Dought & clear, - Enthusiasm when one first repents, followed byslackening off.

When a person repents, he makes a vigorous start and says, "The
Shaytaan is telling me toslow down," so he does more acts of worship.
Then his enthusiasm cools down, and he says,"Allaah does not burdenany
person beyond his scope," and his acts of worship become less until he
goes back to the way he was.
My question: What advice can you give? Should he make a vigorous
start, or take a gradual approach until itis established and then add
more after a while, or should he follow the saying, "When your wind
blows, then make the most of it"?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The blessing of guidanceand repentance is one ofthe greatest blessings
that Allaah can bestow upon the Muslim, whereby he changes himself for
the better in ways that will bring him closer to Allaah, may He be
exalted. Usually the person who has repented starts to do acts of
worship in an enthusiastic manner, seeking thereby to makeup for what
he missed out on during the time that he spent in sin and misguidance.
This is something naturalthat happens to everyone who is sincere in
his repentance. This was mentioned by our Prophet(peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him), who also described the cooling offand
reduction of enthusiasm that comes after that. This is also something
natural, but the danger in the case ofone who has repented isthat this
loss of enthusiasm may lead to him going back to the way he was. Hence
it is essential to pay attention to this matter. If the one who
repents finds his enthusiasm waning, he must adopt amoderate approach
and adhere to the Sunnah so that he can preserve his capital, then he
can startagain with energy and strength, because starting from the
middle is better than starting from zero.
It was narrated that 'Abd-Allaah ibn 'Amr (may Allaah be pleased with
him) said: The Messenger of Allaah(peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: "Every deed has a period of enthusiasm, and every
period of enthusiasm is followed by a slackening off. If a person's
enthusiasm is for my Sunnah, then he has succeeded, but whoever
chooses something else when he slackens off is doomed."
Narrated by Ibn Hibbaanin hisSaheeh(1/187); classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani inSaheeh al-Targheeb, 56.
It was narrated from AbuHurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that
the Prophet(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Every
deed has a period of enthusiasm, and every period of enthusiasm is
followed by a slackeningoff. If a person is moderate and avoids
extremes, then you may have hope for him, but iffingers are pointed at
him, then do not count him as anything."
Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2453; classed as hasan byal-Albaani inSaheeh
al-Targheeb, 57.
Al-Mubaarakfoori (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
"Every deed has a periodof enthusiasm" means, enthusiasm and energy
for doing a thing, whether it is for good orevil.
"and every period of enthusiasm is followed by a slackening off"
means, one becomes tired, weak and lethargic
"If a person is moderate and avoids extremes" means, if he controls
his enthusiasm and avoids the extremes of excess and negligence when
his enthusiasm wanes.
"then you may have hope for him" means, there is the hope that hewill
succeed, for he can continue to adhere to something moderate, and the
most beloved of deeds to Allaah are thosewhich are done consistently.
"but if fingers are pointed at him" means, he is striving hard in
order to become famousfor his worship and asceticism, so that he will
be famous and people will point at him.
"then do not count him as anything" means, do not think of him as
special or regard him as one of the righteous, forhe is showing off.
He didnot say, "Do not have any hope for him," because he has already
fallen and he cannot catch up with what he has missed.
Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi, 7/126
In order for the Muslim to avoid either extreme, he must be moderate
and not go to extremes in doing acts of worship and obedience lest he
get bored and give it up,and he should not refrain from doing them out
of laziness and carelessness lest he gets used to that and never goes
back to worship. Both attitudes are wrong, but the one who follows a
middle path is following the right path,and whoever follows theright
path will attain that which Allaah loves and is pleased with.
It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him)
said: The Messenger of Allaah(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: "No one of you will be saved by his deeds." They said: Not
even you, O Messenger of Allaah? He said: "Not even me, unless Allaah
bestows mercy upon me. So do good deeds properly, sincerely and
moderately, and worship Allaah in the forenoon and in the afternoon
and during a part of the night, and always adopt a moderate course
whereby you will reach your target (Paradise)."
Narrated by al-Bukhaari,6098
Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
"So do good deeds" means, strive to do whatis right.
"moderately" means, do not go to extremes in worship, lest you become
tired and give up, and thus fall short.
This hadeeth indicates that we are encouraged to be gentle and
moderate in worship; the words used liken worship to walking at
various times of day and night, with the aim of reaching one's abode,
namely Paradise.
"Always adopt a moderate course" meansadhere to the middle way. The
literal translation would be, "Moderation, moderation"; the word is
repeated for emphasis.
Fath al-Baari, 11/297
Conclusion: We invite you to ponder the ahaadeeth quoted above and
think about what they mean. Remember that the one who repents should
be grateful, and the best way of showing gratitude is to persist in
repentance, which means persisting in worship. Remember that"The
dearest of actions to Allaah is that which is done regularly, even if
itis small." Narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim. So do not start in an
overenthusiastic way and then stop completely; rather be moderate in
worship. This is something that it is possible for you to do. Whenever
you feel moreenergetic, then focus on obeying and worshipping Allaah,
and whenever you feel tired than go back to the moderate way. We ask
Allaah to make things easy for you, and to guide you to the best of
words, deeds and attitudes.
And Allaah knows best.

