By the Noble Shaykh Ali ibn Abdur-Rahmaan Al-Hudhayfi ا
Increasing in practicing righteous actions is something that the religion encourages. Allaah said, {..so compete in good deeds…} [Al-Maa`idah 5:48]
He also said: {O you who have believed! Bow down, and prostrate yourselves, and worship your Lord and do good that you may be successful.} [Al-Hajj 22:77].
Allah encourages the increase of practicing righteous actions as does His Messenger. A Muslim must make use of this time when he is eager to practice good and he must stay away from all his desires. He should not say to himself for example, “This action is something small so I will not practice it” because Allaah blesses a righteous act even if it were small or little. Also, a person should not say, “This sin is small,” because this sin may be the reason for evil or a lot of evil to come his way and may be a cause for him to receive punishment whether the punishment comes sooner or later.
Likewise, a Muslim must safeguard his heart - he must make use of the times when he is eager to practice righteous actions. He must make use of his youth and practicing such actions at times that he is eager to do so. This is because a person does not know when he will be able to practice such actions in the future and likewise, he does not know when he will die and as stated by the Messenger
, “When a person dies all of his actions are cut off except for three: knowledge that people benefit from, a righteous child who will make du`aa for him and a continuous sadaqah.” [Muslim]