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The Classroom of the Sahaba: Consistency in Good Deeds

Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh, welcome, marhaban bikum, ahlan wa sahlan. Hopefully everyone is doing well. Another night with all of you brothers and sisters joining us from different parts of the country or different parts of the world. May Allah bless you once again for your commitment and dedication to joining these programs. Once again I'm surprised that, mashaAllah, everyone is still here. It's a blessing that mashaAllah we have people like all of you joining us on a nightly basis — twice a night, once at 9:15 and once at 12:10, 12 a.m., for these nightly lectures.

You know, for me this year has been very different in the sense that we also have our taraweeh prayers, so I just finished my taraweeh and then we start this. Normally every single night in the masjid we have a short tafseer session afterwards, so I haven't been able to do that in these last few nights because alhamdulillah I'm joining everyone over here. It's a blessing — may Allah reward you all and inshaAllah may Allah bless you all for joining.

JazakAllah khayr for joining. InshaAllah today we will continue that same series of the Classroom of the Sahaba and we'll talk about another best a'mal, or most beloved a'mal, to Allah. So bismillah, without any further delay, I'm going to bring on our esteemed guest, Shaykh Dawood Butt. For those of you that know him, alhamdulillah you know him. For those of you that don't, wasafa ta'arifuhu — you'll soon find out who he is.

Shaykh Dawood Butt has been serving the North American region specifically, but all across the world, for the last decade if not more. He graduated from the most prestigious university in the world, Madinah University, and then studied in Malaysia, taught there for many years. He has been a part of Al-Kawthar and Al-Maghrib for many years as well. Right now he's serving as a resident scholar in a masjid in Milton, which is near Mississauga, for those Canadians. He also joins us and teaches with us in the Miftaah online program. We're blessed.

Salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh, how are you, Shaykh?

Shaykh Dawood: Alhamdulillah, doing good. Alhamdulillah, Ramadan is most kind.

Ramadan is also very fast.

Shaykh Dawood: It is! That's why we fast. It's as if Allah said, hey, you're fasting all day, so I'll make it easier for you — I'll make it go fast. Alhamdulillah. But you know, it's interesting that as the nights, as we're counting them down, you start getting very sad. Like, man, I wish we had a few more days, a few more nights. And hopefully that feeling allows us to take full advantage of these last few nights — at least we can have that feeling in the month of Ramadan, not after.

Shaykh, how has Canada been? They actually have it pretty good compared to us in some ways. The Toronto area has had the longest lockdown in all of North America. May Allah give you all patience and sabr. Over here we're still having our taraweeh prayers and everything is not fully normal, but at least semi-normal, alhamdulillah.

The Hadith: The Most Beloved Deeds Are the Most Consistent

Shaykh, today we're going to jump right into it. We've been doing these ahadith every single day. Today's hadith is, in comparison, a more famous one that people have heard of — where the Prophet ﷺ, when he was asked about the best a'mal, told us that the most beloved act to Allah is an act which is done with consistency, though it may be less. So even though it's less, it's still beloved to Allah because the person has the right regime, the right routine, and does it for a long period of time.

"The most beloved deeds to Allah are those done consistently, even if they are few." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6464; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 783)

Shaykh, when you think of this hadith, what is the first thing that you think of, and where does your mind go?

Shaykh Dawood: Bismillah, wa salatu wa salamu 'ala Rasulillah, wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. To be honest — and I think that's what the students at Miftaah know me for, like you just have to say it straight, the deen is simple. You ask this question: what is the first thing that pops into your mind when you hear this hadith? This hadith is one of my favorite ahadith. And I'll be totally honest with you — the first thing that always pops into my head is miswak.

Wow. Seriously — miswak?

Shaykh Dawood: Whenever I hear this hadith, since I was maybe 13 or 14 years old when I first heard it, I had a miswak in my pocket all the time at that age. I used to keep it in my mouth. I'd go to high school and I'd have a miswak in my mouth. The miswak is always in my right pocket — that's where it is, alhamdulillah.

SubhanAllah. The thing that always popped into my head since I was a teenager is miswak — and it's not because it's the only thing. It's the simplicity of it. The fact that Allah is pleased with us doing the simplest of things, but doing them right and doing them consistently. Another example is putting on your socks — you put the right one on first before the left, and you make it a point throughout your whole life to always start with the right. Or if you're exiting the bathroom, you start with the left. Just doing these little things, knowing that Allah is pleased with it.

And I see these as those little actions that when we get older and they become too difficult for us to actually do, Allah will bless us with the reward for doing them even though we can no longer do them.

