By Abdullahi Jamaa
There are no shortcuts; it is all about your deeds. The road to eternal success is long and tedious, you must have unparalleled patience mixed with powerful performance to arrive at your final home in Akhirah- Jannah.
And unless Allah (The Most High) makes it easy for you, the road to Jannah can be spiritually burdensome, mentally overwhelming and physically tiring.
Despite this, we have an assurance from Allah that those who strive to do good will find their reward and a wholesome recompense that is far superior to their efforts.
That is why you need to challenge yourself and strive to achieve a spiritual feat that can help you earn celestial accolades full of facilitation and rewards.
The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: “Every doer of deed is facilitated in his action.” It is upon you to make concerted efforts in earning the facilitation of Allah through excellence in ibadah.
The question is how can you challenge yourself? And what is it about striving hard to accomplish some level of religious discipline that can help you achieve rewards for your hard work?
The most important thing you can do is to establish an awesome regimen of worship coupled with a religious discipline of performing deeds that put you in the league of believers. You have to set a high target and compete for Jannah, the ultimate home for honorable believers.
Remember the purpose of your creation is worshipping the one and only Lord, everything else should be second in your to-do list. Your purpose in life is important, make it bold and clear in your heart and mind that your struggle is all about attaining the acceptance of Allah.
You now have the chance to prove that you are worthy of Jannah. The door is open today and soon it will close. Before that, work hard to attain some form of excellence in worship. Get out of your comfort zone and hit the road with calculated steps to offset delays and distractions.
It is reported that the great companion of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), Abu Musa al Ash’ari used to fast under very hot weather. He was asked by people “O Abu Musa, you are a very old man why are you doing this” Abu Musa said: “I am doing this for a very long day “
The long day of judgment is awaiting you too, a day longer than 50,000 years. You don’t have to forget yourself in worldly amusements and luxuries that perhaps will decrease the weight of your scale of deeds. It is for you to work hard and it is for Allah to accept.
Play your part
Endeavor to be someone in the sight of Allah. You can be that person vividly described in the magnificent Qur’an and be among those who diligently worship Allah. If you care to be someone known in the celestial tablets and stamped as an honorable believer then do a lot of sincere and secret deeds.
Discipline your life, control your desires and tame your soul. You can make an impressive U-turn for better, drop laziness and become an active worshipper. Laziness they say is resting when you have some work to do. There is a lot on your desk.
What changes you is what you give time to. Give adequate time to ibadah to earn virtue, piety and eternal progress. If you don’t create enough time to worship, you will have all the time to wane and lose hope in both lives.
Know that the only currency on the Day of Judgment is your good deeds. The more you perform them; the wealthier spiritually you become. With our sinful nature one requires more religious engagement to offset the balance sheet of sins.
The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: “Have Taqwa of Allah wherever you are, and follow an evil deed with a good one to wipe it out, and treat the people with good behaviour.”
In your push to purity your faith and life, Allah will help you achieve the good you are searching for. He will forgive your past mistakes, purify any propensities towards evil which you may have inherited from the past and help you to the attainment of a future based on the best of what you have done.
Your hard work inures to your own spiritual benefit. So when you are serving Allah in worship, it is not that you confer any benefit on Him, for he has no need and is independent of all his creations. In following Allah’s will you are seeking your own good. If you yield to evil you will only harm yourself.
“Those who believe and work righteous deeds- from them shall We blot out all evil (that may be) in them. And we shall reward them according to the best of their deeds” (Qur’an 29:7)
Legendary scholar, Imam Ibn Qayim said:
“Buy success for yourself today, for the market still exists and the price is affordable, and goods are low-priced and do not wait until the market and the goods are inaccessible, in which Allah says:
“That will be the Day of mutual loss and gain… (Qur’an 64:9)”
