introduction

all perfect praise is due to allaah the almighty, whose help and forgiveness we beseech. we repent to him and seek refuge in him from any evil that our hearts conceal and from the consequences of our bad deeds. whoever allaah the almighty guides will never be led astray and whoever he allows to deviate will never find guidance. i testify that there is none worthy of worship except allaah, the one who has no associate. i testify also that muhammad is his messenger and slave.

allaah the almighty says:

{o you who have believed, fear allaah as he should be feared and do not die except as muslims [in submission to him].}[aal-‘imraan: 102]

he the almighty also says:  {o mankind, fear your lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. and fear allaah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. indeed allaah is ever, over you, an observer.} [an-nisaa’: 1]

he the almighty also says: {o you who have believed, fear allaah and speak words of appropriate justice. he will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. and whoever obeys allaah and his messenger has certainly attained a great attainment. } [al-ahzaab: 70-71]

to proceed:

the most truthful speech is that of the book of allaah (the noble quran) and the best of guidance is that of muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. the worst of evils are the newly invented matters (foreign to the true teachings of islam), and every newly invented matter (in the religion) is a bid‘ah (innovation) and every bid‘ah is a dhalaalah (misguidance) and every misguidance is in the hellfire.

allaah the almighty says:

{and let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and those will be the successful. and do not be like the ones who became divided and differed after the clear proofs had come to them. and those will have a great punishment. on the day [some] faces will turn white and [some] faces will turn black. as for those whose faces turn black, [to them it will be said], "did you disbelieve after your belief? then taste the punishment for what you used to reject."  but as for those whose faces will turn white, [they will be] within the mercy of allaah . they will abide therein eternally. these are the verses of allaah . we recite them to you, [o muْammad], in truth; and allaah wants no injustice to the worlds.}[aal-‘imraan: 104-108] 

i saw the time is running, no sadness or happiness persists.

i saw all the people drunken, while the cup of death among them wanders.

how strange! for the one who neglects or play, while he knows that his dwelling will be the graves.

how many kings built palaces for themselves, no kings or palaces remains

the basic idea of this good series was invented by our dear brother muhammad ‘ashoor; the founder and manger of the http://rasoulallaah.net. also, he is the one who chose its title “righteous and reformers”. the idea was about how can the righteous be a reformer? how can determinations and efforts be stimulated to support the religion of allaah the almighty and his messenger, peace and blessings be upon him? how can we get rid of the passivity that has spread widely among muslims? how can every muslim have an effective role in supporting his prophet muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him? what is the clear way so that everyone can adopt to be a righteous and reformer (at the same time)? 

from this point, the idea of this series arises. we have tried to strain every nerve in it so as to make it in this form. we also have tried as much as we could to make it simple, brief and imply what is beneficial only, asking allaah the almighty to accept this simple efforts from us and regard them in the scales of our good deeds on the day of resurrection. we ask him also to turn our faces white on the day some faces will turn white and some faces will turn black.

let us change to be righteous and reformers.

firstly, the importance of having righteous individuals in the society:

actually, the righteous and reformers are beautiful words that make one feel safety.

however, are all of the righteous deemed reformers? are all of the reformers deemed righteous?

righteousness is a common attribute among all prophets, peace be upon them.

allaah the almighty says about ibrahim (abraham), peace be upon him:

{and we had chosen him in this world, and indeed he, in the hereafter, will be among the righteous.}[al-baqarah: 130] 

and about yahya (john), peace be upon him, he the almighty says:

{and [who will be] honorable, abstaining [from women], and a prophet from among the righteous.}[aal-‘imraan: 39]

and about ‘isa (jesus), peace be upon him, he the almighty says: {he will speak to the people in the cradle and in maturity and will be of the righteous.} [aal-‘imraan: 46]

the righteous are in the guardianship of allaah.

allaah the almighty says:

{indeed, my protector is allaah, who has sent down the book; and he is an ally to the righteous.}[al-a‘raaf: 196]

sulaymaan (solomon), peace be upon him, hoped to be with the righteous (allaah the almighty says on his behalf):

{and admit me by your mercy into [the ranks of] your righteous servants."}[an-naml: 19]

it was also the wish of yoosuf (joseph), peace be upon him, (allaah the almighty says on his behalf):

{cause me to die a muslim and join me with the righteous."}[yoosuf: 101]

furthermore, allaah the almighty made admission among the group of the righteous as a reward for doing good deeds and emaan (sound faith). allaah the almighty says:

{we will surely admit them among the righteous [into paradise].}[al-‘ankaboot: 9]

he the almighty also says about yoonus (jonah), peace be upon him:

{and his lord chose him and made him of the righteous}[al-qalam: 50]

accordingly, the righteous are the prophets and those who follow them. however, were they righteous only? the answer is actually no. but rather they were righteous and reformers at the same time, for reform is the occupation of the prophets, peace be upon them.

allaah the almighty has differentiated between those who claim that they are reformers saying:

{and when it is said to them, "do not cause corruption on the earth," they say, "we are but reformers."} [al-baqarah: 11] 

to be righteous only is not really sufficient.

it is narrated that zainab bint jahsh, may allaah be pleased with her, said: the messenger of allaah, peace and blessings be upon him, once came in a state of fear and said, "laa ilaaha illallaah! (none has the right to be worshipped but allaah). woe unto the arabs from the evil that has approached (them). today a hole has been opened in the barrier of ya’jooj and ma’jooj (gog and magog) like this.” he made a circle with his index finger and thumb. zaynab said, ‘o messenger of allaah, will we be destroyed even though there will be righteous people among us.’ he, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “yes, if evil increases.” [reported by al-bukhaari and muslim]

the evil does not increase unless the reformers are absent. there are many righteous and everyone cares nothing but his own affairs. evil increases and the devil plays his role. however, the existence of the reformers guards against punishment and destruction. allaah the almighty says:

{and your lord would not have destroyed the cities unjustly while their people were reformers.}[hood: 117] 

the more the number of reformers are, the more goodness and safety will be. o dear muslim brothers, let us change ourselves and our society to be righteous and reformers.

dear brother, know that the way is full of obstacles and difficulties. so, make your provision in this way the piety of allaah the almighty and patience. allaah the almighty says:

{you will surely be tested in your possessions and in yourselves. and you will surely hear from those who were given the scripture before you and from those who associate others with allaah much abuse. but if you are patient and fear allaah - indeed, that is of the matters [worthy] of determination.}[aal-‘imraan: 186]

by the permission of allaah, topics will be in the following order:

the muslim will start with choosing his friend, then contemplate thoughtfully the condition of his house and reform it first before reforming the houses of the people, then think about how he should deal with the people i.e. adopting good morals and observing the rights of muslims. then one should seek the knowledge of the etiquette of advice. if he advised people, he will be exposed to disagreement, dispute and shunning. then what are the guidelines and limits of disagreement, dispute and shunning?

and upon al-lah is the responsibility to explain the straight path