Stop Counting Your Good Deeds (A Warning from Allah)

The Divine Warning Against Pride in Good Deeds

Allah is saying when you do da'wah, don't think you've done anybody a favor. I did this for these people, I made so much da'wah for these people, I gave them da'wah and look at how they treat me. Don't do that, don't let that come in your head.

That you deserve because you gave so much. Third, don't consider it a favor to Allah that you've done so much. I've done so much for Allah, why isn't Allah helping me?

Don't think you've done a favor, hoping that you should get a lot.

I've done so much, I know Allah will give me so much. My rewards, I can't even keep count. My God! I mean there's Jannah, but Jannah for me must be like really big.

You know what that is? As if you've done some special act of favor. Allah says,

Don't tell me that your Islam is a favor to me. Don't do that.

Understanding the Multiple Meanings of the Ayah

So to get started, I want to explain to you why this ayah has so many meanings, so many lessons inside one ayah.

That's the ayah, short words, but there's a lot going on here. The reason for that is there are two ways to understand لا تمنون. Two ways to understand the first part لا تمنون and there are two ways to understand تَسْتَكْثِرُ.

So what are the two ways to understand لا تمنون? لا تمنون could be don't do a favor or don't remind someone you've done them a favor, don't impose a favor and it can also mean don't become weak or don't quit, don't discontinue. So don't do a favor, don't discontinue or don't quit or don't be weak. These are the two meanings of لا تمنون.

تَسْتَكْثِرُ means تَسْتَكْثِرُ could be read with a ضَمَّة تَسْتَكْثِرُ which in grammar would make it a حَال, or it could be جَوَابُ الطَّلَب. So it could be لا تَسْتَكْثِر مجزوم.

If you read it لا تَسْتَكْثِر the meaning is something else and if you read لا تَسْتَكْثِر the meaning is something else. So if you combine those possibilities there's a number of lessons that come from this ayah and we're gonna go through a list of all of them.

Key Lessons from the Ayah

The first of them, the Prophet ﷺ is being told: Don't do favors, hoping for more. The first meaning would be: Don't do favors, hoping for more.

What does that mean? That means when you are in a position of da'wah and the da'wah is growing, so is your influence. And when your influence is growing then people might want to use or leverage your influence for some favor for their own. And when you get in that position don't ever take that as the position you got put in was not there so that you can take advantage of it for your personal gain. So don't ever use this position for anything other than the da'wah itself.

Let me give you a secular example so you understand this. You know, athletes become popular, right? Football players, basketball players, UFC fighters. And when they become popular companies come to them and say: Hey, you wanna be our brand spokesperson for our rubber band? You wanna represent our socks? Wear this sock, brother. It's good, brother.

And why would you do them this favor? What are you gonna get? Okay, fine, I'll put your socks on. What am I gonna get? Oh, well, we're gonna give you this commission, we're gonna give you this contract, we're gonna give you this advertising, we're gonna sponsor your next tour. Whatever, they're giving the money, right? There's a deal being made.

So, the more influence you have the more you're in a position to do somebody a favor but it's not really a favor because you're expecting what? Returns. What am I gonna get out of this? What am I gonna get out of this? That's lesson number one.

Lesson number two: لَا تَمْنُونَ تَسْتَكْثِرُ - Don't consider a favor to people assuming that you've done so much.

Meaning, لَا تَمْنُونَ means: Man, I give so many lectures, I made so many videos, I did this, I did this, I did this. I've done so much for the ummah. They don't appreciate me. They should do more for me. I've done so much for them. As if, don't put in your mind that you've done some huge contribution for the people and the people owe you a lot. Don't have that mindset. Nobody owes you anything.

And in fact, Ibrahim عليه السلام did something for Allah that nobody can ever do. Ibrahim عليه السلام built the Kaaba after passing the hardest test and everyone of us owes a favor to Ibrahim عليه السلام with every salah, every hajj, every single day around the earth and Ibrahim عليه السلام is building that Kaaba and he's saying:

Ya Allah, I don't know if this was good enough. Please accept.

Show us how to do the rituals here and accept our tawbah. Ibrahim عليه السلام is making tawbah. What does that mean? He's not impressed with himself. He's not thinking he's done somebody a favor.

