Note: The following transcript was generated using AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. To Him is all praise, all good, and all praise is beautiful. I bear witness that there is no god but God, and that there is no partner for Him. He speaks the truth, and He is the Guide to the way. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him and his family and his companions, and follow them in good faith until the Day of Judgment.
Introduction: Self-Accountability (Al-Muhasabatu lil-Nafs)
Allah Almighty, in today’s episode, I want to carry on speaking about Al-Muhasabatu lil-Nafs — accounting yourself, looking and pondering over and contemplating on what you say and what you do.
From the ways — God Almighty — that you could do Al-Muhasabatu lil-Nafs, it's for the person to look at their own actions — in which you do daily, and those which you have to do at night. You think about them. And you ask yourself this question:
وَهَلْ هَذِهِ الْأَعْمَالَ يَسَّرَهُ أَن يَلْقَى اللَّهَ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى بِهَا أَمْ لَا؟
You ask yourself this question: These actions that you’re doing:
هَلْ هَذِهِ الْأَعْمَالَ يَسَّرُهُ أَن يَلْقَى اللَّهَ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى بِهَا أَمْ لَا؟
Is it something that you know will please Allah when you meet Him on the Day of Judgment? That’s a question you need to ask yourself.
Stages of Self-Accountability
So, for example, you look at your actions starting from the obligatory acts — the wajibat, the things which are obligatory.
Once you’ve looked at that — if that’s intact and it’s good — then you move on to:
فيما يتعلق بالمنهيات The things that are prohibited. The things Allah Ta'ala prohibited upon His slaves.
And then the person, after looking at the prohibited, you move on to the third, which is:
الرغائب والمستحبات The recommended acts of worship.
Where are you in regard to that? Are you fasting Mondays and Thursdays? Are you praying voluntary prayers?
Okay? That’s called:
المحاسبة بالدرجة You are pondering and you’re thinking and you’re contemplating based on levels.
So you’re starting from the wajibat: Am I doing the wajibat? Yes. Alhamdulillah. That’s good. Now the second thing that you say is: Am I staying away from the prohibited acts or speeches? Am I staying away from it?
If you say yes to that, then your third question you ask yourself is: What about the raga’ib wal-mustahabbat — the recommended acts? What about those? Where are you in regards to that?
Once you do that, you're — InshaAllah Ta’ala — upon a path which is ya’ni good, and you’re heading towards the right direction.
Focusing on the Prayer (Salah)
Okay? The obligatory acts are a lot. And when you look at the obligatory acts, you first of all look at your Salah that Allah Ta'ala made obligatory on you. Are you doing the Salahs that you're praying? This is muhasabah.
- Do I pray my Salah bi-shurutiha — with its conditions?
- Am I praying the Salah with its arkan — the pillars that are in the prayer that I need to come with? Am I coming with it?
- And then you say: The Salah that I pray — am I doing the wajibat?
- You ask yourself: The Salah that I'm praying — am I doing it fi awqatiha — in its timing?
- And also you ask yourself: These Salahs that I’m praying — am I doing it ma’a jama’at al-muslimeen? Am I doing it with the Muslims?
The Words of Ibn al-Qayyim on Salah
Ya’ni, Al-Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim said something very powerful regarding the Salah. And the person needs to really internalize what he said, rahimahullah, in his Kitab Asrar al-Salah.
Ibn Al-Qayyim, rahimahullah, he said:
لَا رَيْبَ أَنَّ الصَّلَاةَ قُرَّةُ عُيُونِ الْمُحِبِّينَ، وَلَذَّةُ أَرْوَاحِ الْمُوَحِّدِينَ، وَبُسْتَانُ الْعَابِدِينَ، وَلَذَّةُ نُفُوسِ الْخَاشِعِينَ، وَمِحَكُّ أَحْوَالِ الصَّادِقِينَ، وَمِيزَانُ أَحْوَالِ السَّالِكِينَ، وَهِيَ رَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ الْمُهْدَاةُ إِلَىٰ عِبَادِهِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ.
That’s what the Salah is to the believers:
- It is what brings warmth to their eyes — qurrat ‘uyoon al-muhibbin.
- Those who love the prayer — when they pray they find warmth and comfort and tranquility and ease.
- Wa ladhdhatu arwah al-muwahhideen — it's the sweetness of the spirits, the soul of the ones who only worship Allah.
- It is the bustan al-‘abideen — it’s the garden of the worshippers.
