The Race for Good Deeds is On!

14/07/2011| IslamWeb

When the verses that exhort men to hasten and compete with each other over doing good deeds were revealed, the Companions realized that they were addressed by them to hasten to Allah The Almighty, to compete, as if in a race. They hastened and competed with each other so much that if anyone of them was unable to do some act of righteousness or worship, he would sit weeping over his failure. If the poor people of the time were unable to spend in charity, they would do their best to compensate for that. When the rich and wealthy spent out of their property, in charity, maintaining ties of kinship, Jihaad (armed struggle in the cause of Allah The Almighty), and so on, did the poor only sit lamenting their condition? Of course not! They rose to a higher degree of competition.

They went to the Messenger of Allah and said, “‘O Messenger of Allah! The wealthy ones have taken away the reward. They offer prayer as we do, observe fast as we do, and give in charity out of their surplus wealth (a deed which we do not do).’ The Prophet said:

 ‘Has Allah not prescribed for you what you can give in charity? In every exaltation (of Allah) there is (the reward of an object of) charity, in every glorification (of Allah) there is (the reward of an object of) charity, in every praise (of Allah) there is (the reward of an object of) charity, in every affirmation of the Oneness of Allah there is (the reward of an object of) charity, in enjoining good there is (the reward of an object of) charity, in forbidding evil there is (the reward of an object of) charity, and in man's sexual Intercourse (with his wife) there is (the reward of an object of) charity.’” [Muslim]

If the believers were unable to spend in the cause of Allah The Almighty, they would sit and calculate all the things that were spent by others so that they would pray, in substitution for every Dinar or Dirham that was spent, one Rak‘ah. None of them was preceded to Allah The Almighty except that he wept for the fact that somebody might be nearer to Allah The Almighty than him and might go to Allah The Almighty faster than him. If he knew that, his heart would thus break and he would almost die, it would be too much for him to bear.

In Ramadan, the reward of charity multiplies just like other deeds. This is why one should do one's best to discard stinginess, get accustomed to acts of charity and righteous conduct and strive his utmost to have good morals that help him obtain forgiveness and mercy and emancipation from Hell. Without doubt, the combination of charity and fasting is one of the means by which Allah The Almighty forgives mistakes, removes sins, raises people in rank, accepts the fasting and rectifies the deficiency in one's deeds.

Thus, the believers were eager to give in charity with the advent of Ramadan, i.e. when they were fasting, in order to increase and multiply the reward, owing to the honor of the time in which they were performed. They considered no time better than Ramadan to give, in expectation of the multiplied reward. Their main concern in this world was: how to obtain the good pleasure of Allah The Almighty, how to obtain a higher rank with Him, and how to obtain abiding bliss.  They competed with each other in gaining the good pleasure of Allah The Almighty, and grieved upon being preceded by anyone in drawing close to Allah The Almighty. Their state was quite different from ours, when our foremost concern is to compete with others in this world, obtain it, grieve for its loss, and fear lest it should decrease. We have grown forgetful of the Hereafter, heedless of the meeting with our Lord and the possibility of our departure to Allah The Almighty today or tomorrow before fulfilling our desires. Not many of us are concerned with gaining the good pleasure of our Lord, which might brighten the face and remove all worry and grief forever: {On the Day [some] faces will turn white and [some] faces will turn black.} [Quran 3:106]