The Little Sunnahs That Take Us the Distance

Shaykh, that's a very interesting take. What you're saying is: let's not just focus on istiqamah in perhaps more difficult things — let's talk about istiqamah in the simpler things first, and hopefully that leads to much bigger things. What's one other sunnah that you've held close to yourself since being a student of knowledge, and that you encourage children and students to have?

Shaykh Dawood: It's always the little ones. To answer your question: when you finish making wudu, just look at the sky, raise your shahada finger, and say:

Simple. Easy. But make it a habit in your life. Do it for the sake of Allah.

It's those little deeds. Ibn al-Qayyim rahimahullah mentions that a person will come on the Day of Judgment and they would think it was the major sins that would drive them to Jahannam, but in fact they would come before Allah and see a massive mountain of little tiny sins — sins they thought were insignificant, like someone who swears when they want, or rolls their eyes at their parents — little things, but so plentiful that that will be what takes them there. And he mentions the same thing with regards to good deeds: it will be the little deeds, the little things. Like, you go for Hajj once in your life, but think of the amount of times that you raise your shahada finger, praise and glorify Allah after making wudu, start with your right foot, make du'a when entering and exiting the masjid, begin your food with bismillah, say du'a when you drink milk, look in the mirror, put on your clothes — it's those little things that subhanAllah will take us, and they become second nature.

If a person gets into that mindframe and continues — doing your du'a entering the masjid, exiting the masjid, beginning your food, saying du'a when you drink milk, looking in the mirror, putting on your clothes — it's those little things done for the sake of Allah that will inshaAllah be the deeds that really elevate us in status in the hereafter. It's just so simple. But it takes practice. It takes dedication. It takes desire to want to do it.

And just do one thing. Just do one new thing this month of Ramadan — something simple that you can implement and maintain for 30 days, and then maintain for the next 11 months. But if you try and say, "I'm going to do a juz' a day," when that person doesn't even recite a page a day — it's not going to happen. If you didn't recite a page a day, then recite a page a day throughout Ramadan and establish that for a year. Next Ramadan, do three pages a day. That's how we increase. That was the way of the sahabah radiAllahu anhum.

Shaykh Abdullah Joins: Istiqamah and the Command to the Prophet ﷺ

Shaykh Abdullah: The first word that pops into my mind when I hear this hadith? It's dhikr. And what Shaykh Dawood was saying — when a good deed becomes consistent, a person does it without even realizing they're doing something great. And that becomes the epitome of sincerity. Someone was asking in the chat: if it's become second nature and I don't consciously recognize it as a great good deed, do I still get the reward? Yes — because you worked so hard on it that it became second nature. You will still get the reward of it.

These athletes do certain things so much that when it's difficult to do, it's still easy for them. When a person commits to a good deed with consistency, when they become older or face other challenges, that same deed is still easy because they've been doing it with such consistency. Like Kobe Bryant shooting 500 shots after losing a game — when he's in the NBA Finals with a hand in his face, he still feels confident to make that shot. Even though a person is challenged with different challenges, they'll still feel confident to maintain that deed. It becomes whatever — I'm going to continue doing what I'm doing.

And if I can add generally: the Prophet ﷺ was not commanded to be consistent specifically in one a'mal. He was commanded to be consistent on this entire path of iman:

The Prophet ﷺ was once asked why he had white hairs in his beard. And he said that one of the verses that turned some of his hair white was this ayah — فَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَا أُمِرْتَ — "O Prophet of Allah, I am commanding you to stay consistent to the extent that you have been ordered." You can't fall back at all. Whatever you have been told, you have to do it at that level.

When I think about this ayah, I think about the concept of marriage, for example. When a person first gets married, how excited are they? Such joy and happiness. Now, after a few years, it might go a little less. Allah is telling the Prophet ﷺ: the same type of excitement you had when you first heard this message, when you first started praying tahajjud, when you first walked into the masjid, when you first started praying salah — that feeling, that excitement, that jolt of iman — you need to continue feeling that throughout your life and stay consistent on that so you can continue experiencing that feeling.

كَمَا أُمِرْتَ — don't let it fall. And some scholars say — my father, hafidhullah, reminded me that one of his teachers told him — that it's not just the فَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَا أُمِرْتَ part that made the Prophet ﷺ go gray, but rather it's وَمَن مَعَكَ — that not only do you need to be consistent, but the way that you live should be in such a manner that others become consistent because of you. Your presence makes other people become consistent.

