Whilst walking past her, I felt so shy, my conscience told me not to ignore her and coaxed me to greet her by saying Salam, yet my mouth remained clamped shut and she passed away and along with her an opportunity to have received reward from Allah.
Another time, as I waltzed my way to my college entrance, I saw the cleaner, an elderly man with graying hair and a worn out face doing his menial labour, the 1 riyal note in my bag seemed to buzz like an alarm on a still night, but the thought of pausing and opening my bag and then my wallet seemed to weigh me down, finally my indolence won the upper hand and I crossed past him bearing the shock of my incredulous lethargy all the while yet consoling myself that I definitely would be kind to him the next time I meet him.
At another instance, as I stayed awake late at night cramming for my exam, a look at the clock alerted me to the fact that there was just 1 hour left to Fajr and I also had to go to college, alarmed I hurried to my bed, frightened at the prospect of waking up late for college, when realization dawned upon me that I could read Tahajjud; one of the most noble of deeds, yet the plush pillows and cozy bed seemed to call upon me like a sweet haven enticing me to forget the exhaustion and fatigue of the day to a sleep of sweetness and respite. Being a temptress of fame, I gave in to its cajoling and lay down on it and slept.
Yet another time, when I was behaving all pompously preaching to my sister on the merits of maintaining the ties of kinship, my sister questioned me whether I myself followed what I advised, making me realize that I was perfectly emulating the role of a preacher that herself needed preaching.
Introversion, gluttony, temptation, ostentation, are these seriously the best excuses that we can come up for missing rewards. Oh come on! I am certain that I alone am not afflicted with these ailments but many of us let opportunities slip past our fingers due to incredulously foolish reasons.
So, let the following hadith now be a reminder to us not to let our insolences take the dominant hand and frankly speaking these simple tasks are no trek to the Everest, We all are quite capable of doing them.
The Messenger (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “O mankind! Spread the salutation, feed the poor and needy, join the ties of kinship and offer prayers at night while the people are asleep and you shall enter Paradise in peace.” [Ibn Majah]
This hadith shows four types of worship which help one enter paradise with no hardship.
These four actions are:
- Spreading salutation (salam) by making it apparent to those whom you know and those whom you don’t know from the Muslims.
- Feeding the poor and needy by giving charity other than the Zakaat which is obligatory.
- Joining the ties of kinship from family and relatives.
- Praying the night prayers whilst everyone else is asleep.
The final third of the night is considered to be the best time for this prayer because it is the time that Allah Almighty descends to the lowest heaven in order to forgive those whom are praying and grant them what they ask for
And Allah Knows Best!
So, my dear friends lets jog up, these tasks truly are simple yet noble and with Allah’s help and a strong will power, we certainly can accomplish doing them.
Read further on the immense benefits of joining kith and kins at: http://aateam.org/blog/silatur-rahm/ and http://aateam.org/blog/abandoning-your-brother/
Bint Ayesha