- Wa ladhdhatu nufus al-khashi’een — it's the sweetness of the humble creations of Allah.
- Wa mihakku ahwal al-sadiqeen — it’s the crux of the truthful ones.
- Wa mizanu ahwal al-salikeen — it’s the scale of those treading the path to Allah.
- Wa hiya rahmatullah al-muhdaah ila ‘ibadihi al-mu’mineen — it’s a mercy sent from Allah to guide His believing slaves.
Allah is doing it for them, subhanahu wa ta’ala.
Practical Reflection & Resources
Brothers and sisters — I haven’t first of all given justice to the statement of Ibn Al-Qayyim rahimahullah. It’s so eloquent — but you’ve understood the gist.
So when you are pondering and you’re contemplating — the first thing you start off with is the prayer. After La ilaha illa Allah, you come to the prayer.
Walidha, Sheikh ‘Abd al-Razzaq ibn ‘Abd al-Muhsin al-‘Abbad has a very good book — it's called:
Ta’dheem al-Salah — The Magnification of the Prayer.
It’s worth reading. You can get that kitab and look into it. I’ve heard — Wallahu a‘lam — I’ve heard that it is translated. So InshaAllah Ta’ala, look at that kitab. It’s a kitab mata’ and it is a musannaf naafi‘ — that Sheikh ‘Abd al-Razzaq ibn ‘Abd al-Muhsin al-‘Abbad wrote called Ta’dheem al-Salah. It’s worth reading, InshaAllah Ta’ala.
Beyond the Prayer
After the person looks at the Salah and they ponder over the Salah, then the person looks at the other wajibat of the religion. Okay? And the person also looks at the things Allah prohibited — subhanahu wa ta’ala — from His slaves.
Have you really stayed away from those things? Drinking alcohol? Committing Zina, etc. Are you staying away from those things Allah has prohibited?
Precision and Effort in Deen
Also, you look at the precision of your actions. How precise are you in whatever you do in the religion? Is it precise? Am I doing it with precision? Am I giving it the best that I can give?
Wallahi, once you do that and you then thank Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, and you ask Him subhanahu wa ta’ala to keep you firm upon that — what you're going to find is a lot of good.
And then you repent to Allah tabaraka wa ta’ala for any deficiencies that have passed — that you’ve come with — and any deficiencies that you currently are coming with. Because this world again that we’re living in, brothers and sisters, is:
Dar al-‘Amal — it’s the place of actions.
This is the chance that we have.
The Hadith Qudsi Reminder
We all know the famous Hadith Qudsi, where Allah tabaraka wa ta’ala says:
يَا عِبَادِي إِنَّمَا هِيَ أَعْمَالُكُمْ أُحْصِيهَا لَكُمْ ثُمَّ أُوَفِّيكُمْ إِيَّاهَا، فَمَنْ وَجَدَ خَيْرًا فَلْيَحْمَدِ اللَّهَ، وَمَنْ وَجَدَ غَيْرَ ذَٰلِكَ فَلَا يَلُومَنَّ إِلَّا نَفْسَهُ
"O My servants, it is but your deeds I reckon for you, then I recompense you for them. So whoever finds good, let him praise Allah. And whoever finds other than that, let him blame no one but himself."
It's everyone's actions today. How precise are you in your actions? How much effort and hard work are you putting in? Are you holding back?
The matter is: يا عبادي إنما هي أعمالكم — O My slaves, it is but your actions, أحصيها لكم — I am recording them for you.
فمن وجد خيرا فليحمد الله — Whoever finds good, let him praise Allah ﷻ, ومن وجد غير ذلك فلا يلومن إلا نفسه — And whoever finds other than that, let him not blame anyone but himself.
فلا يلومن إلا نفسه — He should not blame anyone but himself. We need to repent all the time, brothers and sisters. And when repenting, you have to come with: حاسبوا أنفسكم قبل أن تحاسبوا — Take account of yourselves before you are taken to account. You must come with the concept of: المحاسبة للنفس — Self-accountability. To say: I did a sin, O Allah, اغفر لي — forgive me, O Allah. التوبة (repentance) comes from recognition of your mistakes and what you’ve done.
If you look at the righteous people, The great Imams of Islam, The people whose path we want to tread, سلفنا الصالح — Our pious predecessors, Starting from our Prophet ﷺ, They used to repent, rectify their situation, and they always wanted to work hard.
