Do Not Belittle Any Good Deed - Shaykh Zakaullah Saleem

Do Not Belittle Any Good Deed

We should always bear in mind this particular hadith of the Prophet, which is reported by Imam al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim, on the authority of Sayyiduna Abu Dharr, one of the most pious and righteous companions of the Prophet, who had no love whatsoever for this dunya. And the Prophet ﷺ would often advise Abu Dharr, رضي الله تعالى عنه, with these types of advices. He says — the Prophet ﷺ said:

"O Abu Dharr, never ever belittle any good deed."
(Sahih Muslim, Book 45, Hadith 144)

Never belittle any good deed. This is the first part of the hadith. And if we look into the detail and the deep meaning of this hadith, we find that the Prophet ﷺ has given us many examples of this — that never belittle any good deed, never think a good deed to be small. Rather, every single good deed has its own weight in your scale on the Day of Judgment.

The Man Who Removed a Twig from the Path

For example, Rasulullah ﷺ said: once a man was walking on his way, on the path, and he found a small twig that was on the way — on the path, on the road, or on the street. So what did he do? He just removed it. He just removed it from the path, from the way.

Allah appreciated this good deed of his, and just because of this good deed, Allah forgave him. A very little, small deed that we often neglect — we do not pay any attention. While walking on the way, on the path, we see so many things that can be potentially harmful, but we ignore them. Just remember this hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ. If you do this good act only for the sake of Allah, you never know that this may become a means for you to enter into Paradise.

The Man Who Gave Water to a Dog

And we all know the famous hadith of the Prophet ﷺ that is mentioned in Sahih al-Bukhari, and Imam Muslim has also quoted the hadith — that there was a prostitute, and another hadith says there was a man who once saw a dog licking the mud out of thirst. And he had mercy on the dog — on the dog, on an animal that in our religion is najis, is impure. But when he saw that dog suffering from thirst, what did he do? He went inside the well, and he brought some water in his shoes, and then he gave the water to the dog. And Allah accepted this good deed from him, and Allah forgave him.

A small deed, minor, very little — again, we do not pay attention to it. But this is something that Allah accepted, and Allah allowed him to enter into Paradise.

The Man Who Was Kind to His Debtors

Rasulullah ﷺ also said, in another hadith that is reported by Imam Muslim: once a man was about to die, and the angels of death approached him. And we know that the Prophet ﷺ said — when a person is about to leave this dunya, the angels come to him. If the person is pious, the angels give him glad tidings, and they bring shrouding from Paradise, and they bring the musk of Paradise with them. And if the person is bad — a disbeliever, or hypocrite, or munafiq, or fasiq, or sinful, or evil — then the angels who come to take away his ruh and his soul appear in ugly faces, and they do not give him glad tidings; rather, they punish him.

But for this particular person who was about to die, Rasulullah ﷺ says that the angels — both types of angels — approached him, and obviously this was by the permission of Allah. So he ﷺ says that they questioned him. They asked him: "You tell us, have you ever done any good deed?" And the person himself admitted and said, "No, never — I can't remember." They said, "Try to remember, try to recall if you ever did any good deed." And then he said, "Yes, I remember one." They said, "What? What was it?" And he said:

"I know one — only one small, minor deed of mine. I was a wealthy person, a rich person, and people would approach me for borrowing some money. And I used to lend them — I used to give them some money as a debt and loan. And I would instruct my children that whenever you approach any person who has borrowed money from me, never be harsh to him. Rather, if the person requires some more time, give him more time. And that's it. I can't remember anything other than that."

The angel on the spot said: "If this is your good deed, Allah has instructed us to give you glad tidings that Allah has pardoned you. Allah has forgiven you." Just because of this minor, small deed.

That is why he ﷺ said: never think any good deed to be small or minor. Because every single good deed has its weight in the scale of good deeds on the Day of Judgment.

Protect Yourself from the Fire — Even with Half a Date

He ﷺ said: try to distance yourself, protect yourself from the fire of Hell, even if it is by giving half a date in charity.

Alhamdulillah, you attend the masjid every single Friday and you hear the announcement. And some of you — unfortunately, some of the people — they get very annoyed when they hear the announcement that every single Friday there is an announcement: "Please donate in the way of Allah, please help your masjid." Rather than being annoyed, give something — even if it is a few pennies, even if it is one penny — give in the way of Allah. You never know that this one penny becomes a means for you to obtain the forgiveness of Allah, and Allah accepts it from you, and Allah allows you to enter into Paradise. The believer is someone who always seeks the opportunities of gaining reward and the mercy and the forgiveness of Allah.

So Rasulullah ﷺ said in another hadith:

"Protect yourself from the Fire even if it is by giving half of a date in charity. And whoever cannot afford that, then at least utter a good word."
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1413; Sahih Muslim, Book 12, Hadith 67)

Protect yourself from the Fire — even if it is by giving half of a date in charity. فَمَنْ لَمْ يَجِدْ — and whoever cannot afford to give only half of a date in the way of Allah — فَبِكَلِمَةٍ طَيِّبَةٍ — then at least utter something good. Say something good. Saying something good is also sadaqah. It is also a charity. Which also gives us a lesson that we always try our best to avoid saying anything that is not beneficial for us in this dunya or in the hereafter.