Jannah: The Garden from the Qur'an and Hadith 6. The Blessings Allah has Prepared for the People of the Garden

Sometimes films have been made and novels written about things people
wish for but which are impossible to obtain because of the way the
world is. These things are thought to befantastic or utopian and
beyond the realm of reality. Many people long for these
imaginaryperfections and want them to be real. But knowing that these
wonderful things cannothappen in the real worldand that they exist
only in the imagination, people do not form a deep longing for them in
their spirits. On the contrary, they become even more aware of the
imperfections that surround them; they see the world's real face,
which makes them "feel depressed." Of course, only people without
faith get caught up in this state.
Those who believe with certainty in the existence of the Hereafter
know that all possibilities that stretch the boundaries of the
imagination can come tobe by Allah's command and that they will attain
the blessing of the Garden in the Hereafter. This being the case, a
person may hope to attain in the Garden all the blessings he would
like to have had on Earth. With this hope, a person will exert
himselfseriously to be worthy ofthe Garden where he will be granted
everything he desires.
Our Prophet is reported to have said that in the Hereafter for Allah's
faithful slaves, "there will be that which no eye has seen, no ear
has heard and has never occurred to a human heart." (Sahih Muslim)
In the verses in which Hedescribes the Garden, Allah opens a horizon
to blessings that cannot be compared with anythingin this world. In
verse 35 of Surah Qaf, He reveals the expanse of these blessings:
"They will have there everything they want and with Us there is
still more."In another verse, Allah reveals: No self knows the
delight that is hidden away for it in recompense for what it used
to do. (Surat as- Sajda: 17)

Jannah: The Garden from the Qur'an and Hadith 5. They will have there everything they want and with Us there is still more. (Surah Qaf: 35)

Of course, our capacity to grasp the descriptionsof the Garden
throughout this book are limited by the limitations of the humanmind.
Indeed, the perfection and beauty announced by Allah in the Qur'an and
described in the hadith of our Prophet are too great for a human
beingto conceive of with his intellect. One can only begin to
understand the beauty of the Garden by comparing it with blessings one
knows in this life. The beauty of the blessings that our Lord has
prepared there for His faithful slaves willtruly be understood onlyin
the Hereafter (akhira).The pleasure they will give to the human spirit
can only be tasted there.The reason for this is that Allah has
vouchsafed these blessings and good things only to His slaves who have
faith. He has withheld the blessings ofthe Garden from those who
reject Him. In the Qur'an we are told that those who do not enter the
Garden will experience a deep longing for it in the Hereafter and that
their lives there will be full of sorrow. They will long for the
Garden and will wish in eternal sorrow that they had entered it. Of
course, they were aware in this life of the existence of the Garden
and its beauty, but they ignored it. They focused all their attention
on thisworld thinking they could satisfy the longing of their hearts
in this life.
It is hoped that what is written in this book will be a means whereby
people caught up in serious error may understand that real life will
be lived only in the Hereafter, and thus they will spend their lives
striving to win the favour of the Lord. It will, we hope, increase the
pleasure and determination of peoplewith faith as well as their
longing to attain the Garden; it will lead them to strive to do good
works so that they may be slaves beloved by Allah.

Quick Grasp of Faith: How should compliments and praises be proclaimed?

People are praised for their physical beauty or good morals, although
the unique and real possessor of all of these admirable features is
Allah. Hence, we present all of our compliments to Him, the only One
Who creates and shapes everything in its perfect form. For example, if
one's physical beauty is praised, we have to remember that Allah has
given that beauty as a blessing. Wisdom, intelligence, and all other
features are the blessings of Allah on that person. Therefore, all
praises find their proper place only when they are made with the
intention to praise Allah. The Qur'an proclaims that Allah is the true
owner of everything that can be admired, as follows:
And say: "Praise be to Allah, Who has had no son and no partner in His
Kingdom, and Who needs no one to protect Him out of weakness."
Proclaim His Greatness repeatedly! (Suratal-Isra': 111)
For that reason, when praising athing's or a person's beauty, we have
to realize that Allah createdit, that it belongs to Him, and that He
may take that blessing back, if He wills to do so.