In one of the battles that the Muslims waged
against the Romans, the Muslims, under the commandment of Maslamah Rahimahullah,
surrounded a city that had a tall and well-fortified wall. The siege went on for
months.
Then one night, one of the Muslim soldiers came to General
Maslamah and told him of a hole that he had accomplished to make through the
wall. "It is only large enough for a slim soldier." He knelt closer. "Quickly,
send with me someone who can squeeze through and fight the army on the inside
until he has opened the gates for all of us to enter."
Maslamah sent out
the news and that night someone volunteered. In a sweeping assault, the gate was
opened and the Muslims were victorious.
Maslamah, overwhelmed with
happiness, sent out the word that the soldier who entered the hole should come
forward. No one showed. A day passed and the request was repeated. Another day
passed, and then another. No one arrived to take credit.
On the fourth
day, a soldier approached Maslamah; his face wrapped in a scarf. He said to him,
"I have news of the soldier that entered the hole."
Maslamah sat up
sharp, "Tell me who it is?"
"First, however," said the soldier, "he has
three conditions before exposing himself. Do you agree to this?"
"Of
course," Maslamah said.
"The first is that you do not try to compensate
him for what he did. The second is that you do not tell anyone who he is. And
the third is that you shall not ask for his presence ever again. Do you agree to
these conditions?"
"It is agreed," Maslamah said.
The soldier,
uncovering his scarf, said, "It is I. I went through that hole only for the sake
of Allah." Then, turning, he walked away.
After that day, Maslamah was
often heard praying to Allah, "O Allah, (on the Day of Resurrection) grant me
companionship with the soldier of the hole."
Sometimes at an Islamic
school, there are children who pray at the back, but the actions are better
described as 'playing' (no, not with a lisp). Then when the head master, or
whoever they consider to have authority above them approaches, they all stand
erect in complete devotion.
They are children and Allah will not take
them to account. However, there are many adults that do this exact thing but on
a more serious scale. The ingredient that we all need to work on throughout our
lives as Muslims is ikhlaas (sincerity); in sha Allah, that shall be our topic
for today.
Sincerity in all we do is a commandment of Allah.
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" (An‘aam 6/162-163).
In another place, Allah says:
And they were not commanded except
to worship Allah, sincere to Him in religion, inclining to truth, and to
establish prayer and to give zakah. That is the correct deen (Al-Bayyinah 98/5).
In defining ikhlaas, Al-Jurjaani rahimahullah said that it is to not
seek any audience for your deeds other than Allah.
When one looks over
the text of the Qur'an and Sunnah, they will come to the realization that Allah
ta'aala and His Messenger sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam speak about sincerity in
different aspects:
- Sincerity in Tawheed of Allah
• Sincerity
in our Intentions
• Sincerity in our Worship (salah, sujood, fasting,
standing in Ramadan, standing in the night of Qadr)
• Sincere love for
the masjid, zakah, sadaqah, Hajj, jihaad, repentance, supplications, recitation
of the Qur'an, and so much more
The Qur'an and Sunnah speak about:
- Sincerity in all our verbal statements
• Sincerity in our
defined and upright akhlaaq (character)
• Sincerity in our tawakkul
(placing of our trust) in Allah
Allah
subhaanahu wa ta'aala said:
He who created death and life to test you
[as to] which of you is best in deed (Al-Mulk 67/2).
Commenting on this
verse, Al-Fudayl ibn ‘Iyaadh rahimahullah said, "It is those deeds which are
most correct and most sincere."
The students asked, "O Abu Ali, what are
deeds that are correct and sincere?"
He said, "If a deed is done
sincerely, yet is not done correctly, it will not be accepted. And if a deed is
done correctly, but not sincerely for Allah, it will not be accepted. It must be
done sincerely and correctly. Sincerely, as in for Allah alone; correctly, as in
accordance to the Sunnah."
He then recited the verse:
So whoever
would hope for the meeting with his Lord - let him do righteous work and not
associate in the worship of his Lord anyone (Al-Kahf 18/110).