And then Allah says:

The way that a person falls out of consistency is when they change their environment and companionship. وَلَا تَرْكَنُوا إِلَى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا — don't turn towards the oppressors. Don't be with them. Because if you're with them, you'll be affected by them. So to be consistent, be with the people of consistency and build that community together, build that environment together. Your consistency should affect the people around you.

And the word istiqamah itself — it comes from قامة, from bab al-istif'al. The idea is you are seeking to be consistent. So the word itself is telling us that we can never fully arrive at perfect consistency — but just because we can never reach that level doesn't mean we stop seeking it. Just seeking it gives us the reward of it. Istiqamah — just seeking that type of steadfastness. May Allah at least allow us to live with that mindset of seeking these qualities and bring them into our lives slowly but surely.

The Cheat Code to Consistency

Imam, I wanted to ask you — when it comes to wrong, we're consistent. People who smoke consistently smoke after dinner. People who drive fast consistently drive fast. So we clearly have the ability to be consistent in things, whether right or wrong. What is that magnetic factor that makes a person feel: I don't want to miss this again. I don't want to lose this opportunity. What is the cheat code to consistency?

Shaykh Abdullah: I think that question requires a deep answer. A person really needs to develop a connection with Allah and that desire — just like they have an addiction to their phone, or a cigarette, or anything else — if you're addicted to wanting to please Allah in something good, that requires taqwa. That requires that special link between you and Allah. If a person isn't going to polish that connection and make sure that that line is never clogged — it's always a smooth, easy link between you and Allah — then it's going to be very difficult to establish something that brings you closer to Allah.

Shaykh Dawood: The beautiful thing about the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ is that the more we do good deeds, the more Allah makes it easy for us. People always come and ask me: I have a really difficult time letting go of the small sins I do, what can I do to stop? And I tell them: do more good deeds. Because the more we do good deeds, the more Allah removes the sins. As the sins are being removed, that's purification — tazkiyah — the heart is being purified. And we naturally move forward.

Shaykh Abdullah: You basically summarized it. The Prophet ﷺ told us:

"Fear Allah wherever you are, and follow up a bad deed with a good one — it will wipe it out. And treat people with good character." (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1987)

And even in that ayah of فَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَا أُمِرْتَ, the ayah after it actually says:

And one fairly deep understanding of this is that good deeds actually push away the desire of doing sins. They push away that desire — because I became consistent with something good, that good deed will naturally push the desire of the sin away from us. Now we don't even want to do it. Now we don't even want to think about it. It's just gone. يُذْهِبْنَ السَّيِّئَاتِ. Allah says that's the way you start thinking about how to push away sins — just start something good.

The man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: my friend over here steals a lot. The Prophet ﷺ said: does he pray salah? The man said: yes, he prays. The Prophet ﷺ said: يَمْنَعُهَا — perhaps very soon, that salah will prevent him from stealing. Staying consistent with that one good deed will allow you to stop doing many other things.

Rabbuna Allah: The Foundation of Istiqamah

Allah tells us the answer to what motivates and pushes us towards consistency:

He says the first thing that a person needs to have is قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ — they need to understand that our Lord is Allah. Just like how a person goes to work every single morning at 8 a.m. knowing that this is my source of rizq in this world — I have to go. Just like how a person goes to school at 7:30 knowing that this is my education — I have to go. قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ — this is my Rabb.

The first relationship that Allah establishes with human beings is the relationship of Rabb and 'Abd:

Allah says: before you're a father, before you're a teacher, before you're a mother, before you're a sister — you are an 'Abd. And being an 'Abd is the greatest feeling:

Every prophet felt special to be an 'Abd of Allah. So the relationship of: Ya Allah, You are the Rabb and I am the 'Abd — and by me being the 'Abd, I will continue seeking help with اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ — i.e., consistency. Why do Muslims who already have hidayah seek hidayah 17 times a day? We already have guidance. As Qatadah rahimahullah explained, when we say اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ, we're seeking istiqamah — steadfastness on that hidayah.

So the first thing we have to establish — and someone was asking for a recommendation on how to have istiqamah — is to establish that relationship: I need to understand that Allah is my Rabb and I am the 'Abd. That's the easy part. Then Allah says the hard part: ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا. The word ثُمَّ tells us there is some delay — it takes time to marinate that relationship. ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا — then they find consistency. And when they find that consistency, Allah says that's it:

فَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ — angels will be with them to help them, to protect them in this world. And even in the akhirah, the angels will say: أَلَّا تَخَافُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَبْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي كُنتُمْ تُوعَدُونَ — now you have Jannah. Jannah didn't come just from saying we believe — it came from true submission and obedience. Once we truly understand that the greatest relationship in my life is Allah's relationship with me, we start feeling excited and we start building it up.

