Uprightness is the most effective means to reach Allah:

 Dear brother, we are still tackling the topic "uprightness".
 Uprightness is the grace of all graces and it is the most effective means to reach Allah. However, in this blessed meeting we are about to approach uprightness through the prophetic Sunnah. One of the prophet's companions said to him PBUH:

((Oh Messenger of Allah, say something to me about Islam which I will not ask anyone else except you." He said, "Say, 'I believe in Allah', and then be upright (remain steadfast).))

[Muslim by Sufian Ibn Abdullah Athaqafi]

 I used to say: The entire Islam comes down to one word, that is: "uprightness", and unless you are upright, you will not reap the fruits of this religion, and without uprightness, Islam will become mere Islamic culture, Islamic tradition, Islamic intellect, Islamic background, Islamic ground, Islamic emotions, Islamic interests, and Islamic cultivation.
 This will make billions of Muslims worthless, like our present day, for one billion and 500 million Muslims are worthless due to the fact that they don't control their matters and they don't own the upper hand, whereas the other party is controlling them in thousands of ways, taking into consideration the fact that five Islamic countries are occupied, are ripped off their natural resources and their youth are subject to killing, is that not right?

((Oh Messenger of Allah, say something to me about Islam which I will not ask anyone else except you." He said, "Say, 'I believe in Allah', and then be upright (remain steadfast).))

[Muslim by Sufian Ibn Abdullah Athaqafi]

 After being upright, you can go on forever speaking about the gains a Muslim will get, whether that is in his conduct, spirit, tranquility, confidence in Allah, optimism, and rejoice. Verify Islam without uprightness is nothing but stuffed information in the brain.
 This concept was described by a notable scholar as follows: "Strive and you will witness, and you will not witness facts or rejoice them unless you fight your own desires"

You won't reap the fruit of this religion unless you follow the right path:

 Dear brother, hence, Islam comes down to one concise word, so in order to save time, effort and words, unless you are upright, you will not reap the fruits of this religion. this bitter truth is much better than the comfortable delusion.
 It has been reported in the relic that someone asked the noble prophet PBUH: Oh messenger of Allah preach me in short?
 This incident was reported as follows:

((Oh Messenger of Allah, say something to me about Islam which I will not ask anyone else except you." He said, "Say, 'I believe in Allah', and then be upright (remain steadfast). Then he said: I want less than that, to which the prophet PBUH answered: Then be ready for grieve))

[Muslim by Sufian Ibn Abdullah Athaqafi]

 Take the example of the doctor who said to his patient: you should follow a strict diet due to the acute peptic inflammation that you have, and your diet is to drink milk only, so accordingly the patient replied: But I want to eat everything, to which the doctor answered: Then be ready for a surgical operation.
 So it is crystal clear, you can be cured if you follow this strict diet, and in case you refuse it, you should go under the knife, and it is a clear matter like the shinning sun.

((And whether you disclose what is in your ownselves or conceal it, Allah will call you to account for it.))

[Al-Baqarah, 284]

 And in case you were upright:

((Then He forgives whom He wills))

[Al-Baqarah, 284]

 And in case you weren't upright:

(( and punishes whom He wills. And Allah is Able to do all things.))

[Al-Baqarah, 284]

 In other words, this doctor is very skilled and he is able to cure you whether through this diet or through a surgical operation, so it is up to you to choose one of those two ways. This is not but inclusive concise words.

The righteousness of the tongue:

 There is also a special uprightness, and it is the uprightness of the tongue.

((A man might speak a word without thinking about its implications, but because of it, he will plunge into the Hellfire further than the distance between the east and west))

[Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmizi and Malek by Abu Huraira]

 One word can sabotage the relation between the husband and his wife and one word can sow dissension between business partners, hence, the senses speak to the tongue by saying:

((Fear Allah in our sustenance, for we are your ilk, so if you are upright we will be upright, but if you are deviated we will be deviated))

[Tirmizi by Abu Saeed Al khidri]

 Verify when you consider your words as important as your deeds, you will be granted salvation.

