All praise to Allah for allowing us to experience another beautiful day! InsyaAllah after reading today’s article, we’ll have even more reasons to be optimistic & cheerful.
Often times, people equate a pious person to one who does many acts of worship such as hundreds of cycles of prayer, one who recites many pages of the Qur’an in one sitting, people who fast often etc. While these people are definitely insyaAllah pious, Islam does not expect one to go to such lengths to receive reward. Indeed Allah is As-Shakur, The Appreciative, and He recognizes and acknowledges the deeds that even we may think is ‘measly’ or ‘little’.
Prophet Muhammad SAW said: “Do not think little of any good deed, even if it is just meeting your brother with a cheerful countenance.” [Muslim]
Not only is smiling contagious and will make someone else’s day, it will also increase the love & affection between people. In Islam, this is accorded even a higher value as can be seen in the next hadith:
“When two Muslims meet and clasp each others hands, their sins are shed as a tree sheds it’s leaves.”
So give that daily greeting generously to your family & colleagues as it will not only cement the relations between yourselves, but also as a means to shed sins!
There are other ways to receive reward without having to endure great sacrifices or exert a huge amount of effort. In this next hadith, we see the different, and simple, ways to do charity.
“Every part of a person’s body must perform a charity every day the sun comes up: to act justly between two people is a charity; to help a man with his mount, lifting him onto it or hoisting his belongings onto it is a charity; a good word is a charity; every step you take to prayers is a charity; and removing a harmful thing from the road is a charity.” (Bukhari & Muslim)
If that is still not enough, here’s an even easier way to do charity:
Some Companions said to the Prophet SAW: “The rich people have taken away a good deal of merit. They pray & fast as we do, but they are in a position to distribute in charity a part of their wealth (which we are unable to do). The Prophet replied: “Has not Allah given you things which you can employ for charity? Saying “SubhanAllah” is charity, “Alhamdulillah” is charity, to say “La ilaha illallah” is charity; calling upon somebody to do good is charity; preventing somebody from doing evil is charity; to perform a sexual act with your wife is charity.” They asked: “O Messenger of Allah, is it possible that one of us should satisfy his desire and be rewarded?’. The Prophet answered, “If he satisfied his urge through illicit means, would it not be sinful? Therefore when he satisfied it lawfully it is deserving of reward.” (Muslim)
Alhamdulillah! And may Allah accept all our little deeds & reward them manifold insyaAllah!
