Call yourself to account - II

Being hard-hearted:A widespread disease is that of being hard-hearted,
lazy, and lethargic towards performing acts of worship. Many people
put off the idea of performing acts of worship and therefore delay
them to a later time, and this is from the whispers of Satan, so
thatwe would end up not performing them at all.
Contrary to this were theSalafwho would rush to perform acts of
worship and utilise everyopportunity they ever got in this regard.
They would prolong their acts of worship and perform them with a
humility andsubmissiveness that we cannot even begin to comprehend.
Nowadays, if the person leading the congregational prayer dares to
recite a long chapter from the Qur'aanduring it, the people would not
be able to tolerate it and would protest. This is a reflection of how
corroded our hearts havebecome as a result of excessive eating,
laughing, drinking, indulging in this worldly life and its pleasures,
andsinning.
Not calling ourselves to account:Due to the excessive amount of mixing
and socialising amongst the people, we fail to find the time to sit in
seclusion and hold ourselves to account for what we have said or done.
This is a great loss indeed. Let us compare this to an example of our
righteous Salaf:Ibraaheem At-Taymisaid: "I imagined myself in Paradise
eating from its fruits, drinking from its rivers and enjoying its
ladies. Then I imagined myself in the Hellfire eating from its bitter
thorny fruits, drinking from its boiling pus and suffering at its
chains. Then I asked myself: `What is your wish?` The response was: `I
wish to be returned to the worldly life so that I could perform more
acts of virtue.` Then I addressed myself saying: `You are where you
wish to be, so rush in performing the acts you wished to perform.`"
Not forbidding evil:We may very often see evil being committed before
our very eyes and yet remain silent and motionless, as if the
boundaries and limits of Allaah do not concern us in the least. We
know for certain that what is being committed is forbidden, yet we do
not even think about changing the evil, let alone preventing it from
taking place. Abu 'Abdur-Rahmaan Al-'Amrisaid: "A sign of your
heedlessness is to pass bya prohibition being committed and not
attempt to stop it."
One aspect of this topic isneglecting forbidding evil and enjoining
good amongst our wives and children, as well as not teaching them what
they need to know about their religion and failing to properly
cultivate them, while Allaah Says)what means(:"O you who believe!
Protect yourselves and you families from a Fire whose fuel is people
and stones, over which are]appointed[ angels, harsh and severe…"]Quran
66: 6[
The Prophetwould walk to the house of Faatimah and 'Aliand wake them
up to pray the optional night prayer, not the obligatory one, as a way
of teaching and training them. Note that this was after his daughter
was married and living in her own house. Compare this to some modern
day fathers who neglect the children and wives who are living with
them under the same roof. Do we ever stop to think how negligent we
are in this regard? Do we ever blame and rebuke ourselves for not
performing our duty in this matter the way it should be done?
Being indifferent:This is a lethal attitude that is killing the Muslim
community. A Muslim is commanded to play a positive role in his
community and assist in matters of virtue by as much as he is able,
and prevent evil by as much as he can. Many people stray away from the
rightpath because they do notfind anyone to assist them and rescue
them from straying, as those around them act indifferently. One should
not undermine any input he can give in this regard; let us look at the
story of when Imaam Ahmadwas imprisoned to see how effective a person
can be if he takes the initiative and does not act indifferently. When
Imaam Ahmadwas imprisoned, a thief was with him in the same cell.The
thief said to him: "O Ahmad! I persevere and tolerate the punishment
Ireceive while I am upon falsehood and being punished for a sin.
Wouldsomeone like you, who issuffering as a result of being upon the
truth, notpersevere and endure?" This thief played an important role
in comforting and consoling Imaam Ahmadand did not take a negative
stance towards the issue.
Undermining the grave effects of the temptation of women:Examples of
this are undermining prohibited gazing, not adhering to the
Hijaab)Islamic attire for women(, women wearing perfume before leaving
their homes, the spread of immoral films, intermixing between the two
sexes, and other matters that have led to people committing sins and
indulging in immorality. People nowadays mix with the opposite sex in
universities, schools and workplaces, while Yoonus bin 'Ubaydsaid:
"Never be in seclusion with a woman, even if you wish to teach her the
Quran, and even if only you would be the one reciting."
