Are you proud of your good deeds and feel better than those around you?
Never get ahead of yourself. Just because you are praying 20 Rakaat a night and the next brother is praying eight, it doesn’t give you any right nor reason to belittle others or look down on them. Avoid feelings of self-righteousness and rather always look at your deeds with shortcomings and beseech Allah to accept them, not because of who you are – but rather because He is the Most Generous.“And do not claim yourselves to be pure, He is most knowing of who has righteous”. Quran 53:32It is important to remember this: It is narrated on the authority of ‘Abdullah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) observed:
“He who has in his heart the weight of a mustard seed of pride shall not enter Paradise.” (Muslim)Don’t be proud of your good deeds. It is only Allah Who has gifted them to you. Be humble and grateful for the opportunities Allah has granted you. Imam Ibn al-Qayyim explains to us the importance of being humble:
“Humility comes from knowing about Allah and His names and attributes, and His greatness, venerating Him, loving Him and being in awe of Him; and also from knowing about oneself and one’s faults, and weaknesses. From that may develop the attitude of humility, which means feeling helpless before Allaah, and being humble and compassionate towards His slaves, so that the person does not feel superior towards anyone, or think that he has any rights over anyone else; rather he thinks that others are better than him, and that their rights come before his. This is a characteristic that Allah gives to those whom He loves, honours and draws close to Him.” (Al-Rooh, p. 233)In fact, humbleness raises one’s status with Allah. Abu Hurairah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
“Charity does not diminish wealth, Allah does not increase a man in anything for his pardoning (others) but in honor, and none humbles himself for Allah but Allah raises him.” (Tirmidhi)So, when you’re fasting remember that your fasting is for Allah and for Allah alone. It shouldn’t matter who knows or doesn’t know of the actions that you are doing, for what is with Allah will definitely be recorded and you will be rewarded for it. Don’t destroy any of your good deeds with pride, arrogance, or self-righteousness. Instead, be humble and raise your status with Allah.