. I (cont.)

The reward for a deed is often of the same nature of the deed itself. For example, when one protects Allah's rights, then Allah protects him. In the Quran there are other examples of this nature. Note the following: 1 lbn Rajab, Noor, p. 36. 2 Recorded by Ahmad and others. Al-Ajmi concludes it is sahih. See al-Ajmi's footnotes to ibn Rajab, Noor, p. 38. 3 lbn Rajab, Noor, p. 38. Hadith #19: "Young man, I shall teach you some words ... " J J / F5"  Ï_,i L> i)jij "Fulfill [your obligations to] My Covenant (with you) and I shall fulfill [My obligations to] your covenant (with Me)" (al-Baqara 40) . .J. ., ,,,. .J. ., ,.,, F5";..bi Ð_,ÑG "Therefore, remember Me and I shall remember you" (al-Baqara 152). ђ ;:a.·s \ i_,߯ u, "If you help [in the cause of] Allah, He will help you" (Muhammad 7). Allah protects the servant in more than one way. First, He guards and protects the person's worldly interests and needs, such as protecting his body, wife, children and wealth. It is narrated that Ali once said, "Every person has two angels with him that guard him from everything that is not decreed. When the decree [for his death] comes, they leave, [and it becomes a matter only] between him and it."1 Obviously, performing good deeds and having faith are the keys to being mindful of Allah. Concerning such people, Allah says in the Quran, .w ,,,. ;:;:; ,,,. .J. / ,,,,. ,... ( :b g;;,. .. =·' __ :.ਂ ¬}. ­j .1iii ji }=.¤  ǚ l _ ;._ ࠹..: ,,,. ,,. ,,,. ,,. ,... শu "Whoever works righteousness, whether male or female, while he [or she] is a believer, verily, to him We will give a good life" (al-Nahl 97). In fact, it is even said that due to a person's piety, his children and even grandchildren are protected and guarded by Allah. One time Saeed ibn al­ Musayyab said to his son, "O son, I increase my prayers for your sake, hoping that you will be preserved due to it." And then he recited the verse, ® w;r 0¯j "and their father was a righteous man" (al-Kahj 82).2 In other words, he understood that it was his obligation to do what he can to save himself and his family from the Hell-fire. Doing what one can do to save one's children from the Hell-fire includes bringing them up properly, but it also includes making oneself pious as the children will benefit from that according to this example. Another way of Allah protecting one's worldly interests is to protect the person from any evil coming from any of jinn or mankind. Allah says in the Quran, 1 Quoted in ibn Rajah, Noor, p. 43. 2 Quoted in ibn Rajah, Noor, p. 44. The verse states, "And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the town; and there was under it a treasure belonging to them, and their father was a righteous man, and your Lord intended that they should attain their age of full strength and take out their treasure as a mercy from your Lord." 61 1 Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi "And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty)" (al-Talaaq 2). A much more important way that Allah protects a person is by protecting his religion. He guards and protects the person's religion from the onslaught of misconceptions, lies about the religion, heresies, forbidden desires and so forth. He guards the person's religion until his death, and he dies in the religion of Islam. This is a much more important type of protection than the first type. Suffering in this world may be difficult but if a person does not have this protection of his religion, it could lead to eternal damnation. In the Quran, Allah gives an example of this type of protection in the story of Y oosuf. Due to his sincerity to Allah, Allah protected him from evil and temptation. Allah says, (_ l u :r _, 1 ; \) ; \ ! ::," ilJ ·ਁ ,,.. / / ,,,. , / / / "Thus it was, that We might turn away from him evil and illegal sexual intercourse. Surely, he was one of Our chosen, guided slaves" (Yoosuf 24). Ibn Rajah states that part of Allah's protection and preservation of one's religion is to turn the person away from something he likes because, in the long run, it would be harmful for his religion. This is truly a great blessing from Allah. Only Allah knows where a person's true welfare or harm may lie. In His mercy, He will turn a human being away from something that he thinks is good for himself because Allah knows that it will actually be harmful for his religion.