Does the rational person turn habits into acts of worship, while the heedless person turns acts of worship into habits?
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The questioner : Honorable Shaykh, peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings.
The Shaykh : Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings.
The presenter : Brothers present, the question.
The Shaykh : Be patient, how are you? May Allah keep you safe. Peace be upon you.
The presenter : Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings, and to our brothers present.
The Shaykh : I mean, His blessings, O our brothers present, or not? I mean, peace be upon you and upon our brothers present? Yes.
The questioner : The question is: You are on the program *Nur 'ala al-Darb* (Light on the Path); it should be that the servant's habits are acts of worship, not that his acts of worship become habits. What does that mean? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : First, we did not say "it is obligatory." But perhaps it was understood from our saying "it is recommended." "It is recommended" means that a person's actions are either acts of worship or habits. The rational person turns habits into acts of worship, and the heedless person turns acts of worship into habits. Did you hear, everyone?
Now, how does the rational person turn habits into acts of worship? It means that for ordinary matters, he seeks the Face of Allah, seeks to be mindful of Allah in His worship, seeks to enjoy Allah's blessings, and has many other intentions that make them a means of drawing near to Allah the Exalted. For example, a person buying bread and meat to eat with his family. Buying bread and meat for him and his family to eat is a habit, not an act of worship. But the rational person makes it an act of worship. He buys it seeking the Face of Allah to support these poor people who have no provider from among the creation except this man. He eats it to strengthen himself for worship.
It becomes an act of worship. He eats it to enjoy Allah's generosity and bounty, and that is also an act of worship. Indeed, when Allah bestows a blessing on His servant, He loves to see the effect of His blessing on him. Look at how this habit became an act of worship. How did this habit become an act of worship? For the heedless person, his act of worship becomes a habit. He performs the midday prayer, performs ablution, prays, and goes out as a matter of habit. Perhaps if he were in an environment where people do not pray the midday prayer in congregation, he would not have prayed. But he is accustomed to going out and praying, so he went out and prayed out of habit. This heedless person has turned his acts of worship into habits. This is the meaning of what we said: the rational person turns habits into acts of worship, and the heedless person turns acts of worship into
The Shaykh : Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings.
The presenter : Brothers present, the question.
The Shaykh : Be patient, how are you? May Allah keep you safe. Peace be upon you.
The presenter : Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings, and to our brothers present.
The Shaykh : I mean, His blessings, O our brothers present, or not? I mean, peace be upon you and upon our brothers present? Yes.
The questioner : The question is: You are on the program *Nur 'ala al-Darb* (Light on the Path); it should be that the servant's habits are acts of worship, not that his acts of worship become habits. What does that mean? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : First, we did not say "it is obligatory." But perhaps it was understood from our saying "it is recommended." "It is recommended" means that a person's actions are either acts of worship or habits. The rational person turns habits into acts of worship, and the heedless person turns acts of worship into habits. Did you hear, everyone?
Now, how does the rational person turn habits into acts of worship? It means that for ordinary matters, he seeks the Face of Allah, seeks to be mindful of Allah in His worship, seeks to enjoy Allah's blessings, and has many other intentions that make them a means of drawing near to Allah the Exalted. For example, a person buying bread and meat to eat with his family. Buying bread and meat for him and his family to eat is a habit, not an act of worship. But the rational person makes it an act of worship. He buys it seeking the Face of Allah to support these poor people who have no provider from among the creation except this man. He eats it to strengthen himself for worship.
It becomes an act of worship. He eats it to enjoy Allah's generosity and bounty, and that is also an act of worship. Indeed, when Allah bestows a blessing on His servant, He loves to see the effect of His blessing on him. Look at how this habit became an act of worship. How did this habit become an act of worship? For the heedless person, his act of worship becomes a habit. He performs the midday prayer, performs ablution, prays, and goes out as a matter of habit. Perhaps if he were in an environment where people do not pray the midday prayer in congregation, he would not have prayed. But he is accustomed to going out and praying, so he went out and prayed out of habit. This heedless person has turned his acts of worship into habits. This is the meaning of what we said: the rational person turns habits into acts of worship, and the heedless person turns acts of worship into
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، لقاء[28 من 30] العاقل يحول العادات عبادات والغافل يجعل العبادات عادات؟!! ابن عثيمين - كبار العلماء — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.