Allah The Almighty encourages His slaves to hasten and race to doing good as He Says (what means):
• {And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord} [Qur’an 3:133]
• {Race toward forgiveness from your Lord} [Qur’an 57:21]
• {So race to [all that is] good} [Qur’an 2:148]
• {So for this let the competitors compete} [Qur’an 83:26]
• {For the like of this let the workers [on earth] work} [Qur’an 37:61]
Allah The Exalted mentions some of His righteous slaves – Zakariyyah and his family – Saying (what means): {So We answered his call, and We bestowed upon him Yahya (John), and cured his wife (to bear a child) for him. Verily, they used to hasten to good deeds, and they used to call on Us in hope and fear, and used to humble themselves before Us} [Qur’an 21:90]
The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam (may Allah exalt his mention ), said: “Deliberation (is a must) in all things except in deeds that pertain to the Hereafter [i.e., good deeds].” [Abu Daawood in his Sunan] Thus, man should hasten to the deeds of the Hereafter without hesitation. One should race towards them and compete in them.
This hastening, racing and competing indicates the depth of faith in one’s soul. The deeper the faith is in one’s soul, the more he hastens to please his Lord. Consider the noble Companion ‘Umayr ibn al-Humaam, may Allah be pleased with him, when the polytheists advanced towards the Muslims in the Battle of Badr and the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “‘Get up to a Paradise whose width is equal to the heavens and earth.’ Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, the narrator of the Hadith, said that ‘Umayr ibn al-Humaam al-Ansaari, may Allah be pleased with him, said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, a Paradise whose width is equal to the heavens and earth?’ He said: ‘Yes.’ ‘Umayr said: ‘My goodness!’ The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, asked him: ‘What prompted you to say this (i.e. my goodness!)?’ He said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, nothing but the desire of being among its residents.’ The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, who did not speak from his own inclination, said: ‘You are (surely) among its residents.’ ‘Umayr, may Allah be pleased with him, took out the dates from his bag and began to eat them. Then he said, ‘If I were to live until I eat all these dates, it would be a long life.’ (The narrator said) He threw away all the dates he had with him. Then he fought the enemies until he was killed.” [Muslim]
Therefore, let us initiate good deeds and hasten to them.
This encouragement to initiate and hasten to good deeds is due to the fact that we do not know what impediments and obstacles may prevent us in the future if we wish to perform them. That is why the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, urged us to hasten to performing Haj in the Hadith in which he says: “Hasten to perform (your obligatory) Haj, for one knows not what should happen (to prevent it).” [Ahmad]
The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, used to hasten to good deeds. It was narrated in a Hadith that after finishing the ‘Asr (late afternoon) prayer, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, got up quickly, went to some of his wives and then came out. He noticed the signs of astonishment on the faces of the people caused by his speed. He then said: “I remembered while I was in my prayer that a piece of gold was in my house and I disliked that it should remain with us throughout the night, so I ordered it to be distributed.” [Al-Bukhari]
This Hadith was mentioned by Imam An-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy upon him, in his book Riyaadh As-Saaliheen in the chapter named “hastening to good deeds”. Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, may Allah have mercy upon him, said explaining this Hadith, “This Hadith enjoins hastening to do good deeds. One should not hesitate for he does not know when death will come to him and so he loses the good deed. The Hadith also proves that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, was the quickest person in hastening to good deeds.” [Sharh Riyaadh As-Saaliheen]
Since we are currently in the month of Ramadan and it is one of the virtuous times as it is the month of salvation from Hell and winning the gardens of Paradise, we should increase our good deeds. In addition, we ought to not only do good deeds but also hasten to them and not ignore continuing to commit ourselves to them for the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said that Allah Says in a Qudsi Hadith (sacred narration): “My slave keeps on coming closer to Me through performing voluntary acts of worship till I love him.” [Al-Bukhari]
The verb “keeps on” signifies continuity. The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “Keep on performing Haj and ‘Umrah.” [At-Tirmithi] Continuous good deeds and persistence on them is among the things which Allah The Almighty loves. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, was asked, “What deeds are loved most by Allah?” He said: “The most regular constant deeds even though they may be few.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] It was narrated that if the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, performed a certain act, he used to do it constantly. [Muslim]
Moreover, we should not get bored or tired of performing good deeds for the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “Religion is easy and whoever overburdens himself in religion will not be able to continue in that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection…” [Al-Bukhari] Another narration reads as follows: “Observe moderation so that you would succeed.” [Al-Bukhari]
At the same time, we should not overburden ourselves or commit ourselves to too much worship. Anas ibn Maalik, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that once the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, entered the mosque and saw a rope hanging in between its two pillars. He said: “What is this rope?” The people said, “This rope is for Zaynab who, when she feels tired, holds it (to keep standing for the prayer.)” The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “No, remove the rope. You should pray as long as you feel active, and when you get tired, sit down.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
When the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, knew that ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr ibn Al-‘Aas, may Allah be pleased with him, prayed all the night and fasted daily all the year, he prohibited him from doing this, and said: “If you keep on doing this, your eyes will become weak and you will get bored.” [Al-Bukhari]
In addition, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “You should do that which is within your capacity. By Allah! Allah will not be bored until you are bored. The dearest deeds to Allah are the most regular deeds even though they may be few.” [Abu Daawood and Ibn Maajah]
Article source: http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/
