Sincerity in Islam

Sincerity in Islam

Abida Rahmani

Sincerity is the most important factor in doing and accomplishing any task perfectly and diligently. If there is no sincere intention then the task is just a show off. It is the same with all the matters related to our religion Islam. If there is no sincerity in Ibadas e.g: Prayers , Fast, Zakaat and Hajj. Then there is no value and reward for us. Allah ( SWT) will not accept such deeds because it was merely a show off. Sincerity in Islam is related to all the rituals of day to day life and dealings with our family ,friends, neighbours, our work place ,businesses and all the people we deal with.

This is called (Huququl Ibaad) Rights of the people  . Then there are (Huququl Allah) the rights of Allah (SWT) on us. For a Muslim his whole life is a worship ( Ibadah) if the intention is sincerity and pleasure of Allah and no worldly benefit.

In Quran Allah says,

وَمَآ أُمِرُوٓاْ إِلَّا لِيَعۡبُدُواْ ٱللَّهَ مُخۡلِصِينَ لَهُ ٱلدِّينَ حُنَفَآءَ وَيُقِيمُواْ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَيُؤۡتُواْ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ‌ۚ وَذَٲلِكَ دِينُ ٱلۡقَيِّمَةِ (٥)

And they were ordered that they should worship Allah with sincerity towards religion , focused

and establish prayer  and give charity and this is the right way of following deen. Al bayeena 5

Thus we are commanded to perform our religious acts, what

compose our religion for us, based on sincerity.  This is what Allah

has commanded us.  This is the foundation of our faith. In one of

the statement of prophet (SAWS), He (S) said, Whoever says 'La ilaha

ill aalah' will enter paradise.  He made a general statement, but he

further clarified his statement by saying whoever says 'La ilaha

illaalah' sincerely from his heart will enter paradise.  Hence, once

the true faith has entered your heart, it will never go.  You may do

wrong, may go astray sometimes but once you have tasted the reality

of faith, it causes you to be sincere in all your deeds; and this

sincerity will inshAllah, ultimately make you attain paradise.

while working with cause of Allah (Dawaa) sincerity is the basic principal. A preacher (Daee) or worker of deen  struggles towards the pleasure of Allah ( SWT)which should be his only objective. There should not be any intention of a worldly reward, praise or appreciation. The only reward should be sought from Allah (SWT). In Quran it has been narrated in many places about Prophets (AS),

They used to tell their people, “I do not seek any reward from you (from my invitation to you towards deen and path of Allah). Infact my reward is on my Rabb who is the care taker of the whole universe.

This is the weakness of human nature that when he does some thing exceptionally good, he seeks recognition, appreciation & admiration. These acts are generally rewarding and fulfilling and one gets a lot of encouragement. These should not lead to pride and arrogance.

One who strives for the cause of Allah his prime goal should be only the pleasure of Allah (SWT).

If we think that Allah is watching us all the time in each & every situation, then there is a sincerity in intentions.

The famous Hadith about sincerity in intention is

The Prophet  (Sws) said:  Actions are

only by intention, and every man shall only have what he

intended.  Thus he whose hijra  (migration)was for the sake of Allah and

His Messenger, his hijra was for Allah and His Messenger, and

he whose hijra was to achieve some worldly benefit or to take

some woman in marriage, his hijra was for that for which he

made hijra.(bukhari)

       

        This hadith clearly indicates that ones actions are

accepted by Allah (swt) only if they are done with the right

intention, i.e. truly for the sake of Allah (swt).  This brings

us to a very important aspect of  the religion of islaam - the

concept of Sincerity.  The arabic word used for this is 'Ikhlass'. 

What is meant by sincerity in Islam, is to ensure that all of our

deeds of worship and other matters are solely for Allah (swt) and

to gain His pleasure.  Hence, sincerity is a condition for the

acceptance of our deeds that are performed in accordance to the

sunnah of Prophet (S).

 A heart that lacks sincerity is, from an Islamic point of view,

the worst of hearts.  It is the heart of a hypocrite, or the heart of

the enemy of Allah.

