in ramadhaan, people pray, fast, perform ‘umrah (the minor pilgrimage), spend in charity, supplicate and recite the quran, yet the question remains: have any of these good deeds been accepted? allaah the almighty says (what means): {…indeed allaah only accepts from the righteous [who fear him].}[quran 3: 27] fudhaalah ibn ‘ubayd would say, “if i knew that allaah had accepted from me (something) as minor as a seed’s weight of good deeds, then that would be more beloved to me than possessing this world and all that it contains, because allaah says: [the above-mentioned verse].” our righteous salaf (predecessors) would exert extra efforts in worship and then rebuke themselves and doubt that their deeds were even accepted by allaah the almighty. they were described by allaah the almighty as (what means): {and they who give what they give while their hearts are fearful}[quran23: 60] they would be far more concerned about the acceptance of the deeds than the amount of good deeds they performed.

how can anyone possibly confer favors upon allaah the almighty? how can one dare feel this way, simply because they performed a good number of deeds – as if they have bestowed a favor on allaah the almighty by doing them? with this verse, allaah the almighty addressed the prophet, , warning him from being deceived with the worship he was performing, so that he would not become arrogant. if one should ever feel that they have performed plentiful acts of worship, then they should compare their deeds with those of the prophet, . in order to clarify the matter in people’s minds, the prophet, , said: “if a man was to be dragged on his face from the day he was born until he died, for the sake of pleasing allaah, he would belittle his deeds on the day of resurrection.”thismeans that one would find all he did insignificant and worthless in comparison to a single favor bestowed upon him from his lord, like, for example, the favor of eyesight.