One should always supplicate to Allah The Almighty to enable him to perform good deeds and facilitate them for him, because performing virtuous deeds is a gift from Allah The Almighty which He grants to whomever He wishes from amongst His slaves. Humaam ibn Al-Haarith used to supplicate saying, "O Allah! Make me satisfied with little sleep and grant me (the ability of) staying up during the night performing acts of obedience to you" and he would sleep very little, while sitting down.

Performing virtuous deeds is one of the main duties for Muslims in this life, as Allah commands by saying what means: {“O you who have believed! Bow down, and prostrate yourselves, and worship your Lord and do good, that you may be successful.”} [Quran, 24: 77]

Performing virtuous deeds is also included in the saying of Allah The Almighty (which means): {“…Help you one another in virtue, righteousness and piety; but do not help one another in sin and transgression…”} [Quran, 5: 2]

Performing virtuous deeds is an important component of the propagation of Islam, which is not restricted to delivering lectures or talks, or publishing books. Behaving virtuously and helping others endears one to people and opens the hearts and minds of others, who would then listen attentively to what one says.

Similarly, there are many Ahaadeeth (narrations) from the Prophet addressing this issue, such as the following:

• “Rush towards the performance of virtuous deeds.” [Muslim].

• “He who leads others to virtue gets the same reward as the one performing it.” [Muslim].

• “O people! Spread (the greeting of) Salaam, feed the needy, and pray at night while people are sleeping, and you will (therefore) enter into Paradise peacefully.” [At-Tirmithi].

• “He who calls others to guidance will get the same reward as those who follow guidance.” [Muslim].

Incentives to performing good deeds

1. Having your mind and heart constantly occupied with these deeds and having a sincere intention, because, with sincerity, a slave reaches high ranks, and it also acts as an encouraging factor to perform the deed.

2. Knowing that the Prophet used to ask Allah The Almighty to enable him to perform virtuous deeds saying: “O Allah! I ask You to enable me to perform virtuous deeds and (for) the abandonment of sins." [At-Tirmithi]. It is known that the Prophet would only supplicate with what Allah The Almighty loves.

3. Remembering Paradise and its pleasures, and what has been prepared for the people of virtue there. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {“And march forth in the way (leading to) forgiveness from your Lord, and for Paradise as wide as the heavens and the earth.”} [Quran, 3: 133]

4. Knowing that performing virtuous deeds results in other people loving him, even after his death. The believers are witnesses on earth as Anas said, "A funeral passed by us and people praised the deceased, so the Prophet, sallallaahau ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: 'It has become mandatory.' Then another one passed and people spoke of how bad the deceased was, so the Prophet said: 'It has become mandatory.' So ‘Umar asked about his comments on the two funerals, and the Prophet replied: 'You praised the first one so Paradise became mandatory for him, and you dispraised the second one so Hell became mandatory for him; you are the witnesses of Allah on earth.' [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

5. Realizing that the longer virtuous people live, the more beloved to Allah The Almighty they become, as the Prophet said when he was asked about the best people in the sight of Allah The Almighty: “He who lives long and performs virtuous deeds.” [At-Tirmithi], because such a person utilized his life in virtuous deeds and was obedient to Allah The Almighty.

6. Knowing that being steadfast in performing virtuous deeds is beloved to Allah The Almighty even if the deeds are little in number, as the Prophet said: “The most beloved deeds to Allah are those which are persistent, even if they are little (in number).”