Importance of Sincerity - Shaykh Wajid Malik

Opening — Praise and Salutations

In the name of Allah, we praise Him, we ask for His help, we ask for His forgiveness, we believe in Him and we put our trust in Him, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and the evil of our deeds. Whom Allah guides, no one can misguide, and whom He misguides, no one can guide. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner.

And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. Dear brothers and sisters in Islam, indeed, all praise is due to Allah alone, the One who is truly worthy of all praise. We praise Allah — to Allah belongs the most beautiful names which He has chosen for Himself, and attributes of complete perfection which befit His greatness and majesty.

And whilst we praise Allah, we acknowledge our deficiency in praising Allah as He deserves to be praised. Allah is as He has praised Himself. And indeed, all thanks is due to Allah alone, the One who is the source of all blessings.

And peace and salutations upon the Messenger of Allah, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, whom Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sent as a mercy to all of the alameen.

The Importance of the Actions of the Heart

Dear brothers and sisters in Islam, there is no doubt about the importance of the actions of the heart. They are far more important than the actions of the limbs.

One of the scholars said a statement which I would care to share with you. He said that he would sit and teach only this — nothing else. Because of what? Because people don't know the ahkam of the heart.

The ahkam of the heart — as Ibn al-Qayyim says — the actual essence of actions is the action which stems from the heart. The actions of the limbs are only the follow-up of what originates from the heart. And verily, the intention is like the soul, and the action itself is like the body. And then he says: if the soul leaves the body, what will happen to the body? It will die. The same way that the intention — the good intention — if it leaves the action, the action is like that dead body.

What is Sincerity (Ikhlas)?

Brothers and sisters, this action of the heart which we're talking about — sincerity — it is not something which is easily achieved. Al-Tustari was asked, what is the most difficult thing for the nafs? He said: sincerity. So they said to him, why? He said: the man who is doing the action with sincerity — the soul has nothing from it.

In fact, if we look at Sufyan al-Thawri, he says this beautiful statement: "I never remedied anything that was more difficult for me than my intention — because it kept changing."

What is the status of ikhlas in the deen? The ulema said that it is, in fact, the essence of the religion. And it is the da'wah of the Rusul. This is what the Messengers called to. They were not ordered except to worship Allah, making the religion sincerely for Him.

Allah's Messenger ﷺ — what was he ordered to say?

"Say, indeed, my prayer and my sacrificing and my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the Alamin. He has no partners or rivals. And it is that with which I have been ordered, and I am the first to submit to Allah."

So, brothers and sisters, consider the importance of sincerity. The dabit is that when we do any action, the intention for the action is that we are doing it sincerely for Allah and nobody besides Allah — not so that somebody will see the action or hear of the action and thereby praise me, or say something about me, or that I should fear some harm from them. None of those things. It is for Allah alone.

And this is why some of the scholars said that a person should hide his good deeds just like he hides his bad deeds. Which one of us goes and promotes his bad deeds? None of us. Yet when it comes to our good deeds, we spoil our actions because we promote them.

The Merit of Good Deeds — Three Examples

Dear brothers and sisters in Islam, what is the merit of good deeds? Let us look at three hadith that Allah's Messenger ﷺ mentioned.

The Hadith of the Bitaqa (Card)

On the authority of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As, he says: Allah's Messenger ﷺ said: Allah will choose a man from my ummah and He will place him before all of the people on the Day of Resurrection. And then this man will be presented with his actions. These actions will be in the form of 99 registers, and in the narration it mentions that these registers will be as far as the eye can see.

And then it will be said to him: he will look at his actions. And Allah will ask him: "Do you reject any of these actions? Are any of these actions not yours?" And He will ask, "Did the scribes who wrote everything down make dhulm on you?" And the man will acknowledge everything that is there. Then Allah will ask him: "Do you have any excuse for the bad actions that you have done?" The man will say there is none. Then Allah will ask, "Is there any other good action that you have?" And the man will say: this is all there is.

And then Allah will say: "Verily, you have one hasana — one good deed. There will be no dhulm this day; you will be given correct measure." And then this card will be presented. The man will say to himself: what is this one card in comparison to these 99 registers of bad deeds? It is not comparable. And then they will be put on the balance — and when they are put on the balance, the card will outweigh the 99 registers which are as far as the eye can see.

What will be written on this bitaqa? The shahada. That is what will be written. So this one action will outweigh all of those bad deeds.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, when he discusses this hadith, says: not everybody who says the shahada will have a shahada as potent as this man's shahada. What is the important element which has caused this one action to outweigh 99 registers?

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2639 — graded Hasan Sahih)

The Woman Who Gave a Dog Water

About the woman who gave a dog water to drink — she found a dog standing around a well, licking the ground from thirst. So she descended into the well, filled her shoe with water, brought it up, and gave the dog water to drink. So it drank the water. As a result of that, she was forgiven all of her sins.

