Note: The following transcript was generated using AI and may contain inaccuracies.
O you who have believed, obey God and obey the Messenger, and do not let your deeds go to waste.
Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen, wassalatu wassalamu ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'een. All praise is due to Allah, and may Allah's peace and blessings be upon his final Messenger, Muhammad salallahu alayhi wasalam. As Muslims, we know that every Muslim in this world should acquire as much good deeds as possible.
Exerting effort to collect as much good deeds, to do as much good deeds as possible. But there is also something which is even more important than that, which is maintaining and preserving your good deeds. Why? Can good deeds be nullified? Can they be invalidated? Yes.
You might be asking, well Shaykh, maybe you mean shirk, or kufr, associating partners with Allah. No, no, no, no, no. There is no dispute that kufr invalidates all good deeds. This is something agreed upon. We're not even discussing this. Then what else can invalidate good deeds? Well, sins can invalidate or nullify your good deeds, and this is something very serious.
And we're going to be talking about verses of the Quran that establishes this principle, that sins may, pay attention to this word, may invalidate your good deeds. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says in the Quran, يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولِ وَلَا تُبْطِلُوا أَعْمَالَكُمْ O you who believe, obey Allah and obey His Messenger and do not invalidate your deeds.
Now, at first glance, you might be thinking, oh, this is for those who disbelieved, who associated partners with Allah. Yes, this is included in the verse, but look at what the companions understood from this verse. Ibn Kathir has narrated, mentioned this athar statement of some that the companions, when the verse was revealed, they thought that there is no sin that can harm a believer if he says, لا إله إلا الله, so there is no ma'asiyah that can affect a believer if he says, لا إله إلا الله. The sins cannot affect his good deeds, just like good deeds cannot benefit a person who does not believe.
Until the verse was revealed, يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولِ وَلَا تُبْطِلُوا أَعْمَالَكُمْ And do not invalidate your deeds. So after this verse, the companions understood that sins may invalidate the good deeds. And this is something that is well established by the ulama of Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah, like Ibn Kathir, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, Ibn al-Rajab, and the companions as I mentioned, the understanding of the companions.
And there is another statement of Ibn Umar that was also mentioned by Ibn Kathir, and this is the middle stance. It was said that when this verse was revealed, يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولِ وَلَا تُبْطِلُوا أَعْمَالَكُمْ They feared that major sins will directly invalidate good deeds. Imagine, any major sin that you do, this is what they feared, that any major sin that you do will nullify good deeds that you have done.
This is something very serious. But then, Alhamdulillah, Allah Azawajal revealed the verse in Surah An-Nisa where Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ وَيُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ يَشَىٰبُ Pay attention to this verse. Even though this verse mentions that indeed Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala does not forgive associating partners with Him, but look at the second part.
وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ And He forgives whatever is less than that or other than that. So all sins, as they say, is under the Mashi'ah of Allah. Under the will of Allah. If He wants, He may forgive them. And if He wants, He may establish these sins or the scale of sins on the Day of Judgment. So they are under the Mashi'ah.
So after this verse was revealed, what Ibn Umar said, after this verse, they stopped talking about the matter. So they hoped for those who did good deeds and they feared for those who did sins. So it's still, it's under the Mashi'ah, under the will of Allah. Some sins might invalidate your good deeds. Others may not. So it's up to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
It's definitely something that is scary. Imagine the good deeds that you have done, you have put effort in. Trying to establish Ikhlas, trying to come up with all the valid conditions. And then suddenly, because of a stupid sin that you have done, you invalidate this good deed that you worked really hard on doing. SubhanAllah.
Let's take some other examples. Are there some other verses in the Quran that talk about this matter? Yes. And there's a couple of verses actually that talk about a specific good deed. Which is Sadaqah.
Ya Allah, Sadaqah, invalidated, yes. Look at what Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says. Ya ayyuhallatheena aamanu, or Allah Azza wa Jalla says, Qawloon ma'roofun wa maghfira, khayrun min sadaqati yatba'uha atha. Wallahu ghaniyun haliyun. Allah Azza wa Jalla says that, Qawloon ma'roof, a kind word, a good word, Qawloon ma'roof wa maghfira, and forgiveness is better than khayrun min sadaqati yatba'uha atha. It's better than giving Sadaqah, charity, and then following it with harm.
Let me explain the verse. What does it mean? Qawloon ma'roof wa maghfira. Well, this will be understood when you look at the context of the verse. If a person, a needy person, comes and asks you for money, and usually, SubhanAllah, sometimes they keep on insisting, they keep on insisting, so a person might say a bad word to them. Get out of my face, or get out of my sight, or leave me alone. Being harsh to them.
So Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is saying a kind word, telling them a kind word, and forgiveness. So telling them a kind word, saying, Ya khay, ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Say, Ya Allah, rizukni. Teach him, teach him to ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala for his provision. Tell him, ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, look, we're both needy, and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is the one free of need. We're both poor, and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is ghani. Teach them to ask Allah, so that He will give them a source of provision. So, teaching them a kind word. This is a kind word.
A'ulu ma'roof wa maghfira. What is maghfira in this context? Maghfira is forgiveness. But why should a person forgive? Why would he need to forgive a needy person? Well again, let's look at the situation. He keeps on insisting, on asking for money, or asking for food, or asking for anything, until he might say a bad word. He might say, Akhi, give me some of your money, Akhi, why are you being greedy? See, he's saying these bad words out of need. So Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is teaching us, A'ulu ma'roof wa maghfira.
Forgiving them. Forgiving them for these words. Because they don't know their situation. A'ulu ma'roof wa maghfira. Forgiving them if they might bother you. So, forgiving them for what they have done. These two together, A'ulu ma'roof wa maghfira. This is better than giving them a sadaqa, and then, Qawlu khayru min sadaqatin yatba'uha atha.
So for example, giving them, even if you give them whatever, a hundred dollars, five hundred dirhams, whatever. You give them a hundred dollars and then you tell them, get out of my face. La! What are you doing? You have invalidated that sadaqa. SubhanAllah, A'ulu ma'roof.
Even if you did not give them, if you told them, look, honestly, I'm unable to give you now. Maybe some other time. And if you forgive them for, you know, they're insisting, they might say a bad word. You forgive them for what they have said or what they have done. This is more rewarding in the sight of Allah than actually giving them some money and then hurting them with a word or a remark or a statement that, you know, hurts their feelings. Don't do that.
And Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala also mentions in another verse, Ya ayyuha allatheena amanu, or He said, Subhanahu wa ta'ala, Ya ayyuha allatheena amanu, la tubatilu sadaqatikum bil manni wal adha. Clear statement. Do not invalidate your sadaqa, your charity, the thing that you give for the sake of Allah, la tubatilu sadaqatikum with two things.
Do not invalidate them with two things. So these two things invalidate your sadaqa. What are they? La tubatilu sadaqatikum bil manni wal adha. Al-man, what is al-man? Al-man, to remind them. So you gave him, for example, an amount of money. You gave this person an amount of money.
Okay, 500 dirhams, 100 dollars, whatever. You gave them an amount of money. After a couple of weeks, okay, you saw them on the street, you told them, hey, so you're reminding them that, hey, why don't you come and say salam? Why aren't you smiling in my face? Did you forget? You're showing them, you're reminding them that you did a favor for them.
This is something bad, and it definitely hurts their feelings. Did you do it for the sake of Allah? If so, then why are you reminding them? Do you want something from them? SubhanAllah, definitely this is bad, and this is really, really, really cruel. So they asked you out of need. And then you give them for the sake of Allah, and then you're reminding them, it's like you want something from this sadaqa that you have given them. That is why it is something very dangerous. And this is not how a Muslim should be.
Did you forget that Allah is the one who gave you, aslan, and Allah azza wa jal is testing you with this money? So, Allah azza wa jal said, O you who believe, do not invalidate your sadaqa. So this is al-man, to remind that person that you have given, to remind them with this money that you have given them. Do not remind them.
Actually it is better if they forget about it, and you forget about it. You have done it for the sake of Allah, a sign of sincerity that you forget, and they forget. It's written for you in your Book of Deeds, and inshallah you'll find the reward in the Day of Judgment.
Actually you might find some of the blessings of the sadaqa in this world. But, the main point is forget about it, do not remind yourself, and do not, whatever you do, you never remind that person that you have given them. So let's say for example, you give him some money, and then one month later he's needy.
He's asking someone else, you don't go and tell him in front of the people, hey, did you forget I gave you last month an amount of money? You're hurting his feelings in front of all the people. This is definitely something bad, and this, as Allah Azawajal has mentioned, invalidates or puts your good deeds at real risk of being nullified. So this is man.
What about adha? ... Reminders, we have just explained it. What is adha? Harming them. Any harm, whether it's a statement of the word, or physical harm, any harm done to them. What's the point of you giving them sadaqa and then harming them? You give a poor person some money, and then you push him aside. Remove your hand and don't touch them. SubhanAllah, did you do this for the sake of Allah, and then you're harming them? What's the point of giving them sadaqa? This is arrogance.
