Doing Good for Allah's Sake: What Kind of Striving Is It?

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on 4 August 2025 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

Today's Fajr prayer was concluded with the words of the Exalted: ﴿وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ﴾ (And those who strive for Us, We will surely guide them to Our ways; and indeed Allah is with the doers of good).^[1] And I truly wonder: what kind of striving (mujāhada) did the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Exalted, intend as He concludes this blessed surah for us?

A Striving That Is Not Only Fighting

What is common in people's understanding is that striving, or the jihad cited as an example here or alluded to in the verses, is the one marked by the character of conflict with another. But the surah in its substance shows us the features of the obstinate soul: ﴿وَلَئِنْ سَأَلْتَهُمْ مَنْ خَلَقَ﴾ (And if you ask them who created), ﴿وَلَئِنْ سَأَلْتَهُمْ مَنْ نَزَّلَ﴾ (And if you ask them who sent down), and the answer is one: Allah, glory be to Him, the Exalted.^[2] So how does this denial happen despite knowing the origin and source of the blessing, who is the Lord of the worlds?

I want to move on from this point, the point that these people know the truth perfectly well and deny it in relation to Allah, glory be to Him, the Exalted, to a matter that is an extension of our talk yesterday and the day before: do not be surprised that people know your worth and then deny your standing. For that is the nature of many people. He knows that you are a person of virtue, a person of kindness, a person of chivalry, a person of knowledge, a person of trade, a person of wealth, and he knows all your virtues, and yet denial remains in his soul, so he denies your very existence, and denies the kindness you did at any time. And the ungrateful soul has shared characteristics.

A Mentality No Proof Can Convince

Imagine someone standing before the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and saying these words to him with utter simplicity: if you were to bring us a ladder now and ascend by it to heaven, and we watched you ascending, and then you brought us a book from there and came down with it before our eyes, and returned safely, we still would not believe in you.^[3] How do you classify this mentality? How do you judge the like of it? What does this person want? Does he truly want proof? Does he truly want clear evidence? The Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Exalted, informs His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that if these people were to bring every kind of proof that exists in the whole universe, they would not believe in him, because there is a kind of innate denial.

Hence some people, when you deal with them, are as if you were dealing with a wall: it is fine to hang a picture on it, and to drive a nail into it and put the picture up looking very beautiful, but do not try to argue with it, because you are banging against a wall, and you will be the one who suffers and loses, first and last.

Doing Good for Allah's Sake

Dealing with people requires, first, a kind of natural intelligence, and second, social intelligence. How do you go along with people despite the faults in them? That is a kind of striving intended at the end of the verse. Just as people understand striving to be fighting the enemy, there is also a kind of inner struggle that will take place within us.

For that reason the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Exalted, placed at the end of the verse a word not customary in this context: ﴿وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا﴾ (And those who strive for Us, We will surely guide them to Our ways) and its conclusion ﴿وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ﴾ (and indeed Allah is with the doers of good). What is expected in the matter of striving, striking and fighting is that it be concluded with the patient who seek reward from Allah,^[4] but "the doers of good" is a different field of Qur'anic discourse.

So if I combine the form of striving cited in the verse with its conclusion with the words "and indeed Allah is with the doers of good," then doing good (iḥsān) is toward the one you show affection to and are gentle with. And iḥsān is cited in the Noble Qur'an with relatives, kin, the wife, and in dealings, so it is companionship in society. So if the end of the verse is mentioned in this wording, what is meant holds more than many people have understood: whoever wants to deal with people, let him deal with them on the principle of iḥsān alone, seeking by it the Face of Allah, glory be to Him, the Exalted.

But if you expect something from them, you are a loser at the beginning and at the end; you expect something from people that will not come to you. And whoever's expectation of people is that they thank him for a kindness he extended is a loser in his thinking before his loss. For the people who will thank him are not the proper object of hoping for praise or thanks at all. People in general are not the proper object of praise or thanks, and therefore whoever is attached to them is a loser.

Consoling the Prophet ﷺ

The Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Exalted, every now and then consoles His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and reassures him not to grieve over what they say. Why does He say that to him? To raise him on attachment to Allah, majestic is He on high. And He says to him: ﴿إِنَّ نَاشِئَةَ اللَّيْلِ هِيَ أَشَدُّ وَطْئًا وَأَقْوَمُ قِيلًا﴾ (Indeed, the rising at night is more effective and more suitable for words). With whom does the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, spend his night, in the context of the verses? With Allah, glory be to Him, the Exalted, he is alone in his prostration, his bowing, his Qur'an, his remembrance, his recitation, his glorification, his saying Allahu akbar, his praising, his saying lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāh. He is in this paradise with the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him.

Then when we come out to the daytime we see ﴿إِنَّ لَكَ فِي النَّهَارِ سَبْحًا طَوِيلًا﴾ (Indeed, for you by day is long occupation), then you see the verses after that: ﴿وَذَرْنِي وَالْمُكَذِّبِينَ﴾ (And leave Me with the deniers).^[5] That is: let these not be your concern, leave them to Allah and He will take charge of their affair. So with whom do I deal? Only with Allah, glory be to Him, the Exalted. If you have brothers you deal with, it is for Allah; if you have neighbors you do good to, it is for Allah; if you have a wife you wish to treat with goodness and kindness, it is for Allah; if you have children you raise, it is for Allah. Expect nothing from anyone, anticipate no kindness from any human being, and do not imagine that there is anyone who will thank you for your deed, except those raised with you on obedience to Allah, Blessed and Exalted.

I ask Allah, the Most High, the Almighty, to grant us souls that are doers of good, kind, intelligent and God-fearing, and to bestow upon us these souls that seek reward from Him as righteous deeds in His presence.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The verse is the closing verse of Sūrat al-ʿAnkabūt (69). ^[2]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-ʿAnkabūt, verses 61 and 63. The speaker confined himself to the part mentioned and said that the answer is one: Allah, glory be to Him. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: The speaker did not specify the location of the verses; the meaning is close to what the Qur'an relates of the demands of the polytheists in Sūrat al-Isrā' (verses 90–93). His words here are a narration by meaning, not a quotation of the text of the verse. ^[4]: Editor's documentation: The transcription is garbled at this point; what is understood is that the speaker says that the context (fighting and conflict) would have suited a conclusion with the description "the patient," but the verse concluded with "the doers of good." ^[5]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Muzzammil, verses 6, 7 and 11.