With
ikhlaas we can be saved from misguidance as Prophet Yusuf alayhis salaam was
saved. Hear Allah's words:
And thus [it was] that We should avert from
him evil and immorality. Indeed, he was of Our mukhlaseen servants (Yusuf
12/24).
With ikhlaas, the books can be turned in our favor in the last
minutes of our lives just as what happened to the man that murdered 99 men.
Allah ta'aala saved him in the end because of his sincerity in repentance.
With ikhlaas one will be saved from Hellfire and granted a lofty
position in Jannah.
And they give food out of love [for Allah ta'aala]
to the needy, the orphan and the captive/ [Saying] "We feed you only for the
countenance of Allah, we wish no reward from you nor gratitude/ Indeed, we fear
from our Lord a Day severe and distressful."/ So Allah will protect them from
the evil of that Day and give them radiance and happiness/ And will reward them
for what they patiently endured [with] a garden [in Jannah] and silk [garments]
(Al- Insan 76/8-12).
Dear brothers and sisters, we must understand that
there are certain things that contradict our ikhlaas to Allah. Of these things
are three: riyaa', sum'ah, and 'ujb.
Riyaa' is to perform an act of
worship with the intention of showing it off to people, seeking their praise or
some other vanity. Thus, this person is seeking to be glorified, praised, hoped
for, or feared through this action. An example of this would be donating a large
sum of money in order that people may think the contributor is generous.
Sum'ah is similar to riyaa', but the 'ulama have said that it is those
verbal statements that a person makes for the sake of people. There is the
example of someone making ballooned threats against the Jews in Palestine just
so others will think he is courageous.
Ibnul Mubaarak rahimahullah said,
"Perhaps a great deed is belittled by an intention. And perhaps a small deed, by
a sincere intention, is made great."
'Ujb is the cousin of riyaa'. It is
when a person becomes impressed with himself for the 'great' deeds that he has
done. This, and all the other types are viruses that can kill our actions and
turn them against us on the day of Resurrection.
Ya'qoob Al-Makfoof
rahimahullah used to say, "The sincere one is he who hides his good deeds in the
same way that he would hide his bad."
From the Seerah, Sa'ad ibn Waqqaas
narrates:
"... as for Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl (after the conquest of Makkah)
while escaping by sea, a terrible storm befell them. The owners of the boat
shouted, ‘At this moment pray to only God and pray sincerely, for your gods
cannot avail us in any way through salvation from this storm.' Ikrimah said, ‘By
Allah, if ikhlaas can only save me on the sea, then on land nothing but it can
save me.' (He then raised his hands and pronounced), ‘O Allah if you save me,
you have upon me an oath that I shall not rest until I arrive at Muhammad sal
Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and place my hand in his."
He then came to
RasulAllah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam, became Muslim, and was later martyred
in jihaad.
Sincerity is a topic that is not only key to
Islam, but it is also a subject that the Kuffar and philosophers have pondered
for centuries. The English have a saying that goes to the effect of: To hunt
with the lantern of Diogenes.
Diogenes was a cynical Greek philosopher
who lived about 320 years before Prophet Eesaa alayhis salam. He believed there
was no sincerity in any human being. To vividly prove his point, he was said to
have gone about the streets of Corinth in broad daylight with a lighted lantern
looking for a sincere man. From here the English coined the term ‘To hunt with
the lantern of Diogenes,' when speaking of a group of people whose sincerity is
extremely absent.
Indeed insincerity in our actions is something very
dangerous and can lead a person to ruin. Ibn Mas'ood radi Allahu anhu would
advise his students, "If your intention is one of these three, do not seek
knowledge: To shame the ignorant, to argue with the Fuqahaa', or to cause people
to turn their faces in your direction. Intend with your actions and words that
which is with Allah, for indeed that which is with Allah shall remain and
everything else shall perish."
In conclusion, Ibnul Qayyim rahimahullah
said, "Deeds without sincerity are like a traveler who carries dirt in his
water-jug. The carrying of it burdens him and it brings no benefit."
May
Allah ta'aala make us all from those whose deeds are done in accordance with the
Sunnah, deeds that are done sincerely for the sake of Allah.
____________________________
By: Br. Muhammad Alshareef
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