A Little but Continuous Good Deed

A Little but Continuous Good Deed

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ، وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَسَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا

Readjusting After Ramadan

Once their body adjusts to it — their mind, their heart, their schedule, even their feeling — once Ramadan is over, now they have a lot of free time. A lot of free time.

Now they wake up, they don't have the exact same mindset of going to the masjid, preparing the whole day to go to the masjid for taraweeh. The iftar they have to attend here and there. A lot of us, we have that free time and now we're struggling to readjust.

What can I do to continue benefiting from the momentum of the month of Ramadan? Brothers and sisters, a lot of people they try to do the same thing they did in Ramadan, but then they find that there is no motivation as it was before. A lot of people in Ramadan, they were motivated by the crowd. By the beautiful sight when you come to the masjid.

By the struggle to find a parking spot just to attend the masjid, subhanAllah. By the hour standing in line to attend the qiyam at night. All these beautiful things were motivation.

It was a great achievement, an accomplishment. And now when you make up your days of Ramadan, you even fast six days of Shawwal, you feel alone and lonely. Like I'm the only one maybe fasting today, or maybe fasting in the household, or fasting in your workplace. It becomes a bit lonely for many people.

What can I do in order for me to maintain a healthy momentum after the month of Ramadan? Alhamdulillah, we have the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ to help us with that.

The Most Beloved Deeds to Allah

Brothers and sisters, the hadith of 'A'ishah رضي الله تعالى عنها in Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim. The Prophet ﷺ was asked:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6465; Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 215)

"O Messenger of Allah, which of the good deeds are most beloved to Allah?" He said: "The most continuous, the most consistent, even if it was little."

Brothers and sisters, my message to you today is to keep up the spirit of Ramadan through little things you do but continuous. You don't have to go into a Ramadan schedule right now the same as you used to before. Maybe your mind, your heart, your body is not able to perform as it was during the month of Ramadan. But at least we can start from there and we build on it, insha'Allah, until the next Ramadan.

Adwamuhu wa in qall — the most continuous and consistent, even if it was something little. Brothers and sisters, 'A'ishah رضي الله تعالى عنها said: when the Prophet ﷺ established a good deed, he keeps it. Which means he continuously continued to do those good deeds. He would never stop doing that, صلوات الله وسلامه عليه.

A lot of us, alhamdulillah, in the month of Ramadan, we added to our life and our lifestyle things we never really maybe experienced before. Like staying all night up, or doing tahajjud every single night. Or coming to the masjid before iftar. Or attending Fajr in the jama'ah. Many, many beautiful good deeds we did, alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. Maybe you had those private sessions of reflection. That connection with the Qur'an. Perhaps that session when you sat down and made du'a for people, for causes, for things that you never had the chance to do like this before.

All these little things that you've been doing in the month of Ramadan, you can build on them. You don't need to stop them. But you build on something little, and you keep it continuous, insha'Allah tabaraka wa ta'ala.

The Prophet's ﷺ Example of Night Prayer

The Sahabah رضي الله تعالى عنهم looked for these opportunities. They wanted to see what the Prophet ﷺ was doing and they would follow it. And 'A'ishah رضي الله تعالى عنها also said that the Prophet ﷺ:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1129; Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 182)

He made a small enclave with a straw mat in the masjid ﷺ — a kind of private space in the musalla area, where he would pray at night privately during the month of Ramadan. Then he would open it and relax during the day ﷺ, sitting there as if it were his space for i'tikaf. When people saw the Prophet ﷺ doing that, they started coming. They started praying with the Prophet ﷺ at night — until one of those nights, there were too many. Too many.

And the Prophet ﷺ, when he came out close to Fajr time, he said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5861; Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 215)

"Take from the deeds whatever you can afford, what you can handle. Do not overwhelm yourself with good deeds, with a lot of work. Allah will not cease to give you reward until you stop doing your good deeds. So as long as you do it, you'll get the reward for it. Never stop — because if you stop, the reward will cease to come."

