hastening to do good deeds

From the story of Musa (as) we learn the du’a he made when he was in desperate need of help. He turned to Allah (swt) asking for good.

رَبِّ إِنِّي لِمَا أَنْزَلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ

Rabbi innee limaaa anzalta ilaiya min khairin faqeer
“My Lord, indeed I am, for whatever good You would send down to me, in need.”
28:24

We learn through Musa (as), the best way to act and bury your bad deeds is to pile on a much greater ratio of good deeds. Every chance to do good is an opportunity that Allah (swt) has bestowed upon you, so you should take it and run.

This is the idea of hastening to do good.

Wake up every day and try to see all the opportunities around you, be grateful to Allah you get the privilege to be of service today.

وَلِكُلٍّ وِجْهَةٌ هُوَ مُوَلِّيهَا ۖ فَٱسْتَبِقُوا۟ ٱلْخَيْرَٰتِ ۚ أَيْنَ مَا تَكُونُوا۟ يَأْتِ بِكُمُ ٱللَّهُ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

Wa likullinw wijhatun huwa muwalleehaa fastabiqul khairaat; ayna maa takoonoo yaati bikumullaahu jamee’aa; innal laaha ‘alaa kulli shai’in qadeer
148. For each [religious following] is a direction toward which it faces. So race to [all that is] good. Wherever you may be, Allah will bring you forth [for judgement] all together. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent.
Surah Baqarah Ayat 148

Life is short

Have you ever stop and considered where your time is spent?

The average person will have 900 months on this planet (that’s 75 years if you do the math) and our childhood occupies 216 months of that (684 months left), this does not include all the months that are lost to sleeping, watching TV, commuting, and working which probably takes up another 70%. This leaves us with 205 months.

That number scares me.

I tell you this because we should feel a sense of urgency to act now.

We don’t know what Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has decreed for us. We may live much longer or shorter – it is the unknown variable. But we if live with this belief that our time will come sooner rather than later than we would act with more urgency. A believer would become more responsible, not less. We wouldn’t take this time for granted and think we’re entitled to seeing tomorrow.

As the Chinese proverb goes, “the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second-best time is now”.

The sooner you plant the more of a chance you give yourself that the seed can grow and flourish into something much bigger than you ever could have imagined.

Doing good deeds during Ramadan

This effort is amplified seventy-fold in the month of Ramadan.

A great month, a blessed month, a month containing a night which is better than a thousand months has approached you people. God has appointed the observance of fasting during it as an obligatory duty, and the passing of its night in prayer as a voluntary practice. If someone draws near to God during it with some good act he will be like one who fulfils an obligatory duty in another month, and he who fulfills an obligatory duty in it will be like one who fulfills seventy obligatory duties in another month. It is the month of endurance, and the reward of endurance is paradise. It is the month of sharing with others, and a month in which the believer’s provision is increased.

Mishkat al-Masabih 1965

Hadith on Hastening to do good deeds

Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:

Hasten in performing these good deeds (before these) six things (happen): (the appearance) of the Dajjal, the smoke, the beast of the earth, the rising of the sun from the west, the general turmoil (leading to large-scale massacre) and death of masses and individuals. (Sahih Muslim 2947b)

It’s hard to see life from starting with the end, but if you can do that then you can stop yourself from making big mistakes that you’ll later regret. At the end of your life you won’t care how many movies you watched, you won’t care for the gossip, or the backbiting. You’ll wonder what your legacy was – what good did you create in the world.

You’ll wonder if you did enough to be deserving of highest level of Jannah.

This is what truly matters.

So hasten to do good just as Musa (as) did, hasten to ask for forgiveness because we are all in need.

“And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden as wide as the heavens and earth, prepared for the righteous”
Surah Imran Ayat 133