The heart of a Muslim should not only be full of hope without fear. There are several things that you need to fear for yourself. If a Muslim contemplates the reality of himself and his weaknesses, he would laugh very little and weep much.
Does man not contemplate his worship at all? What if they lack Ikhlaas (sincerity) and Allah won’t accept them from him? Wallahi, fear is not just regarding your sins, you need to fear about your worship as well. Think about it, what if they are not accepted? Your Salaah, your striving to spread Da’wah, your striving to seek knowledge or benefit people, oh slave of Allah, what if they are not accepted?
‘Aaishah the wife of the Prophet ﷺ said: “I asked about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about this Ayah:
والَّذِينَ يُؤْتُونَ مَا آتَوْا وَقُلُوبُهُمْ وَجِلَةٌ
“And those who give that which they give with their hearts full of fear, because they are sure to return to their Lord.”¹
‘Aaishah said: “Are they those who drink Khamr and steal?” He ﷺ said: “No, O daughter of As-Siddiq. They are those who fast, perform Salaah, give charity while they fear that their Lord will not accept it from them.²
Where are you from these people mentioned? Is it not that you are amazed by the few worship you performed? How hard is your heart among these hearts? Do you really need to be laughing excessively?
Wallahi, there are people who are more righteous than you. They perform more worship than you. They spread knowledge more than you do and yet they do not feel secure from the punishment of Allah. They have the knowledge and they know the reality of standing before Allah to account for their deeds. They know that Allah, the All-Supreme, has the capability to punish them and no one would question Him for that.
Hasan Al-Basri, one of the greatest scholars ever lived, the one who is known for worship and knowledge, yet he would weep for long. People around him asked him, “O Hasan, we see that you weep for long!” He replied them, “I am afraid that Allah would throw me into Hellfire and he wouldn’t care!”³
Allahu Akbar! This is Hasan Al Basri, the one who is known for his consistent worship of Allah. Where are you beside Hasan Al-Basri? Is your heart so hard that this is not giving it a strike and you should realize that you should weep for your poor soul?
O you who is deceived by the wealth he spends on the way of Allah. Can you say it with total conviction that you possess total sincerity to Allah when spending that wealth? Have you ever imagined yourself standing before Allah and He asks you if you did it for Him alone? Will you be able to say yes? Are you not afraid of what might happen to you if you’re unable to say ‘Yes’? Don’t you think about it?
Likewise your striving to spread the word of Allah, is it totally because of Allah or because you want people to praise you or for them to say “He is brave, He is firm”? Will you be able to answer this question before Allah?
The one who is always spreading knowledge and posting benefits on social media should think about himself too. Is he doing the good deeds he is commanding people to do? Is he staying away from the evil deeds is forbidding people from?
The prophet ﷺ said:
“A man will be brought on the Day of Resurrection and thrown in the (Hell) Fire, so that his intestines will come out, and he will go around like a donkey goes around a millstone. The people of (Hell) Fire will gather around him and say: O so-and-so! What is wrong with you? Didn’t you use to order us to do good deeds and forbid us to do bad deeds? He will reply: Yes, I used to order you to do good deeds, but I did not do them myself, and I used to forbid you to do bad deeds, yet I used to do them myself.”⁴
Have you ever imagined yourself being the man mentioned above? Moreover, can you say that you perform the good actions you command people to do and you are totally free from what you forbid them from? Can you now realize the reasons why you should laugh a little and weep more?
All we have mentioned is about people who strive to do righteous actions. What about the rest of us that are struggling in the chains of sins? What if Allah holds you by your addiction, will you even smell Jannah?
Think about your past sins. Those sins you have forgotten. Do you know they are still in your book of records? Allah doesn’t forget!
Wallahi, people who are more perfect than you in practising Islam have been punished for their sins. What do you think of yourself?
Ibn `Abbas narrated that:
The Prophet ﷺ once passed by two graves and said, “These two persons are being tortured not for a major sin (to avoid). One of them never saved himself from being soiled with his urine, while the other used to go about with calumnies (to make enmity between friends).” The Prophet (ﷺ) then took a green leaf of a date-palm tree, split it into (pieces) and fixed one on each grave. They said, “O Allah’s Apostle! Why have you done so?” He replied, “I hope that their punishment might be lessened till these (the pieces of the leaf) become dry.”⁵
If you listen to the audio below, you would hear Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen رحمه الله affirming that the two individuals punished in the above hadith are from the companions of the Messenger ﷺ. If the companions with how much they have perfect ‘Aqeedah are punished for their sins, what do you think of yourself?
These people accepted Islam in the early days, they stood with the prophet ﷺ in the hard days, they heard directly from the prophet ﷺ, they prayed behind the prophet ﷺ, and they prayed most of their Salaah in the second most virtuous Masjid in Islam, the masjid of the prophet ﷺ and yet they are being punished for their sins, what do you think about yourself?
There are possibilities that the best of Muslims, the sahabah prayed upon these individuals when they died and there are more possibilities that the Prophet ﷺ led their Janazah and yet they are punished for these sins.
Look at your situation now and what your situation will be when you die. Do you still feel safe from the punishment of Allah?
Come to think of it, are the sins these companions are being punished for in any way compared to your mountain of sins? Your addiction? Your listening to music? Your not dressing in a proper hijab? Your joking around with the opposite gender? Your filthy chats with opposite genders? What do you think Allah will do to you with all these sins? Is this not the best time to repent?
A man who contemplates these, he would realize his weaknesses, he would know that his journey is still very far and he has little preparation.
May Allah ease our affairs
Mubaarak Olayemi Ismail
Abu Muhsinah
1. Muhminun:60
2. Tirmidhi 3175
3. Sifatu Safwah 2/117
4. Sahih al-Bukhari 3267
5. Bukhari 218