Sincerity to Allah is The Path of Happiness

(الإخلاص لله طارق السعادة)

Sincerity to Allah is The Path of Happiness

The true wealth possessed by a servant is through obedience to his God and the effort of getting close to Him. Sincerity towards Allah is the origin of religion and the crown of deeds. It is the address of dignity, the high motivation, the balanced mind and the path of happiness. And never will a deed be completed and blessed upon except with good meaning of intention. Indeed, Allah has ordered His prophet Muhammad S.A.W. regarding ikhlas (sincerity) in more than one verse, He said:

فَاعْبُدِ اللَّهَ مُخْلِصًا لَهُ الدِّينَ

"so serve Allah, offering Him sincere devotion." ( Az-Zumar:2)

قُلْ إِنِّي أُمِرْتُ أَنْ أَعْبُدَ اللَّهَ مُخْلِصًا لَهُ الدِّينَ

"say:Verily,I am commanded to serve Allah with sincere devotion" (Az-Zumar:11)

قُلِ اللَّهَ أَعْبُدُ مُخْلِصًا لَهُ دِينِي

"say: It is Allah I serve, with My sincere (and exclusive) devotion" (Az-Zumar:14)

Therefore, acceptance of the deed comes from sincere intention, and sincere intention comes from the purified heart.

The origin of deed's acceptance in the eye of Allah is the sincerity of intention continued by mutaaba'ah (المتابعة) ie. following the traditions of the Prophet S.A.W.

Ibn Mas'ud said,

لا ينفع قول و عمل إلا بنية و لا ينفع قول و عمل و نية إلا بما وافق السنة

"Sayings and Deeds are useless without sincere intention. And Words, Deeds dan Intention are useless without abiding the sunnah (tradition) of the Prophet S.A.W. "

Sincerity is ultimate when referring to 'ibadah (submission). Ibnul Jauzi said:

ما أقل من يعمل لله تعالى خالصا لأن أكثر الناس يحبون ظهور عباداتهم

"Indeed very few of those doing deeds sincerely to Allah, because most human love to show off their deeds" (صيد الخاطر:ص251)

And Ibn Rajab said:

الرياء المحض لا يكاد يصدر من مؤمن في فرض الصلاة

و الصيام، و قد يصدر في الصدقة الواجبة أو الحخ

و غيرهما من الأعمال الظاهرة أو التي يتعدى نفعها،

فإن الإخلاص فيها عزيز، و هذا العمل لا يشك المسلم

أنه حابط، وأن صاحبه يستحق المقت من الله و العقوبة

(خامع العلوم و الحكام 1/24)

"Absolute riya' (arrogance) rarely comes from a Mu'min during the obligatory prayers and fasting. But, it occurs in zakah, pilgrimage and other deeds that is of physically seen or benefits people most. Indeed, being sincere in these types of deeds are difficult. And these insincere deeds, for a muslim, are void without doubt and the doer deserves the punishment and despise from Allah." (Jami' al-'Uloom wal Hikam)

Some scholars such as Imam al-Bukhari in his Sahih, al-Maqdisi in 'Umdatul Ahkam, al-Baghawy in Syarh as-Sunnah and Masobih as-Sunnah, and an-Nawawi in 'Arba'in Nawawiyah initiated their writings with the hadeeth of , ( إنما الأعمال بالنيات ) "Indeed every action follows the intention..", as a sign from them on the importance of sincerity in every deeds.

Sufyan athThauri stated that,

ما علجت شيئا أشد علي من نيتي، لأنها تتقلب علي

"There are no other things which are of difficult to deal with other than my intention because it keeps on changing upon me".

And actions without sincere intention to Allah S.W.T. are energy-wasted, scattered effort and rejected deed, upon the doer. Allah ta'ala is Rich and Praised. He will not accept the deed except which are of good intention (ikhlas) to Him (Praises upon Him).

Abu Umamah al-Bahili narrated:

جاءَ رَجُلٌ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ

فَقَالَ أَرَأَيْتَ رَجُلا غَزَا يَلْتَمِسُ الأَجْرَ وَالذِّكْرَ مَالَهُ

فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لا شَيْءَ لَهُ

فَأَعَادَهَا ثَلاثَ مَرَّاتٍ

يَقُولُ لَهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لا شَيْءَ لَهُ

ثُمَّ قَالَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَقْبَلُ مِنْ الْعَمَلِ إِلا مَا كَانَ لَهُ خَالِصًا

وَابْتُغِيَ بِهِ وَجْهُهُ

(رواه ابو داود و النسائي بإسناد جيد)

"A man came to the Prophet S.A.W. and asked him: "O Messenger of Allah, have u seen a man went to the battlefield seeking rewards and reputation, what is it for him (that he gets)?" The Prophet S.A.W. answered: "Nothing for him". As the man repeated three times on the same question and the Prophet replied: "Nothing for him". He then said: "Allah does not accept from the deeds except which are purely sincere for Him and seeking His pleasure. (narrated by Abu Dawud dan Nasa'ie with good chain of narration)

And in another hadeeth, the Prophet S.A.W. also mentioned,

قَالَ اللَّهُ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى أَنَا أَغْنَى الشُّرَكَاءِ عَنْ الشِّرْكِ

مَنْ عَمِلَ عَمَلًا أَشْرَكَ فِيهِ مَعِي غَيْرِي تَرَكْتُهُ وَشِرْكَهُ

(رواه مسلم)

"Allah said, I am absolutely needless of associates, whoever do deeds and put another associate with me, I will leave him with the associate (which he associated Allah's with)" (Narrated by Muslim)

Translated by Ahmad Syarief Ibn Fadhli

Assisted by Arabian comrades in Kulliyyah of Engineering, IIUM.

From the book 'Paths To Happiness' by Dr. Abdul Muhsin Ibn Muhammad alQaasim.

خطوات إلى السعادة – د. عبد المحسن بن محمد القاسم

إمام و جطيب المسجد النبوي و القاضي بالمحكمة العامة