Allah is saying, when you do da'wah, don't think you've done anybody a favor. I did this for these people, I made so much da'wah for these people, I gave them da'wah and look at how they treat me. Don't do that. Don't let that come in your head that you deserve because you gave so much.

Third: Don't consider it a favor to Allah that you've done so much. I've done so much for Allah, why isn't Allah helping me?

Don't think you've done a favor hoping that you should get a lot. I've done so much, I know Allah will give me so much. My rewards? I can't even keep count. My God! I mean there's Jannah, but Jannah for me must be like really big.

You know what that is? As if you've done some special act of favor. Allah says:

Don't tell me that your Islam is a favor to me. Don't do that. Don't think that your Islam is a favor to me.

They make it sound like it's a favor that they accepted Islam. Allah says: Don't act like you've done a favor by accepting your Islam. Rather, Allah is the one who's done a favor to you. Allah is doing a favor to you.

If I get to do da'wah, if I get to invite even one soul including myself to Allah, that is not a favor to Allah. That is Allah's favor on me.

Yusuf عليه السلام was in prison. A couple of people came to him. They asked him for their dreams. He used the opportunity to do da'wah to them. Remember that? When he did da'wah to them, you know what he said?

This is the favor of Allah on us. The favor of Allah on us is we get to call people to Allah. That's not my favor to you or that's not me doing Allah a favor. That's Allah doing me a favor. It's the other way around. لَا تَمْنُنْ تَسْتَكْثِرْ - never let that thought even come to you.

The Mindset of True Service

Fourth: Don't give favors assuming them to be a lot. Don't do things for people and then think in your head: I've done a lot. I've mashallah, I've just mashallah. You know?

Now people can come to you and say: Mashallah, you've done so much. And to their face you say: No, no, no, that's for the sake of Allah. But in your head you're like: You're right. Why'd you stop? Tell me more about how much I've done.

So you say: Mashallah, thank you for your services. That's it? Thank you very much. Ah, that's a little better. Don't sit.

You know, I have an uncle who's actually just four years older than me, but you know how Muslim families are. He's my uncle bro. So he's my uncle bro. He's, mashallah, he's in Silicon Valley, has a hundreds of millions of dollars tech company. And he hires - he's a very small team. He's very selective about his team.

And sometimes I asked him: What are your hiring practices? Like how do you... Because his team is so small and the company is almost a billion dollars. So how does he manage? Because you have to have really star players. So what's your interview process?

He says: When somebody sits down and then tells me everything they've done - I graduated from here, then I did this project, then I did this, then I did this, and I led this - the interview is over before it started. I don't hire those people.

You know why? Because those people are very impressed with themselves. I was like: Who do you hire then? I hire people that when they come in they say: This is what I want to do. This is what I haven't been able to do yet. This is what I'm excited to do. I don't care about what I've done. I'm thirsty about what I haven't done yet. I don't sit on top of the mountain of my accomplishments. I sit here staring at the mountain of what I have not accomplished.

Because you're only gonna get two kinds of people. You're gonna get people: Oh, look at everything I did. Man, the world doesn't even appreciate everything that I've done. Or: I haven't done enough. I've got a lot to do. Because if you're focused on - if you have a lot to do, you don't have the time to talk about and remind people about everything you've done. You don't have time for that.

And you'll meet people: Assalamu alaikum brother, my name is this and this. I have written four books and I have two PhDs and I have done this, this, this and this and I have got this project and that project. And I'm like: Mashallah, mashallah, mashallah, mashallah, mashallah. How can I help you? Oh, I need you to promote my book on your social media. Oh, no. Because I've already done everything. Now I just need you to recognize my greatness.

And let the work speak for itself. Don't remind people of the work. If it's valuable work, it'll speak for itself. It won't need product endorsement. It'll have value in itself. So don't give favors assuming it to be a lot.

Don't Weaken in Your Resolve

Now, don't weaken. Now the other meaning of this was the favor meaning of تمنون. The other meaning is to discontinue or to become weak. You know like when you're working on something and you're working for a long time and you're not seeing results, your motivation, your energy gets weak, right? And then you might even want to discontinue. That's the second meaning.

Don't weaken or discontinue in your resolve and your commitment because you think you've already done a lot. That's another meaning of this ayah. Man, I've done enough. Now I can sit back.

