Should he focus on purifying his heart or ondoing naafil acts?

Which is more important – dealing with feelings and thoughts that
Allaah dislikes, such as destructive envy, hatred, arrogance, showing
off, thinking highly of one's deeds, hard-heartedness, etc., which
form the evil that resides in the heart, or focusing on doing outward
naafil deeds suchas prayer, fasting and other acts of worship and
fulfilling vows even though those other thingsare present in the
heart? Please advise us, may Allaah reward you with good.
Praise be to Allaah.
Some of the acts mentioned are obligatory,and those which are
obligatory should be given precedence, as Allaah says according to the
hadeeth qudsi narrated from His Messenger (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him): "My slave doesnot draw near to Me with anything
more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined on him."
Then He says: "And My slave continues to draw near to Me with
supererogatory works so that I shall love him." Outward physical acts
are not valid and acceptable unless they are accompanied by
appropriate actions of theheart, because the heart islike the king and
the physical faculties are like his troops. If the king is evil his
troops will also beevil. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said: "In the body there is a piece of flesh: if
it is soundthe whole body will be sound and if it is corrupt then the
whole body will be corrupt." Similarly the (hidden) actions of the
heart inevitably affect the (visible) physical actions. So precedence
must be given to that which is more obligatory, whether it is called
inward or outward. Perhaps things that are called inward may be more
obligatory, such as refraining from destructive envy and arrogance,
for that is more essential than observing naafil fasts. Or acts that
are described as outward or physical may be better, such as qiyaam
al-layl (praying at night), which is better than simply giving up some
thoughts that may cross one's mind such as (non-destructive) jealousy,
etc. Inward and outward deeds support one another, and prayer keeps
one from doing evilactions and generates fearof Allaah, and has other
important effects. It (prayer) is the best of good deeds and charity.
And Allaah knows best.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him), Majmoo'
al-Fataawa, 6/381
So there is no separation between correcting what is inward and
correcting what is outward or physical.
The outward acts of worship which a person performs with his
physicalfaculties – if he does themfor the sake of Allaah – will
undoubtedly have an effect on his inward nature.
For example, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: "Shall I not tell you of something that will take away the evil
of the heart? Fasting three days of each month." (Narratedby
al-Nasaa'i, 2386; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh
al-Nasaa'i, 2249). The evil of the heart refers to rancour, hatred and
destructive envy.
One of the most important remedies for diseases of the heart is to
study and ponder the texts which include warnings to the one who
leaves these diseases to fester in his heart, such as the hadeeth in
which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"No one will enter Paradise who has an atom's-weight of arrogance in
his heart." (Narrated by Muslim, 91).
And the hadeeth according to which Hell will say, "My share is the
arrogant." (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 4850; Muslim,2846)
And the hadeeth: "On the Day of Resurrection the arrogant will be
gathered like ants in the form of men." (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi,
2492; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi, 2025).
And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The
disease of the nations who came before you has started to spread among
you: destructive envy and hatred. These are the shavers. I do not mean
that they shave hair but they shave away religiouscommitment. By the
One in Whose hand is my soul,you will not enter Paradise until you
believe,and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I
not tell you of something which ifyou do it, you will love one
another. Spread (the greeting of) salaam amongst yourselves."
(Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2510; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in
Saheeh al-Tirmidhi, 2038).
Whoever ponders with true insight such warnings about the diseases of
the heart will undoubtedly strive to cleanse his heart thereof, and
will seek help in doing so by doing outward physical acts, praying to
his Lord to cleanse his heart of hatred, destructive envy, rancour and
so on, as Allaah says, describing theprayer of the believers:

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3b] Zakaah al-Fitr By Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips Islamic Studies Vol. 1

3b]
6. RATE
The amount of Zakaah is the same for everyone regardless of their
different income brackets. The minimum amount is one Saa` (two
handfuls ) offood, grain or dried fruit for each member of the family.
This calculation is based on Ibn `Umar's report that the
Prophet(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) made Zakaah al-Fitr compulsory
and payable by a Saa` of dried dates or a Saa` of barley.
The Sahaabee, Abu Sa`eed al-Khudree said, "In the Prophet's time, we
used togive it (Zakaah al-Fitr) as a Saa` of food, dried dates,
barley, raisins or dried cheese". [collected by al-Bukhaaree -
Arabic/English vol. 2, p. 340, no. 582]/

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3a] Zakaah al-Fitr By Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips Islamic Studies Vol. 1

