The 365 · Tazkiyah · Day 316 · Money
ʿUjb bi-l-ʿAmal · Self-Satisfaction in Worship
The disease
الْعُجْبُ بِالْعَمَلِ
ʿUjb bi-l-ʿAmal
The story
When Sūrat al-Naṣr came down, ʿĀ'ishah noticed that the Prophet ﷺ increased the dhikr 'subhānaka allāhumma rabbanā wa bi-ḥamdika, allāhumma ighfir lī' in his bowing and prostration. When she asked, he said: 'Did you not know? My Lord has informed me of a sign in my Ummah; if I see it, I say it.' He saw al-Naṣr as his life's commission complete; he responded with intensified istighfār. (Bukhari 4967)
Why it's named first
When Allah opened Makkah for the Prophet ﷺ, the verse came down: 'When the help of Allah and the opening have come, and you see the people entering the religion of Allah in throngs, then glorify the praise of your Lord and seek His forgiveness; indeed, He is ever Acceptor of repentance.' The greatest victory in the Prophet's ﷺ life was commanded to be followed by istighfār. Anyone in lesser victory is in greater need of it. The Money believer who gave a large sadaqah and feels he no longer needs to repent has caught the disease of ʿujb at its purest.
In the Qur'an
إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ ۚ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا (النصر 1-3). 'When the help of Allah and the opening come, and you see people entering the religion of Allah in throngs, then glorify the praise of your Lord and ask His forgiveness; indeed, He is ever Acceptor of repentance.' (al-Naṣr 110:1-3)
In the Sunnah
«وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ، لَوْ لَمْ تُذْنِبُوا لَذَهَبَ اللَّهُ بِكُمْ، وَلَجَاءَ بِقَوْمٍ يُذْنِبُونَ فَيَسْتَغْفِرُونَ اللَّهَ، فَيَغْفِرُ لَهُمْ». 'If you did not sin, Allah would take you away and bring a people who sin, who would ask forgiveness, and He would forgive them.' (Muslim 2749) The asking is part of the design.
The cure
After every act of charity, every donation, every zakāh payment, every public good, add three astaghfirullāhs. Make the istighfār a seal that protects the deed from the disease of ʿujb. The Prophet ﷺ did this in his own prayer: each prayer ended with three istighfārs.
What is at stake
ʿUjb invalidates the deed it accompanies. The Prophet ﷺ warned: 'Three things destroy: avarice obeyed, desire followed, and a man's admiration of himself.' (al-Bayhaqī in Shuʿab al-Īmān) The believer who gives a large ṣadaqah while admiring his own generosity has spent the gain.
A du'a for this day
«سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّنَا وَبِحَمْدِكَ، اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِي» (البخاري 4968). 'Glory to You, O Allah our Lord, and praise to You; O Allah, forgive me.'
The door of mercy
Al-Tawwāb. Al-Naṣr's verse names this attribute as Allah's continuous one: 'innahu kāna tawwābā' (indeed He has ever been Acceptor of repentance).
A reflection to carry
Allah did not seal His Messenger's greatest victory with congratulation. He sealed it with istighfār. The victory's worth is preserved by the seeking-forgiveness that follows it.
Read the longer reflection
The verse of al-Naṣr is a quiet wonder. After 23 years of mission, after 13 years of persecution in Makkah, after 10 years of consolidation in Madīnah, the Prophet ﷺ finally returned to his birthplace as the leader of a victorious Ummah. The verse came: glorify your Lord and ask His forgiveness. He understood: the journey was ending. He had nothing to be proud of; he had only Allah to thank and Allah to ask of. The Prophet's ﷺ response was perfect: he intensified istighfār in his prayer. The Companions noticed; ʿĀ'ishah recorded it. If the Prophet ﷺ modeled istighfār at his greatest moment, the Money believer who funded an orphanage owes a thousand more. May our successes never become idols; may our largest gifts never become our smallest istighfārs.
A verse, a healing, and a Sunnah, every morning.
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