Being ill-mannered:Manypeople possess three veryevil qualities,
namely: lying, cowardice and miserliness, and these arethe worst three
qualities a person can possess. There are also many other evil
qualities that we must be mindful of and hold ourselves to account
regarding, such as backbiting, badmouthing others and tale-bearing,
while replacing them with praiseworthy qualities and morals.
The Salafwould rebuke themselves for every word they uttered, words
which would be considered very normal to people nowadays: Maalik bin
Dhayghansaid: "Rabaah bin Qays once came asking for my father after
the 'Asr prayer, but he happened to be sleeping, so we informed him of
this, to which he remarked: `Who would sleep at this time of the day?`
Then heleft. We sent a man after him to see if he wanted us to wake my
father up for him, but this man did not return until it was time to
pray Maghrib. When we asked him why he returned so late, he said: `I
followed him to ask him, but found that he was headed to the graveyard
while rebuking himself, saying: `What business is it of yours to ask
this kind of question? Why do you ask what does not concern you? What
is it to you when people go to sleep? People are free to sleep any
time they desire, why did you indulge in what does not concern
you?...`'" ]End of quote[ Note how lightly such a question would
betaken in our time, and how strongly he rebukedhimself for asking it.
Severing ties with kinfolk:The most important of kinfolk are one's
parents, and yet wefind many people dealingwith them in an
inappropriate manner or even severing ties with them altogether. As
for those who do try to fulfil the needs of their parents, many of
them doit begrudgingly, while expressing discontent or complaining
that it is a burden upon them, whileAllaah commands us to not say even
the least expression of discontent in this regard, saying)what
means(:"…Say not to them ]so much as[ 'Uff,' and do not repel them but
speak to them anoble word."]Quran 17: 23[
The mother of Huthayl bin Hafsahsaid: "He would collect wood during
the summer and peel off the outer layer ofbark himself. Then,
whenwinter would come, he would come to me whilst I was praying, light
a brazier )in my room( and place the peeled wood init, as this does
not give harmful smoke. He woulddo so just so that I would be warm
during prayer. He would do so even though we had a servant who could
do the job. Whenever I thought of stopping him and commanding him to
return to his family, I would remember why hewas doing it, and thus I
would allow him to continue." ]End of quote[ Why was he doingthis
himself despite him having a servant who could have done it for him?
It was nothing but areflection of his full dutifulness towards his
mother.
This type of nobility is not limited to ones parents; rather, one
should be kind to all his relatives and even his fellow Muslims.
Wasting time:The issue of wasting time is a very important one indeed.
We must be careful aboutit and hold ourselves to account regarding it
because we spend much of our time uselessly instead of spending it in
acts of obedience to Allaah, as it should be utilised. Allaah
Says)whatmeans(:"And it is He who has made the night and the day in
succession for whoever desires to remember or desires
gratitude."]Quran 25: 62[
Therefore, time was created so that we wouldfill it with acts of
obedience to Allaah, but many people do the exact opposite of this.The
Salafwere very keen to make use of every second of their time.
Al-Hasansaid: "I have met some people who were stingier with their
time than they werewith their wealth."
People nowadays waste their times in games, late nights, socialising,
watching television and in vain talk. They may even go as far as doing
so at the expense of theirreligious obligations, such as their daily
prayers, and so on.
Wasting wealth:Many men cave in under pressure from their wivesand
children and therefore spend extravagantly, but when they are asked to
spend in charity, one would find that they are so stingy that if they
were to pull out two ten Riyal bills to give in charity, one would
invariably return to his pocket. However, if this same person were to
go to a restaurant, he would have no problem in spending multiples of
this.
Allaah will ask us about our wealth because we were informed as such
bythe Prophet.Abu Barzahreported: "The Messenger of Allaahsaid:"Man's
feet will not move on the Day of Resurrection before he is asked about
his life and how he consumed it, his knowledge and what didhe do with
it, his wealth and how he earned it and how he disposed of it, and
about his body and how he wore it out."]At-Tirmithi[
It is not to be understoodhere that there are no people who spend
generously or that there are no people who do any of the
abovementioned matterscorrectly. What was intended and meant is that
we need to remember these matters and hold ourselves to account with
respect to them, as there are many of us who are failing to do so.