3a]
Zakaah al-Fitr
By Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
Islamic Studies Vol. 1
~
1. MEANING
Zakaah al-Fitr is often referred to as Sadaqah al-Fitr. The word Fitr
means the same as Iftaar, breaking a fast and it comes from the same
root word as Futoor which means breakfast. Thus, Islamically, Zakaah
al-Fitr is the name given to charity which is distributedat the end of
the fast of Ramadaan.
2. CLASSIFICATION
Sadaqah al-Fitr is a duty which is Waajib on every Muslim, whether
male or female, minor or adult as long as he/she has the means to do
so.
The proof that this form ofcharity is compulsory can be found in the
Sunnah whereby Ibn `Umar reported that the Prophet (sallallaahu
`alaihi wa sallam) made Zakaah al-Fitr compulsory on every slave,
freeman, male,female, young and old among the Muslims; one Saa` of
dried dates or one Saa` of barely. [collected by Bukhaaree -
Arabic/English, vol. 2, p. 339, no. 579]
The head of the householdmay pay the required amount for the other
members. Abu Sa'eed al-Khudree said, "On behalfof our young and old,
free men and slaves, we used to take out during Allaah's Messenger's
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) lifetime one Saa` of grain, cheese or
raisins". [collected by Muslim - English transl. vol.2, p. 469, no.
2155]
3. SIGNIFICANCE
The significant role played by Zakaah in the circulation of wealth
within the Islamic society is also played by the Sadaqah al-Fitr.
However, in the case of Sadaqah al-Fitr, each individual is required
to calculate how much charity is due from himself and his dependents
and go into the community in order to find those who deserve such
charity. Thus, Sadaqah al-Fitr plays a very important role in the
development of the bonds of community. The rich areobliged to come in
direct contact with the poor, and the poor are put in contactwith the
extremely poor. This contact between the various levels of society
helps to build real bonds of brotherhood and love within the Islamic
community and trains those who have, to be generous to those who do
not have.
4. PURPOSE
The main purpose of Zakaah al-Fitr is to providethose who fasted with
the means of making up for their errors during the month of fasting.
Zakaah al-Fitr also provides the poor with a means with which they can
celebrate the festival of breaking thefast (`Eed al-Fitr) along with
the rest of the Muslims.
Ibn Abbaas reported, "The Prophet (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) made
Zakaah al-Fitr compulsory so that those who fasted may be purified of
their idle deeds and shameful talk (committed during Ramadaan) and so
that thepoor may be fed. Whoevergives it before Salaah will have it
accepted as Zakaah,while he who gives it afterthe Salaah has given
Sadaqah." [collected by Abu Dawood - Eng. transl. vol. 2, p. 421, no.
1605 - rated Saheeh by Shaikh Naser Al-Albanee]
Hence, the goal of Sadaqahal-Fitr is the spiritual development of the
Believers. By making them give up some of their wealth, the believers
are taught the higher moral characteristics of generosity, compassion
(sympathy for the unfortunate), gratitude to God and the
righteousness.But, since Islaam does not neglect man's material need,
part of the goal of Zakaah al-Fitr is the economic well-being of the
poorer members of society.
5. CONDITIONS
Zakaah al-Fitr is only Waajib for a particular period of time. If one
misses the time period without a good reason, he has sinned and can
not make it up. This form of charity becomes obligatory from sunset on
the last day of fasting and remains obligatory until the beginning of
Salaah al-'Eed' (i.e. shortly after sunrise on the following day).
However, it can be paid prior to the above mentioned period, as many
of the Sahaabah (companions of the Prophet(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa
sallam) ) used to pay Sadaqah al-Fitr a couple days before the `Eed.
Naafi reported that the Prophet's companion Ibn `Umar used to give it
to those who would accept it and the people used to give it a day or
two beforethe `Eed. [collected by al-Bukhaaree - Arabic/English, Vol.
2, p.339, no. 579]
Ibn `Umar reported that the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam)
order that it (Zakaah al-Fitr) be given before people go to make the
Salaah (al-'Eed).
And Ibn `Abbaas reported that the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa
sallam) said, "Whoever gives it before the Salaah will have it
accepted as Zakaah, while he who gives it after the Salaah (will not,
for it will only be considered as) ordinary charity." Therefore, one
who forgets to pay this Zakaah al-Fitr on time should do so as soon as
possible even though it will not be counted as Zakaah al-Fitr. ...

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2a] Dividing Qiyaam al-layl into two parts during the last ten days of Ramadan

2a]
The qiyaam of Ramadaan is called Taraweeh because they used to have a
rest (yastareehoona) after every four rak'ahs because they used to
make the prayers lengthy.The reason why some people object to that is
that it is contrary to what is customary among the people of their
countries and most of the people nowadays; and because ofignorance of
the Sunnah and reports and of the practice of the Sahaabah, Taabi'oon
and the imams of Islam; and because of what some people think, that
our prayer during thelast ten days is a kind of salat al-ta'qeeb which
was regarded as makroohby some scholars, but thatis not in fact the
case, because ta'qeeb is a voluntary prayer offered in congregation
after finishing Taraweeh and Witr.
This is how all the fuqaha'defined ta'qeeb, as a voluntary prayer
offered in congregation after finishing Witr immediately after
Taraweeh. From these words it is clear that prayer offered in
congregation before Witr is not ta'qeeb. End quote.
Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan said in Ithaaf Ahl al-Eemaan bi Majaalis
Shahr Ramadaan:
In the last ten days of Ramadan, the Muslims increase their efforts in
worship, following the example of the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) and seeking Laylat al-Qadr which is better than a
thousand months. Those who pray twenty-three rak'ahs at the beginning
of the month break it up during the last ten days, so they pray ten
rak'ahs at the beginning of the night, calling it Taraweeh, and they
pray ten at the end of the night, making them lengthy, and following
it with three rak'ahs of Witr, which they call qiyaam. This is a
variation in naming only. In fact all of it may be called Taraweeh or
it maybe called qiyaam. As for those who pray eleven or thirteen
rak'ahs at the beginning of the month, they add ten rak'ahs to that
during the last ten days, which they pray at the end of the night,
making it lengthy, makingthe most of the virtue of the last ten days
and increasing their efforts to do good. They have a precedent among
the Sahaabah and others whoprayed twenty-three rak'ahs, as stated
above. Thus they combine the two opinions: the opinionwhich favours
offering thirteen rak'ahs during the first twenty days and the opinion
which favoursoffering twenty-three during the last ten days.

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