The Dopamine Trap: How to Keep Your Intentions Clean

The Dopamine Trap: How to Keep Your Intentions Clean

If you did every single act of worship on earth — you gave zakah and sadaqah and you fasted and you prayed and you prayed the night prayer and you built masajid and you built hospitals and you built schools and you did everything on earth — but you did not have a sincere intention to please Allah, it is nothing on the Day of Judgment. It will be nothing.

In the world that we live in, there is a huge focus on productivity. How many deeds can I do? سبحان الله سبحان الله سبحان الله. You see the guys with the electronic clickers, the buttons on their fingers — tap tap tap tap tap tap. It's all about the quantity. How can I show other people what I'm doing?

But the Prophet ﷺ informs us:

Allah does not look at your image, nor your bodies, but He looks at your hearts and your deeds. (Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2564)

What Made Abu Bakr as-Siddiq So Special?

Many of us might wonder — what is it that made Abu Bakr as-Siddiq رضي الله عنه so special? What is it that made him the companion of the Prophet in the cave of Thawr? Why did he choose him as his companion for the journey? What made him the person to succeed Prophet Muhammad ﷺ after he passed away? What was special about this man?

One day when Umar ibn al-Khattab was asked this question, he said: Abu Bakr as-Siddiq رضي الله عنه was not special because of the quantity of prayer, the quantity of fasting, or the amount of charity that he gave. No. It was not the quantity of his deeds, but it was the weight of his sincerity in his heart. When he did one small deed, his sincerity was the size of Mount Uhud.

This World or the Next?

Allah reminds us about this in the Quran. Whoever desires — their motive, their reason for doing what they do every day — is that they want something from this world, they can have it. No problem. But if you only work for this world, if that's your only intention, your only desire is to keep up appearances, to look good to others, to get a bit of cash, to get a bit of wealth, to get some status, to get some prestige — if that's the only thing you want, you can have it in this world and you can suffer in the afterlife.

But whoever desires the afterlife, and every deed — from the food they eat to the brushing of their teeth — the intention is to please Allah and to gain the afterlife, and they work hard for the afterlife, those people will see their reward in the afterlife.

It's all about why we do what we do. Not how many things we do, not what we do — but it's about the intention.

Judged by Intentions, Not Actions Alone

The Prophet ﷺ informed us that when he talks about the end of times, he says that an army will come and attack the Kaaba, and a lot of people will die — but they will be brought back to life based on their intentions, not based on their actions.

Usually, what moves us, what makes us do what we do — the intention always comes from what we desire. Who are you wanting to please? What do we want to gain? And the only way to make the brushing of your teeth, and the sleeping at night, and the eating of food, and spending time with your family — every one of those things — an act of Ibadah, an act of worship, not an act of Aadah, not a random deed — there's only one thing: you need to remember one minute, one moment before you do the deed — why am I doing it?

The Foundation of Sincerity: Love and Fear of Allah

For us to be sincere, we have to increase the love of Allah and the fear of Allah's punishment. When somebody loves somebody else, they will go out of their way for them — they will sweat for them, they will get gifts for them, they will sacrifice for them — because of the love they have for this person. It's no different in our relationship with Allah.

Nobody can have a relationship with Allah without love of Allah and fear of Allah in their heart. Nobody can have sincerity — Ikhlas — without love of Allah and the fear of Allah in their heart.

But what will make you love Allah and what will make you fear Allah? The way that we love Allah is by realizing what Allah has done for us and the blessings He has given us. Allah says: if you count the blessings of Allah, never would you be able to count.

Allah says people love so many things in life, and sometimes they love it so much they make it equal to Allah — but the true believers love Allah more than anything else, more than anyone else.

If you put your hand on your heart and you feel the beating, the pulsating of your heart on your chest — remember who is making that heartbeat. Remember who is making that blood flow across your bloodstream. Remember the eyes with which you are seeing me now — who created the lens? Who allowed the light to penetrate? Who allowed your pupil to work so you could see me? Who allowed your eardrums to process the sound so you can hear me? Who created every inch of your body, and to whom you are indebted in every moment?

It is none other than Allah Azza wa Jalla. And if you reflect on His blessings and you reflect on His creation, it is impossible for you to reach anywhere else except the love of Allah.

What Should Make Us Fear Allah

What about the fear of Allah? It is enough for me to tell you that if you did every single act of worship on earth — you gave zakah and sadaqah and you fasted and you prayed and you prayed the night prayer and you built masajid and you built hospitals and you built schools and you did everything on earth — but you did not have a sincere intention to please Allah, it is nothing on the Day of Judgment. It will be dust. It will be nothing.

It is enough for me to tell you that the Prophet ﷺ informed us that the first three people to be thrown into the Fire:

The first is somebody who said, "I am fighting for the sake of Allah" — they claimed — but they only did it so someone could say, "Look at that brave man." The second person to be thrown into the Fire is someone who used to recite the Quran, but they did it only to be called a reciter. The third is somebody who used to be a scholar, but they did it only to be appreciated, to get the attention of people. And so they will be the first to be thrown into the Fire.

