Why Your Smallest Deed Matters Most

Someone.

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Alhamdulillah. Continuing in the final verse of surah al it's chapter number 73 verse number 20 Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says He says, "Subhan, and nothing that you all put forth for yourselves of good, no matter how small, everything and every little thing you put forth for yourselves of good, you will find it with a law and it will be there in its totality better and of greater consequence and reward. This here is one of the rhetorical contraptions used in the Quran very often. This pronoun here who Bamir. Had Quran. home.

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This statement when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says for instance in the fifth verse of Bakar Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says and those individuals indeed they are the truly successful indeed those individuals They are the truly successful. That addition of they here. Do we need this this addition in order for the sentence to be correct? Grammatically the sentence is correct. They are and those individuals are the successful ones. That addition of they, what does it add to the sentence? It adds emphasis. And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in this verse what is he saying? He is saying subhanahu wa'ta'ala that nothing you put forth for yourselves, no matter how minuscule, no matter how tiny, no matter how forgettable, anything that you do that is considered of good, even if it's a grain of sand, even if it is the weight of a tiny ant, even If it is a a piece of dust, if it is good, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will never lose it. It will never be misplaced. And it will be there for you on the day of judgment when you come forth before Allah, it will be there. And not only will it be there, he tells us that not only will it be there with Allah, but it will be there better than what you gave and of greater consequence and reward. In itself it is greater and in its context it is far superior because Allah subhanahua is ever more generous than his servant and that's why one of the names of Allah is a shakur a shakur what does the name a shakur mean? A shakur means the one who is worthy of all thanks and it also means the one who thanks those who strive for his sake subhanahu wa ta'ala. The word has both meanings. the one who is worthy of thanks and also the one who thanks those who strive in his way and he gives them more than they put forth. So when we do something these things we we may do some good thing. It might be something off the cuff. It might be something that we didn't plan for. Something that is little more than a little bump in the road. something that we are prone to forget and overlook. How however Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala misplaces not one good deed. Even if it is done in the deepest darkest place on this earth, it will light it up. And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling us There's an narration in the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam he says to us and so you know in this in this verse it's very important that we understand the emphasis that is placed on our deeds not being misplaced. He says, "So any good deed that you do of good and you put forth for yourself, right?" Means that you you put it forth for yourself. You present it. This is your presentation to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is what you're putting forth for yourself. almost a trust fund that you are putting for yourself with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Anything even if it's tiny, we never ever ever overlook it, no matter how small it is, the prophet sallall.aii wasallam tells us.

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He says in the narration of he says do not ever belittle any good deed that you will do even if it is as simple even if it is as impromptu as meeting your brother with a welcoming face. The prophet sallall.aii wasallam tells us in a narration in Bkari narration of Malik. He says,.

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He says, "If the hour starts, imagine the heavens are splitting, everything is falling apart, And in your hand is a palm chute. A palm chute is a baby palm tree. There's reward in planting palm trees, date palm trees. And you have in your hand a baby palmoot if you are able to stick it in the ground before the hour start. If you are able to stick it in the ground before the hour starts, then do it. You know what's interesting? What's interesting is that our deeds, they are twofold. They are beneficial to this world, but more importantly, we are worshiping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with these good deeds. whether those good deeds pan out with some fruit or not. If they yield a fruit, great. If not, great. We're still planting. So, for instance, what is the last thing our prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam did before he passed away? Who could.

[Arabic recitation]

A man is dying. You're dying. Would you think to brush your teeth? I have a few moments left. Let me brush my teeth. Said that she was standing there or she was sitting. His head was in her lap and her brother Abdul Rahman was there and he had a siwak and he was brushing his teeth and she noticed that he looked at it and so she said, "Would you like this?" He nodded and so she took it. She bit the ends off to give it that those bristles and then she gave it to him. She said, She said, "So he brushed his teeth more thoroughly than I have ever seen him before do." And then he uttered his final words. His final words were what? Say it loud. Say it.

