Competing is a concept firmly based in Islam. Allah Azza wa Jall has ordered us to compete in the Qur’an, and so did the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam. And life as we know it is a place of competition. So we live in this life competing with others, trying our level best to reach the ultimate goal, which is to strive in seeking Allah’s Pleasure and reaching Jannat An Naeem. However, this is not an easy task and it can have things that would tarnish it, things that could make it unacceptable in the Sight of Allah.
Even so, we should try our level best to go through things that would motivate us to do good deeds. For example, Allah the Almighty has told us, after mentioning the things that are in Jannah and how the righteous people would enjoy them. Allah says, “So let all who want to aspire; aspire after that. Let those who compete, compete in that.”
This means that Allah is encouraging us to compete in seeking Paradise. And such a competition would help the Muslims to strive to Allah Azza wa Jall, because there will be hurdles in front of them, as in every race, there are difficulties and challenges. The Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said in an authentic Hadeeth, “Race in doing good deeds.” The Companions asked, “What are we racing against, O Prophet of Allah?”
The Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “Race against patches of dark night, calamities that are as dark as the night, where a believer wakes up as a Mu’min (believer) and by the end of the day he becomes a Ka’afir (disbeliever).”
The Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) also advised us and instructed us to utilize five (things) before five (things). He (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “Utilize your youth before your old age, and your health before your illness, and your richness before your poverty, and your free time before you get occupied, and your life before your death.” All of this is encouragement for us to strive and to compete.
The Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) ordered us to make Jihaad, to strive in Allah’s Cause and he (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “Whoever dies and did not go for Jihaad or battle and did not even talk about it with himself or aspire about it, then he has died on a branch of hypocrisy.” That is why the Companions understood this: Whenever there was a battle along with the Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam), they used to compete to participate in it. To the extent that even youngsters, as young as thirteen or fourteen years of age, would come to fight alongside the Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam), but he (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) would not permit them, he (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) would permit only those who were fifteen or above.
And in one incident, a Companioin, who was fourteen, was rejected by the Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) and when he saw that a friend of his, who was fifteen, was admitted and was allowed to fight, he cried. So the Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) asked him, “Why are you crying?” He said, “Because you admitted my friend who is fifteen. And I am stronger than him and I can win against him in wrestling.” So the Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) allowed them to wrestle and when the fourteen year old Companion won, he (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) admitted him to join the battle. So, even such competition is encouraged in Islam.
So is giving in charity and to spend when you are young, before you become old. To spend in the Cause of Allah Azza wa Jall while you are healthy and alive before your illness and before your death, this is highly recommended and encouraged. And this is why the Companions {may Allah be pleased with them} used to compete with one another. Once the poor Companions came to the Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) and said, “O Prophet of Allah, the wealthy among us have gone with the highest degrees and the highest levels of Jannah.
Because they pray like we pray, and they fast like we fast, but they have access to wealth with which they can offer Hajj with, they can offer Umrah with, they can offer Jihaad with and they can give it in charity more than what we can give.” So the Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) instructed them to say after every Fard prayer the supplication: Subhanallah, 33 times; Alhamdulillah, 33 times; Allah hu Akbar, 33 times and Laa ‘ilaaha ‘illallaahu wahdahu laa shareeka lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu wa Huwa ‘alaa kulli shay’in Qadeer, to complete the 100. So, even the poor were competing with the rich.
Abu Bakr and Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, used to compete with each other. Umar once said to himself that today he would beat Abu Bakr in giving charity.
Every time Abu Bakr would beat him, but today he would beat Abu Bakr. So he went to the Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) with a large sum of money and said that this is for Allah and His Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam). The Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “Bless you! What did you leave for your family?” He replied, “Half of it.” That is, he took 50% of what he owned and gave it to Allah and the Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam). So the Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “May Allah bless you.”
A while later, Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, came with a larger amount and he put it in front of the Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) and said, “This is for Allah and the Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam).” So the Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) asked him the same as he had asked Umar, may Allah be pleased with him. Abu Bakr {may Allah be pleased with him} replied, “I left Allah and His Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam).” That is, he gave away a 100% of what he owned.
Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said on that incident, “Wallahi, by Allah, I will never compete with you, Abu Bakr, because whoever competes with you will always lose. This shows us that they used to compete with one another for Allah’s Pleasure.
