Call Yourself To Account; Say To It…

By Shaikh ‘Abdul-Qādir ibn Muhammad al-Junayd, may Allahu ta’ala preserve and reward him.

Translated by Rahā ibn Donald Batts

His (صلى الله و عليه سلم) authentic statement:

“The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim. He does not oppress him; he does not abandon him; he does not look down upon him. It is a sufficient amount of evil for a person that he looks down upon him. It is a sufficient amount of evil for a person that he looks down upon Muslim brother. All of the Muslim is Harām for the Muslim; his blood, his wealth, and his honor.”

Call it (yourself) to account; for indeed calling oneself to account brings about salvation. The servant will continue to be in a state of good as long as he admonishes himself and he is concerned with calling himself to account. Say to it (yourself); say to it: Oh Self!, how many Muslims have you abused, and cursed, and back bitten, and falsely accused; slandered and lied on?

Say to it: Oh self!, how many people’s wealth have you consumed; and their earnings; and their (hard earned) wages and property without right or justice?

Say to it: Oh self!, his much cheating, trickery, and deceiving the people have you done? How many bribes have you taken? His many rights have you violated? How much mockery, ridicule, scorning, and harm have you meted out?

Say to it: Oh self!, his many a worker, housekeeper, or weak person have you caused to fear or terrorize or beaten or harmed?

Say to it: Oh self!, how many people has the evil reached from your heart; from malice and envy?

Say to it: Oh self!, how many brethren have you wronged in dispute and argumentation?

Say to it: Oh self!, how many have have you angered; how many have you humiliated; how many have you saddened; how many have you made to suffer; and how many people have you caused pain?

Say to it: Oh self!, how many Muslims have we caused to be estranged from his mother and father? Or we caused his son or daughter to be estranged from him? And we caused them to enter into disrespect and evil? How many a husband have we corrupted and caused to be estranged from his spouse or caused problems between them?

Say to it: Oh self!, how many people have we harmed by way of music playing from our cars? Or how many an elder or worker or driver have we frightened or caused fear to, by speeding in our cars?

Say to it: Oh self!, the rights of the people are not something light nor are they insignificant nor are they unimportant with Allah (عز و جل). Rather, He (صبحانه) has made for them an appointment for retribution. It has been authentically narrated from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) that he said:

“The rights will be returned to those whom they are due on the Day of Judgement; even to the point that the hornless sheep will receive retribution from the one with horns.”

Say to it: Oh self!, have you seen a settling of the score as it relates to the rights, or a reckoning as intricate as this? Perhaps its eye will redden and flow with tears.