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Or oh Allah I choose the higher companionship then he passed away sallallahu alaihi wasallam his last act of worship was brushing his teeth because the prophet sallallah said he said that brushing the teeth is a purification for the mouth and a pleasing sight to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It's an act of worship. And so he couldn't move. He couldn't stand. He couldn't pray. He couldn't do anything. But what could he do? He could move his hand and do this last act of worship. Why? Because maybe, just maybe, that last final act is what tips the scales. Maybe just that last final act is the difference between one level of paradise or the other. Of course, for our prophet sallallah.aii wasallam, he is guaranteed the highest. However, for every one of us, we are not to squander a moment. And what does a shaitan do to get in your way? What does he tell you when you go to do something good? He comes to you. He says, "Oh, this one good thing after what you've just been doing. You just a half an hour ago you were doing this and this and this and this and now Mr. Tawa here right now you want to come and act you're worshiping Allah." Or he'll come and say, ", so you want to do this little thing, but you and I both know you can't keep this up. Tomorrow you'll be right back to the way you were before. That's how he is. That absolute pessimism and negativity to try to to try to hinder you. If he can get you off the path, he will. If he can get you crooked on the path, he will. If he can get you to stop on the path, he will. If he can get you to just slow down a little bit, he will. This is the way that he does. He'll take what he can get. He'll take what he can get. And so those final moments are critical. Abu Mus Ali was laying on his deathbed. Abu Musi is one of the greatest scholars of all of the companions. Abu Mus Ali is such a scholar and is of such status that the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam chose him as one of his representatives in all of Yemen. He was sent to the south part of Yemen along with who was the other person that was sent to Yemen. Huh? Those are his two representatives. Right. And so he sent Abu Mus as his representative. How much knowledge could this man have had? Incredible. And he is Yemen by origins. When Abu Mus Ali laid on his deathbed, he was drawing his final breaths. He was in his final moments. His sons were around him, his children, his family, which is something that the new age, right? The new age of what is the best thing about the internet and and technology and social media, it helps us connect with each other. We've never been more lonely and disconnected. But the way it was is that when you die, your family comes around, right? They sit with you and they stay with you and they alhamdulillah the Muslim we still have a lot of that a lot of that however it is quickly dwindling the point Abu Mus Ali is laying on his bed he is laying on his deathbed he's drawing his final breath his sons and daughters around him are just devastated their father's dying and so he said to his sons He said to his children, he said, "My sons, my children, don't ever forget the story of the man and the loaf of bread." What is the story of the man and the loaf of bread? He said there was a man who was a he who was a monk. He stayed worshiping Allah in his in his little retreat in his hut for 70 years 70. And this man would come into the town once a week to gather supplies, buy food, whatever it is, and then head right back to his s where he was in deep meditation and worship in a constant way. And so one day after 70 years of worship, he came into the town and a prostitute caught his eye. Woman caught his eye. He says that he then was seduced and spent seven days with her. One week. Seven days doing what? Making making cookies and and and crocheting you know and and making muffins to to pass out to the town's folks. No. Seven days in Zena. He said, "And after seven days, he kind of came to his senses. He snapped back." What causes a person to snap back when the illusion drops? Because at first, the illusion is very seductive. Oh, you know, he sees this woman and her smile has the key to all happiness, right? But then slowly over time the illusion wears thin until finally his he came back to his senses. Abu Musa said that the man got up and started to walk. He was in shock of what he had done. He said, "And so with every step he would fall in prostration and repentance to Allah." And he kept walking and walking and walking and walking and walking until finally he ended up in some village. and he found a group of poor men sitting outside of you know on the side of the path and there's a church there or something. You know how people gather poor people they panhandle there and they wait. Well, these folks are waiting because one of the priests or monks from the church or s comes out every day and gives them each a loaf of bread. There were 10 of them. So he came and he just kind of threw himself between them. And so one of the priests came out and he started to distribute the 10 loaves of bread as per usual. But now there's more than 10. There's 11 guys. So he gives them out and our friend He gets one. That leaves one other guy that usually would get it. A poor man who didn't get one. So he said to the man, he said, "Ain't noi, what about my loaf? You didn't bring me my loaf of bread." He said, "Do you see me having any more loaves of bread?" They were 10. I gave them out. I got nothing for you. This is all I have. And so he took that loaf of bread that was in his hand and he gave it to that man and he died. That was his dying act. Abu Musa said he's brought before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And 70 years of worship were voided by those seven days. A person may say, "Hold up a second. Time out. How could 70 years of warship be voided by seven days?" Who can tell us the answer to that? Huh? Passion. Because those 70 years had a level of enthusiasm to them. Those seven days were what did he lose? Intense. every fiber of his being was in it. And those 70 years not as intense. It's not about quantity. It's about substance. And so yes, 7 days of burning, engulfing passion can can equal 70 years of half steps and reluctancy, he said. And then this one loaf of bread was brought and placed on his scale of good deeds and he entered paradise because of what? One loaf of bread that he gave. So what is Abu Musa saying? He's saying I'm on my deathbed here, but we don't know what deed of ours is that loaf of bread. Do you know which of your deeds is the loaf of bread? Who who here can raise his hand and tell me he is definitely going to Jenna? For sure. Guaranteed. I'm in paradise. I know it for a fact. I'm great. I'm fantastic. I've done everything great. The world could not go on without me. Right? That kind of behavior. Not one of us. All of us is guilty. Can any one of us raise his hand and tell us that he's not guilty? He is not guilty. Every one of us is guilty. But not every one of us is sure that we have given that loaf yet. We're not sure. And that's why the prophet sallallah.aii wasallam tells us and we will end with this inshallah. He says a man in will be brought on the day of judgment and he has 99 scrolls of bad deeds.

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The eye can see. All of that is what? Bad deeds. And those are then placed in the side of the scale for his bad deeds. The prophet sallallah.aii alaihi wasallam says the man is then sure that he is doomed and then it will be said to him hold on we have one good deed left for you to put in your scales of good deeds and you will not be wronged or undercut and then one will be brought out what is a A small piece of paper that's a will be brought out on written on it is he said it with his heart filled with certainty and it will be placed in his scale of good deeds. to hold and his good his bad deeds will then will then shoot up meaning the side of the scale when it is it is so heavy those good deeds will then shoot up and he will be admitted into paradise. So Allah tells us.

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And seek Allah's forgiveness and pardon. And with that, we will have concluded the 74 73rd chapter. Tomorrow night inshallah we will begin which what's the what's the order so far? We started with we started with right and then and now we will go to a person might look at this and say you're going real slow in this. That's the point. We're going very slow. You know why? Because all of us have already read these verses these chapters and we are going too fast. We need to stop at each concept and absorb it because how was this book revealed over time 23 years? If our taps is 23 years long, if it goes for 24 years, then tell me I'm going too slow. Once we get to 24 years, say sh now that's too slow. Now, Now,.