Start with yourself beforeothers

Who to start with?
In Da'wah )call to Islam(, start with yourself before the members of
your family and other people and look at what is lacking in you in
order that you may start treating it.
So if there is a common deficiency between you and one of your
companions or family members, then join him with youin resolving this
problem becausethe Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam
said:"Whoever from amongst you sees an evil he should change it with
his hand and if he is not able to, then with his tongue andif he is
not able to, then he should hate it in his heart, and that is the
weakest level of faith."]Muslim and Ahmed[
How is your relationship with Allaah?
How is your humbleness in prayer?
Read about that which will betteryour condition and that of your
prayer, increase your humblenessin it and soften your heart.
Are you one whose supplications are answered or do you notice most of
your supplications not being answered?
Look into your Aqeedah )Faith( and the level of your certainty and
reliance upon Allaah, and observe closely your food and drink - are
they from that which is Halaal )lawful( or Haraam)unlawful(, or is
there some doubt about their source?
If the situation was one that requires enjoining good and forbidding
evil, what would you do? Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu alaihi wa
sallam said:"By Him in Who's Hand is my soul,you will enjoin good and
prohibitevil or )else( Allaah will soon sendupon you a punishment from
Him, then you will call upon Him and He will not answer you."]Ahmed
and At-Tirmithi[
Maybe you would benefit from reading Hadeeths )Prophetic narrations(
pertaining to the punishment of the grave and thatof its bliss, about
the terror of the Resurrection, and the torment of the Hell Fire. You
could well continue reading for days, weeks or months, accompanying
that with good actions and self-struggle.
It is imperative that a person takes his soul to account and treats
his deficiencies. Match yourself against the Quran and the Sunnah
)Prophet's, sallallaahualaihi wa sallam, tradition( to know who you
are, and look what you have set aside for Allaah to know what Allaah,
the Almighty and Majestic, has prepared for you because of the saying
of the Messenger of Allaah,sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam:"Whoever wants
to know what Allaah has prepared for him then he should look to what
he has prepared for Allaah."]As-Silsilah As-Saheehah[
Are you prepared for the meetingwith Allaah?
Have you fulfilled the rights of thecreation, one to another? Or are
you in a constant state of postponing and deferring?
Have you converted your knowledge of repentance into crying and penitence?
Have you turned whatever you have read about loving Allaah into real
love for your Muslim brothers?
Do you often visit them, and overlook their faults? Do you aid the
needy from amongst them, feel delight for their happiness and grieve
for their sorrow?
Do you taste the sweetness and delight of Faith?
Are Allaah and his Messenger, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam,
morebeloved to you than anybody else?
Do you give precedence to the love of Allaah over wealth, business,
whims and desires?
Test yourself when you hear the call to prayer, if you notice a desire
to delay answering it in order to pursue your interests in trade )for
example( then know that Satan has succeeded in gradually leading you
astray and that your love for Allaah is deficient. In this way it is
upon you to consolidate yourself, giving precedence to the orders of
Allaah over any other worldly matter.
How is your abhorrence of entering into disbelief? Do you abhor it as
you would abhor being thrown into the Hell Fire?
Do you live this abhorrence and this feeling in you, so that your
sincerity to Allaah is cultivated and that you may hasten to purify
your soul?
Contemplate the Hadeeth of Umm Salamahwho said: '"Most of the
invocations of the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam,
used to be:"O Changer of the Hearts make my heart firm upon your
religion."]Ahmed and At-Tirmithi[
Reflect upon how Ibraaheem)Abraham(feared associatingpartners with
Allaah, so he used to supplicate )what means(:"Andkeep me and my sons
away from worshipping idols."]Quran 14:35[
This is what Abu Ad-Dardaa'used to fear hence his saying: 'Verily what
I fear from my Lord on the Day of Resurrection is thatHe calls me in
front of all creationand says to me "O 'Uwaymir )i.e., Abu Ad-Dardaa'
himself(," so I say, "Here I am My Lord at Your service," so He says,
"What did you act upon from the knowledge that you acquired?"
Don't forget the supplication of Yousuf )Joseph()which means(:"Cause
me to die as a Muslim and join me with the righteous."]Quran 12:101[
You should aid yourself through fear: living with the fear of eternal
abode in the Hell Fire. Don't rest and sit around while the sweetness
of Faith is missing or is weakened. How many people set out on
journeys for the purpose of treating their illnesses and how many of
them spend out of their wealth to treatthese illnesses? Do not the
souls and the hearts have more priorityin being treated, as their
matter is one of total eternity? Bring to mind the Hadeeth,"Every
slave will be resurrected upon that which he died."]Muslim[, then
expect death at any moment.
It is better for you if you were to meet death whilst trying to
improve your own condition thanto die whilst striving to improve
others', being held accountable at the same time for leaving off
obligatory actions just like the lantern that burns itself out and
gives light to others, as in the Hadeeth:"The example of the scholar
who teaches the people good things but forgets himself is that of a
lantern, it gives light to the people but burns itself
out."]At-Tabaraani[