A neighbour of mine had a knee operation about a month ago, and for a month I’ve been telling myself to go visit him. Everyday I delayed it till the next day, and never got around it. Last week, I made the utmost preparation to go see him and I told myself “No excuses! I have to visit this brother.” I go pray Maghreb planning to see him after salah and subhanaAllah – there he was in the mosque before me with the rest of the brothers feeling better and able to walk.
May Allah forgive me
I felt so bad, and couldn’t stop rebuking myself for missing such a huge reward and opportunity to visit a neighbour, a Muslim brother, in his time of need. I remembered the Hadeeth Qudsi where Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) would say to a person on the Day of Judgement: “O son of Adam I was sick and you did not visit Me. He would say: O my Lord; how could I visit You and You are the Lord of the worlds? Thereupon He would say: Didn’t you know that such and such servant of Mine was sick but you did not visit him and were you not aware that if you had visited him, you would have found Me by him?” (Muslim).
May Allah forgive me
Sometimes we keep putting off good deeds, and delay performing them but can any of us guarantee we have tomorrow? I remembered the hadeeth of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) which promised great reward for someone visiting the sick, He (Peace be upon him) said: “There is not a Muslim that visits another in the morning except that 70,000 angels ask forgiveness for him until the night, and if he visits him at night then 70,000 angels ask forgiveness for him until the morning, and he will have earned a garden in paradise” (At-Tirmidhi).
May Allah forgive me
Reflecting deeply on the failure to hasten towards good deeds on this occasion, I remembered the hadeeth, where the caller of heaven would say to the person visiting the sick: “You have done well and your walk was good also, and you have earned a place in paradise” (At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah). So why do we still not run towards opportunities to do good deeds presented before us?
May Allah forgive me
Brothers and sisters, the most important lesson to take away is that we should not delay, and hasten towards good deeds.
Allah says in the Qur’an: “Be quick in the race for forgiveness from your Lord, and for a Garden whose width is that (of the whole) of the heavens and of the earth, prepared for the righteous” (Al-Imran, Chapter 3, Verse 133). We should not forget that our brothers and sisters in Islam have rights over us, and there should be no excuses to seek those good deeds out. You might have a busy life, but if you want to know what true productivity means in Islam, it’s making sure that you do not miss these “opportunities” and “golden” moments to be with your brother and sister in their time of need. Ultimately it might be an act which saves you in the Hereafter. Make time for them and Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) will reward you, bless you, and make time for you inshaAllah.
I hope that this message to race towards good deeds reaches you and and that it becomes a mean for Allah to forgive me.