((A man might speak a word without thinking about its implications, but because of it, he will plunge into the Hellfire further than the distance between the east and west))

((Aishah was jealous once and she said: 'It's bad enough that Safiyyah is such and such. (Some of narrators said: she is short).' The prophet PBUH said: "You have said a word which, if it could be mixed with the water of the sea, it would have spoiled it.))

[Tirmizi and Abu Daawood, by Aishah]

 Backbiting, calumny, defamation, fabrication, accusing and imitating in assemblies till a late hour at night are enough reasons to draw a veil between Muslims and their Lord, isn't that true? For these are sins of the tongue.
 One might say to you: Thank God I never commit major sins, but the problem is in minor sins.
 The example of major sins and minor sins is like driving a car on a road with two valleys on both sides of it, so the major sins are like turning the steering wheel in a sudden move 90 degrees in which case you will end up in the valley, whereas the minor sins are like turning the steering wheel only one inch, so it will take a longer distance but eventually you will also end up in the valley.

 It was reported in some Ahadith:

((Minor sins are no longer minor with determination ( doing them repeatedly), and Major sins are no longer major with asking Allah's forgiveness for them))

[Al Harith, by Abu Hurairah and Ibn Abbas]

 Keep in mind that turning the wheel 90 degrees is a big mistake but you can fix it right away in one second and the danger will be over, hence:

((Satan gave up being worshipped on earth but he is satisfied with what you don't think much of))

[Ahmad by Abu Hurairah]

 Namely, your minor sins.

Minor sins are evil's access to mankind:

 Be aware Muslims are abandoned (by Allah) because of their minor sins not major ones.
 Most Muslims don't kill, neither do they drink alcohol or commit adultery which are major sins, so what is really depriving them from Allah? The answer is: minor sins such like: Backbiting, calumny, defamation, fabrication, irony, mocking, mingling between men and women, shaking hands with women and feasting eyes on women's beauty, and with such minor sins, Muslims were abandoned by Allah.
 That abandonment from Allah is like cutting the electric power in the house which means all the electric utilities in it are useless regardless of the duration of the black out.
 Therefore, man is being abandoned (by Allah) either because of major sins or because of minor sins. For that the prophet PBUH said:

((but he is satisfied by less than that, it is what you don't think much of your sins))

[Ahmad by Abu Hurairah]

 Satan is a clever creature, for he starts by asking man to disbelieve in Allah, so if this man turns out to be a believer, Satan starts inviting him to Shirk (polytheism), but if this man was Mowahed (monotheistic), Satan will seduce him to commit a major sin, but in case he found him obedient to Allah, Satan will tempt him to commit a minor sin, hence, minor sins are one of the widest access means of Satan over man, but again in case Satan found this man to be pious, he still has two more cards to play, one of which is planting doubts between Muslims according to which the Muslim doubts the sincerity of his fellow Muslim in the call to Allah, but did he open his heart (to know if he is sincere or not)? So in case this card is useless, Satan will play his last card which is the permissible matters, so he tempts man to be indulged in permissible matters and to enjoy them, so despite the fact that this man didn't disobey Allah, he spent his entire time in enjoying the permissible matters to such an extent that he will come on the day of Judgment without any worthy deeds.
 Because of the uprightness of the tongue, a wife will say to her husband:

((Fear Allah in our sustenance, for we are your ilk, so if you are upright we will be upright, but if you are deviated we will be deviated))

[Tirmizi by Abu Saeed Al khidri]

 Even one word might be bad enough to be said:

(("Oh Aisha,You have said a word which, if it could be mixed with the water of the sea, it would have spoiled it.))

[Tirmizi and Abu Daawood, by Aishah]

 So what if it was more than one word? I used to repeat the following Hadith:

((A woman was punished in Hell because of a cat which she had confined until it died. She did not give it to eat or to drink when it was confined, nor did she free it so that it might eat the vermin of the earth))

[Bukhari and Muslim, by Ibn Umar]

 So what if the subject of harm is more than a cat? Some people hurt entire nations by starving them to death.