Nobody wants to taste that place — that pit, that dungeon — with the pus and the bones and the heat. Nobody wants to go there. But the only thing that ended them up there is just one thing: they didn't have the right intention.

We know that every deed has two conditions for acceptance: the sincerity of intention, and that the action should be in accordance with the practice of the Prophet ﷺ. And if we come to Allah with deeds the size of mountains but no sincerity, that action is going nowhere. This is enough to create fear, to create caution, to create worry in our heart.

Ibrahim Alayhis Salam: Even the Greatest Were Worried

Imagine Prophet Ibrahim عليه السلام — the father of all the prophets, one of the greatest messengers of Allah — and he is doing one of the greatest deeds: he is building the Kaaba, the house of Allah. Imagine if you were as great as Ibrahim عليه السلام, doing as great a deed as building the Kaaba with his son — and guess what? While he's building the Kaaba, he is worried. He is scared. And as he finishes building the Kaaba, he raises his hands to the heavens:

"Oh Allah, I'm not sure if my deed will be accepted — please accept it from me."

"Oh Allah, protect me and my children from worshipping idols." How is a prophet scared of worshipping idols? How is a prophet worried that his deed will not be accepted by Allah? These were the ways of the righteous — when they would do whatever they did, they would be worried: Am I being sincere? Am I truly doing this for Allah?

Even Umar ibn al-Khattab Feared Hypocrisy

This is the way of Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه. He runs across the city of Medina, knocks on the door of Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman's house and says to him: "I know that the Prophet ﷺ gave you a list of hypocrites — munafiqeen. I don't want to know who's on the list. Just tell me — am I on the list?"

One of the greatest signs of sincerity is always doubting your sincerity. Never be sure. Never feel safe. Always worry. I don't know — if I sleep at night and my soul were to be taken, where will I wake up? I don't know if my deeds were accepted by Allah.

The Test of Social Media

One of the biggest tests of our time is the test of social media. Everything you do — you go to the Kaaba, you have to take a video. You're making du'a, someone has to take a picture of you making du'a with the right lighting and the right angle. Nothing can be done anymore, because if it's not showcased, did it even happen?

If a couple — a husband and wife — are going out to eat food, this is a great act of worship. They can't digest the food until the photo has been taken and posted on Snapchat and Instagram and everybody's seen it and liked it — them holding hands while eating dessert. Otherwise, it never happened. If you didn't share it, it doesn't exist.

This is the sickness that we've inherited. And you know what happens with this sickness — the sickness of sharing before you experience, the sickness of needing to share every single thing in your life, even the private acts of worship — is that sincerity finishes. There is no sincerity anymore. You don't know if the couple went out to eat because they wanted the views on TikTok, or they went out to eat because they love each other. You don't know if this person is praying salah because they enjoy praying salah, or because there's a video recording the beauty of the recitation.

You don't know anymore. We are a generation that's losing sincerity and selling it to TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts for a little bit of clicks, a little bit of likes, a little bit of follows.

The Du'a of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq

When somebody used to praise Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, he used to make a beautiful du'a to help protect him from being obsessed with the attention of people. He used to say:

"Oh Allah, do not account me for what they said. Forgive me for the things they don't know. And make me better than what they expect."

Do You Have Any Private Deeds?

One of the greatest ways to improve your sincerity in a time where everything is shared and everything is publicized and everything has to be vlogged and posted — I leave you with this question:

هل لك سرٌّ عند الله؟ — Do you have any private deeds that only you and Allah know about?

A private charity that nobody saw — that went from your right hand when nobody was looking. In the darkness of the night, nobody knows you woke up and prayed two rakahs. You transferred to a friend of yours or a relative some money because you knew they were struggling. Nobody saw. Nobody knew.

These secret deeds — these are the deeds you'll find waiting for you. You thought it was one pound; you reach the Day of Judgment and it's a mountain. You say: "How did my one pound become a mountain?" It was your sincerity. It wasn't the quantity.

You went and you gave your mum a call. You sent her a message with a flower emoji. You thought this flower emoji was a small little thing you did on a Friday afternoon. You go on the Day of Judgment and you see this flower emoji was a mountain of Uhud — not because of the size of the emoji, but because of the sincerity with which you did it.

The Secret Deeds of Umar ibn al-Khattab

One day, the companions used to follow Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه around to see what he gets up to. One day they saw him — in a suburb of Medina, he went kilometers, miles, walking outside of Medina — and he finds an old lady with no food. He serves her, he brings meat for her, he helps her, he gives milk to her children, and he leaves. Nobody knows he came. Nobody knows he went. Nobody knows. He is Amir al-Mu'minin — but even the leader of the believers needs secret deeds that are only between him and Allah.

Conclusion

In the life that we live, we do so many deeds — but not every one of them will we see on the Day of Judgment. Let us build the sincerity. Let us build the love and fear of Allah. Let us build the secret deeds. And let us remember — whether we are brushing our teeth or sleeping at night — one moment spent remembering why I am doing this might just be the difference between the Fire and the gardens of Paradise.