Part 3

In the Middle of the Journey Dear Sister, in the middle of the journey, while you are headed towards its end, ask Allah to help and support you. I remind you that sincerity to Allah is the core of the religion and the key to the messages of all of Allah's Prophets i)LJ' ~· Allah said: [o: WI] •• "';)...A!\~~z;H ~ -~ • --~ "'t::J ~~ i-.,.lc:--;).. !J . ·~ ~ .Jv:,. .J 'T

"And they were commanded not, but that they should worship Allah, and worship none but Him Alone (abstaining from ascribing partners to Him)." (98:5) Dear Sister, while travelling on the journey towards the Hereafter, some worshippers of Allah might be lured to fall in Riya' (showing off and pride) and liking people to

39 know of and talk about their actions and deeds. Such people perform good deeds to inform people of their deeds, not to gain Allah's reward and the good of the Hereafter. Indeed, Riya ' creeps into their hearts unnoticed, even though it is worse for them than the False Messiah. Abu Sa'id AlKhudri -.;s. 2»1 ~ said that the Messenger of Allah ~ said

.llJ~.1J1---:I\~ ~ · '-;----:-:-- ~ '-? ~·~<''l;;_w~·l ~ ~ r-=- / ~":._(J "1"11» .J>" Y' ;. r ~ "Should I tell you about what I fear for you more than the False Messiah?" They said, "Yes, 0 Allah's Messenger!" He(~) said: , • , :t . «~I !.l_r.JI» -~

"Hidden Shirk (in reference to Riya ')." Those who hide their good deeds from the creation will be helped in earning sincerity in their hearts, Allah willing. Hence, Dear Sister, sincerity is such an exalted conduct that if it fills one's good deeds and acts of obedience to Allah, it earns one the best rewards from Him, even if the act of obedience appeared minor in the eyes of its doer. * Shaikh Al-Islarn Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned the Prophet's Hadith: • 1! .~ .Gl 1~1 J.[:q }41!4:; ;t5 j j 4.:5~ ~ .::...iS~~~·~» (f ~ J • ~ • ~-~_;;_ -~- . •.

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"A prostitute was forgiven by Allah, because when passing by a panting dog near a well and seeing that the dog was about to die of thirst, she took off her shoe and drew out some water for it. So, Allah forgave her because of that." Ibn Taymiyyah commented: "This woman gave water to the dog on account of the sincere faith in Allah that

40 every prostitute will be forgiven if she gives water to a dog. This indicates that actions vary according to the degree of faith and sincerity that resides in the hearts. Certainly, whoever performs acts of worship without sincerity to Allah, will not gain rewards for them because they are worthless. Rather, whoever does this, will subject himself to tremendous consequences, even if the acts of worship were major, such as spending on righteous causes and fighting against the disbelievers." * Allah said: [Y: .!.!.WI] ~~~~1pp);;i.f;.S;ii~IS;l ~

"Who has created death and life that He may test you which of you is best in deed." (67:2) Al-Fudail bin 'Iyad was asked about the most sincere and correct actions." He said: "If the action is sincere, but not correct, it will be rejected. If the action was correct, but insincere, it will be also rejected. The action must be both sincere and correct. The sincere action is that which is performed for Allah's sake alone, while the correct action is that which conforms to the Sunnah." He then recited this Ayah: ~ (:J ..;,~ ;;t., .J -: ~~ ~ ~ j: ::ii ~P ~ ·~:- ~ ~ ~ . ..~:P ~~ {UI i" .~ ~I( ..:- ;).. ~ 'J>~ u i?T

[''. :~\] "So whoever hopes for the Meeting with his Lord, let him work righteousness and associate none as a partner in the worship ofhis Lord." (18:110) I remind you, Dear Sister, may Allah forbid your face to the Fire, that as you collect good deeds and perform

41 of an utterly evil trade - the harvest that one collects because of his or her tongue. Stay away from backbiting, calumnies, lying, mocking others and other evil actions. Do not be like those who build great projects by day and bring them down by night. Do not be like those who collect great wealth and then waste it overnight. The Messenger of Allah :i said: ~l...A.l~~- -~ i Yt../--~. -~i. ~~~~~~l»<<'t~~~~·~0'B>> - r:.r ~ r:.r ....r::-' t ~ "!' .J J 0~ J5t.J 1:1A .:;J; .J 41-lA ~ ~ ~~.J , ~l53.J c~ .J ~~~ , ~t:..::,;. ~ IJA ~~j , llA ~J..P .J , llA f; & .J ' IJA ... , ,.., ,... . .,. ... , ,... ~ .L.;l '~ ~ ~ 01 J;; ,·- :J 0j,j '~l;..:;.. 0-" llA.J ;. , , ',.,. ... ,,.. ....... · "J 81 ~ cf (.J '~ ~ }U r-"'~lb:. "Do you know who is a bankrupt?" They replied, "bankrupt among us is he who has no dirham or property." He said, "Verily, the one who is bankrupt from my Ummah is he who will come on the Day of Resurrection with prayer, fasting and zakah that he performed. However, he had cursed this person, falsely accused that person, ate up the property of another person, shed the blood of another person and beaten another person. So, this person will be given from his righteous deeds, and that person will be given from his righteous deeds. If his righteous deeds finish before his account is paid in full, sins from their records will be transferred from them to him, and he will then be thrown in the Fire." (Muslim)

