Being hard-hearted: A widespread disease is that of being hard-hearted, lazy, and lethargic towards performing acts of worship. Many people put off the idea of performing acts of worship and therefore delay them to a later time, and this is from the whispers of Satan, so that we would end up not performing them at all.

　　Contrary to this were the Salaf who would rush to perform acts of worship and utilise every opportunity they ever got in this regard. They would prolong their acts of worship and perform them with a humility and submissiveness that we cannot even begin to comprehend. Nowadays, if the person leading the congregational prayer dares to recite a long chapter from the Qur'aan during it, the people would not be able to tolerate it and would protest. This is a reflection of how corroded our hearts have become as a result of excessive eating, laughing, drinking, indulging in this worldly life and its pleasures, and sinning.

　　Not calling ourselves to account: Due to the excessive amount of mixing and socialising amongst the people, we fail to find the time to sit in seclusion and hold ourselves to account for what we have said or done. This is a great loss indeed. Let us compare this to an example of our righteous Salaf: Ibraaheem At-Taymi said: “I imagined myself in Paradise eating from its fruits, drinking from its rivers and enjoying its ladies. Then I imagined myself in the Hellfire eating from its bitter thorny fruits, drinking from its boiling pus and suffering at its chains. Then I asked myself: `What is your wish?` The response was: `I wish to be returned to the worldly life so that I could perform more acts of virtue.` Then I addressed myself saying: `You are where you wish to be, so rush in performing the acts you wished to perform.`”

　　Not forbidding evil: We may very often see evil being committed before our very eyes and yet remain silent and motionless, as if the boundaries and limits of Allah do not concern us in the least. We know for certain that what is being committed is forbidden, yet we do not even think about changing the evil, let alone preventing it from taking place. Abu ‘Abdur-Rahmaan Al-‘Amri said: “A sign of your heedlessness is to pass by a prohibition being committed and not attempt to stop it.”

　　One aspect of this topic is neglecting forbidding evil and enjoining good amongst our wives and children, as well as not teaching them what they need to know about their religion and failing to properly cultivate them, while Allah Says (what means): “O you who believe! Protect yourselves and you families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones, over which are [appointed] angels, harsh and severe…” [Quran 66: 6]

　　The Prophet would walk to the house of Faatimah and ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with them, and wake them up to pray the optional night prayer, not the obligatory one, as a way of teaching and training them. Note that this was after his daughter was married and living in her own house. Compare this to some modern day fathers who neglect the children and wives who are living with them under the same roof. Do we ever stop to think how negligent we are in this regard? Do we ever blame and rebuke ourselves for not performing our duty in this matter the way it should be done?

　　Being indifferent: This is a lethal attitude that is killing the Muslim community. A Muslim is commanded to play a positive role in his community and assist in matters of virtue by as much as he is able, and prevent evil by as much as he can. Many people stray away from the right path because they do not find anyone to assist them and rescue them from straying, as those around them act indifferently. One should not undermine any input he can give in this regard; let us look at the story of when Imaam Ahmad was imprisoned to see how effective a person can be if he takes the initiative and does not act indifferently. When Imaam Ahmad was imprisoned, a thief was with him in the same cell. The thief said to him: “O Ahmad! I persevere and tolerate the punishment I receive while I am upon falsehood and being punished for a sin. Would someone like you, who is suffering as a result of being upon the truth, not persevere and endure?" This thief played an important role in comforting and consoling Imaam Ahmad and did not take a negative stance towards the issue.

　　Undermining the grave effects of the temptation of women: Examples of this are undermining prohibited gazing, not adhering to the Hijab (Islamic attire for women), women wearing perfume before leaving their homes, the spread of immoral films, intermixing between the two sexes, and other matters that have led to people committing sins and indulging in immorality. People nowadays mix with the opposite sex in universities, schools and workplaces, while Yoonus bin ‘Ubayd said: “Never be in seclusion with a woman, even if you wish to teach her the Quran, and even if only you would be the one reciting."

