Why Good Deeds Always Win

Opening Praise and Salutation

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ مُذْهِبِ السَّيِّئَاتِ بِالْحَسَنَاتِ وَغَافِرِ الْخَطِيئَاتِ بِالطَّاعَاتِ وَمُشَرِّعِ مَوَاسِمِ الْخَيْرَاتِ

All praise belongs to Allah, the One who erases sins with good deeds, and who forgives mistakes through acts of obedience, and who legislates the seasons of goodness.

وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى الْمَبْعُوثِ رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا وَهَادِيًا إِلَى اللَّهِ بِإِذْنِهِ وَسِرَاجًا مُنِيرًا

And peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, the one sent as mercy to all creation, a bearer of glad tidings and a warner, a guide to Allah by His permission, and a lamp spreading light.

Amma ba'd. I bear witness that Allah is the only One worthy of worship and that Muhammad ﷺ is His last and final Messenger.

The Investment That Defies Logic

My dear brothers and sisters, I would like to ask you a question — or rather, give you an offer — about an investment. For every dollar you put in, you get back ten as a minimum. Sometimes you get back even 700, and sometimes even more than 700, to a number only Allah knows. And if you think about that investment but didn't get around to it, it still credits your account a full dollar just for the intention. And if you lose money, you only ever lose one for one — and sometimes, if you regret the loss, they reverse it entirely for you.

You would think this investment has lost its mind. How can such an investment succeed? You would say: this isn't fair, the math doesn't add up. And you know what? You would be right.

It's not fair. It was not designed to be fair. It was designed by the Most Merciful, the Most Generous — Allah. It was actually designed by Al-Rahman, Al-Raheem, Al-Jawad, Al-Kareem — in your favor — tipping the scales in your favor from the beginning. If you know that, you say: yes, that's something I should take full advantage of. It would be foolish not to. If I tell you there is an investment guaranteed to give you a 20% return, you will put your money in it with no question — so what about 700 and up?

Researchers in psychology have constantly found that when people look back on their lives, the regrets that haunt them the longest are not the things that they did — it's the things that they did not do. That's what hurts the most. I remember my father used to say, "Oh, I still remember — the land was — you could buy good land back in the 70s and I did not take that opportunity." He still remembered it years later: "Oh my God, I had the opportunity to buy this, to get that, and I didn't do it." That would haunt you the most. "I did not show up for my son's graduation. I did not go to this. I did not invite this person." The thing that you didn't do — that's what hurts you the most as you grow older and look back at the opportunities that sat open until the window closed.

But on the Day of Judgment, my brothers and sisters, the window does not just close — it locks forever. Allah says you have an appointment with a day you cannot delay by a single hour, nor can you bring it forward. On that day, the only thing that matters is the weighing of your deeds. The weighing on that day will be the truth.

Those whose scales are heavy — it is they who will be the successful. And those whose scales are light — they are the ones who will lose themselves; they are the losers on the Day of Judgment.

So today I want to share with you some of the rules of that system that Allah has put for us. These are not my rules — these are His rules. Rules that should change the way you look at every single moment you have left on this earth. I will share these rules as glad tidings for the obedient, and as an invitation for the rest of us — because we all have our sins and shortcomings — and these rules are an invitation from Allah.

Rule One: The Multiplier Is Always On

This is the foundation — the rule that changes everything. Allah says:

Whoever comes with a good deed, it will be ten times its like. And whoever comes with a bad deed, it will not be recompensated except the equivalent of it. So: one for one when it comes to bad; ten as a starting point for those who do good.

Ibn Abbas reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6491; Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 233)

Allah has recorded the good deeds and bad deeds and set the rules for them, then He made that clear: whoever intends a good deed but does not do it, Allah writes it as a complete hasanah — a complete reward. He intends it and does it, Allah writes it as ten, up to seven hundred times, to many times over. And if he intends a bad deed but does not do it — because he feared Allah, he said "that's not appropriate, that's not right to do" — Allah writes it as one complete hasanah. And if he intends it and does it, Allah writes it as one single bad deed.

Listen to those numbers again. One good deed — minimum ten. One sin — maximum one. You think about doing something good but didn't — you still get a full hasanah. You think about a sin but you walk away from it — you still get a full hasanah, a full reward. In what universe does a system like this exist? Only in a universe designed by Someone who wants you to succeed, who wants you to survive, who wants you to excel, who wants you to thrive. You're not playing a fair game — the scale was tipped in your favor before you were even born.

Rule Two: The Multiplier Has a Multiplier

It's not enough that there is a multiplier always on — the multiplier itself has a multiplier. It gets even better. That ten-to-seven-hundred ratio isn't fixed. It increases based on four factors:

Factor 1: Time

The Prophet ﷺ said the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah — which we just celebrated — the good deeds in them are more beloved to Allah than any other days in the year. And the good news is that you are still living in the best days of the year, because the Day of Arafah, the Day of Eid, and the three days after Eid — known as Ayyam al-Tashreeq — these are the days of Eid for Muslims. They are the crown jewel of the Islamic calendar. Take advantage of them. It's like Laylatul Qadr in Ramadan.

