Zeal and Enthusiasm Described in the Qur'an: Competition in Righteousness

"They believe in Allah and the Last Day, and they enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and hasten to good deeds. And those are among the righteous."

"So race to [all that is] good."

Allah commands believers to compete with one another in doing good deeds. This competition, however, is not the sort of race engaged in ignorant societies for the purpose of defeating others. On the contrary, it is a race for the proliferation of virtues and good deeds. The intent of believers to compete is not to derive worldly gain or to establish superiority over other people. Rather, they race to comply with Allah’s commands, to live the values with which Allah is pleased, and to attain the approval of Allah. Their engagement in such competition is a manifestation of their fear of Allah and their faith. Indeed, the efforts a person puts forth serve as a reliable measure of his sincerity and commitment. He wants Allah to be satisfied with him, to have mercy on him, and to deem him worthy of His paradise, so he puts forth an all-out effort. Exercising his reason, conscience and physical ability to the full, he strives to live by the Qur’an in the most perfect way possible. Indeed, Allah informs us that it is their sincere effort and striving that renders believers foremost in the Sight of Allah. "It is those who hasten to good deeds, and they outstrip [others] therein."

The attitude of the Prophet Zachariah is given as an example: "So We responded to him, and We gave to him John, and amended for him his wife. Indeed, they used to hasten to good deeds and supplicate Us in hope and fear, and they were to Us humbly submissive."

Here, Allah has drawn attention to the fact that to hasten to good deeds is also an attribute peculiar to prophets. Throughout their lives the prophets strove to win the consent of Allah, so believers who look to prophets as role models follow in their footsteps.

Another reason believers race to do good is that they are aware that the life of this world is very short and that death is near. They know death can come upon them at any moment and that then they will feel great regret for not having made adequate efforts toward the good pleasure of Allah. For once a person enters the hereafter, it is no longer possible to return to the previous world and compete in doing good deeds. Thus, believers race against time to do more and more during the term granted to them in this world. They enthusiastically seize every opportunity to perform a good deed. A prayer of sincere believers is cited in the Qur’an as follows: "[They are] those who say, ‘Our Lord, grant us from among our wives and offspring comfort to our eyes and make us for the righteous an example.’"41 With such zeal and determination believers fulfill the command of Allah: "So when you have finished [your duties], then stand up [for more]. And to your Lord direct [your] longing."

They waste not a moment and hasten to do well with great ardor, knowing that man can never consider his efforts sufficient. They never forget that they will have to give an account of every second lived in this world and that they will be held responsible for every second during which they failed to exercise conscience or indulged in trivial activities when they could have done better things. Beyond the time required for basic personal needs, they engage in a constant search for better things to accomplish.

Aware that physical and mental exertion for the cause of Allah brings great reward, they greet exhaustion happily and with joy. They see this as an important opportunity for their benefit in the hereafter, and as soon as their work is completed, they eagerly proceed to another task to please Allah. It is stated in the Qur’an: "But whoever desires the hereafter and exerts the effort due to it while he is a believer – it is those whose effort is ever appreciated [by Allah]."

In return for their steady efforts and commitment to do good, His faithful servants will be hosted by Allah in the most beautiful mansions and enjoy great blessings for all eternity: "And the forerunners, the forerunners – those are the ones brought near [to Allah] in the Gardens of Pleasure, a [large] company of the former peoples and a few of the later peoples, on thrones woven [with ornament], reclining on them, facing each other."

Allah has given glad tidings that those who tire themselves in the life of this world for the consent of Allah will feel no weariness in the hereafter: "No fatigue will touch them therein, nor from it will they [ever] be removed."

"[It is Allah] Who has settled us in the home of duration [i.e., paradise] out of His bounty. There touches us not in it any fatigue, and there touches us not in it weariness [of mind]."