~~l * Some mothers call me 'the mother of Du 'a', because I teach children various Du 'a narrated from the Messenger of Allah. I also benefit. from correctly remembering the Prophet's Du 'a and help plant these Du 'a in the hearts of our children. Sometimes, a mother would feel amazed at hearing her child reciting a Du 'a supplicated in times of hardship and affliction, while she does not memorize that dua. * She is young and energetic, and whenever she meets young children, she is kind to them. She greets them with the Salam (the Islamic greeting), and conducts simple competitions between them. She also advises them and recites stories about our righteous ancestors. She next distributes some candy to them, with permission from their parents. Her meeting with young children is filled with teaching and advice. * She found a space on one of the pages on which the test is printed, so she wrote a Hadith (saying of the Prophet~) about the virtue of seeking Allah's forgiveness. She is a teacher at the elementary level. * She brings delight to the hearts of children by giving gifts and Islamic cassettes. She considers this, a part of her duty towards the Da 'wah to AWih and an act of drawing close to Him. * She sometimes finds children's magazines belonging to her relatives when she visits them. After taking permission, she reads some of them and often feels shocked to find that young girls send letters to these magazines and mention singing, dancing and music as being among their hobbies. She collects the addresses of

these young girls and sends two Islamic books to each address. She says that by doing so, she is also talking to the parents of these children who are responsible for teaching them Islam. She sometimes chooses books on Hijab (Islamic dress for women), or the rearing of children in Islam, or stories about great personalities of Islam. In a span of one month, she sent over two hundred letters, saying to herself: "Even if one family accepts my call to Allah, it will be sufficient for me. However, I have a bigger hope than only convincing one family out of two i hundred." I

I The Seed of Working i ! * Since there are many ways to forbid evil, she tries to I [, remember and practice the easiest and most effective ways. For instance, when she sees a relative or a friend of ~ hers commit an error and fears that she might be ~ embarrassed if she talks to her about it, she calls another friend and asks her to offer words of soft advice and reminders to the friend that erred. * Women often witness other women commit errors and mistakes. I help erring women realize their shortcomings by sending questions to scholars regarding Islam's rulings on the errors they commit. When the scholars answer my questions over the TV or in newspapers and magazines, the benefit becomes larger and more widespread, AWih willing. * She is very polite, knowledgeable and eloquent. This is why her fellow employees often ask her to talk to some of their relatives regarding various errors and mistakes that they make. Some of them wear western clothes, for instance, or go out without wearing proper Hijiib, while

44 their husbands, sometimes do not pray, go out alone in their cars following the driver, and so forth. She telephones these women, saying to them that they belong to honorable families and have some knowledge in Islam, so how is it that they commit such and such errors. Many of these women accepted her call, because she uses truthful, kind words and sincere advice to convince them. * She puts the copy machine in the library into good use by copying the various Fatawa (religious decrees) from scholars and distributing them to women. * Gifts have a wonderful impact on people by spreading affection and kindness among them, just as the Prophet ~ stated: . ((1).~ !_,;~» "Give gifts, and you will love each other." So when she hears of a friend getting married or having other happy occasions, she gives a gift to that friend, considering it an act of charity and spreading Islamic knowledge. Her gifts always consist of Islamic books and cassettes, a real gift that has a lasting benefit.

45 * She said to herself that this is the treasure of the times: Islamic lectures on tapes given by known scholars who follow the Quran, the Sunnah and the understanding of the Companions. She bought some tapes she found explaining the book titled, 'At-Tauhid', and wrote down its explanation on the relevant pages of the book. This helped her write comments and explanations on the entire book in just two months. Next, she started doing the same with the books that explain aspects of creed, jurisprudence, language, and whatever beneficial books she could find explained on tapes. Truly, she collected a valuable treasure that she and her friends and family can benefit from for a long time to come. * She conducted a deal with a publishing company to print large amount of Islamic books on a regular basis. She then started collecting enough money to pay for printing and distributing these books free. She said that if her fellow teachers donated a meager amount every month, they would be able to cover the cost of printing thousands of books to send to various parts of the world. * I love to read about the biography of the Prophet ~ and his Companions. This is why some time ago, I started collecting these stories from various books and typing them into the computer. I make copies of these stories and distribute them to my fellow teachers and to students. * She dislikes sitting in the car for a long time when her husband goes to buy something from the store. So she started to spend these minutes revising what she memorized from Allah's Book. She turned the long boring minutes into acts of obedience to Allah that bring her happiness and delight.

46 the modest Islamic clothes she and her husband wore for their wedding to those who need them for their own wedding parties. She also encouraged Muslim sisters who borrow her clothes to donate some money for charity from what they saved by not having to buy new clothes for their weddings. * A village came into sight while traveling, and she said to her husband, "Let us go to the clinic in this village and place some Islamic books and cassettes in it so that people will benefit from them." The workers and patients who visited that clinic were happy to see the Islamic books, some of which they never saw or read before. * She is prepared for the day when she will deliver her baby. She bought Islamic books and cassettes and arranged them in parcels that she gives as gifts to her friends and family who visit her after she delivers. * She meets newcomers to the girl's high school and encourages them, with a smile, to attend Islamic lectures at the school and to pray at the school's mosque. She also gives them some Islamic books and cassettes as gifts. * The way she conducts Da 'wah to Allah is excellent. She looks for the strongest personality in the families she is acquainted with and directs her Da 'wah efforts to that woman, so that she accepts the call of Islam with knowledge and sincerity. She then says to her, "You are responsible for the rest of your family, so are you ready for this heavy responsibility?"