Importance Of Sincerity

Allah (‘azza wa jal; The Possessor of Complete Glory and Majesty) reminds us in the Glorious Qur’an: “Say, "Indeed my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds. No partner has He. And this I have been commanded, and I am the first (among you) of the Muslims." [Surah al-An’aam 6:162;163]

Jundub (radiAllahu’anhu; may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ; peace be upon him) said: “Whoever talks about his good deeds (to show off), Allah will expose him (on the Day of Resurrection), and whoever makes a (hypocritical) display, Allah will make a display of him.” [Bukhari and Muslim]

Ikhlaas (sincerity) underpins the acceptance of all our deeds. In defining Ikhlaas, Al-Jurjaani (rahimuhullah; may Allah have mercy on him) - said ”it is not to seek any audience for your deeds other than Allah”. The importance of Ikhlaas has been emphasized repeatedly in the Qur’an and sunnah, perhaps through the knowledge that we inherently find it difficult to keep our intentions pure. As if the challenge was not significant enough, we now have social media outlets to test us even further, with many people posting their every move on forums such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, etc. for the world to see, and ‘like’ and marvel over, hence taking away from the deed that may have been rewarding.

Some tips that scholars have spoken about in helping a person remain sincere are as follows:

- He/she should not do that deed so that other people can see him/her or hear about him/her.

- He/she should not focus too much on people’s praise or criticism.

- Concealing his/her good deeds and keeping them secret should be dearer to him/her than doing them openly.

- He/she should always think of themself as falling short, and should not attribute any good deeds to themselves, and he/she should realise that all blessings come from Allah, and were it not for Allah, may He be exalted, he/she would have no success.

- He/she should pray a great deal for forgiveness (istighfaar) after doing the deed, because he/she feels that he/she has fallen short.

So we should be mindful of the above when striving in the way of Allah, and ensure that we do not nullify our deeds by compromising our sincerity. We ask Allah to make our intentions for Him alone, and accept our deeds even with their shortcomings, Ameen.