You’re not perfect. The realization of one’s imperfection can be hard, especially when you worship One who is the very definition of perfection. It’s difficult to not feel inadequate, you feel like you’re just not cut out for the noble rank that God has bestowed upon you, the rank of a believer.

There is a narration in which the Prophet of God ﷺ says, “Have fear of God wherever you may be, and follow up a bad deed with a good deed which will wipe it out, and behave well towards the people.”

My teacher mentioned how the first part of the narration wasn’t just a tall order, it was impossible!This was the first time I had heard someone make such a statement, & it made me uncomfortable. “What do you mean it’s impossible?!” But he was right, how many of us manage to have consciousness & fear of God in every moment & place? No one. But you see Islam doesn’t give you a goal without also giving you the path to achieve it. When the Prophet gave you the goal of having fear of God in all things & places, he knew we wouldn’t be able to, so he gave us something that we all can do when we mess up, “follow up a bad deed with a good deed.”

Doable. Every one of us can do a good deed after we’ve messed up. If I’ve said something harsh to my spouse I can say something nice. If I’ve watched something I shouldn’t have watched I can give charity, & the list goes on. Do you know what the best deed one can do is? If you can’t have fear of God wherever you are, if you can’t always follow up a bad deed with a good one, then “behave well towards the people.” Treat the people with love & care. Your family, your community, your neighbors & co-workers. Find the Muslims in your community that you may not know well & treat them to lunch or dinner. Deal with the people in a beautiful way and you’ll also find that it’s a path of coming closer to God. So lets start with each other! Go and find someone you know and make dua for them, or share this post with them and let them know how dear they are to you.

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