What
does your worship do for you?
Advice
from Shaykh Uthaymeen
Shaykh
Uthaymeen رحمه
الله said1: Allaah the Exalted said:
(٤٦) قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَعِظُكُمْ بِوَاحِدَةٍ
ۖ أَنْ تَقُومُوا لِلَّهِ مَثْنَىٰ وَفُرَادَىٰ ثُمَّ تَتَفَكَّرُوا ۚ
Say (to them O
Muhammad): ’I exhort you on one (thing) only: that you stand for Allah’s sake
in pairs and individually, and reflect2
This verse
shows that when a person does an action for Allah he must reflect upon how he
performed this action. Did he perform it in the required manner; was it
deficient, did he add something? And did he achieve cleansing of
the heart and purification of the soul from this action? He
mustn’t be like the one who performs righteous actions as
though it is a daily habit; rather you must reflect upon what
have achieved by this worship, and what effect it has upon your heart and your
uprightness.
We will strike
with the prayer. Allah the Blessed and Exalted said:
(٤٥) وَٱسۡتَعِينُواْ بِٱلصَّبۡرِ
وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِۚ
And seek help
through patience and prayer3
Let us reflect
when we pray does our prayer give us energy, strength and vigor towards righteous
actions such that our prayer is helping us? In reality this is rarely
seen in a person. Look to see what your prayer is doing for you, does
it assist you upon the obedience of Allah? Does it assist you when a calamity
befalls? It was said about the Prophet ﷺ
كان إذا حزبه أمر فزع إلى الصلاة
If something
troubled him he would take refuge by praying.4
Likewise Allah
the Exalted said:
(٤٥) وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ ۖ إِنَّ
الصَّلَاةَ تَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنْكَرِ ۗ
Establish
prayer. Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing5
Look at your
prayer. After you have prayed do you find in your soul a hatred
for immorality and wrongdoing or does the prayer not
benefit you in this manner? If you understand this then you know the
result of righteous actions.
Another
example is Zakat. Zakat is obligatory charity given from pure wealth
which the person spends in vary ways as Allah has commanded. Allah
clarified the benefits of giving Zakat when He said to Prophet ﷺ:
(١٠٣)خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً
تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِمْ بِهَا
Take charity
from their wealth in order to cleanse them and purify them with it6
When you have
paid Zakat look and observe. Did it cleanse you from despicable
character and sins? Did it purify your wealth ? Many people give Zakat
as though they are paying a fine! They give it while hating to
do so. They don’t feel that it is purifying them, or that it is
cleansing their soul.
Translated by Rasheed
ibn Estes Barbee
--------------------------------------
1. Explanation
of Riyadis Saliheen Volume 1 Chapter: Reflecting upon the greatness
of Allah’s creation page 576
2. Soorah
Saba’ 34:46
3. Soorah
Al-Baqarah 2:45
4. Abu
Dawood (1319)
5. Soorah
Al-‘Ankabut 29:45
6. Soorah
At-Tawbah 9:103
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