You know in business, when you start a business, you have to work 24 hours a day. You're sleeping and you're working. And you did that for 5 years, 6 years, 10 years. And finally the business took off and you got the right team, the managers, everything's working. Now you can sit back and the thing is running itself and you just walk into the office whenever you feel like it. You walk out whenever you feel like it because you already put in the hard work, right?

Da'wah is not a business. Da'wah is not: I already did all the work, I already got famous, I already got this, I already wrote this book, I already did this and this. Let everybody else carry it now. I can just chill out now. I've done enough. No, don't become weak in your commitment thinking you've done everything you can or you've done too much already. Don't do that.

This work - you don't say I've prayed enough salawat, time to take a 6 month break, time to retire. There's a reason Allah puts salah and da'wah next to each other. مُزَّمِّلُ الْمُدَّثِّرُ - the same attitude you have towards salah is the same attitude that da'wah has towards da'wah. Same attitude. That's why they're next to each other.

Then the next one: Don't weaken in your resolve or don't weaken in your commitment while still feeling entitled to or wanting more. You know when you're doing da'wah, you have followers or you put yourself in some position of leadership. When you put yourself in a position of leadership, you start assuming things will come to you. You develop a sense of entitlement. Now you're doing even less but you still want to hold on to your entitlement.

You know this rank mindset that Allah protected us from in this ayah is so amazing. Sometimes I travel to different places. This brother comes up to me: You know, welcome to this masjid. I built this place in 1989. Really? Okay. They've already done it. Now they need to be continuously reminded or remind people what they did and reap the benefits of what they were. Like there's - the thing that they have to do is already done. They already graduated from the services. Don't develop that attitude and weaken in your services.

Remaining True to the Message

Don't discontinue the offense. This is an important one. The Quran was offensive. The Quran was challenging the elite. The Quran was warning. Warnings can be offensive, especially to criminals. Do not stop being offensive.

If the Quran is offensive, remain offensive. Talk about what the Quran is saying, hoping more people will come in. In other words, some people will say: Look, let's not talk about this part of the Quran or that part of the Quran or these ayahs or those ayahs because some people won't like it. Let's talk about the parts that if we talk about those, more people will come. So let's determine the message depending on the likability of the audience. They'll like it more so let's cater our message to the preferences of the people.

Who's your God then? Your God is an algorithm. Your God is public opinion. That's your God. Who needs idols when you have public opinion as your object of worship?

لا تمنون - Don't discontinue. Meaning don't discontinue talking about the truth because you're thinking if I hide some parts of the truth, more people will join in. تستكثر - More numbers will come.

The Promise of Divine Reward

Don't remind of favors. Now these last two are the most beautiful. Don't ever remind or think you've done anyone a favor. And if you never let that come in your head, Allah says: I promise you I will give you a lot.

Let me summarize that one for you. If you always think you haven't done enough or you've done very little and you've never done anyone a favor, guaranteed Allah will give you a lot. If you think you've done a lot, Allah won't.

So when you say I've done nothing, Allah will give you everything. When you think I haven't done enough, Allah will keep giving you more and more. لا تمنون - Formula. لا تمنون تستكثر.

And then: Don't weaken in your commitment. Don't let yourself become depressed because you're not seeing results. If Allah sees that you didn't stop, you kept going, then Allah will give you a lot. And this lot could be in this dunya and it could be in the akhirah.

You're not worried about whether or not many people will accept Islam or not. That's not your problem. Again, if you keep the principle in your mind: Da'wah is being compared to salah.

The Analogy with Salah

When you pray, right? You prayed on a good day, on a bad day, on a cold day, on a warm day. You prayed when you were sick, you prayed when you were healthy. You prayed. Every time you prayed, right? Isn't that one more good deed that you accomplished that you can say: Ya Allah, I did something for you? Now whether you prayed with a thousand people or you prayed with one more person or you prayed by yourself - in the end, did you still pray? Is it still ibadah? And Allah still recorded for you? He did.

When you're doing da'wah and there's a thousand people in front of you, you're doing da'wah. There's one person in front of you, you're doing da'wah. Even that one person walks away and says I gotta go. Did you do your part? When you do your part, then don't ever become weak looking at the results. You keep doing your part. Just like salah.

