Those of us who think we are “Working for Allah” like to feel good. And every once in a while, every human being, rich or poor, good or bad, could do with a little bit of feeling good.
And from time to time we like to congratulate ourselves and say nice things about ourselves and about the work we do. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
We say, look how fast we are writing and producing Islamic Literature and how much of it in a fairly short time.
We even call ourselves “prolific” and would freely start throwing words like “gifted” around if modesty and a sense of shame did not leap to the rescue and stopped our tongue.
And we say look how fast we are printing and publishing and distributing Islamic Literature.
All these are wonderful things. May Allah accept them and grant them success.
Provided of course that what we are writing is first-rate material and not third-rate stuff.
And also hoping our printing, proofreading, editing, production and everything else of that kind is up to the best professional standards that we can manage.
That is because for one thing, writing and producing third-rate material is worse than not writing and printing anything.
But more importantly, Allah does not even look at stuff that is not the best of its kind. The Qur’an makes this perfectly clear.
And so does the Hadith.
And there is one more thing these good people – all those people who write and print and distribute Islamic Literature and undertake other related activities of that kind – may want to keep in mind.
This literature that they are writing and printing and distributing now should have been written and produced and made available to the world at least 50 if not 100 years earlier.
Allah of course does what he does, and he has own perfect timing for doing what he does. There is no denying or disputing that.
But at the same time, what is to tell that Muslims, by and large, by not making first-rate Islamic Literature in the English language available to the world 50 or even 100 years earlier may have lost several generations of potential Muslim converts – from both Muslim and non-Muslim backgrounds.
So, these wonderful folks have at least 50 years of catching up to do – if not a full 100 years worth.
That thought alone should keep them on their toes in case any of them thought of sitting down and taking some rest or lying down and resting their backs.
But still should they all feel good about what they do and about what they accomplish on a daily basis?
Absolutely! Not a doubt about it.
But the best way to feel good in a situation like this is to turn to Almighty Allah constantly; to break down and cry before him frequently; and to beg him to help us, and to bless and guide what we do, and to make it easy and enjoyable and fruitful for us – and for his world.
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