Hadeeth – Do not belittle any good action

Memorise and practice a new hadeeth every week!

By Mawlana Junayd Makda Sahib

Do not belittle any good action

لا تَحقِرَنَّ مِنَ المَعْرُوف شَيْئًا، وَلَو أنْ تَلقَى أخَاكَ بوجهٍ طليقٍ

Do not belittle any good deed, even meeting your brother (Muslim) with a cheerful face”
Sahih Muslim

Explanation

Every good deed, no matter how easy or simple it may seem, if done with the correct intention holds immense virtue in the eyes of Allah Ta’ala and has the capability of paving the way to Jannah for us.

In this hadeeth, this is the exact message our most amazing Nabi ﷺ is sharing with us; that do not leave out any action, thinking it is insignificant or unimportant. As in the eyes of Allah Ta’aala, this seemingly small deed may hold a lot of importance.

The second part of this hadeeth gives us an example of a good action (meeting others with a smile) which we may do without thinking much of, but to Allah Ta’ala this is a good deed which will be rewarded.

So, any chance we have to do a good action and could be the reason for us to enter Jannah, we should carry it out and have hope that it will attract Allah Ta’ala’s mercy and deliver us in the Hereafter.

A great Aalim by the name of Shaykh Maseehullah Khan sahib رحمه الله‎‎ would tell his students, that treat the thought of doing a good action as a guest. If hosted and welcomed with open arms, this guest will return again (meaning we will have the opportunity to do the good action again). However, if we are inconsiderate towards this guest, by ignoring it and not welcoming it, it may not return again.

Some points to keep in mind:

1) When the thought or opportunity presents itself, do not waste time in doing good.

2) Remember the trick of shaytaan is to make us leave out good actions by thinking, ‘What difference will it make if I do this action?’. Tell yourself, it will make a big difference and carry out that action.

3) As we find in certain ahadeeth, that many times, Allah Ta’ala forgives His servants and grants them Jannah on account of one action, because it was so liked by Allah Ta’ala.

4) Virtue attracts virtue. By doing one good action, we will soon find ourselves with the opportunity and wish to do a second good action, and then a third good action etc.

5) Treat your guest well, and they will return again. Welcome a good thought and it will return too.

6) Do not underrate the effect of sin too. Like with good actions, sins and evil can have devastating effects. So abstain from evil at all costs and never think, ‘It is only a small sin’ or ‘What difference will one wrong have’. Like with good actions, we find incidents in the hadeeth which warn us of Allah Ta’ala’s punishment for one action too.