spend on their parents, their children, their wives, etc., and also give charity to the poor and also in Allah's Cause, etc.].

[Surah al-Baqarah, 2:3]

Beauty Through Good Deeds

Verily, good deeds bring brightness upon the face, a light in the heart, an expanse of provision, strength in the body, and love in the hearts of the creation.

And evil deeds bring darkness upon the face, darkness in the grave and in the heart, weakness in the body, a restriction of provision, and hatred in the hearts of the creation.

[Ibn al-Qayyim (Rahimahullah) reported from Ibn Abbas (RaḍiyAllāhu 'anh), al-Jawāb al-Kāfī, 1/54]

Behave well in your private life and Allaah will make your public life excellent.

Take care of what is between you and Allaah, and he will take care of what is between you and the people.

Work for your Hereafter and Allaah will suffice your affairs in this world.

Sell your worldly life for your Hereafter and you will profit in them both together, and do not sell your Hereafter for your worldly life or you will lose them both together.

[Source: Sufyan ath-Thawri (Rahimahullah), Ḥilyat al-Awliyā 7/35]

When one of them is punished for a sin he committed, such a person cries out in contempt, “Ya Rabb for what sin have I deserved this punishment?”

And he forgets his previous sins for which the earth would shake due to the greatness of such sins!

[Captured Thoughts by Imām Ibn al-Jawzī (rahimahullah), pg. 83]

Looking at (indulging in) falsehood (disobedience) abundantly, takes away the recognition of truth from the heart.

[Ibraheem ibn Adham (rahimahullah), al-Hilyah, 8/22]

Read: Shrunken or Shortened Clothing in a Dream

Imam Ibn Hibban (rahimahullah) said:

Being quick to anger is a characteristic of fools,

just as avoiding it is a characteristic of the wise,

and anger is the seed of regret.

[The Garden of the Wise and the Meadows of the Virtuous, 139, Ibn Hibbaan (rahimahullah)]

Giving Charity on Fridays

● Ka'b al-Ahbar (rahimahullah) said:

The sun has neither risen nor set on a day greater than the day of Friday,

and charity given on it is greater than on other days.

[Sahih Musannaf of 'Abd Ar-Razzaq (rahimahullah), 5558]

● al-A‘mash narrated from Mujahid, from ‘Abdullah ibn Damrah,

from Ka‘b (rahimahumullah) who said:

Charity is multiplied on Friday.

[Musannaf ibn Abi Shaybah, 2/57, no. 6, Maktabah Islamiyyah]

● Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullah) said:

Giving charity on Friday has a special merit compared to other days,

just as giving charity during the month of Ramadan has a higher merit compared to the rest of the year.

I witnessed Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullah)

when he would go out for Jumuaah,

he would take whatever he found at home—be it bread or anything else—and give it as charity in secret on his way.

I heard him say:

“If Allah commanded us to give charity before consulting with the Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) (58:12),

then giving charity before consulting with Allah is even more virtuous and deserving of merit.”

[Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullah), Zaad al-Maad, 1/399]

● Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullah) said:

If the one giving charity

knew

that his charity landed in the Hand of Allah,

before the hand of the poor person,

the pleasure of the giver would be greater than the pleasure of the receiver.

[Ibn ul-Qayyim (rahimahullah), paraphrased from al-Wabil al-Sayyib, al-Madarij as-Salikeen, 1/26]

Abu Huraira (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) reported Allah's Messenger (sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) as saying:

No one gives sadaqah (charity) of a date out of his honest earning, except that Allah accepts it with His Right Hand, and then fosters it as one of you fosters the colt or a young she-camel, till it becomes like a mountain or even greater.

[Sahih Muslim, 1014b, Book 12, Hadith 80]

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (radiyallahu ‘anhu) said:

“Charity (sadaqah) reaches (lit. falls into) the Hand of Allah before it falls into the hand of the one who asks for it.” (i.e., Allah Ta’ala accepts it), he (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) then recited the Verse:

{(Do they not know that Allah) accepts repentance from His servants and takes their charities”} — Surah Tawbah, 9:104

[Tafsir at-Tabari (rahimahullah); Jami’ul Bayan, Surah Tawbah, Verse: 104, vol. 11, pg. 666, see also: Majma az-Zawaid, vol. 3, pg. 111, Hadith: 4677]

Abu Hurairah (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) narrated that :

the Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said:

"Indeed Allah accepts charity, and He accepts it with His Right (Hand) to nurture it for one of you, just like one of you would nurture his foal, until the bite (of food) becomes as large as Uhud."

[Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 662, Chapter 28: What Has Been Related About the Virtue of Charity, Graded: Hasan Sahih]

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (radiyAllahu ‘anhu):

"Indeed, charity* (sadaqah) reaches (lit. falls into) the Hand of Allah before it reaches the hand of the one who asks,"

then he recited:

{And He it is Who accepts repentance* from His servants} — ash-Shura: 25, the verse.

[al-Muj’am al-Kabir at-Tabarani (rahimahullah), 8571]

Provision and Spending

{قُلْ إِنَّ رَبِّي يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ وَيَقْدِرُ لَهُ وَمَا أَنفَقْتُم مِّن شَيْءٍ فَهُوَ يُخْلِفُهُ وَهُوَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ}

Say: "Truly, my Lord enlarges the provision for whom He wills of His slaves,

and (also) restricts (it) for him,

and whatsoever you spend of anything (in Allah's Cause), He will replace it. And He is the Best of providers."

[Surat Saba, 34:39]

{وَلَوْ يُعَجِّلُ اللَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ الشَّرَّ اسْتِعْجَالَهُم بِالْخَيْرِ لَقُضِيَ إِلَيْهِمْ أَجَلُهُمْ فَنَذَرُ الَّذِينَ لَا يَرْجُونَ لِقَاءَنَا فِي طُغْيَانِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ}

And were Allah to hasten for mankind the evil (they invoke for themselves and for their family, children, etc. while in a state of anger) as He hastens for them the good (they invoke) then they would have been ruined. So We leave those who expect not their meeting with Us, in their trespasses, wandering blindly in distraction. (Tafsir at-Tabari; Vol. 11, Page 91)

[Surah Yunus, 10:11]

Imam Shafi’ee (rahimahullah) used to say,

I love to send plenty of salat (salutations) upon the Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu ʿalayhi wa ’aalihi wa sallam) all the time and I love it more so on the day of Jumu’ah.

[Kitabul Umm, ash-Shafe’e (rahimahullah), 1/546]

{وَلَا يَحْزُنكَ قَوْلُهُمْ إِنَّ الْعِزَّةَ لِلَّهِ جَمِيعًا هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ}

And let not their speech grieve you,

for all power and honour belong to Allah. He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.

[Surah Yunus, 10:65]

Whoever spreads gossip for you, spreads gossip against you. Whoever relates tales about others to you will tell tales about you to the others. Whoever, when you please him says about you what is not in you, when you anger him, will say about you what is not in you!

[Imam ash-Shafa’ee (rahimahullah), Siyaar ‘A’laam an-Nubalaa’ of Imam adh-Dhahabi (rahimahullah)]

And when Allah wants to spread a virtue, (ie wants something beneficial that was hidden to be made known, such as a virtuous gathering, a source of goodness or knowledge) —

— He grants it the tongue of a jealous/envious person to reveal it (talk disparagingly of/about it);

if it were not for the burning fire that surrounded it, the pleasant scent of fine ‘oud would not have been known.

[Muhadhiraat al-Adaab, 1/314, Abu Tamam (rahimahullah)]

 
{لَّا خَيْرَ فِي كَثِيرٍ مِّن نَّجْوَاهُمْ إِلَّا مَنْ أَمَرَ بِصَدَقَةٍ أَوْ مَعْرُوفٍ أَوْ إِصْلَاحٍ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَٰلِكَ ابْتِغَاءَ مَرْضَاتِ اللَّهِ فَسَوْفَ نُؤْتِيهِ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا}

There is no good in most of their secret talks save (in) him

- who orders Sadaqah (charity in Allah's Cause),

- or Ma'ruf (Islamic Monotheism and all the good and righteous deeds which Allah has ordained),

- or conciliation between mankind,

and he who does this, seeking the good Pleasure of Allah,

We shall give him a great reward.

[Surah an-Nisaa, 4:114]

Shaykh Ibn Taymiyah (rahimahullah) said:

‎Amongst the people there is he who Hasad leads him to backbite. Thus, he combines two ugly affairs: backbiting and envy.

‎[Source: Majmū' al-Fatāwā, 28/238]