Our Prophet ﷺ — a person who is forgiven for everything ﷺ — As Allah mentioned in the Qur'an: إِنَّا فَتَحْنَا لَكَ فَتْحًا مُّبِينًا، لِيَغْفِرَ لَكَ اللَّهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِن ذَنبِكَ وَمَا تَأَخَّرَ Verily, We have given you a manifest victory, so that Allah may forgive for you what preceded of your sin and what will come later.
Our Prophet ﷺ is errorless, In the sense that Allah ﷻ has forgiven him for everything ﷺ.
However, he told us ﷺ: إني أَتُوبُ في اليوم مائة مرة — I repent to Allah ﷻ a hundred times a day. And Allah accepts the repentance, he told us ﷺ, From every person who makes a mistake or falls short — Allah will accept that repentance and rectification from you.
عبد الله بن عمر رضي الله عنهما — May Allah be pleased with him and his father — In Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah, And Shaykh al-Albani رحمه الله authenticated it as ṣaḥīḥ, That the Prophet ﷺ said: إن الله يقبل توبة العبد ما لم يُغَرْغِر — Allah accepts the repentance of the slave as long as he does not yugharrir — as long as the soul has not reached the throat (i.e., the moment of death).
Before you pass away. Also, Imam Muslim narrated from Abu Musa رضي الله عنه That the Prophet ﷺ said:
إن الله عز وجل يبسط يده بالليل ليتوب مسيء النهار، ويبسط يده بالنهار ليتوب مسيء الليل، حتى تطلع الشمس من مغربها Indeed, Allah ﷻ stretches out His hand by night to accept the repentance of the one who sinned during the day, And He stretches out His hand by day to accept the repentance of the one who sinned during the night, Until the sun rises from the west.
That’s consistent repentance. That’s how the Salaf al-Ṣāliḥ, including the Prophet ﷺ and the Companions, were. And many of the great Imams of Islam, in their biographies, you’ll find they were hardworking.
It was said of them: إن ملك الموت ببابك — If it was said: “The Angel of Death is at your door,” لقبض روحك — to take your soul, لم يكن عنده مزيد عمل — he wouldn’t have anything more to do. Why? لأنه في كل الأمور منتضب — Because he is always on task. يعني في المحافظة عليها وأدائها — Meaning he is preserving and fulfilling everything on time.
But for some people, brothers and sisters, If today it was said to them: The Angel of Death is at your door — He will find in front of him: يجد أمامه أمورًا كثيرة — Many things.
يعني وش أبدأ؟ — “Where should I start?” “What can I do?” “Which one?” There are so many wājibāt we’ve left behind. So many muḥarramāt we’ve fallen into. We are muqaṣṣir — deficient — in everything.
So which one should we start with?
We don’t want to be like those people, brothers and sisters, Who will come on Yawm al-Qiyāmah and say: لَعَلِّي أَعْمَلُ صَالِحًا فِيمَا تَرَكْتُ، كَلَّا، إِنَّهَا كَلِمَةٌ هُوَ قَائِلُهَا، وَمِن وَرَائِهِم بَرْزَخٌ إِلَى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ "Perhaps I may do righteous deeds in that which I left behind." No! It is only a word he is saying, And behind them is a barrier (barzakh) until the Day they are resurrected.
We don’t want to be like that, brothers and sisters. That is not our aim or our objective.
Imam al-Dhahabi رحمه الله mentioned many examples of great Imams like this.
بُكَيْر بن عامر — it was said: If it was said to عبد الرحمن بن أبي نُعْم: قد توجه إليك ملك الموت — The Angel of Death is headed your way, ما كان عنده زيادة عمل — He would have nothing more to add. وكان يمكث جمعتين لا يأكل — He would spend two Jum‘ahs without eating.
أنس بن عياض said: رأيت صفوان بن سليم — I saw Ṣafwān ibn Sulaym, And if it was said to him: إن غدًا القيامة — Tomorrow is the Day of Judgment, ما كان عنده مزيد على ما هو عليه من العبادة — He would have nothing to add to the worship he was already doing.
It was also mentioned that Ḥushayn رحمه الله said: كان منصور بن زاذان — Manṣūr ibn Zādān — If it was said to him: إن ملك الموت على الباب — The Angel of Death is at the door, ما كان عنده زيادة في العمل — There was nothing more he could possibly do.