This is not a worshipper of Allah. A person who does the worship, the true worshippers, they do it, and they fear that Allah doesn't accept. Those who are arrogant, they give money for the sake of, you know, I'm better than you, and look, I did a favour, so get out of my sight.
This shows that there's arrogance in the heart. This shows that there's arrogance in the heart. SubhanAllah, a person should be lenient to his brothers, or even if he was not a non-Muslim.
End of the day, you gave him money, asking Allah to accept this as a worship. So you should not show any sign of you being better than that person. Okay? So, So this definitely invalidates this charity.
And then Allah Azawajal, not only that, He further explains that this definitely invalidates your deeds, just like, Just like the example, so you're invalidating your deeds, just like the person who spends, who is what? A shuwaf, a murai. Okay? So, who is the murai? A murai who shows off for his worship. You know, he prays to show the people that he's praying.
He gives sadaqa to show the people that he's giving sadaqa. And this is undisputed, that this person has invalidated that good deed. Especially if that intention to show off was there at the start of the worship, there's no dispute in this.
This form, this form of riya, there's no dispute that definitely it is invalidated, it is nullified. And Allah Azawajal is saying that, ... So, a person who follows his charity, with men, which is reminding the person of this good deed, or other, which is harm, this invalidates the good deed, just like riya, invalidates the good deed. So this is the example that we wanted from this verse.
Are there any more verses that talks about this, that good deeds are invalidated? Yes. And it's even more clear, more evident than these two verses. SubhanAllah, more evident? Yes.
Let's look at in Surah Al-Baqarah, and by the way this verse is also in Surah Al-Baqarah that we mentioned. So the next verse is also in Surah Al-Baqarah where Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says, ... Does one of you want a garden filled with palm trees, grapevines, ... having rivers underneath, flowing, ... ... therein, in it, he has all types of fruits. SubhanAllah, what kind of a garden filled with fruits and grapevines and palm trees, ... but then, you know, he had this garden filled with all these fruits and then he was struck with old age.
... ... He has, you know, needy children. ... So what happened? So, the example is this person, he has this garden filled with all types of khair, with fruits, and SubhanAllah, he's eating and benefiting from it, but when does he need it the most? When he's old. He cannot work anymore.
So now, he's dependent on that garden that he has. He has absolutely no other wealth except this, and he cannot go and find another job or engage in any other business. This is his only source, you know, of living.
His only wealth. So now, when he's desperate and he's in need of this garden, what happens? ... He was struck with old age. Now, he's old.
And not only that, and he has people who are depending on him, his children. ... ... ... ... ... ... It was all burned. SubhanAllah.
This is an example. So, who is Allah SubhanAllah ta'ala talking about here? In Sahih al-Bukhari, the discussion between Umar bin Khattab and Ibn Abbas regarding this verse. Umar bin Khattab said at the end of the discussion, this is the example of a person who has done a lot of good deeds.
Allah Azawajal has described it as good deeds. You know, palm trees, grapevines, gardens with rivers flowing underneath in it. All types of foods.
These are definitely good deeds that were accepted. They were valid good deeds. They were sincerity.
And it was following the messenger. So, definitely valid good deeds. But then, what happened? ... ... ... And then, SubhanAllah, the devil, this was sent to him and he started doing a lot of sins.
So, he burned his garden of good deeds with these sins. Did you get the example? So, this garden of fruits is his good deeds. And just before death, what did he do? He started engaging in sins.
Nifaq was not mentioned. You cannot say that he was a hypocrite because they were good deeds that were accepted. And you cannot say it's disbelief.
Okay? Because the example that Umar bin Khattab mentioned, it's a general example. He said he started doing sins. If disbelief, disbelief is one sin that will invalidate all other good deeds.
So, what's the other option? So, we only have one other option, SubhanAllah. One other possibility. So, what is meant here that this person started doing a lot of sins and he did not repent.
So, what happened then? Ya Allah. He did a lot of sins at the end of his age, at the end of his time. He invalidated all of these deeds just like this whirlwind that had a flame in it burned down this garden of good deeds.
So, this is something very scary for those people. I'm talking to those people who did a lot of Qiyam. You fasted Ramadan.
You did Qiyam. You did Hajj. You paid a lot of money to worship Allah.
You gave a lot of money to charity. Do you really want to burn down all these good deeds by stupid sins? Especially Ghibah. Talking about people, especially on YouTube right now, making fun of certain sheikhs or certain scholars or making fun of your brothers behind their backs.
