Conditions for the Acceptance of Deeds
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The questioner asks and says: Tell us about sincerity (ikhlas), what are its conditions, and if a servant intends to worship something other than Allah, what is the ruling?
Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon His servant and Messenger, our Prophet Muhammad. As for what follows, deeds are not accepted except with two conditions. The first condition is sincerity to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), such that there is no shirk (associating partners with Allah), no riya' (showing off), and no seeking of fame in it; rather, the worker's intention must be the Face of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). The worker's intention must be the Face of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). The second condition is that the deed be correct according to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so that it contains no bid'ah (religious innovation) or any of the newly invented matters, but rather it be in accordance with the Muhammadan Sunnah. And sincerity, as we mentioned, is that there be no intention for other than Allah and no aim of worldly greed.[Hud 11:15] [Hud 11:15-16] So the deed is made sincere for Allah, with no riya' (showing off) and no seeking of fame. And a fortiori, there should be no major shirk (associating partners with Allah). Likewise, the aim should not be worldly greed, for the deeds of the Hereafter are not to be made a means for the deeds of this world, for the sake of worldly greed. It is obligatory for the Muslim to remember this. Yes.
The questioner asks and says: Tell us about sincerity (ikhlas), what are its conditions, and if a servant intends to worship something other than Allah, what is the ruling?
Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon His servant and Messenger, our Prophet Muhammad. As for what follows, deeds are not accepted except with two conditions. The first condition is sincerity to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), such that there is no shirk (associating partners with Allah), no riya' (showing off), and no seeking of fame in it; rather, the worker's intention must be the Face of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). The worker's intention must be the Face of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). The second condition is that the deed be correct according to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so that it contains no bid'ah (religious innovation) or any of the newly invented matters, but rather it be in accordance with the Muhammadan Sunnah. And sincerity, as we mentioned, is that there be no intention for other than Allah and no aim of worldly greed.
desires the life of this world and its adornments - We fully repay them for their deeds therein, and they therein
كَانَ يُرِيدُ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا وَزِينَتَهَا نُوَفِّ إِلَيْهِمْ أَعْمَالَهُمْ فِيهَا وَهُمْ فِيهَا(15) Whoever desires the life of this world and its adornments - We fully repay them for their deeds therein, and they therein will not be deprived. (16) Those are the ones for whom there is not in the Hereafter but the Fire. And lost is what they did therein, and worthless is what they used to do.
لَا يُبْخَسُونَ أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ لَيْسَ لَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ إِلَّا النَّارُ وَحَبِطَ مَا صَنَعُوا فِيهَا
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 7203- شروط قبول العمل - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.