You did not fail!

You did your job well, you dealt well, you addressed those around you with the words of Allah and the words of His Messenger (peace be upon him)... and yet nothing changed on the surface! Your colleagues, your students, your customers, your neighbors... the one who was negligent in prayer did not become regular, the one who was immodest did not cover herself, the one who followed singers and actors did not care about the affairs of the Ummah. Do not be sad, you did not fail! As long as you have done what you did sincerely, with sincerity and good adherence to the Sunnah of the beloved in calling to Allah... There is a great success that you may not feel, which is the purification of the hearts of those around you from "works of the heart" that are destructive, which are much more dangerous than the apparent sins. She... hated the veiled women, due to the media and her family environment... and the most dangerous thing is that after that, she began to hate the veil itself as a religious ritual, and even when she read the Quran once a year in Ramadan, she "did not like" the verses of the veil, or saw them as outdated! She got to know you, saw another model different from what was printed in her mind, loved you, began her stereotypical convictions to shake, reached a stage of familiarity with the veil and conviction that "it is the right thing"... When she read the verses of the veil, she felt shy before her Lord, the Almighty, and said to herself: (I am wrong, I am weak, O Lord, forgive me, O Lord, strengthen me). She did not veil herself, but... do you know the magnitude of the shift you have brought about in her? A day when she hated something from the religion of Allah the Almighty, it was feared for her that she would be among those whom Allah said about them: (That is because they hated what Allah has sent down, so He rendered their deeds void)... hatred of what Allah has sent down from the works of the heart that take their owner out of Islam, and refuge is with Allah. Today, she has become of the people of the verse: (And others have confessed their sins, mixing a righteous deed and another evil deed, perhaps Allah will accept their repentance. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful). Yesterday, there was in her heart what nullifies faith, and today, the day she became familiar with the matter of her Lord, the Almighty, and was convinced of His wisdom... She is still far from it, yes, but it is among what enters His saying, the Almighty: (And He forgives what is below that for whom He wills). So how do you think after that that you have failed? Likewise, you, my brother, and you have brought people, by the grace of Allah, from despising the religious (and despising some of the rituals of the religion with the company, which is the most dangerous!) to respecting their religion and familiarity with it and feeling that they are the ones who are negligent. They may not change on the surface and for a long time, but the qualitative heart shift may be the difference between eternal fire and eternal paradise! So how do you think after that that you have failed? Rather, this is among the greatest successes. And as it was said: Do not despair of the response of a disdainer or be reassured by the retreat of an eager one And scatter the seeds of good in every soil, for perhaps they will grow with the days