And it's not just sacred seasons — the era you live in matters too. The believers who hold firm to their deen in a time of fitna, in a time where there is so much pressure on Islam and Muslims, in the later days — the Prophet ﷺ said their reward is multiplied:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 4341; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3085)

"Ahead of you are days of patience. The one who holds firm to what you are upon will have the reward of fifty of you" — fifty of the Sahaba, fifty of the companions.

Factor 2: Place

One prayer in Mecca is multiplied to 100,000 prayers. One prayer in the Prophet's ﷺ masjid is multiplied to a thousand. Praying in the masjid in congregation — 25 times, or 27 times. And the Muslim who holds to their deen in a land where Muslims are few, or where they are a minority, or the Sunnah is not prevalent — their reward is multiplied greatly because of the difficulty. The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 145)

A great glad tiding and a great deal of reward for al-ghuraba' — the strangers, those who seem strange among people because they hold firm to Islam and to the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

Factor 3: The Type of Deed

Not all good deeds carry the same weight. Allah says in a hadith qudsi:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6502)

"My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more beloved to Me than that which I have made obligatory upon him." The four rak'ah of Sunnah before Dhuhr compared to the four rak'ah of Dhuhr itself — there is no comparison. The obligatory Dhuhr is far more rewarding. The fasting of Monday and Thursday is far less in reward than fasting the month of Ramadan. The zakat is far more rewarding than any voluntary donation.

And that is why Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

Every deed of the son of Adam — the multiplication starts from ten, except charity, which starts from 700 and up. That is special. And bir al-walidayn — honoring your parents — starts way higher than most other deeds. And Hajj, which people are performing right now — may Allah bring the pilgrims safely home — wipes all sins; you come back the same way your mother gave birth to you. And fasting — nothing is similar to it in reward.

Factor 4: The Doer Himself

And this is the one that is in your hand every single day. The person behind the deed — your sincerity, your taqwa, the state of the heart at the moment of the action — will determine how high you go in reward. The more ikhlas you have, the more fear of Allah, the more taqwa, the more consciousness — the greater the reward.

Rule Three: Good Deeds Erase Bad Deeds — But Bad Deeds Do Not Erase Good Deeds

Here is a rule that should give every single one of us in this masjid a great deal of hope. Indeed, good deeds erase bad deeds. The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1987; classified as Hasan Sahih)

"Follow up a bad deed with a good deed and it will erase it." And good deeds erase bad deeds even without formal tawba. You forgot to ask Allah to forgive a sin you committed — you forgot about it — your good deeds will erase it. That is just incredible.

A man came to the Prophet ﷺ complaining about a sin he had committed, and the Prophet ordered him to go and pray. And he recited this verse:

The man was broken. He was ashamed. He came carrying the weight of his sin. But the Prophet ﷺ did not turn him away, did not interrogate him further, did not make it harder for him. He told him: go pray.

But notice — the man did not come casually. He came broken. He came with regret. He came with repentance. This is not a mechanical transaction — swipe a good deed and the sin disappears like a credit card charge. No. The heart has to be in it. A sincere good deed done with presence and ikhlas can erase a minor sin entirely, even without a formal tawba. And even when a good deed is not powerful enough to erase a sin completely, it weakens it, reduces it, lessens its grip on your heart and on your scale on the Day of Judgment.

And even some good deeds erase major sins — like bir al-walidayn, taking care of your mother and father, and Hajj, which erases major sins. But remember, my brothers and sisters, the scholars summarized the concept of accepted good deeds beautifully by saying: all accepted good deeds must meet two conditions — al-ikhlas wal-mutaba'ah — sincerity and adherence to the way of the Prophet ﷺ.

And be careful — there are two exceptions, two sins that can wipe your good deeds: number one, shirk — associating partners with Allah — nullifies everything. And showing off in your worship can hollow out a good deed until nothing is left of it.

Let me be clear about what this means mathematically. If a person has an equal number of good deeds and bad deeds, the good deeds should still outweigh the bad on the scale — because each good deed was worth at minimum ten, and each bad deed was capped at one. Allah says in the Quran:

And there are those who have acknowledged their sins — they mix righteous deeds with others that are evil. Perhaps Allah will turn to them in forgiveness. Indeed, Allah is Al-Ghafoor Al-Raheem.

And take it as a rule of thumb, my brothers and sisters: every time the phrase عَسَى in the Quran comes from Allah referring to Himself, the scholars say it means for certain, for sure. عَسَى مِنَ اللَّهِ عَلَى وَجْهِ الْيَقِينِ — any time Allah says about Himself عَسَى, it means for sure, from Allah.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

Second Khutbah

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَحْدَهُ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى مَنْ لَا نَبِيَّ بَعْدَهُ وَبَعْدُ

Rule Four: Your Intentions Count

One of my favorite rules in this system — your intentions count. We covered the first three rules, but Rule Four changes the game. It changes the game for the person who feels like they can never do enough.