الله أكبر Imagine that, brother—how hard you have to be working for you to be told that Qiyamah is tomorrow, or the Angel of Death is right now at the front door, ready to take your nafs. Think about it—how hard do you have to really work for you not to have anything more to do? And it shows that they were consistently in ‘ibadah—in everything that they did.
And the reason why they got that, brothers and sisters, is because they came with, and were known for, محاسبة النفس—they held themselves accountable for everything they did. They looked at their actions, day and night— What am I doing? What am I not doing?
Brothers and sisters, we will not be able, in any way, shape, or form, to achieve all of that unless Allah helps us. There is a common mistake that many people fall into—and it is a mistake which a lot of us fall into, and I myself am guilty of as well— which is that we spread this concept, and we say it a lot to people. We say to people: “Have ثقة بالنفس.” I’ve used that quite a lot.
We say that to people: “Go and have thiqah in yourself,” i.e., “Rely on yourself.” And that is something we shouldn’t say to people. That is wrong—it goes against an important point in our religion.
Thiqah bin-nafs... thiqah, brothers and sisters, is tawakkul—and it’s not just tawakkul. Thiqah is not just tawakkul—it is actually خلاصة التوكل ولبه— It is the core of tawakkul.
Okay? And we all know the famous du’a that the Prophet ﷺ used to say: اللهم رحمتك أرجو، فلا تكلني إلى نفسي طرفة عين، وأصلح لي شأني كله، لا إله إلا أنت.
This, brothers and sisters—in this du’a the Prophet ﷺ would say: “Oh Allah, I hope for Your mercy. Do not leave me to myself, even for the blink of an eye. And rectify for me all of my affairs. There is no god but You.”
Where is the thiqah bin-nafs? Where is the reliance on yourself? That doesn't exist!
We ask Allah: فلا تكلني إلى نفسي Oh Allah, do not let me run my own affairs. I can't do it—I need You.
So when you say to a person, “Have thiqah bin-nafs,” and thiqah is tawakkul—and tawakkul should be done only for Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta‘ala.
ولذلك—The Mufti before Shaykh Abdul Aziz Ibn Baz— Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim, رحمه الله, he was asked about the statement that people say to one another: “تجب الثقة بالنفس”—“You must have confidence in yourself.” He said: لا تجب ولا تجوز. He said: “It is neither obligatory, nor is it even permissible—الثقة بالنفس.”
And then he mentioned the hadith: فلا تكلني إلى نفسي طرفة عين. You can find this in his Fatawa wa Rasā’il, رحمه الله.
Also, Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd, he has a book called: معجم المناهي اللفظية In that book, he talks about terms people use that are prohibited in the Shari’ah. He discusses names and phrases and expressions that are common but incorrect—and it's worthy of reading. He mentions this on page 185.
Every action that you do, brothers and sisters—when it comes to the topic we’re speaking about: حاسبوا أنفسكم قبل أن تحاسبوا— Every action that you do, brothers, when you do it— Make sure that you come with the two pillars.
What are the two pillars?
- Sincerity—for Allah’s sake.
- And doing it in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.
Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd, he said: بالشرع زن كل أمرٍ ما هممتَ به، فإن بدا صالحًا أقدم ولا تَجِمْ "Weigh every matter you intend to do with the Shari’ah— and if it appears to be good, then go forward and do it—don’t hold back."
Do it with sincerity, brothers and sisters— And do it in accordance with how the Prophet ﷺ did it—the way he sanctioned ﷺ. And ask Allah Tabarak wa Ta'ala, every day of your life, that He gives you thabat—firmness.
I ask Allah Tabarak wa Ta‘ala, in this little reminder that I gave— وذكّر فإن الذكرى تنفع المؤمنين Remind—because the reminder benefits the believers.
And in shā’ Allāh ta‘ālā, I hope it has benefited you all.
أسأل الله عز وجل أن يصلح لنا أجمعين ديننا الذي هو عصمة أمرنا، وأن يصلح لنا دنيانا التي فيها معاشنا، وأن يصلح لنا آخرتنا التي فيها معادنا، وأن يجعل الحياة زيادةً لنا في كل خير، وأن يجعل الموت راحةً لنا من كل شر.
اللهم اغفر لنا ولوالدينا، وللمسلمين والمسلمات، والمؤمنين والمؤمنات، الأحياء منهم والأموات، إنه تبارك وتعالى سميعٌ قريبٌ مجيب، والله تعالى أعلم. سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك، أشهد أن لا إله إلا أنت، أستغفرك وأتوب إليك.