The Story of Ibrahim ﷺ and the Love of Allah's Name

Shaykh Abdullah: Just like that story of Ibrahim ﷺ — it is mentioned in Ibn Kathir — while Ibrahim ﷺ was with his flock, the angels came down and said the name of Allah. Ibrahim ﷺ heard it and went to those angels — not knowing they were angels — and said: can you say that name again? SubhanAllah. Can you say that name again? I want to hear the name of Allah. They said: what will you give us if we say it again? Ibrahim ﷺ said: I will give you my entire herd. They said the name of Allah. Then he said: please say it again. They said: what will you give us now? He said: I'll take you to my house and give you whatever is in it. They went, they said the name of Allah again. Then he said: say it one more time. They asked: what will you give us? He said: I have nothing left. I will become your 'abd — you can use me or you can free me.

Allah ﷻ describes those who do not love His name:

But for the believers:

Their hearts get very excited. The idea is: feel excited to hear the name of Allah. And it is a responsibility of parents — just like how parents make kids feel excited when a show is coming on, or when the grandparents are coming, we have to make our children feel excited when it's time to recite the Qur'an, when it's time to do ta'leem. Then ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا comes after we know that Allah is the greatest relationship we have — more important than anything else. We can compromise everything, but we should try our best not to compromise this.

And like the story of Ibrahim ﷺ with the Angel of Death — when the Angel of Death came to Ibrahim ﷺ, Ibrahim ﷺ said: have you ever seen a friend kill a friend? The angel went back to Allah and said: You sent me to take his soul, and he's saying this. Allah sent back a message to Ibrahim: have you ever seen a friend not desiring to meet his friend? And Ibrahim ﷺ said: it's time to go. SubhanAllah, beautiful.

Falling in Love with a Good Deed: Practical Advice

I mean, what's one small deed that you would encourage everyone to do to bring consistency in their life, Shaykh Dawood?

Shaykh Dawood: Find a thing that Allah is happy with and stick to it. You know, istiqamah — a lot of the time people think of it as a huge thing. The Prophet ﷺ mentioned that Surah Hud and its sister surahs — Hood wa akhawatiha — are what made his hair turn gray. Muslims are like, okay, I need to do more, I need to do more. But you're not going to be at the level of the sahabah overnight. In fact, we're never going to be at that level. We try and aspire and keep working at it.

Our teachers used to tell us: if you try and shoot for the stars and you didn't start somewhere down low, you'll never reach the stars. You always need to start somewhere small. Take those baby footsteps. Look at the way of the Prophet ﷺ with the sahabah radiAllahu anhum — teaching them a little bit at a time. Convey something from me, even if it is something small. And that's the point: just keep it simple. Keep it simple — the kiss rule I've had my whole life. Keep it simple.

My advice — whether to youngsters, my students, or myself — is that the Qur'an, even the Qur'an: fall in love with a reciter, a voice. You won't be forced to. We're in an age and time where you can't force a child to read Qur'an anymore — it's a different era. The prophetic way to do it is through love, through love and compassion. You do it, then they do it. If one of your students or children fell in love with a reciter, or with a poem, or even felt attracted to a subject — you love Shamaa'il, get hooked onto Shamaa'il. You love Seerah, get hooked onto Seerah. You love Qur'an and Tafsir, get hooked onto that. You love Aqidah, get hooked onto Aqidah. Something you're naturally intrigued by — that will occupy you in such a way that you just do it naturally. When you're in the car, Qur'an is playing. When you're at home, you're thinking about a surah. It just becomes part of your lifestyle. And it becomes your istiqamah mode.

People are consistent with their coffee — they need it in the morning. You could do something like that with some surah or some dhikr. Hopefully with all the new options we have, it's so much easier. Everything is all around us. But we just have to have the iman and the commitment. Falling in love with it — people who are watching Miftaah, they're addicted to it. They're learning and they're like: oh man, I can't miss this. You don't even know what hit you. Shaytan doesn't even know what happened. Shaytan is confused — he's like, what is happening? These guys are watching, they're laughing, they're learning. Shaytan can't mess with you if you're consistent, inshaAllah. You have your game down. And it doesn't end when you're 60. What Shaykh Dawood is doing today, 20 or 40 years from now inshaAllah he'll be doing the same thing — all the way: