The Reward of Protecting Good Deeds
After doing good deeds, it is necessary to protect them; only then can one hope for reward from Allah Almighty. Accordingly, it is stated:
﴿وَمَا يَفْعَلُوا مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَلَن يُكْفَرُوهُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِالْمُتَّقِينَ﴾
“And those who do good deeds, their reward will not be denied, and Allah knows well the pious.”
عبد الله بن عمرو بن العاص رضي الله عنهما قال: قال لي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : يا عبد الله ! لا تكن مثل فلان، كان يقوم من الليل فترك قيام الليل
Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin Al-As (may Allah be pleased with them) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said to me: “O Abdullah! Do not be like so-and-so, he used to pray at night (voluntary prayers, etc.) but then he abandoned night prayer.”
It is very important to protect good deeds; otherwise, if you keep pouring water from one side and it keeps falling through a hole from the other side, the water will not accumulate. Similarly, good deeds will only be protected when actions that nullify good deeds or when there is a risk of bad deeds increasing over good deeds are avoided. Sayyida Aisha Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) states that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:
أحب الأعمال إلى الله تعالى أدومها وإن قل .
“The most beloved deeds to Allah are those that are done consistently, even if they are few.”
