One of God’s mercies toward His servants is that He rewards them for their efforts, not for the results of their deeds. As for people among each other, they deal on the basis of results in most of their cases.
Allah ﷻ said: {So whoever does righteous deeds while he is a believer – no denial will there be for his effort, and indeed We, of it, are recorders} 21:94. As you can see, the honor and rewards were secured because of the effort {for his effort}. And He ﷻ said: {But whoever desires the Hereafter and exerts the effort due to it while he is a believer – it is those whose effort is ever appreciated [by Allah]} 17:19.
The prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever purifies himself in his home and then goes to the mosque and joins the congregational prayer and finds that it has passed, the reward for the congregational prayer will be recorded for him.”[1] In this hadith, the actual prayer was missed, but the rewards were preserved because of the intention and the effort put to join the prayer. And he ﷺ said: “If a servant travels or becomes ill, God will record for him the same as what he used to do while staying healthy.”
While marching towards the battle of Tabouk, the prophet ﷺ said: “Indeed, there are people in Medina who have neither traveled nor crossed a valley without being with you and detained by an excuse.” This is the case here where intentions alone were sufficient to record the rewards for the believers because of their status of being ill and unable to join.
Linguistically: “Striving (السّعي) is fast walking, which is less than running, and is used to be serious about a matter, whether it is good or bad.”[2] The Prophet ﷺ said: “If you perform the prayer, do not perform it while running, but perform it with peace of mind. Pray whatever you catch up with, and whatever you miss, complete it.”
The Prophet ﷺ said: “All people go out early in the morning and sell themselves (make choices), either setting themselves free or ruining themselves.”[3]
How to understand the concept of striving:
First:
You only cash your own deeds, and your actions are for yourself and not for others. Allah ﷻ said: {And that for man there is nothing but what he strives for, and that his striving will be seen.} That means a person can only carry to the Hereafter the deeds he performed during his life, nothing else. But there is an exception in two matters; the investment you leave for rewards behind you like the Sadaqa Jariyah and raising children in righteous manners that will add in the book of deeds for parents. Allah ﷻ said: {Indeed, We revive the dead and record what they put forward and their traces}. And as for children who follow the rank of parents; Allah ﷻ said: {And those who have believed and whose descendants have followed them in faith – to them We will join their descendants, and We have not given them anything of their deeds.} This will also work oppositely as parents can benefit from the high ranks of their children at the Day of Judgment. The prophet ﷺ said: “Indeed, God will raise the rank of the righteous servant in Paradise, and he will say, ‘O Lord, where did I get this?’ Then he will say, seeking forgiveness. Your son is yours.”
Second:
There are conditions for striving: Allah ﷻ said: {And whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it will strive for it while he is a believer.} So faith in Allah ﷻ is the main condition for deeds to be accepted. Also, sincerity is a must for deeds to be accepted. Allah ﷻ said: {We only feed you for the sake of God. We do not desire from you reward or gratitude.} And another important condition is that all deeds must match in accordance with the path of the prophet ﷺ. Allah ﷻ said: {There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often.} 33:21.
Now, with Ramadan ending, we must not stop striving for the sake of Allah ﷻ. Ramadan was more like a power of energy that can help us continue striving to please Allah ﷻ.
Let us not forget these days to remember our brothers and sisters who are striving in Gaza just for survival. Keep them in your Dua and remember to help them in your Sadaqah and Zakat.
By Imam Kifah Mustapha
[1] Abu Daoud
[2] Al-Asfahani
[3] Muslim