　　Being ill-mannered: Many people possess three very evil qualities, namely: lying, cowardice and miserliness, and these are the worst three qualities a person can possess. There are also many other evil qualities that we must be mindful of and hold ourselves to account regarding, such as backbiting, badmouthing others and tale-bearing, while replacing them with praiseworthy qualities and morals.

　　The Salaf would rebuke themselves for every word they uttered, words which would be considered very normal to people nowadays: Maalik bin Dhayghan said: “Rabaah bin Qays once came asking for my father after the ‘Asr prayer, but he happened to be sleeping, so we informed him of this, to which he remarked: `Who would sleep at this time of the day?` Then he left. We sent a man after him to see if he wanted us to wake my father up for him, but this man did not return until it was time to pray Maghrib. When we asked him why he returned so late, he said: `I followed him to ask him, but found that he was headed to the graveyard while rebuking himself, saying: `What business is it of yours to ask this kind of question? Why do you ask what does not concern you? What is it to you when people go to sleep? People are free to sleep any time they desire, why did you indulge in what does not concern you?...`'” [End of quote] Note how lightly such a question would be taken in our time, and how strongly he rebuked himself for asking it.

　　Severing ties with kinfolk: The most important of kinfolk are one's parents, and yet we find many people dealing with them in an inappropriate manner or even severing ties with them altogether. As for those who do try to fulfil the needs of their parents, many of them do it begrudgingly, while expressing discontent or complaining that it is a burden upon them, while Allah commands us to not say even the least expression of discontent in this regard, saying (what means): “…Say not to them [so much as] 'Uff,' and do not repel them but speak to them a noble word.” [Quran 17: 23]

　　The mother of Huthayl bin Hafsah said: “He would collect wood during the summer and peel off the outer layer of bark himself. Then, when winter would come, he would come to me whilst I was praying, light a brazier (in my room) and place the peeled wood in it, as this does not give harmful smoke. He would do so just so that I would be warm during prayer. He would do so even though we had a servant who could do the job. Whenever I thought of stopping him and commanding him to return to his family, I would remember why he was doing it, and thus I would allow him to continue." [End of quote] Why was he doing this himself despite him having a servant who could have done it for him? It was nothing but a reflection of his full dutifulness towards his mother.

　　This type of nobility is not limited to ones parents; rather, one should be kind to all his relatives and even his fellow Muslims.

　　Wasting time: The issue of wasting time is a very important one indeed. We must be careful about it and hold ourselves to account regarding it because we spend much of our time uselessly instead of spending it in acts of obedience to Allah, as it should be utilised. Allah Says (what means): “And it is He who has made the night and the day in succession for whoever desires to remember or desires gratitude.” [Quran 25: 62]

　　Therefore, time was created so that we would fill it with acts of obedience to Allah, but many people do the exact opposite of this. The Salaf were very keen to make use of every second of their time. Al-Hasan said: “I have met some people who were stingier with their time than they were with their wealth.”

　　People nowadays waste their times in games, late nights, socialising, watching television and in vain talk. They may even go as far as doing so at the expense of their religious obligations, such as their daily prayers, and so on.

　　Wasting wealth: Many men cave in under pressure from their wives and children and therefore spend extravagantly, but when they are asked to spend in charity, one would find that they are so stingy that if they were to pull out two ten Riyal bills to give in charity, one would invariably return to his pocket. However, if this same person were to go to a restaurant, he would have no problem in spending multiples of this.

　　Allah will ask us about our wealth because we were informed as such by the Prophet . Abu Barzah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported: “The Messenger of Allah said: “Man's feet will not move on the Day of Resurrection before he is asked about his life and how he consumed it, his knowledge and what did he do with it, his wealth and how he earned it and how he disposed of it, and about his body and how he wore it out.” [At-Tirmithi]

　　It is not to be understood here that there are no people who spend generously or that there are no people who do any of the abovementioned matters correctly. What was intended and meant is that we need to remember these matters and hold ourselves to account with respect to them, as there are many of us who are failing to do so.

　　Call Yourself to Account - I