Also, among the doors or the opportunities for competing is to go to the five daily prayers and to hasten in going early to the Friday Prayer. We know that men are obliged to pray the Friday Prayer in the Masjid, unlike women. And the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam gave them a competition in this. He said that whoever goes in the first hour, it would be as if he has given away a camel in charity.
Then in the second hour like a cow, then in the third hour like a sheep, then in the fourth hour like a chicken, then in the fifth and last hour like an egg in charity. And when the Imaam enters the Masjid, the Angels will shut their record books and sit and listen to the Imaam. We also know that it is part of Islam to try and win few of the things related to prayer. For example, the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “Had the people known what virtues there are (in standing) in the first row and in giving the Adhaan (the call for prayer), they would fight over it.
And they would draw lots or flip a coin to decide who will get this reward.” Unfortunately, nowadays if you enter a Masjid before Salah, you will find the people filling the rows in the back of the Masjid and they are not interested in occupying the first row, which the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam has encouraged us to do. Let alone, if you ask someone to call the Adhaan, the majority of Muslims would refrain, being shy or being ashamed or not knowing how to call the Adhaan.
But if they were requested to be a guest on shows like “America’s Got Talent” or “American Idol” to sing a song or to do something else, they would love to compete in that, Subhanallah!
The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam has told us that this Duniya is sweet and green. This incident occurred when the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam got some Zakaat money and some war booty which was collected at night.
So when the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, heard about it, after the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam finished the congretional Fajr prayer and turned to face them, each one of them stretched his neck a little bit so that the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam would see him and would not forget him when he distributed this great wealth. So the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam asked them, “Do you think that I was going to forget you? This life, this world is beautiful. It is sweet and green.
And Allah Azza wa Jall will make you succeed one another so that he would test you and he would try you and he would see what you will do. So protect yourself from this Duniya and protect yourself from women, because the first trial of the sons of Israel was in women.” This shows you the great threat that the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam is warning us about, when we have mixing between the two genders as we see it nowadays.
Also, in the Hadeeth of Abdullah ibn Masood { may Allah be pleased with him} we can see how the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam never competed over material things. He warns us of the Duniya and also does not indulge in it himself, Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam, because he is our role model.
The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam slept once on a bed of straw that affected his side and left marks on it. So the Companions suggested that they would give him a better bed. So the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “What do I have to do with this Duniya? In this life, I am merely similar to a rider who saw a tree while on his journey, dismounted and took a short nap in the shade of the tree and then left it.” So the tree is not our objective, this life is not a Muslim’s objective.
The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said to ibn Umar (his brother-in-law and one of his great Companions), “Be in this life as if you are a stranger or a passer-by.” So we should not live in this Duniya as if we are here to stay because we are not. It is a temporary phase and the smart one is the one who is guided by Allah to do good deeds and to reap the fruit of his work in Paradise.
And whenever it comes to competing, we always have to remember that what we do is for the sake of Allah Azza wa Jall and not for the sake of this Duniya. The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “There is no envy, except in two things. Someone to whom Allah Azza wa Jall has given the knowledge of the Qur’an, so he recites it during the night and the day. And someone to whom Allah Azza wa Jall has given wealth and he spends it in the means that please Allah Azza wa Jall.” So you can have envy.
But envy here does not mean that you wish that Allah Azza wa Jall takes it away from him and gives it to you. No, this is not the kind of envy meant in the above Hadeeth. The envy that is meant is the envy of wanting to have similar to it but without it leaving the individual you are envying. So, envy which is Haraam is when I see you driving a beautiful car, I envy you and I say, “You don’t deserve this. I wish Allah Azza wa Jall takes it from you or you have a car accident.”
This is Haraam. But the envy that is permissible is that when you wish you have something similar to it. So the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam says that even the envy of wanting to have a similar car as your neighbor, without him losing it, is not recommended and it is not encouraged because it is in the worldly affairs and worldly matters. The only envy that is permissible is, in the case of someone who has knowledge, you envy him, wanting to be like him, without him losing is knowledge or in the case of the wealthy person, you want to be like him to spend in the Cause of Allah and not to spend in worldly matters.
