✨Be Conscious of Allāh Wherever You Are

Allāh favored the Islamic Community by sending his honorable Prophet ﷺ. For he was sincere, genuine, trustworthy and conveyed the message and fulfilled the trust and counselled the community and truly strived in the way of Allāh until he passed. He ﷺ did not leave any good except that he guided to it, and any evil except that he warned of it.

And from the complete advice, thorough clarification and perfect instruction of the Prophet ﷺ is that he would use short phrases, few and easy to understand words that would contain great meanings and comprehensive guidance. And from his ﷺcomprehensive and concise speech is what related by Abu Dhar that he ﷺ said:
Be conscious of Allāh wherever you are, and follow a bad deed with a good deed and it will erase it, and treat people well with good character. [At Tirmidhī (1987), Aḥmad (21392) Grade: Ḥasan]

Reflect on this great hadith with a few phrases and limited words. The Prophet ﷺcombined all good in it, he combined the good of this world and the hereafter. And whoever fulfills this hadith and achieves its objectives, has realized goodness from all its doors and attained success from its widest path.

Be conscious of Allāh wherever you are, and follow a bad deed with a good deed and it will erase it, and treat people well with good character.

They are three short sentences but they contain the foundations of conduct; your conduct with Allāh, your conduct with yourself and your conduct with others.

As far as your conduct with Allāh Almighty, its basis and pillar is consciousness of Allāh. To be mindful of Allāh in private and in public, and while alone and in front of others, and in what you say and in what you do, and during the day and during the night, and at all times.

Be conscious of Allāh wherever you are.

For Allāh Almighty sees you wherever you are. No secret is hidden from Him on the earth or in the heavens. For Him, the unseen is witnessed. And for Him, the secret is manifest. No secret is hidden from Him. Allāh the Almighty sees, from above seven heavens, the crawling of a black ant on a dull black rock on a dark night. And He the Almighty sees every one of its parts and its smallest features. His knowledge encompasses everything. And He keeps account of all things by numbers.

Be conscious of Allāh wherever you are by placing between you and what you fear from Allāh’s wrath and punishment a precautionary measure that safeguards you. And this is only done by carrying out Allāh’s commands and refraining from His prohibitions. For this reason, perhaps the best of what defines consciousness of Allāh is the words of Ṭalq bin Ḥabib, may Allāh have mercy on him, who said that consciousness of Allāh is to act in obedience of Allāh upon light from Allāh, hoping for Allāh’s reward and to leave disobedience of Allāh upon light from Allāh fearing Allāh’s punishment.

No matter how guarded and how great the believer’s desire to realize consciousness of Allāh, he will fall into some misdeeds and sins. So the Prophet ﷺsaid:
All the children of Adam are sinners, and the best sinners are those who repent. [Tirmithi (2499) Sunan Ibn Majah (4251), Grade: Ḥasan]

Since the affair of the believer is like that, the Prophet ﷺ said advising:
And follow a bad deed with a good deed and it will erase it.

So look at this great favor and blessing from the Lord, the Creator. For the sins erase the bad deeds.

And follow a bad deed with a good deed and it will erase it.

And this is the meaning of Allāh’s words in the Noble Qurān:
Hud (11) 114: And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at the approach of the night. Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds. That is a reminder for those who remember.

It was narrated from Ibn Mas’ud that a man came to the Prophet ﷺ asking about the expiation of kissing a woman who was not lawful for him. Then Allāh revealed the verse:
Hud (11) 114: And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at the approach of the night. Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds. That is a reminder for those who remember. The man said, O Messenger of Allāh, is this (the Verse) just for me? He said: It is for all my community. [Bukharī (526), Muslim (4687)]

So following a bad deed with a good deed erases it. And this is from Allāh’s great favor. For this reason, the believer should be eager, persistent and diligent in performing many good deeds and acts of obedience. Because they, by the permission of Allāh, do away with the misdeeds. And the greatest of good deeds that erases bad deeds is repentance. For repentance is a great act of obedience. And the accepted repentance removes all that is before it. And Allāh accepts the repentance of those who repent no matter how great the sin and how big the misdeed. For whoever repents, Allāh accepts his repentance. Allāh Almighty said:
Az Zumar (39) 53: Say, “O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allāh. Indeed, Allāh forgives all sins.

That is repent to Allāh and turn to Him, for he forgives the sins no matter how great. For there is no sin too big for him to forgive, and there is no request too big for Him to fulfill. For He is the Forgiving, the Merciful, the Most Generous. For that reason, attention to the good deeds is a great matter and noble aim so that they do away with the sins, raise the ranks and raise one’s status in this world and in the hereafter.

And good deeds are purification from the filth and dirt of sins. Ibn Qayim, may Allāh forgive him, said that in this worldly life there are three rivers that purify whoever cleanses in them, and they are the erasing good deeds and the genuine repentance and the expiating afflictions. So whoever cleanses through them in this worldly life will be purified by them. Or otherwise, Allāh will purify them on the Day of Resurrection in the river of Hell. We ask Allāh for relief from that.

And in this hadith narrated by Abu Dhar, may Allāh be pleased with him, the Prophet ﷺ clarified how the dealings between people should be by saying:
And treat people well with good character.

That is, treat them with good treatment, high character and generous manners. And the standard for that and the entirety of it is to treat people in a manner that you would like them to treat you. For this is the entirety of good character. For that reason the Prophet ﷺ said:
None of you believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.[Jami` at-Tirmidhi (2515), Grade: Saḥih]

So consider the way that you would like to be treated and treat others in that manner. For this is the summation of good character. For none of us wants to be treated with rudeness and roughness. And none of us is willing to be cheated, betrayed or tricked. And none of us wants to be treated with lies, deceit, and the like. So good character is to not want something for people that you do not want for yourself. And for this reason, some scholars said in defining good character that is refraining from harming and generous giving. Refraining from harming people by not harming or injuring them in any way. Not injuring them by words or actions. And generous giving by using good phrases and beautiful words and good treatment that you would like to receive.

And the closest people on the Day of Resurrection in rank to the Prophet ﷺ are those with the best of character. The Prophet ﷺ said:
I was sent to perfect good character. [The Authentic Series (Albani) 45, Grade Ṣaḥīḥ]

And the Prophet ﷺ said:
The best of you is the best to his family, and I am the best to my family. [Ṣaḥīḥ Al Tirmithī (Albani) 3895, Grade Ṣaḥīḥ]

And there are many Hadiths with this meaning.

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