Especially nowadays at the time of social media. And we are unaware that these are major sins and we are putting our good deeds at risk. Why do we do this? And please don't give me the excuse of, no, we are refuting the innovators.
Look, when you refute innovators, first of all, it's done by specialists and knowledge seekers and those that have the proper knowledge. And then we have only, we're allowed to talk about them for a certain amount or for a certain amount to prove and show their innovations. It's not like they have no Hurma that we can speak about them and speak about their families.
This is not allowed. We're allowed to talk about them regarding their bid'ah, their innovation, and showing the people what is wrong, but we do not talk about anything else. Okay? So this is very important.
So if you're unable, if you're not qualified, and if you're afraid that you might transgress and cross the boundaries, then stay silent. Leave it for the specialists. So do not invalidate your deeds.
But there's something even more scary than this. Scarier than this. You know that the Messenger Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam has said that on the Day of Judgment, there'll be people with mountains of good deeds.
Good deeds that were valid, they were sincere to Allah. Fasting, Hajj, Qiyam, Qiyamul Layl, or obligatory prayers. He has insulted this person.
Maybe he killed that other person. And he has struck that third person. And you know, he belittled that fourth person.
And they didn't take their rights from him. Now on the Day of Judgment, they want compensation. You can't write them a check.
You cannot give them any money. And they definitely need to be compensated. What is the currency of the Day of Judgment? It's only good deeds and sins.
So this person comes and he wants some good deeds. He wants, he wants to be compensated. What do you give them? You want to give them the whole world.
You want to give them gold. You know, fill the whole world with gold and give them this gold. Sadly, it will not be accepted.
Even if you did own this amount, it will not be accepted. Bad deeds, only good deeds and sins. So, he's going to be taking some of your good deeds.
Maybe he's going to take that Qiyam that you have done in Ramadan. Maybe the other person will take that Hajj that you have done. Maybe the third person will take that, you know, charity that you have given.
Everyone will take his share of your good deeds. But what if you run out of good deeds? Well, this is what the Messenger of Muhammad ﷺ said. Once the good deeds run out, what's going to happen? This person is going to be taking from their sins.
Taking from their sins? Yes. Because he ran out of good deeds, so he's going to be taking some of their sins. Maybe that person used to drink.
He didn't repent, but you insulted him. Maybe you're going to be taking some of his sins. Ya Allah, how disgusting and these sins.
You didn't do them, but you insulted him. And you need to compensate him. And you don't have any good deeds anymore.
Khalas, you're going to be taking some of his sins. You're going to be taking the sins of the other person. The third person, the fourth person.
Depends on how many people you have insulted and how many people you have harmed in this world. Ya Allah. Okay, you're done.
Once this person is done, he'll be thrown in hellfire. Why? Because he has no good deeds. All he has is sins.
His sins and the sins of the people. And wallahi, subhanallah, this is the way to end it. That's why we should always remind ourselves, it's not worth it.
Maintain your good deeds. Protect your good deeds from sins. Especially sins regarding other people.
Insulting people. Even if you insult them with a word. And we've seen this from our scholars.
We have seen this from our scholars. They're afraid. Sometimes they might joke.
They might say a word to a person who did not attend. One of the scholars that we know, subhanallah, he was doing the attendance and one of the students, his name, a name that the sheikh, he made fun of.
Okay, and the student wasn't there. So the sheikh laughed, the student laughed, and the sheikh was like, oh, what have I done? Then he said, astaghfirullah, what have I done? I spoke ill of my brother. And then next week when the student came, the sheikh himself begged the student to forgive him.
He kept on begging him and begging him and begging him. Begging the student to forgive him. The student was like, sheikh, I forgive you.
He's like, please, on the day of judgment, please forgive me. Now, forgive me whatever you want. I'll give you, just forgive me.
He's like, sheikh, what are you saying? Of course I forgive you. And then a few days later, the sheikh came with presents, a lot of books, very expensive books. He gave them to the student.
He's like, khalas, you forgive me? Imagine. These are the people who are aware of this. They know what's going to happen on the day of judgment.
They know if that person did not forgive him today, he's going to be taking his right on the day of judgment. Brothers and sisters, this is something very scary. Honestly, we need to take care of this.
Some people are preoccupied, alhamdulillah, they're doing a lot of good deeds. But sadly, they're packaging these good deeds for other people. So be careful and beware.
With this, we will end. Hadha waAllahu a'lam wa sallallahu ala nabiyyil muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi salam. JazakAllah khair.