The results of uprightness:

 In regard of the outcome of uprightness, there are limited and unlimited results, the prophet PBUH said:

((Be righteous, and you will not be able to count Allah’s graces in return for your righteousness))

[Malek by Balaqh Malek]

 One won't be able to count Allah's graces in return for righteousness, some of which are to be safe, protected in his money for he never ate ill-gotten money, protected in his family for he never committed adultery so in return he will be blessed with a chaste wife who never sins, with dutiful children because he is dutiful to his parents and he will be granted rejoice, tranquility, trust in Allah, prosperity, providence and peace.

((Be righteous, and you will not be able to count Allah’s graces in return for your righteousness))

[Malek by Balaqh Malek]

 In a nut shell he will be protected starting with his health and ending with his creed and starting with his tangible life and ending with his spiritual one.

((Be righteous, and you will not be able to count Allah’s graces in return for your righteousness))

[Malek by Balaqh Malek]

The shinning destiny entails a yearning beginning:

 By Allah dear brother, if we were to flash back the life of the believer which has been spent in obeying Allah, you will see that those who have yearning beginnings will end up with shinning destinies, Allah the Almighty says:

(( But the Mercy (Paradise) of your Lord (O Muhammad) is better than the (wealth of this world) which they amass.))

[Az-Zukhruf, 32]

 Man always maintains his sustenance, but sometimes there is a more advanced level than that which comes after owning all different luxurious possessions such as a house in the city, another one in the suburb or by the coast and various kinds of vehicles, some of which are for traveling, sh3er for local usage and cars for his family and kids, so after obtaining all these tangible pleasures, he starts accumulating wealth, so he began with maintaining his sustenance but he ends up collecting wealth, Allah says:

(( But the Mercy (Paradise) of your Lord (O Muhammad) is better than the (wealth of this world) which they amass.))

  Pay attention to the following Hadith, the prophet PBUH said to one of his companions:

((Oh Shaddad (Shaddad ibn Aws), if you see people hoarding gold and silver))

 Meaning, all kinds of movable properties, immovable properties, and hard currencies of all kinds as well as local currencies.

((Oh Shaddad (Shaddad ibn Aws), if you see people hoarding gold and silver, say these words: Oh Allah, I ask you continuity and steadiness in my affairs, I ask determination in righteousness, I ask you to help me in thanking You for Your blessings, to seek for forgiveness, to be excellent in the worship of Allah, for a peaceful and pure heart, a truthful tongue and righteous conducts. I ask you the best of what You know and I seek refuge in You from the evil of what You know, and for Your forgiveness for what you know in my wrongs, for only You know the unseen”))

[Ibn Haban by Shaddad Ibn Aws]

 Who will have set backs after a certain age? Who will leave Salah? Who will sin? Because it has been mentioned in the relic:

((I love the obedient, yet I love the young obedient more, I love the humble, yet I love the humble rich more and I love the generous, yet I love the generous poor more))

[Mentioned in relic]

 Pay attention to the next part:

((and I hate three among people and hate other three more, I hate sinners, yet I hate the old age sinner more))

[Mentioned in relic]

 After turning fifty five he acts like a teenager.

((I hate sinners, yet I hate the old age sinner more, I hate the arrogant, yet I hate the arrogant poor more and I hate the stingy, yet I hate the rich stingy more))

[Mentioned in relic]

Ask Allah to grant you enough volition to apply rightness:

 Hence,

((I ask you continuity and steadiness in my affairs, I ask determination in righteousness))

[Ibn Haban by Shaddad Ibn Aws]

 Determination is crucial because man sometimes is able to see right as right but doesn't have the volition to apply rightness.

((I ask determination in righteousness, I ask you to help me in thanking You for Your blessings, to seek for forgiveness, to be excellent in the worship of Allah, for a peaceful and pure heart))

[Ibn Haban by Shaddad Ibn Aws]

  The pure heart, Allah says:

(( The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail, Except him who brings to Allah a clean heart [clean from Shirk (polytheism) and Nifaq (hypocrisy)].))

[Ash-Shu'ara, 88-89]

 The pure heart is the one which never longs for any lust which is not approved by Allah, never believes any reporting which contradicts with the revelation, never resorts to any law other than the divine law, and never worships but Allah.