This woman was no ordinary woman. She was, as the narration mentions, a woman from the women of the night — and the actions of the women of the night are not good actions; they are evil actions. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah says: is the state of every single evil woman, if she gives a thirsty dog water to drink, going to be the same — that all of her sins will be forgiven? No, it is not. There is something within her action which caused it to be accepted before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3467; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2245)

The Man Who Removed a Thorny Branch

And also the story of a man who saw in the path of the people a branch which had thorns on it. So he removed the branch. And as a result, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala thanked him and gave him a reward — the reward of Jannah.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1914)

What is the important element in all of these examples? All of these people had a level of sincerity. That sincerity caused their action — which was only a single action — to land them in Jannah.

The Condition of Sincerity for Actions to be Accepted

We do so many actions nowadays — day and night we are trying to do actions, especially the Muslim who is keen, because he believes in Allah and he believes in the Last Day, and he knows that he will stand before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that he will be judged and that his actions will be looked at. So what does he do? He makes an effort. So all of us are making efforts. But for those efforts to be potent — for those actions to be accepted — there is a condition. And that condition is sincerity. And the higher the level of sincerity, the more acceptable the action.

Therefore, we should make an effort to make our actions sincere. So the question we ask ourselves is: how does one make their actions sincere?

Allah's Messenger ﷺ told us that a man will pray and maybe he will receive only half the reward of the prayer. And another man will pray and receive a third of the reward of the prayer. And another man will pray and he will receive a quarter of the reward of the prayer. Because of the lack of sincerity.

I want my actions and your actions to have a potency which will cause the actions that we did to land us in Jannah — after the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

How to Achieve Sincerity — Six Means

1. Du'a — Supplication

First and foremost: du'a — the weapon of the believer. We should ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make our actions sincere. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala enjoined upon us sincerity, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tests our actions to see which of us is best in action. When we look at the statement of Surah al-Mulk, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, to test which of you is best in actions.

Al-Fudayl ibn 'Iyad was asked, what is this testing of good actions? He said: the most sincere and the most correct. That is the condition for an action to be accepted. The more sincere the action, the better the chance it has to be accepted. And the more accurate the action is in accordance to what Allah has revealed, the more it is going to be accepted. Both of those conditions have to be found.

So how do I make my actions sincere? First of all, with du'a. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make my actions sincere. In fact, look at Umar ibn al-Khattab — he used to say:

"O Allah, make all of my actions good actions, and make all of them for Your face only, and don't make any of them for anybody beside You, O Allah." This is Umar ibn al-Khattab — asking Allah to make his actions sincerely for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So we should be taking a leaf from his book and asking Allah: "O Allah, whenever I do an action, help me to make it sincerely for You alone."

I remember reading somewhere about Shaykh Ibn Ma'az. He said: "From the age of 12, I never did an action except that it was for Allah's sake." How many actions are we doing day and night? Do we think about whether our actions are sincerely for Allah? How sincere is it? Are all my doings ones that the people will see — or that it will be heard that I did this action and people will praise me?

And how many times do we leave an action because we think somebody is watching us — "I don't want to do this action because they're watching me, they might think I'm showing off." That is also shirk. Because you leave the action for the sake of people.

2. Hiding Our Good Deeds

The next thing is to hide our actions. When you do an action, don't broadcast it. How often do we do a good deed — for example, we might stand one night in prayer, performing two rakat for Allah's sake — but in the morning when we get up, everybody in the neighbourhood has heard that we stood that night. Then who did we do the action for? For Allah? Or so that it will be said and people will praise us?

Allah's Messenger ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 660; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1031)

"Seven will be under the shade of Allah on the day when there is no shade except His shade." One such man is the one who gives sadaqah — charity — and when he gives it, he gives such that his right hand gave what his left hand did not know. He was giving it and he hid it. The idea is that we should hide our actions and not broadcast them. This way they will be sincere — we are not expecting praise from people, nor are we afraid of people.

3. Emulating the Righteous

Also, one of the means by which we can make our actions sincere is that we should look at the actions of the righteous and try to emulate them. Allah Ta'ala orders us:

Allah gives us the example of the anbiya and the righteous in the Qur'an, and He says: those people who are alluded to in the Qur'an with righteous actions — they were the ones whom Allah guided. فَبِهُدَاهُمُ اقْتَدِهْ — "So therefore, take guidance from their guidance." Learn from them. Look at their actions and emulate them.

And you know, when it comes to righteousness and being righteous, maybe sometimes we are misled into thinking that we are righteous because we did an action. But look at what Imam al-Shafi'i used to say:

"I love the righteous people, the salihin, but I am not from amongst them."

4. Belittling Our Own Actions (Ihtiqar al-'Amal)

This brings us on to the other point, which is ihtiqar al-'amal — that when we look at our actions, we should never think, "Oh wow, they are great," and have ujb (self-admiration) towards our actions, thereby misleading ourselves. Because we don't know what Allah will accept. It may be that we do something and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala did not accept it — but in our sight, it is something great.

