Keeping our good deeds a secret

 

Are we habitually publicizing / showing off our good deeds on social media? 

An inspiring story: Ali bin Husayn, (the grandson of Ali bin Abi Talib also known as Zainul Abidin, he beauty of worshippers) had kept a huge secret which was only 'exposed' after his death.

When Ali passed away and they washed his janazah, they suddenly discovered that he had these visible black marks on his back – when people saw this, they were surprised! They said, “this is the back of a person who carries huge loads – but as far as we are aware, he never worked as someone who did that!”.

But after his death, only then people started to realize that suddenly a hundred homes of widows and orphans in Madinah have been deprived from food. 

It turns out that all this time, every night, Ali bin Husayn has been secretly packaging and carrying food as charity to deliver to these houses in the middle of the night, and no one had idea who delivered it to them. 

So now we know.

SubhanAllah. He struggled his utmost level best to keep his charity a secret – and only after his death Allah makes his deed known to people, the inspiring selfless act of charity and demonstration of generosity, and Allah grants so much barakah to it that we are speaking about this contribution 1300 years later. 

What can we learn from this?

Don’t worry about the results or the impact of your righteous deeds, or whether people will acknowledge you, show you gratitude or give you the credit that's due. Don't worry about how many "likes", shares, or re-tweets you get. Instead, worry about how sincere you are: Leave the rest to Allah. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said,

من استطاع منكم أن يكونَ له خَبيءٌ من عملٍ صالحٍ فلْيفْعلْ

“Whomever amongst you can keep his good deeds a secret, then let him do so”

(Narrated by ibnu Abi Shaybah & al-Khatib in Tarikh Al-Baghdadi; graded sahih by Al-Albani)

When we keep our good deeds a secret, we have that extra layer of assurance that we did it with true ikhlas (sincerity), knowing that there is no room for riyaa (ostentation) and being praised by others. 

That is why our righteous predecessors (salfus-soleh) would put extra effort into making sure their good deeds remain a secret. So much so that they would pray qiyamullayl / tahajjud and their own wives will not even notice: one of them went the extra mile to wake up, pray, pretend to go back to sleep and then wake up his wife – to “leave no evidence” behind. 

A stark contrast to what many of us do today in social media, that like to “hint” – or even downright unashamedly SHOW – our righteous deeds. Let’s fix this habit and instead strive to #BeSecretlyAwesome between us and Allah. 

Who cares if you get thousands of likes? The only ONE “like” that matters is Allah. The Prophet ﷺ said,

إِذَا أَحَبَّ اللَّهُ عَبْدًا نَادَى جِبْرِيلَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ فُلاَنًا، فَأَحِبَّهُ‏.‏ فَيُحِبُّهُ جِبْرِيلُ، فَيُنَادِي جِبْرِيلُ فِي أَهْلِ السَّمَاءِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ فُلاَنًا، فَأَحِبُّوهُ‏.‏ فَيُحِبُّهُ أَهْلُ السَّمَاءِ، ثُمَّ يُوضَعُ لَهُ الْقَبُولُ فِي أَهْلِ الأَرْضِ

"If Allah loves a person, He calls Jibreel and announces: 'Allah loves so and so; O Jibreel, love him.' 

Jibreel would love him, and then Jibreel would make an announcement among the residents of the Heaven, 'Allah loves so-and-so, therefore, you should love him also.' 

So, all the residents of the Heavens would love him and then he is granted the pleasure of the people of the earth." (Narrated by Al-Bukhari, Muslim)

Done some awesome deeds lately? Force yourself to fight of the temptation to tell anyone (not even the wifey). Sshh… Keep it a secret. I dare you.

#theBarakahEffect