(( The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail, Except him who brings to Allah a clean heart [clean from Shirk (polytheism) and Nifaq (hypocrisy)].))

 ((a truthful tongue))

[Ibn Haban by Shaddad Ibn Aws]

 The important point is the following:

((and righteous conducts))

 There should be righteousness.

((I seek refuge in You from the evil of what You know))

[Ibn Haban by Shaddad Ibn Aws]

((I ask Your forgiveness for what you know in my wrongs))

[Ibn Haban by Shaddad Ibn Aws]

  Of my sins.

((I ask you the best of what You know))

[Ibn Haban by Shaddad Ibn Aws]

 The best of worldly life and the hereafter altogether.

((I ask you the best of what You know and I seek refuge in You from the evil of what You know))

[Ibn Haban by Shaddad Ibn Aws]

Being righteous makes you an example for sh3er to follow:

 Man sometimes misinterprets badnessthinking it is good, but in its gist it is nothing but evil.

(( and it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows but you do not know.))

[Al-Baqarah, 216]

 There is an important proselytizing purpose of uprightness. After talking about how Islam comes down to one word "uprightness", then mentioning the uprightness of the tongue, you should know that one of the remarkable purposes of uprightness is that it makes you an example for sh3er to follow and to be upright. Actions speak louder than words, so if you were trustworthy, people will learn trustworthiness from you, if you were honest, people will learn honesty from you and if you were chaste, people will learn chastity from you:

((Be righteous and you will be an example for sh3er to follow))

[Tabarani by Sumrah Ibn Jundub]

 This is a story of a disobedient Muslim patient who gave his surgeon doctor a bottle of wine as a gift after a successful surgery, but the surgeon refused it, so the patient asked him to give it as a present to someone else, to which the doctor responded: "I can't take it, nor can I give it as a present to anyone.
 This patient said: "By Allah, after a while, the refusal of this doctor to my gift (the bottle of wine) was one of the reasons behind my repentance.

((Be righteous and you will be an example for sh3er to follow))

[Tabarani by Sumrah Ibn Jundub]

 If you were keen on praying your five prayers at home, your son will abide by that, if you apologize to your wife when you wrong her, your son will learn how to apologize, and when you are upright following the path of Allah, you will teach sh3er uprightness.

((Be righteous and you will be an example for sh3er to follow))

[Tabarani by Sumrah Ibn Jundub]

Uprightness starts in the heart:

 The prophet PBUH then said:

((The faith of a man cannot be straight unless his heart is straight))

[Ahmad, by Anas Bin Malek]

 Hence, uprightness starts form the heart.

(( Verily! Allah will not change the good condition of a people as long as they do not change their state of goodness themselves (by committing sins and by being ungrateful and disobedient to Allah).))

[Al-Ra'd, 11]

 It all starts from the heart.

((The faith of a man cannot be straight unless his heart is straight.))

[Ahmad, by Anas Bin Malek]

 The heart cannot be straight unless the tongue is straight, and the tongue cannot be straight unless you refrain from committing hundreds of sins caused by one’s tongue.
Imam Al Ghazali – May Allah have mercy on his soul – counted few tens of sins which are committed by the tongue.

Definition of uprightness according to the companions:

1- Abu Bakr Assiddeeq:

 What did the companions say about uprightness? Let us start with Assiddeeq who said: "Uprightness is to refrain from worshiping anything (or anybody) with Allah". Accordingly, his point of view considered uprightness through causality. Namely, when you are a Mowahid (monotheist) you believe beyond doubt that Allah has knowledge of all your matters so you will not lie, you will not be a hypocrite, you will not take anything which doesn't belong to you and you will not transgress other's honor, so you know Allah is with you all the time because your uprightness is based on Tawheed (monotheism).

(( And He is with you (by His Knowledge) wheresoever you may be.))