In fact, Sa'id ibn Jubayr mentions a statement:

"A man entered Jannah because of a sin, and a man entered the Hellfire because of a good action." You would say, surely the khatib has got it the wrong way round — but no. He then explains: a man did a bad action, a sin. So he was fearful of that sin.

Because of that sin, he feared Allah and the meeting with Allah and what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would punish him with. And as a result, when he met Allah, Allah forgave him because of that khawf. So the sin entered him into Jannah. As for the other man — he did a righteous action:

He then became proud about that action — he was impressed with his own action to the extent that when he met Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, Allah punished him for that good action. So whenever we do any action, we should look down on our action and we shouldn't feel content and complacent because of our good actions. The Salaf used to say: if Allah were to accept one action from us, we would desire death — but nobody knows.

5. Fearing That Our Actions May Not Be Accepted

Also, from amongst the asbab we should take, is fearing that our action is not going to be accepted. We have no guarantees that a person will do an action and it will be accepted.

In fact, look at the hadith of the three who will be brought on the Day of Judgment — all of them having done righteous actions. One of them died for Allah's sake, or so he claims — he made jihad for the sake of Allah and was martyred. Another man memorized the Qur'an. And another man spent from his wealth copiously. Yet their actions will be rejected — why? Because of the lack of sincerity.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1905)

The one who died fighting will be asked about his action. He will say: "O Allah, I fought for Your sake." Allah will say: "You lied. You fought so that it would be said about you that you are brave — and so it was said." The one who memorized the Qur'an will come, and Allah will ask him about his action. He will say: "O Allah, I memorized the Qur'an for Your sake." And Allah will say: "You lied. You memorized the Qur'an so it would be said about you that you are one who recites the Qur'an — and so the people said it." Then he will be dragged on his face into the Hellfire. And the third man — who spent a great deal of wealth — when Allah asks him about it, he will say: "O Allah, I spent it in Your path." Allah will say: "You lied. You spent it so that people would say you are generous." See how all of these actions are rejected? They are all good actions — but all of them rejected.

So there are no guarantees with actions. A person should always fear that their action is not going to be accepted. And this is why the believer is like the bird who has two wings — one wing is the wing of raja' (hope) that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will accept their actions and forgive them, and the other is khawf (fear). To have sincerity, we should also fear that our actions may not be accepted.

6. Not Being Affected by People's Praise or Blame

Also, from amongst the asbab we should take, is that we shouldn't be impressed by what people say or do. Often we are motivated by what people say. Somebody says something good about us — we are so keen: "Say more! Say more about it!" And when somebody says something bad to us or about us, we are sad and we grieve and we think that they should stop. Why? Because we don't have sincerity. And this is why the best friend — the sincere friend — is the one who will tell you what you need to hear but don't want to hear.

So brothers and sisters, don't be bothered about what people say. What we should always think is: this person who is praising me, or this person who is blaming me — what can they do for me? On the Day of Judgment, they have nothing in their control. They cannot enter me into Paradise nor can they cause me to be punished. They are slaves of Allah just as I am a slave of Allah. So don't allow people to have an impact upon you because of what they say. Do what is right between you and Allah, and leave what is between you and the people to Allah.

The Grave and Our Final Account

Also, brothers and sisters, we should bear in mind that when we go into the grave, we will be alone and there will be nobody else with us. All those who are praising us and all those who are blaming us — they will not be with us to help us or protect us. The only things that we will take with us are our actions. As Allah's Messenger ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6514; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2960)

"Three things will follow the dead — two will return, and one will remain with him. His family, his wealth, and his actions follow him. His family and his wealth will return, and only his actions will remain with him." The only thing. And if those actions are sincere, then the person has been successful — he is from the fa'izeen. And if they are rejected, then he is from the losers.

Conclusion — Sincerity is the Key to Success

Brothers and sisters, when it comes to our actions, these actions are only going to be accepted when they are sincere and they are in accordance to what Allah has revealed. So let us — before we do every and any action — think about the action: am I doing it for Allah alone, or am I doing it for people? And let us correct our intentions so that Allah will accept our actions.

Wretched is the man who will stand before Allah on the Day of Judgment, having toiled in this dunya, only to find that all of his actions are worth nothing because he didn't do them sincerely for Allah's sake.

Be like the man who, when he ate, his intention was to eat to become strong enough to worship Allah. Whilst everybody eats — but his intention was to become strong enough to worship Allah, and Allah gave him a reward for that. Be like the man who slept with the intention that this will give his body rest so that he will be strong enough to worship Allah. And then your sleep will become worship, and your action will become worship, and your sitting will become worship, and your standing will become worship, and your speaking will become worship, and your silence will become worship.

Brothers and sisters — sincerity in actions is the key to success.

We ask Allah to make us a people who, when we hear the truth, recognise it to be true and give us the ability to act upon it. And also make us a people who, when we hear falsehood, recognise it to be false and give us the ability to avoid it.