By Amjad Rafiq
A sermon on al-Ikhlaas (sincerity), a condition
for Allaah's acceptance of one's actions.
The Messenger (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam)
also said as is authentically reported from him:
There is no servant who sets out seeking to be
heard of or showing off except that Allaah will
make all His creation know about him, will
belittle him and hold him in contempt.
Part 1
Allaah the Exalted said [to Shaytaan]:
Then get out from here, for verily you are
accursed, rejected. And verily, upon you is the
curse till the Day of Judgement. He said: O my
Lord grant me respite till the Day they are
raised up. He (Allaah) said: Then you are of
those who have been granted respite. Till the
Day of the appointed time. He (Iblees) said:
Because you have put me in the wrong I will
beautify for them (what is on) earth and I shall
mislead them all. Except your servants among
them who are sincere.
Allaah further went on to say:
Indeed you have no authority/power over My
servants.
In this passage Shaytaan has made a promise, in
front of Allaah, that he will misguide the whole
of mankind. However, he did make an exception:
The sincere servants of Allaah, and Allaah too
reiterated to him, that he can have no authority
over Allaah's servants, those that are sincere.
Today's topic therefore is Ikhlaas or Sincerity.
Since the presence of this quality is a
deliverance from the evils of shaytaan and
therefore the Hellfire and entry into Paradise,
it is a great and vital topic, the reality of
which needs to be understood by every concerned
and responsible Muslim.
This Ikhlaas has been commanded by Allaah and He
has made it binding upon the whole of mankind.
He said:
And they were not commanded except that they
should worship Allaah and worship none but Him,
offer prayers perfectly and give zakah and that
is the correct religion.
Also:
Say: Verily I have been commanded to worship
Allaah making the deen exclusively and sincerely
for Him (alone).
And also:
He is al-Hayy (Ever-Living) there is none worthy
of worship except He, therefore call upon Him
being making the deen exclusively and sincerely
for Him (alone)
And as-Soosee, one of our Salaf, said: What
Allaah intends/wants from the actions of the
creations is Ikhlaas and nothing else.
The Definition of Ikhlaas
Ikhlaas is that ones
speech/action/emotions/feelings are free from
all impurities and desires of the soul. Such
impurities and blemishes could be:
desiring praise - 'he is a scholar', 'he is a
doer of good', 'he is a skilled reciter', 'he is
brave' and other such things. attracting
attention to oneself to achieve one's goals and
objectives fulfilment of ones personal needs
running away from rebuke and criticism showing
off seeking worldly gains
When all these are removed and are non-existent
so that none but Allaah is desired, the
resultant feeling or situation is that of
Ikhlaas. Allaah the Exalted said in the hadeeth
qudsee:
I am so self-sufficient that I am in no need of
having partners. Thus whoever does an action for
someone else's sake as well as Mine, will have
that action rejected by Me to him whom he
associated with Me.
Here are some more useful definitions from our
Salaf which will help to conceptualize the
reality of this Ikhlaas, the deliverer from the
snares of Shaytaan:
Ya'qoob al-Makfoof: The sincere person is the
one who hides his good deeds just like he hides
his evil deeds.
It was said to Sahl: What is the hardest thing
upon the soul? He said: Ikhlaas, when there is
no other desire in it.
As-Soosee said: What Allaah intends/wants from
the actions of the creations is Ikhlaas and
nothing else.
Abu Uthmaan said: It is forgetting the sight of
the creation by continual observance of the
Creator
Ibraheem bin Adham said: He has not been
truthful to Allaah who loved fame (and
recognition)
Sahl ibn Abdillaah said: There is nothing
tougher/harder upon the soul than Ikhlaas. How
many times have I tried to extinguish riyaa from
my heart and it is as if it has appeared in a
different colour (i.e. a different form).
Part 2:
So this then is Ikhlaas, the sincerity with
which Allaah commanded us and those who came
before us.
As for its opposite, then that is Riyaa or
showing off, doing something in order to gain a
portion of the world and other such things which
we have mentioned previously.
Allaah has warned against this numerous times.
He said:
And We shall turn to whatever actions they did
and make them into scattered dust.
Also
And if you were to associate partners (with
Allaah) then vain would be your works and you
would be among the losers.
The Messenger (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam)
also said as is authentically reported from him:
There is no servant who sets out seeking to be
heard of or showing off except that Allaah will
make all His creation know about him, will
belittle him and hold him in contempt.
Abu Sa'eed al-Khudree said: We were talking
about Maseeh ud-Dajjaal in the presence of the
Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa
sallam).He said: Shall I not inform you about
something which I fear more for you than Maseeh
ud-Dajjaal? We said: Of course, O Messenger of
Allaah! He said: The Hidden Shirk. A man stands
for prayer and beautifies his prayer for those
who are watching him.
The Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa
sallam) explained that Riyaa is more dangerous
to his ummah than Maseeh ud-Dajjaal!! And he
gave an example of how it can occur. During the
greatest of the acts of worship, the prayer!!
How then for the other actions?
We now have a good and clear conception as to
the meaning of Ikhlaas. This Ikhlaas which is a
feeling in the heart should be present in all
our actions, prayer, zakah, fasting, dhikr until
even the smallest of actions such as picking
something harmful off the road or smiling to
another muslim brother.
We will now finish by listing a number of
benefits that are attained as a result of this
Ikhlaas and which give evidence to its
greatness.
1. Aiding of the Ummah, due to the hadeeth:
Allaah will help this Ummah on account of its
weak ones, due to their supplications prayers
and sincerity.
That is the affliction, the humiliation and the
oppression which we find ourselves in can be
removed on account of the sincerity that we as
individuals try to develop and maintain as a
lasting quality, and this in turn is what
benefits and aids the ummah on a wider scale.
2. Love of the angels, due to the hadeeth:
When Allaah the Exalted loves a servant He calls
to Jibreel: Indeed Allaah the Exalted loves so
and so, therefore love Him. So Jibreel loves him
and then he calls the inhabitants of the heavens
(i.e. angels): Indeed Allaah loves so and so,
therefore love him. The inhabitants of the
heaven love him and acceptance is made for him
upon the earth.
3. Good repute, due to the hadeeth:
There is no servant except that he has a
reputation (amongst the angels) in the sky. If
his reputation is good in the sky it is placed
upon the earth and if it is bad it is placed
upon the earth.
4. Removal of Difficulties, due to hadeeth in
which three men set out on a journey and they
get trapped in a cave. Each one of them calls
upon Allaah to remove this affliction from them
on account of their sincere actions which they
had done previously. One man gave his parents
preference over his own children despite the
fact that they were starving, another man
refrained from an illicit sexual relation with a
cousin of his whom he loved dearly and the third
gave back to a man who had worked for him but
did not take his wages, the investments he had
made with his wages. All of them said: O Allaah
if I did this seeking nothing but Your Face then
deliver us from this evil.
Due to hadeeth in which three men set out on a
journey and they get trapped in a cave. Each one
of them calls upon Allaah to remove this
affliction from them on account of their sincere
actions which they had done previously. One man
gave his parents preference over his own
children despite the fact that they were
starving, another man refrained from an illicit
sexual relation with a cousin of his whom he
loved dearly and the third gave back to a man
who had worked for him but did not take his
wages, the investments he had made with his
wages. All of them said: O Allaah if I did this
seeking nothing but Your Face then deliver us
from this evil.
5. Answering of the supplication, due to the
hadeeth we have just mentioned
Due to the hadeeth we have just mentioned
6. Safety from misguidance, due to the saying of
Allaah:
Except Your servants amongst them who are
sincere/purified.
So these are some of the benefits, and how great
they are, for those who make their actions
sincerely and purely for the sake of Allaah. I
pray that Allaah benefits us all and gives us to
drink from the fountain of Ikhlaas.
