A word from the Shaykh explaining that righteous deeds are of no benefit unless two conditions are met: sincerity and following the Prophet

The Shaykh: Praise be to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own selves and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can mislead, and whomsoever He leaves to mislead, none 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 slave and His Messenger. As for what follows, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). The worst of matters are those newly invented, and every newly invented matter is an innovation, every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire. And after that: -Peace be upon you- It is known to every Muslim, regardless of his knowledge or culture, that righteous deeds benefit their owner in no way unless they are accompanied by faith in Allah and His Messenger. This is the first of the foundations of Islam: the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). And this faith benefits its owner in no way if its owner neglects it in any aspect of faith. The greatest of these aspects is associating partners with Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), a type of major shirk (associating partners with Allah) about which the Noble Qur'an informed us, addressing us through our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) when He said: No Muslim doubts that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is protected from falling into any type of shirk. Therefore, we said that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) addressed His Ummah (the Muslim community) (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) when He addressed him and directed His speech to him with what you have heard. Likewise, righteous deeds, even if accompanied by beneficial faith, do not benefit their owner unless they are accompanied by two matters. It is at this point that I wish to direct my speech in this pleasant evening, if Allah wills. The scholars of the Muslims, based on the saying of the Lord of the Worlds: "So whoever hopes to meet his Lord, let him do righteous deeds," this is the first condition for one who wants salvation on the Day of Resurrection is that he does righteous deeds. The noble verses have come in succession; whenever faith was mentioned, righteous deeds were coupled with it. The most famous of what came in this regard is that surah which gathered and encompassed, namely Surat al-'Asr: It was among the guidance of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) a guidance that the Muslims of the later generations have turned away from this good custom that the Companions used to follow. When they would disperse, they would disperse after some of them would remind others of this blessed surah. Therefore, after a Muslim knows with certainty what is the faith that saves, and then he believes in it truly, he must know what righteous deeds are so that he may draw near to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) thereby. The scholars of tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis) stipulated two conditions at the previous verse , and upon these two conditions the current discussion revolves. The first condition is that the deed by which the Muslim wishes to draw near to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) must be in accordance with the Sunnah, conforming to the righteous deeds of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). This means that he must be following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and not innovating anything in his Sunnah, no matter how sincere his intention may be in seeking the Face of Allah. That deed will not benefit him, even if it is accompanied by a sincere intention, as long as he has contradicted the Sunnah of his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) in his deed.