So the competition that we are looking at has to be accompanied with a good intention. Meaning that, I compete with you in prayers or in the number of days of fasting or in giving charity or in the number of Hajj. But the most important thing is that my intention is for the Sake of Allah Azza wa Jall, because when I compete with you in religious issues and my intention is to beat you, not for the Sake of Allah but rather just to win, then this is a BIG problem.
The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “Allah the Almighty says, ‘I am the wealthiest of all partners. Whoever associates anyone with Me, I will leave him and his Shirk’” That is, Allah will leave that person and his bad deed because he associated others with Him in his intention. So, we understand from this that we must accompany our competing with a sincere intention for the Sake of Allah. Otherwise, don’t compete with others. Also, your competition and what you are doing has to be in things that deal with the Hereafter, not with this Duniya.
So, you don’t compete with others in getting a better job or marrying the most beautiful woman or collecting money and being richer than others or having more children than others. No, this is not what is intended because such competition leads to destruction. When the Companions saw the bounties of war and the money and they were hoping to get some part of it, the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam told them to be positive and hope for the best and that In Sha Allah nothing would happen except that which they wished for. The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “By Allah, I do not fear poverty upon you. What I fear is that this Duniya would open upon you like it was opened for those before you.
And I am afraid that you will compete in this Duniya like they have competed and that this would destroy you like it had destroyed them.” And one would ask, “Subhanallah! This goodness, this wealth, this Duniya, would it bring harm to us?” The answer is, yes. This is the trial of Allah Azza wa Jall for us.
Allah has created death and life to test us that, who among us is the best in deeds, not the most in deeds. And that’s why competing has to be in things that draw you closer to Allah Azza wa Jall. Materialistic matters are not of importance in the eyes of Islam. That is why the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam warned us from competing in worldly matters, in wishing and hoping and striving for worldly matters in the sense that it would distract us from what we were really created for and that is to worship Allah Azza wa Jall.
The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam told us that, when one of us looks at those who were favored over him in wealth or in creation, meaning in health, beauty, etc., then one should only look at those who are below him, that is Allah favored him over them.
And let us look at the materialistic things. If I look at those who are better than me, richer than me, healthier than me, then I would always be dissatisfied. I will never be content. Why? If I have a jet plane and I see someone who has five jet planes, even though we are both multi billionaire, I would still envy him, because he has more. If I have a beautiful car and I see someone who has an SUV and a sports car and a BMW then I would envy him because he has more than what I have.
This way I will always be discontent and I will always be displeased with what I have. I have two healthy children, my friend has ten. I have a beautiful wife, my friend has four. I have a good job, but my friend is the CEO of five companies. So I’m always envious, I’m always sad and this is what the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam has warned us about. If you have a car, don’t look at those who have two cars, rather look at those who don’t have a car at all and they ride a motorcycle.
And if you ride a motorcycle, look at those who are riding a bicycle. And if you have a bicycle, praise Allah and thank Him because others don’t even have a bicycle and they have to walk. And if you don’t have a bicycle and have only your feet to use, be grateful to Allah Azza wa Jall because there are people who are on their wheelchairs and cannot walk. And if you are on a wheelchair, be grateful and praise Allah the Almighty because there are people who are paralyzed neck down and are bed ridden.
And even if you are bed ridden, be always grateful to Allah Azza wa Jall that you have your sanity and that you have your brains and that you praise Allah and thank Him and be grateful to Him. So, always look at the positive, always look at the full half of the cup and be grateful to Allah Azza wa Jall as His favors upon you are unlimited.
So, if we take this concept of sincerity and the concept of competing in the deeds for the Hereafter, if we do this, we will excel in doing good deeds and we will keep on competing with one another, not necessarily naming people and telling them, “Listen, at the end of the week, I’d like to see how many good deeds you have.”
No, this is not the way of competing, but rather if I know that my friend prays night prayer and I don’t, I will compete with him, without telling him, by starting tonight to offer night prayer. If my friend fasts Mondays and Thursdays and I don’t, then I will try from next week to also fast Mondays and Thursdays, add to that the three white days of every month so that when the time comes for me to die, I would be, In Sha Allah, with the Grace of Allah, having a lot of good deeds to help me in my grave and also when I stand in front of Allah the Almighty and Allah Azza wa Jall knows best.