Surah Kahf Day: Cultivate Everlasting Virtues

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

ٱلْمَالُ وَٱلْبَنُونَ زِينَةُ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا ۖ وَٱلْبَـٰقِيَـٰتُ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتُ خَيْرٌ عِندَ رَبِّكَ ثَوَابًا وَخَيْرٌ أَمَلًا ﴿٤٦

Wealth and children are [but] adornment of the worldly life. But the enduring good deeds (al-baqyat al-salihat) are better to your Lord for reward and better for [one's] hope. (46) [Qur'an Al-Kahf 18:46]

'Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, said,

'Cultivation is of two kinds. Wealth and children are the cash crops of the mortal world while 'everlasting virtues' are the deferred crops of the Hereafter.'

Hasan al-Basri said,

'Everlasting virtues are one's intention as the acceptance of righteous deeds depends on it.'

Narrated Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,

"Accumulate 'everlasting virtues' as much as you can." It was said, "What are they?" He said, "Saying: سبحن الله لا اله الا الله الحمد لله الله اكبر و لا حول و لا قوة الا بالله [SubhanAllah la ilaha illallahu alHamdulullahi Allahu Akbar wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah -- Pure is Allah. There is no god but Allah. All praise belongs to Allah. Allah is great and there is no power and no strength except with Allah].

[Ahmad, Ibn Hibban, Hakim]

Narrated Sa'd ibn Abu Ubadah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,

سبحن الله لا اله الا الله الحمد لله الله اكبر [SubhanAllah la ilaha illallahu alHamdulullahi Allahu Akbar -- Pure is Allah and all praise belongs to Allah and there is no god but Allah and Allah is great]: These are the 'everlasting virtues."

[At-Tabarani]

Narrated Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,

"I like saying: سبحن الله لا اله الا الله الحمد لله الله اكبر [SubhanAllah la ilaha illallahu alHamdulullahi Allahu Akbar -- Pure is Allah and all praise belongs to Allah and there is no god but Allah and Allah is great] better than everything under the Sun."

[Muslim, Tirmidhi]

Sa'id ibn Jubayr, Masriq and Ibrahim said that 'everlasting virtues' denote five (obligatory) daily prayers.

'Ubaid ibn 'Umair said, 'Everlasting virtues are righteous daughters for they are, for their parents, the greatest treasure troves of reward from Allah.' This is supported by a narration of Sayyida Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "I saw a man from my ummah under orders to be taken to Hell. Thereupon, his righteous daughters clung to him and started wailing and crying and plaintively supplicating: '0 Allah, spare him for he was very kind to us in the mortal world and he worked very hard to raise us in our family.' Allah Almighty, in His mercy, forgave him.

It is obvious that all deeds that qualify as righteous and sincere are abiding and everlasting in the sight of Allah. Cultivate as much of them as you can in this life and you will see the fruits in your life Hereafter.

Every moment of life or every breath is a treasure. There is no exchange of it as it is the basic thing. It will take you to everlasting fortune and rescue you from everlasting misfortune. If you lose it uselessly and negligently, you will be a great loser. If you spend it in sin, you will spoil your best treasure. If you do not weep for this loss, it will be for your mere ignorance. The danger of ignorance is more than that of all other things.

A certain knower of Allah said: If the angel of death informs a man that a moment only is left for his life his grief rises to such a degree that in exchange of everything in the world he hopes to get some leisure to get an opportunity to make tauba (repentance) for his past misdeeds, but that is not to be. Allah says:

وَأَنفِقُوا۟ مِن مَّا رَزَقْنَـٰكُم مِّن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِىَ أَحَدَكُمُ ٱلْمَوْتُ فَيَقُولَ رَبِّ لَوْلَآ أَخَّرْتَنِىٓ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ قَرِيبٍ فَأَصَّدَّقَ وَأَكُن مِّنَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ ﴿١٠﴾ وَلَن يُؤَخِّرَ ٱللَّـهُ نَفْسًا إِذَا جَآءَ أَجَلُهَا ۚ وَٱللَّـهُ خَبِيرٌۢ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ ﴿١١

And spend [in the way of Allah] from what We have provided you before death approaches one of you and he says, "My Lord, if only You would delay me for a brief term so I would give charity and be among the righteous." (10) But never will Allah delay a soul when its time has come. And Allah is Acquainted with what you do. (11) [Qur'an Al-Munafiqun 63:10-10]

May Allah aid us in righteous works and make righteous deeds beloved to us. Ameen.

Have a blessed Jumu'ah.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam