From the lessons of "Al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib" (Encouragement and Warning), Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said

The Shaykh : ... , , As for what follows:
Indeed, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and the worst of matters are their innovations, and every innovation is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.
Our lesson tonight is from the book "Al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib" (Encouragement and Warning) by al-Hafiz al-Mundhiri, the twenty-eighth hadith. It states: 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.
In this hadith, the Messenger (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) warns his Ummah of trials that no human mind can imagine, great trials in which the Muslim is tested, becoming a believer in the morning and a disbeliever in the evening, and vice versa completely.
And his saying (peace be upon him): means only: righteous deeds. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) is urging his Ummah, especially in the later times, where the further 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 and armed ourselves with these righteous deeds, which will stand between us and falling into such trials which are .
So the immunity of the Muslim from any of these trials mentioned generally in this hadith, or from other trials some of which will be mentioned in a second hadith, the protection from all these trials is only: righteous deeds. By righteous deeds, the Muslim arms himself and is protected from passing through these strange stages which the Messenger (peace be upon him) describes in his saying: , and the reason: the Messenger (peace be upon him) clarified it in his saying: a worthless remnant !
And a hadith like this does not need a great explanation; for we see people and how they are tested because of this world, through positions, status, and ranks, and the like; so the Muslim must arm himself with righteous deeds.
And there is no doubt or ambiguity that righteous deeds—as we have mentioned to you repeatedly and often—do not benefit their owner in any way whatsoever 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 in accordance with 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, to always and forever associate with it correct faith as well; and for that reason, there is no verse except that it begins with the mention of faith, then follows with the mention of righteous deeds, like His saying (the Exalted): .
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 sprouted in the present era; and 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; because faith is not only correct belief, but from faith as well is righteous deeds.
So the Messenger (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him), when he urges us here to hasten to those trials with righteous deeds, is urging us to do so so that we make between us and these trials a protection and a strong fortress, which these righteous deeds prevent us from falling into such dark trials which .
This is the first hadith, and Muslim narrated it in his "Sahih," and here it is necessary to point out from the hadith perspective that some of the later scholars hesitated regarding the authenticity of its attribution to...