Holy Prophet (sallalaho alayhi wassalam) said:
“Everybody has his time of energy, and every time of energy is followed by a time of lethargy. But if a person tries to follow a moderate path, then I have hope for him, but if he becomes one who is pointed out (in the street), then do not think anything of him.”
(Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2453; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi, 1995).
What is meant by “Everybody has his time of energy” is eagerness for a thing, energy and the desire to do good.
What is meant by “every time of energy is followed by a time of lethargy” is tiredness, weakness and lack of movement because of people's criticism or other factors.
“But if a person tries to follow a moderate path” means that the one who has energy does his deeds in moderation and avoids going to extremes when he is feeling energetic and avoids being negligent when he is feeling lethargic.
“Then I have hope for him” means, I have hope that he will be successful, for he can continue following a middle course, and the most beloved deeds to Allaah are those which are continuous.
“but if he becomes one who is pointed out (in the street)” means, if he strives hard and goes to extremes in doing good deeds so that he will become famous for his worship and asceticism, and he becomes famous and people point him out to one another,
“then do not think anything of him” means, do not think that he is one of the righteous, because he is showing off. He did not say, “do not have hope for him,” as an indication that he has already fallen, and he will not be able to make up for what he has missed out on.
[Explained by Shaykh Salih al Munajjid]
I just want to share with all students of deen some advices from my personal experience. When you start learning deen, you get great energy and enthusiasm. Then you look at the people and society around you and you say "KIA BAKWAS HAI" and u get the utmost desire to change it all. This enthusiasm can be very good, and can be very dangerous as well. The hadith of Holy Prophet (pbuh) is enough to explain how it can be very good. If the person follows a moderate path and do not indulge him/herself into too many things and observe patience, then surely such a person is the wise one. But if the person indulges him/herself into too many things and wants to do a lot, then there is ample chance that this person will fall into mismanagement and the result of mis management will be that nothing will be done completely and it will only bring frustration.
Alhamdulilah with the rise in Islamic media, learning Islam has become very easy and many people especially youngsters are coming to Islam daily. However much focus is being given to "REVERTING THEM" but not much focus is being given to "WHAT TO DO AFTER REVERTING THEM?" Not much work is being done to groom these young people and to educate them about manners of daawah and about working for Islam. This is the reason why we see Facebook shaykhs cursing abusing scholars and giving fatwas and doing all sorts of critical analysis of everything.
The truth is that, such an enthusiasm doesn't last for long. Ive seen people start with the idea of doing so many things, but ultimately doing nothing or doing everything in such a mis managed way. Beware of such an enthusiasm. Please follow a moderate path. Read books about manners of daawah and about manners of bringing change. Sit with scholars, ask questions from them. Learn from them. Please do not think internet is your Shaykh. Please go to scholars. I used to be the most arrogant person who thought i have a lot of knowledge, but Allah blessed me with company of such a person who taught me a lot and who opened my eyes what i am and through him i had the oppurtunity to sit with many scholars and the more i sit, the more i realise "Now i am learning true deen."
