From the lessons of "Al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib" by al-Mundhiri: Encouraging the remembrance of death, shortening one's hopes, and hastening in deeds

The Shaykh : Our lesson tonight is from the book "Al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib" by al-Hafiz al-Mundhiri, the twenty-eighth hadith. He said: And from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It was narrated by Muslim.
This hadith is a warning from the Messenger (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) to his Ummah... no human mind can imagine it. Great trials like the dark patches of the night, in which the Muslim is tested, becoming a believer in the morning and a disbeliever in the evening, and vice versa. And his saying (peace be upon him): ; this means only righteous deeds. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) is urging his Ummah, especially in the later times, for the further back we go in time, the more trials increase among us, and the closer we get to the major signs of the Hour, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commands us in this authentic hadith to hasten to these trials with righteous deeds; that is, to face them with righteous deeds; so that when we are caught by surprise by them, we will have armored ourselves and armed ourselves with these righteous deeds, which will stand between us and falling into such trials that are like the dark patches of the night. So the Muslim's protection from any of these trials mentioned generally in this hadith, or from other trials some of which will be mentioned in a following hadith; the protection from all these trials is only righteous deeds. By righteous deeds, the Muslim arms himself and protects himself from passing through these strange stages that the Messenger (peace be upon him) describes to his people: And the reason? The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) clarified that by his saying: .
A hadith like this does not need much explanation; for we see people and how they are tested because of this world, through positions, status, ranks, and the like. So the Muslim must arm himself with righteous deeds. And there is no doubt, as we have mentioned to you repeatedly, that righteous deeds do not benefit their owner in any way unless this righteous deed is accompanied by correct faith. And correct faith is not achieved except by believing in what came from Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and by the correct concept that matches what the Salaf of this Ummah were upon, including the four Imams. So it is not permissible for the Muslim to turn to righteous deeds seeking thereby salvation on the Day of Resurrection, while at the same time neglecting the correction of his creed. For in this state, his righteous deeds will go to waste, as our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) said in His Book regarding those who associated partners with their Lord: .
Therefore, we must always and forever remember, when the mention of righteous deeds passes us by, to always and forever associate with it correct faith as well. And there is no verse that does not begin with the mention of faith, then follow with the mention of righteous deeds, as He (the Exalted) said: . I say this because we are in a time in which desires and religious innovations have increased, some of which we have inherited from long, distant centuries, and some of which have appeared in the present era. Therefore, the most important thing that the Muslim must concern himself with is correcting his creed, then adding to that the abundance of righteous deeds. For faith is not just correct belief, but righteous deeds are also part of faith. So when the Messenger (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) urges us here to hasten to those trials with righteous deeds, he is urging us to do so so that we make between us and these trials a protection and a strong fortress that prevents these righteous deeds from causing us to fall into such dark trials that .
This is the first hadith, and Muslim narrated it in his "Sahih."