In Islam, this sincerity is not an

easy thing to achieve.    As someone said: It is much harder for the

people to purify their intentions than to execute any of their actions

In order to be truly sincere, one has to give up the worldly desires,

and devote himself to the love of Allah (swt).  He has to contemplate

on the next world, that is to come and this would leave no place in

his heart for the love of this world.  Such a person should be devout

in his actions, even in eating, drinking and answering the calls of

nature.  Without that it is very difficult for a person to be really

sincere to Allah (swt).

        Many a times, it so happens that we think that our actions

are for Allah (swt), but in reality, they are lacking sincerity. 

Here is a story of a man who used to stand in the first row for

every salat.  As the prophet (S) mentioned on one of the hadith that

if people knew the reward of standing in the first row and calling the

Adhan, they would fight one another to perform these acts.  But once

it so happened, that this man was late for prayers and had to stand in

the second row. He felt embarrassed that people would see him in the

second row, and it was then that he realized that the satisfaction he

used to get from standing in the first row was from people seeing him

in the first row and his sincerity in doing this act was impure.  This

is just a small example of how our sincerity towards our Lord is

unsafe from being impure.

        It is very important that we realize the gravity of this

situation in this world.  Because if we don’'t, then on the day of

Resurrection, these very deeds of ours ,that we thought to be good

will appear as bad deeds.  As Allah says in the quran: ‘

        And something will come to them from Allah which they had

never anticipated, for the evil of their deeds will become apparent

to them.                                                (39: 47-48)

       

 The Prophet mentioned that,the Sahabah, the best generation of this ummah, were afraid of being

insincere and hypocrites.  Imam Bukhari mentioned on the authority of

Abu Maleeka that he said: ‘ I met thirty of the companions of

Muhammed (Saws), every one of them fears for himself from hypocrisy.’

     In Islam, principles cover everything and concept of

sincerity is required in all aspects of our lives.  For example, there

is no way we can be sincere to Allah and not be sincere to out fellow

Muslims.  Worshiping Allah sincerely necessitates dealing properly

and justly with other Muslims.

        Now let us look at some examples from the seerah of Prophet(Saws)

and the Sahabah ( companions), as to how sincere they were.  For example, during the

battle of Tabuk when the call for Jihad was made, some people came to

the Prophet (S) and wanted to join in the Jihad; however due to lack

of sufficient resources, there was no opportunity for them to join in

the Jihad.  Hence, these people turned away by the Prophet (S). It is

described in the quran that they left with tears in their eyes. This

was the sincerity of these people, for their deen.  They knew that

they are dealing with their Lord who was the owner of their lives and

wealth, for the ever lasting life in the hereafter.  This is why they

had no problem in giving their lives for the sake of Allah (swt). 

Who amongst us would cry because he could not go to Jihad, where his

life is in danger twenty four hours a day?  When we look at the lives

of these people, it tells us where we really stand in terms of our

imaan, and informs us of the states of our hearts.

        Another example is of a bedouine, who when he became Muslim

went to Jihad.  When, after the jihad he was offered some booty

gained from the war, he replied that he didn't make the oath of

allegiance for the booty, but to find an arrow in his heart and to 

die to achieve Paradise. 

 It is due to this very sincerity whatever a believer does, it becomes an act of righteousness.  How can

we achieve this sincerity? By looking at the life of the Prophet (S)

and the Sahabah, and by reflecting on those ayaats and ahadith that

remind us of sincerity.  For example, those ayaats in which Allah’s

 attributes of being the All-Seeing, All-Knowing and All-Hearing are

mentioned. Whatever we do and whatever intention we perform those

deeds with, Allah knows it all.  There is nothing that we can hide.

        One important thing that will make us sincere to Allah is

keeping away from pride and arrogance. It is this sin of pride and

arrogance that was committed by Iblees, the shaitan.  Although he knew

Allah better than all of us, he still disobeyed Him due to his arrogance

and pride.  Pride is the thing that makes us perform deeds, to show off

to others rather than for the sake of Allah (swt). We should not only

try to avoid this pride in ourselves, but also, if we see it in others

we should advise them and inform them about its consequences.

        Finally  we should seek know-ledge of our religion of Islaam.  The more we learn about Allah and

His deen, the more closer we will get towards our Lord.  We will love

Him more, fear Him more, and will hope in Him to forgive our sins and

enter us into Paradise. Our intentions and our work should base solely on sincerity and not on Riya or show off.