Month: February 2016

Balancing Between Consistency in Performing Good Deeds and Seizing Opportunities to Do More

Answered by Sayyidi Habib Umar bin Hafiz (may Allah protect him and benefit us by him)

The pious say that the seeker should perform good deeds whenever the opportunity arises. How can we balance between this and the hadith that the most beloved of actions are those that are consistent even if they are a little?

You need to set yourself a minimum amount of good deeds which you never leave. It should be small enough for you to be consistent in performing it while not preventing you from performing other good deeds when the opportunity arises. As Imam al-Haddad said: “Appoint for yourself a fixed amount which you are able to perform consistently. When you feel energetic you can do more but when you feel lazy you do not permit yourself to do less.”

On Making Up Awrad

Answered by Sayyidi Habib Umar bin Hafiz (may Allah protect him and benefit us by him)

I have a routine of praying tahajjud, reciting the Qur’an and adhkar before Fajr. If I wake up late and am unable to do all of these things what should I do?

You should do a little bit of everything: pray a few units of tahajjud, recite some Qur’an and recite some of the adhkar. Then you should make up whatever you missed between sunrise and midday. The Prophet ﷺ said that if someone oversleeps and fails to perform the prayers that he regularly performs at night but then makes them up between sunrise and midday it will be recorded for him as if he prayed it at night.

On Signs of Acceptance

Answered by Sayyidi Habib Umar bin Hafiz (may Allah protect him and benefit us by him)

What are the signs that your acts of obedience have been accepted?

The signs of acceptance are that you increase in three things: brokenness in front of Allah, the desire to perform good deeds and aversion to disobedience.