[Al-Hadid, 4]

 Uprightness is a result of Tawheed according to our Master Assiddeeq, and servants of Allah have never learnt anything better than Tawheed. Why does the hypocrite blandish sh3er? It is because he believes that this powerful person he is blandishing, owns his matters, which is not true, Allah the Almighty says:

(( and to Him return all affairs (for decision). So worship Him (O Muhammad)))

[Hud, 123]

 You should believe beyond doubt that Allah will never say to you worship Me and turns over your matters to someone else.

(( and to Him return all affairs (for decision). So worship Him (O Muhammad)))

 Tawheed entails that you shouldn't consider anyone with Allah, yet you should believe beyond doubt that Allah is The Abaser and The Exalter, The All-giver and The Preventer and The The Bestower of Honor and The Humiliator. Hence according to our Master Assiddeeq, Tawheed leads you to uprightness.

2- Umar Ibn Al Khattab:

 On the other hand, our Master Umar approached this subject – so to speak- from the perception of the process of uprightness. Meaning, uprightness (according to him) is to abide by the orders and bans of the divine method, and uprightness is that Allah finds you where He ordered you to be and misses you where He prevented you from being
 Accordingly, the Wali (the pious) is not the one who can walk on water's surface, nor is he the one who can fly in the air, but the Wali is the one who is keen on Halal and Haram in all his matters, and this definition of Wali is supported in Quran in the following Ayah:

(( No doubt! Verily, the Auliya' of Allah [i.e. those who believe in the Oneness of Allah and fear Allah much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which he has forbidden), and love Allah much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)], no fear shall come upon them nor shall they grieve, - Those who believed (in the Oneness of Allah - Islamic Monotheism), and used to fear Allah much (by abstaining from evil deeds and sins and by doing righteous deeds).))

[Yunus, 62-63]

 Believe in Allah then be upright.

((Oh Messenger of Allah, say something to me about Islam which I will not ask anyone else except you." He said, "Say, 'I believe in Allah', and then be upright (remain steadfast).))

[Muslim by Sufian Ibn Abdullah Athaqafi]

 Only Umar approached uprightness from its process and he said: It is to be steadfast and keen on abiding by the divine orders and bans.

3- Uthman Ibn Affan:

 Our master Uthman approached the subject from its gist and he said: uprightness entails that you should be sincere with Allah. As I have mentioned in the lecture of "sincerity" (Ikhlas), unless you are sincere with Allah, your deeds, whether they were few or a lot, are to no avail.
 Uprightness is sincerity because the habits of the believer are acts of worship, whereas the habits of the hypocrite are sins. Hence, our master Uthman considered the heart and intentions in his approach of the subject.

4- Ali Ibn Abi Taleb:

 According to our master Ali, the definition of uprightness is outstanding, for he said: "Perform your obligatory acts of worship (Fara'ed), for your supererogatory acts of worship (Nawafel) will not be accepted unless you perform Fara'ed". You will be the best worshipper when you abide by what Allah ordered you to do.
 Therefore, every companion approached uprightness from a different point of view.

5- Al Hasan:

 Al Hasan, May Allah be pleased with him, said: uprightness is to be obedient to Allah and to avoid sinning, so it is like the definition of our Master Umar.

6- Mujahed:

 Mujahed said: uprightness is to fulfill the Shahadah (That there is no god but Allah), and it is similar to the definition of our master Assiddeeq.
 Shaikh of Islam Ibn Taymiyyah:
 Shaikh of Islam (Ibn Taymiyyah) said: The best grace is to abide by uprightness, for you are asking Allah for graces, and He asks you to be upright.

Knowing Allah is the grace of all graces:

 I for one believe that the grace of all graces is that Allah teaches you what you don't know, gives you the help to be upright, lets you know Him, and to be steadfast and keen on His orders and that is all to it.
Again, the grace of all graces is that Allah honors you to know Him and be upright on His path, for uprightness is the grace of all graces.
 Dear brother, I invoke Allah the Almighty to inspire us in doing the right thing, to help us understand our religion as it should be by a comprehension that levels up with His divine entity, to leave aside tittle-tattles and asking too much and to abide by the commands of the Oneness and the Dayyan (the Judge) (i.e. Allah).