Which is the greatest deed?
Which is The Greatest Action In Islam…
In searching our scriptures for the best action in Islam, one would come across different sayings of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ), each stressing a different action as the best. In one such Hadith: it is faith, in another: feeding the hungry, in yet another: prayer. In others, peace with men, good conduct, good treatment to one’s wife, and even more.
There is great wisdom in the way the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) has approached this subject of the greatest action in Islam.
Firstly, it stimulates us to ponder over it. This “pondering” is something that Islam and the Holy Quraan advocate very strongly.
Secondly: in this process of pondering, new things come to light that we may not have been searching for… concepts that are beyond words, insight and wisdom. This whole process of trying to figure this out makes the greatest action all the more important.
Thirdly: during this whole process of trying to figure it out, we end up thinking about Allah SWT and His teachings. This, in essence, is prayer.
Fourthly: in going through all of this, we are learning the important skill of discerning and evaluating things to figure out which is of greater importance.
Fifthly: what comes through is that studying Islamic scriptures should not be our primary or only source of knowledge. It can be misleading if we are not careful. Our interpretation could be completely skew. Allah’s Chosen ones are the most important source of knowledge, and that is why we are guided to them in Surah Al Fatiha.
These are the people who can guide us in such challenging matters of seeking knowledge and there are many such points in Islamic knowledge that require such elucidation.
I heard Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) saying, “Allah does not take away the knowledge, by taking it away from (the hearts of) the people, but takes it away by the death of the religious learned men till when none of the (religious learned men) remains, people will take as their leaders ignorant persons who when consulted will give their verdict without knowledge. So they will go astray and will lead the people astray.”
Back to our original question… What is the best action in Islam? Based on the above tradition, we seek an answer from Allah’s Chosen ones. Our Spiritual Guide, Dr Hakim Hazrath Khwaja Sayed Shareef Ahmed Ali Shah RA (fondly known as Hazrath Poona Wale Shah Saib RA), taught that, the most important goal is to attain “emaan” which is all about getting to know Allah SWT. He always stressed this and, Insha-Allah, we try to teach this through this website.
A short story to bring out the answer: One day all the parts of the body were having a discussion as to which part is the most important. The brain said that without me none of you can work because I control and coordinate the entire body. The heart said, if I don’t transport oxygen to your brain then you cannot function. Hold it, the lung said to the heart, if I do not get you the oxygen then you will have nothing to transport to the brain. Each part claimed superiority and even the anus had to shut down to prove that he was also important.
So the question remains: which part is the most important aspect of the body. You see, the answer lies not in the function of each individual part, but rather in what they all work together to acheive.
So, In searching for an answer as to which is the most important action in Islam, one will come to find that most of the actions are not the end all, but they lead towards attaining something greater which is the end goal. There is only one action on the top which all other actions lead up to…
It is attaining faith (’emaan’ or believing in Allah)—that is the most important action. Prayer, feeding, having good conduct, treating our wives properly, are all factors that lead towards attaining ‘Emaan’.
When it comes to ’emaan’, there are many other traditions that shed light on its importance. This is not the case with the other actions mentioned.
When it comes to prayer as an example, the traditions teach that a person will be punished if he uses prayer to make himself out to be a pious person in the eyes of others. There is no such warning regarding “emaan”.
Also, many traditions that start off by saying: “You will not enter paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until….”
So ’emaan’, without a shadow of doubt, stands out very clearly as being the most important goal of life. END.
Note: there are different levels to faith and the highest, as we have seen in our opening article, are those associated with love, loving others for the sake of Allah and so forth.
Peace and blessings upon the Holy Prophet Muhammad Salallahu Alayhe Wasallam.
An important, practical step to attaining ’emaan’ is have a spiritual guide. Watch this video of ours on the Spiritual Guide.
Published by Anjuman e Waris e Mohammedi
Anjuman e Waris e Mohammedi was foundered by Dr Hakim Hazrath Khwaja Sayed Shareef Ahmed Ali Shah RA (lovingly known as Hazrath Poona Wale Shah Saib RA)
Author: Mohammed Hassan Gaffoor.
You can contact him on WhatsApp: +27 84 910 1486
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