Go back to the hadith of Ibn Abbas mentioned earlier: whoever intends a good deed but does not do it — Allah writes it as a complete hasanah. Complete. Not half. Not a partial credit. Complete. No restocking fee. A complete reward for you.

Abu Darda said: whoever goes to his bed intending to pray at night, but sleep overtakes him until morning — what he intended is written for him.

And Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib said: whoever intends a prayer, or fast, or Hajj, or Umrah, or a battle in the path of Allah, and something prevents him from carrying it out — Allah grants the reward for what he intended.

Mu'adh ibn Jabal took this even further. He said: my sleep is a good deed just as my night prayer is a good deed. How? Even his sleep was a good deed because behind it was an intention to rest his body so he could rise in the morning and worship Allah and take care of his responsibilities — for he was the judge, the imam, the leader of the community in that region.

Think about what that means. You're lying in your bed at night, exhausted, and you think to yourself: "I wish I could pray tahajjud tonight." That thought, that intention — just landed you a complete hasanah. You're stuck in traffic and you hear about a charity drive or you want to go pray in congregation in the masjid, and you think: "I wish I could be there." You will get the same reward. Your heart is a factory that never has to shut down.

Do Not Let Shaytan Play You

My brothers and sisters, before I end, I want you to understand something very important. I did not share these rules to make light of sins. The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 22947)

"Beware of the sins you consider small — not a big deal — for they accumulate upon a person until they destroy him."

But here is what Shaytan does — and this is critical. Shaytan doesn't want you to sin only. He knows the rules better than you do. He knows that if you sin and then follow it with good deeds, his work is undone. So his real strategy — his biggest goal and achievement — is this: the sin isn't the sin itself. It's to convince you, after the sin, to stop doing good. He whispers to you: "You're not worthy of praying anymore." "You're a hypocrite if you go to the masjid after what you did." "Don't bother making dua — who are you to stand before Allah?"

For him, stopping you from good deeds is stopping you from getting 700 and more. It's stopping you from wiping the sin. Doing a sin is just one sin. But stopping your good deeds — he knows what's better for his deal. Committing the sin — that's round one for him. But if you follow it with good deeds, you increase your good deeds — that's knockout for him. So don't give him the knockout. Don't let him prevent you from doing good deeds. You give him the knockout.

Never Hold Back an Opportunity for Good

My brothers and sisters, if that means anything to you — to everyone listening to me today — every time you find an opportunity, don't ever hold back.

If you can come even one minute early to pray two rak'at in the masjid — do it. If you can read two verses of the Quran — do it. If you can say سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَلَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَاللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ while waiting at the shoe area until you get your shoes — do it. You see someone — give them a smile — do it. That's a reward. You see someone — give them salam — do it. You see someone that needs help — do it. Just don't hold back. You want to donate to the masjid — do it. Just never hold back.

All Three Categories Will Enter Jannah

Allah says in the Quran that the carriers of the Book — the carriers of His message — are three categories: the wrongdoers, those who wrong themselves by doing sins and not fulfilling their obligations; the muqtasid, those who are moderate — fulfilling the obligations and abandoning the haram; and the sabiq bil-khayrat, the forerunner — the one who does extra. And then Allah says about all three categories:

Al-Shinqiti (may Allah have mercy on him) said something very beautiful about this. He said: this waw — the word "they" — "they will enter paradise," referring to all three categories, deserves to be written with the water of one's own tears. Why? Because Allah said they — referring to all three categories — all of them will enter paradise. All of them will end up in Jannah.

This is an inspiration. This offer is meant to put you on fire, to make you see the world as an opportunity, to treat every moment as a deposit for yourself. Never let a sin be the last thing you do — ever. You wake up late and miss Fajr? Make sure you pray Duha. Make sure you read more Quran. Make sure you come early to Dhuhr. Make sure you increase your sunan that day.

As Imam Fudhail ibn Iyad said, when a man told him: "What can I do? I have done so much wrong in my life." Look at the beautiful advice he gave:

"Do good in what remains, and what has passed will be forgiven. But if you do wrong in what remains, you will be taken to account for what has passed and what remains."

Du'a

May Allah make us from those whose scales are heavy. O Allah, make our scales heavy with our good deeds on the day when neither wealth nor children will benefit. Change our bad deeds into good deeds, and make our good deeds our best deeds, and make our last words from this world "there is no god but Allah."

O Allah, do not deprive us of the reward of what we intend, and do not hold us to account for what we forgot or did by mistake. O Allah, forgive the Muslim men and women, the believing men and women, the living and the dead among them. Indeed, You are the All-Hearing, the Near, the One who answers all supplications.

O Allah, give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and save us from the torment of the Fire. O Allah, free our oppressed brothers and sisters everywhere. O Allah, accept us.

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ ۚ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ

Indeed, Allah commands justice, good conduct and giving to the near, and He forbids immorality, evil, and oppression. He admonishes you so that you may remember. Remember Allah and He will remember you. Be grateful to Him for His blessings — He will increase you. And send more prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and upon his family and companions. And establish the prayer.