Ask Yourself Two Questions

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Let whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day either speak good or keep silent; and let whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day be generous to his neighbour; and let whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day be generous to his guest.”

The believer should know that every action and every word are accounted for in two books; one is entitled, “For whom did I do it?”, and the other, “How well did I do it?”

The first question is concerned with sincerity, whether the deed was done for Allah or not; and the second is concerned with the action itself, whether it was done in accordance with the Sunnah or not and how much effort was put into getting it right.

Identify the faults of the self. Whoever does not recognize his faults cannot possibly get rid of them. Yunus ibn Ubaid said, “I know about a hundred of the attributes of goodness and yet I cannot find even one of them in my self.” [The Purification of the Soul]