And then he said: "That which is most beloved to Allah is that which is continuous and consistent, even if it was little."

Why Consistency Matters: Five Key Benefits

1. A Sign of Sincerity

The ulema say: when you do something little and continuous and consistent, it is proof and evidence — hopefully — of sincerity, and also of consistency in terms of being confirmed and firm on your Iman. Because you're doing it regularly, it doesn't stop. You're not doing it only because of a specific occasion or because you're going through a moment of stress or distress. No — you're doing it day and night, during times of ease and hardship. Those circumstances are irrelevant to you doing the good deeds for the sake of Allah. So that is a sign of sincerity, and a confirmation of that Iman in the heart.

2. Most Beloved to Allah

The second thing: we do it that way because it is most beloved to Allah. What else do we need? What's the point if I do so much good deeds in one month, in one moment, and then it ceases to exist after that?

Something little that stays and continues is better than so much that ceases to exist after some time. So here you're doing something that Allah loves from you. He doesn't want you to kill yourself or exhaust yourself to the extreme that you can't even function after that. No — He wants you to do something a little, continuous, and consistent, because that is a proof of love for Allah, and that brings the love of Allah to you.

3. Self-Discipline

Brothers and sisters, you do these little things continuously and consistently because you are training yourself. That is self-discipline. You always teach yourself: "I need to wake up for Fajr — I'm too tired today. No, we need to wake up for Fajr." "We're not going to skip the witr tonight — I'm a little tired. I know, but instead of doing one hour, we're going to do half an hour." So you always do it because you're disciplining yourself. You go out fasting on Mondays and Thursdays and you remind yourself: "I need to watch my tongue. I'm fasting. I shouldn't be arguing with people." Continuously — and that is a self-discipline throughout the whole year, my dear brothers and sisters. So we educate ourselves, we teach ourselves, we discipline ourselves to be consistent with worshipping Allah.

4. Fueling the Torch of Iman

Another thing that we learn from this, my dear brothers and sisters: it hopefully keeps that torch of Iman in the heart continuous. Why is that?

Iman increases and decreases — it increases with good deeds, decreases with bad deeds or the lack of good deeds. And as long as you're doing something good, alhamdulillah, your Iman is being fueled. You're fueling your Iman with these good deeds, no matter how little they are. But at least there's something every single day.

SubhanAllah — nowadays people on social media are willing to do whatever it takes to keep posting every single day. Why? Because that's what keeps your account visible and noticeable. Imagine you're doing this for Allah. Imagine that every single day you're sending something into your records of good deeds — every single day — no matter how little it is. And especially if you're doing the same thing over and over again: every single day I'm giving a dollar, every single day I'm making du'a, every single day I'm reading two pages of the Qur'an, every single day I visit the masjid at least twice for salat al-jama'ah. You're doing the same thing over and over every single day — definitely your account of good deeds is going to always be active and fuel your Iman, insha'Allah.

5. Barakah in Your Life and Time

Brothers and sisters, I hope that this also brings barakah into your life and your time. We're not going to live like the people who were before us — they lived hundreds of years. Nuh alayhis salam's dawah was 950 years. That was just his dawah — Allah knows how long he lived. And the people who lived at the time of Nuh alayhis salam lived just as long. So we're never going to be able to match them, probably, with the quantity of good deeds. But we can match them in quality and intensify our reward — and double that — with consistency.

So it puts barakah in your life. There is always that barakah — especially if you're always observant of Allah's rules, and you wake up at night early before Fajr time. It puts barakah in your night, puts barakah in your early morning. All of those good deeds can bring barakah into your life, insha'Allah wa ta'ala.

6. Husnul Khatimah — A Good Ending

And finally, my dear brothers and sisters — we never know. We never know when our time is going to come. It might be today. It might be tomorrow. It might be in any moment. We've seen that in Ramadan — people were with us, they passed, and people never expected they would pass. SubhanAllah, it happened to them as well. May Allah accept them, ya Rabb al-'alamin, and make this husnul khatimah for them, ya Allah.

So I need to be engaged in a good deed when that moment comes to me. I need to have husnul khatimah — the good ending. And that good ending happens if, alhamdulillah, you're always engaging in ibadah. So if you are always alhamdulillah actively doing that on a regular basis, and that moment comes — day or night — I hope that we will be doing something good for the sake of Allah. Whether it's a du'a, the recitation of the Qur'an, being in the masjid, driving to the masjid or back from the masjid, subhanAllah, or helping other people, or inviting people to Allah — whatever good deed you were doing, if that moment comes, it will be precious that Allah takes our souls back to Him in a moment that is most pleasing to Him.

Brothers and sisters, the Prophet ﷺ said it very simply: adwamuhu wa in qall — the most continuous and consistent, even if it was something little. So make sure, my dear brothers and sisters, after the month of Ramadan — do not stop. Do not stop. You don't have to match the same schedule you did in Ramadan. But you can still do something good, insha'Allah ta'ala. Keep that spirit of Ramadan moving forward with you until the next Ramadan.

Hopefully, like we said — in Ramadan, the Sahabah did what they did because when Ramadan starts, they don't start from zero to sixty. They're already at maybe thirty, forty, or fifty. So when Ramadan begins, they go to a hundred. That's why we hear about them and what they did. For many of us, when Ramadan begins we go from zero to sixty in a very short time. By doing what you do today, insha'Allah ta'ala, throughout the year — hopefully by the next Ramadan, you'll all be at sixty already. Probably you'll take yourself to the next phase, bi idhnillahi azzawajal.

Aqulu qawli hadha wa astaghfirullah al-'Adheem li wa lakum wa li sa'ir il-muslimin, fastaghfiruhu innahu huwa al-Ghafoor al-Rahim.

Second Khutbah: Three Practical Acts to Maintain

Alhamdulillahi rabbil 'alamin, wa sallallahu wa baraka 'ala nabiyyina Muhammadin wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam wa tasliman kathiran. Amma ba'd.

My dear brothers and sisters, what are the things that we can start with and maintain, insha'Allah, for the next few weeks or few months?

The hadith of Abu Hurairah رضي الله تعالى عنه — and also Abu al-Darda' رضي الله تعالى عنه — said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1178; Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 221)

"My beloved — the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — advised me to maintain three things in my life, in my schedule: to fast three days of every month; to pray two rak'at at Duha time; and to pray my Witr before I go to sleep, if I have no intention to do tahajjud."

1. Fasting Three Days Every Month

Three days of every month — the ulema recommend the 13th, 14th, and 15th of every lunar month — the middle three days — known as ayyam al-bid. But you can do any other three days: it could be Mondays and Thursdays, or your weekend when you're off. Any three days of every month — that is not too much. Even if you are traveling for a long time during the summer, you can still do those three days wherever you are. Consistently, insha'Allah tabaraka wa ta'ala.

2. Two Rak'at of Duha

Duha is the forenoon time — around 9 o'clock, 10 o'clock, or 11 o'clock. Anytime in between is fine. That is when you are busiest for the dunya — at work. You take a break for the sake of Allah. That's what matters here.

3. Witr Before Sleep

Pray your Witr before you go to sleep, if you do not have a plan to do tahajjud. If you maintain these three things on a regular basis, and then after that you start adding to them — what? With du'a.

Never Forget the People of Gaza

I want to add to this, insha'Allah wa ta'ala — my dear brothers and sisters: every single day, make du'a for the people of Gaza. The least we can do for them. What we watch right now in the news is horrible. Everybody is wondering: where is the world? Where is the people's power? Where are the leaders? Where are those who are genuinely concerned about the lives of innocent people? Where are they?

Do something little, every single day. Make du'a. Give a donation. Post something online. Talk to somebody about it. Educate other people. Bring awareness. Whatever you can do within your power — you can do something little, insha'Allah. And add to your reward. Never forget them in your du'a.