Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 433
! ! 433 1. Personal 2. Collective Un less you are successful in both deeds , your life cannot be reformed, n or will God Almighty be pleased. Personal deeds are Salāt , f asting, Hajj, Z akat , and speaking the truth. It is not necessary for there to be twenty or twenty - five other women to help you accomplish these d eeds. These are personal actions which concern only one person , not a party of people. These are the type of actions, about which you cannot say, there were no other women with me, therefore I could not say my Salāt , or I could not f ast because th ere was no one else with me to f ast. On the Day of Judgment, God Almighty will not leave that person be who says he did not say Salāt because there was no Jama'at , or he did not f a st because there was no Jama'at , or he did not pay zakat because there was no Jama'at. On the Day of Judgment, you will be unable to protest that due to the fact that there was no Jama'at, you were unable to perform these deeds. Whether Salāt was neglected, or Hajj was forgotten, t hese are individual acts which every person can do on their own, whether or not others are around. The second type of deeds are those performed as a group. These are the actions performed together and they cannot be completed until they are performed as a Jama'at. For example, men are required to pray in congregation , but women are not, although it is preferable for them to do so. However , if a man fails to say his prayers in congregation , even if he says his prayers individually, on the Day of Judgment, he will be found guilty. On the other h and, i f you [ women ] do not pray in congregation, God Almighty will not pronounce you guilty. On the other hand, if you do say congregational pray ers, you will surpass the men and He will reward you more than the others. On the contrary, if a man fails to pray in congregation , even though he devotes his time and he prays, his Salāt will be pronounced imperfect in the court of Allah. I am not saying that he will go to Hell. H e might have performed other good deeds in such abundance that they have cover ed up this shortcoming. Allah possesses a measure, and H e weighs a person’s go od deeds in comparison to others. Some bad deeds are such that they alone will take yo u to Hell. For example, associating others with Allah ,