Speak Good or Keep Silent

When it comes to uttering any statement, it is always easy to criticize. Unfortunately, a few days ago we had to decide that we are going to reduce the number of attendees in the masjid. How many messages and emails we have received — "Who are you to restrict the people? Why have you done this?" Someone said, "I am shocked." SubhanAllah. The people who are managing the masjid, they are doing all these things only in order to protect themselves and in order to protect our community. Have good thoughts about them. فَبِكَلِمَةٍ طَيِّبَةٍ — say something good. And if you cannot even say something good, at least keep quiet.

لَا تَحْقِرَنَّ مِنَ الْمَعْرُوفِ شَيْئًا — if you cannot come forward, you cannot assist, you cannot help, you cannot spare a minute, you cannot give any donation, you cannot help the masjid — then at least keep quiet. And your silence sometimes becomes a means of gaining reward.

That is why he ﷺ said:

"Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him say something good or keep silent."
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6018; Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 74)

Whoever believes in Allah and in the Last Day — and this is a criterion that Rasulullah ﷺ has given us. Rather than me judging you, every single one of us will be judging ourselves. Ask yourself based on this hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ. He said: whoever believes in Allah and in the Last Day — and who amongst us does not believe in Allah? Who amongst us does not believe in the Last Day? We all believe, alhamdulillah. So he ﷺ said: whoever believes in Allah and in the Last Day, فَلْيَقُلْ خَيْرًا — he should always say something good. Whenever you open your mouth, whenever you move your tongue, whenever you utter a statement, it must be khair. The believer can never be evil. He can never do anything evil. He can never utter anything evil. فَلْيَقُلْ خَيْرًا — whenever he speaks, he must say something good. And then he ﷺ said: if you are unable to utter something good, then at least keep quiet. And your silence will be counted in the sight of Allah, and you may be rewarded for that.

May Allah give us tawfiq and ability to understand our religion. And may Allah allow us to rectify our mistakes and to improve our akhlaq. Because akhlaq is something that we always need to work hard for. And we ask Allah that He, ذو الجلال والإكرام, enables us to follow the footsteps of our Nabi ﷺ. إِنَّهُ سَمِيعٌ قَرِيبٌ.

Two Words Heavy on the Scale — The Final Hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari

You find many hadith of the Prophet ﷺ advising us not to think any good deed to be small, or not to belittle any good deed. Rather, he ﷺ encouraged us to perform good deeds, and to find the opportunity — wherever we find the opportunity, we must try our best to take advantage of it and expect the reward from Allah.

He ﷺ said in a hadith that is the very final hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari:

"There are two statements that are beloved by the Most Merciful, light on the tongue, but heavy on the Scale: 'SubhanAllahi wa bihamdihi, SubhanAllahil Azim.'"
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6682)

There are two statements — two words — حَبِيبَتَانِ إِلَى الرَّحْمَنِ — they are beloved by Allah. Allah loves these two statements. And then he said: خَفِيفَتَانِ عَلَى اللِّسَانِ — they are very light on the tongue, so it does not take any effort to utter these statements. ثَقِيلَتَانِ فِي الْمِيزَانِ — although they are very light and they are small in number of words, but in the sight of Allah, they are very heavy in the scale.

What are those words?

In one sitting, within a minute — just count on your watch — in one minute, how many times you can say سُبْحَانَ اللهِ وَبِحَمْدِهِ، سُبْحَانَ اللهِ الْعَظِيمِ. At least 30 times, 50 times — easily. And how many minutes do we have in every single day? 24 hours multiplied by 60 minutes. And how can we not spare one single minute every single day to say these words? ثَقِيلَتَانِ فِي الْمِيزَانِ. You can say these words while walking, while driving, sitting in the masjid, waiting for salah.

Do Not Belittle Anyone Who Does Good

And also — finally, my dear brothers in Islam — as the Prophet ﷺ has advised us not to belittle any good deed, he ﷺ also advised us not to belittle anyone who does any good deed. Never ever think that someone has not done much, or that someone is doing very little good deeds. No — never belittle anyone because of their deeds.

And we have heard the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ that is reported by Imam al-Bukhari — that there was a lady, and some of the hadith mention امرأةٌ سوداء, a black lady, who used to clean the masjid of the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ did not see her for a few days, so he ﷺ asked the companions about her. They said: "O Messenger of Allah, a few days ago she passed away, and we prayed her janazah and we buried her." And the wording of the hadith is:

"It was as if they belittled her matter (i.e., did not consider it important enough to inform the Prophet)."
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 458; Sahih Muslim, Book 11, Hadith 105)

It was as if they belittled her — they did not give her any importance. Because she was black and she was cleaning the masjid. Probably because of the colour of her skin, or because of what she was doing in the masjid, they belittled her and they didn't give her any importance.

But the Prophet ﷺ taught his companions — and us, the whole ummah — the best akhlaq. He ﷺ got a bit upset and he said: أَفَلَا آذَنْتُمُونِي — "Why did you not inform me?" دُلُّونِي عَلَى قَبْرِهَا — "Show me her grave. I want to go to the grave." And then he ﷺ went there, and he prayed salatul janazah for her on the grave. And SubhanAllah — until the Day of Judgment this became a ruling within our religion, that if a person misses the janazah, he can go and pray the janazah on the grave. Just because of this lady.

So we should always be mindful: whenever we utter any statement, or do any action, or when we come across any person, we should never ever belittle any good deed, or anyone.

May Allah give us tawfiq and ability to understand our religion.

Du'a