Salah doesn't change depending on the weather or your mood. Salah is still salah. Da'wah is still da'wah. You keep doing that and Allah will give you more. Allah will give you plenty. So we're becoming unconcerned with results.

The Ultimate Motivation

And this is the final message before I let you guys go. What is the ultimate motivation? The ultimate motivation for people is results. If I do a project and a lot of people appreciate it, I'm motivated to continue the project. If I do a project and a lot of people appreciate it, I wanna quit the project.

Companies try a new venture, sales go up, the department gets bigger. Companies try a new venture, no sales, no interest, the department shuts down. Isn't that the case?

Allah is telling us: Da'wah is different. Da'wah is Nuh عليه السلام has the same commitment, the same motivation, the same drive for 950 years with no progress charts, no progress.

Allah is saying: What's your motivation? If the results and the growth and more people accepting Islam - if that's not your motivation, then what is your motivation? Ah:

I declared the greatness of Allah. That is an accomplishment by itself. Just like I prayed - that is an accomplishment by itself. My motivation is the takbir of Allah. My motivation is not the istakthir. Istikthar is not my motivation. Takbir is my motivation.

Complete change of mindset. That's really when you say mentally, psychologically: Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar means no other motivation replaces the motivation: Did I please Allah? Did I do what Allah wants? Was I truthful to the word of Allah? Good enough for me. Then I'm good.

You know, one of the most beautiful feelings I get in life is at the end of a Quran week when a Quran week comes to an end. Not just because I'm relieved like, ah, that was hard. But the first feeling that comes in my mind: Ya Allah, please accept. One more surah served.

Like, I just feel like: Okay, I'm a sinful person. I'm a weak believer. I have many flaws. Ya Allah, just can you just take some of this and give me some commission? Because there's lots of people sitting in the audience, lots of people watching this video that are much better believers than I am and they're gonna do way more good deeds than I could ever do and their ibadah has way more khushu than mine can ever have. And I could use the commission.

So in my head it's just - every time one of them is done: Okay, an investment made in the akhirah. And I have to remind myself of that mindset.

The language that's used here - لا تمنون - and before that, you know, وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ وَالرُّجْزَ فَاهْجُرْ وَلَا تَمْنُن تَسْتَكْثِرُ - this language is being used as though it's something repeated daily. This mental exercise you have to refresh this all the time, renew this all the time.

Just like salah has to be made multiple times a day, and in the salah you have to say Allahu Akbar multiple times in every salah. So you have to do takbir-ul-rab mentally throughout this life of da'wah, throughout this life. And that's the model Rasulullah ﷺ set for us in this remarkable ayah.

Linguistic Analysis of the Ayah

تَسْتَكْثِرُ from a sarf, from a morphology perspective, belongs to a pattern called استفعال. So تَسْتَكْثِرُ تَسْتَفْعِلُ. So it's استفعال pattern.

This pattern gives you three implications. One of them is asking for something, wanting something, or trying for something. That's number one. So when you say استغفار, you're asking for forgiveness, you're wanting forgiveness, and you're trying to get forgiveness. That's meaning number one. Here تَسْتَكْثِرُ could mean you're asking for a lot, you're wanting a lot, you're trying for a lot. That could be one meaning of it. And we saw some of the implications of that - you know, don't do favors hoping for a lot, wanting a lot, etc.

The second meaning of استفعال is hyperbole. Hyperbole means for something to be a great deal. So كثر means to be a lot, like something is in a huge amount. استكثر is a massively huge amount, for something to be a massively huge amount. So as if one of the meanings of the ayah could also be: Do not discontinue your efforts. Allah will give you - you will have a huge massive amount from Allah. So that would be in the meaning of مبالغة.

Then there is consideration. What that means is تَسْتَكْثِرُ means you think something is a lot, you consider something to be a lot. Remember I said don't do favors thinking that they're a lot, considering them a lot. Well that's in the meaning of عد الاعتبار.

So all three meanings interestingly work inside of this ayah and can be applicable in the tafaseer of this ayah.

Final Summary

And the two overall ideas that among the many ideas I shared with you I summarized here that I really want you to take with you. And that is: Don't seek more and Allah guarantees you'll get more. And the second is: Don't consider your deeds to be a lot, and when you do that you'll get a lot of reward from Allah.

So it's almost like a negative - your mindset has to be not expecting it, and that's what Allah gives you.