Allah (subahana hu wa ta'ala) says
:فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُ
Then shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it. (99:7-8)
The spirit of a Muslim, his longing for Allah, his yearning for jannah, compels him to use his every moment in a way that earns His pleasure. But our every moment instead, is filled with inanities, gossip, and all the other important things we fill our time with.
My previous post reminded me of something I'd like to share with you though, something that our ulema have highlighted, something so easy and effortless that it's hard to give it any importance, but as the ayah above tells us, even a tiny good deed will not go forgotten or be wasted. They will all count towards our final goal.
It was just out of curiosity that I picked up that magazine but I managed to gain a deeni benefit from it: it helped me to appreciate the command of hijab. Likewise, many things that we do can be changed into a good deed, a hasana, if we simply pay a bit of attention to our intentions before we carry them out.
Let me explain. Living in England, we have to spend six precious hours in the dingy corridors of school, but instead of going just because it's the law (or because your mum/dad wakes you with chappal in hand every morning), study with the intention that you will benefit the Muslim Ummah with the knowledge you gain. You have to do it anyway, so why not get your right-side angel going while you're at it.
When you work your socks off before the exams for those high grades, mentally make the intention that you want to up the respect of the Muslim community through them. It's dunya and aakhirah simultaneously.
Things that appear mundane and useless deen-wise can be turned into lucrative good deeds just by checking your intention.
Before you crash into bed at night, think 'I'm taking rest to refresh my body for another days ibadah'.
Before you gobble up the parathey, wait (say bismillah of course, but I'm thinking you know that already) and make the intention that you eat to provide yourself with energy so you can be vigorous in following your deen.
When you read the news, look especially for stories about Muslims, with the intention that you will make dua for them. (I sometimes have a look through the tabloids, remembering to appreciate how the teachings of Islam protect us from such lowlifery!)
Learn to drive, but with the thought that it will enable you to travel to Mosques and for other deeni needs.
Be very careful though, some things just cannot be moulded into deen, however much Shaytan helps you.
For example, a friend of mine once said 'I'm going to model modest clothes just so Muslim girls will know you can still look glamorous wearing them!' No, I'm not joking, it's a real quote. A haraam act will never be permissible whatever the intention you have. Just as in man-made law, you won't get away with speeding, even if it was so you could see your ailing auntie and you'll still get a ticket for parking on a double yellow line even though you meant to pick up some litter. In Islam a sin is a sin no matter how good your intention.
This also applies to listening to nasheeds with instruments, just so you can wean yourself off pop songs. It is simply replacing one type of music with another type of music. The ulema of Deoband have opposed music vehemently, and called the Sufi's who allow it as misguided.
Bukhaari
Volume 7, Book 69, Number 494v:
Narrated Abu 'Amir or Abu Malik Al-Ash'ari:
that he heard the Prophet saying, "From among my followers there will be some people who will consider illegal sexual intercourse, the wearing of silk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks and the use of musical instruments, as lawful...Allah will destroy them during the night and will let the mountain fall on them..'
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