Explaining the first condition, which is sincerity to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in one's deeds.

The Shaykh : As for righteous deeds, the scholars have stated that two conditions are required for them. One of these conditions is mentioned in the completion of the verse and at its end, when He (Blessed and Exalted is He) said: This means that sincerity to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) must be present with the righteous deed; otherwise, the deed is not righteous. The evidence for this condition, so that the deed is righteous and acceptable to Allah, is that the condition is sincerity in the righteous deed for Allah. The evidence for this from the Book and the Sunnah is abundant and very abundant. We all know the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He): So Allah (Mighty and Majestic) commanded His believing servants to be sincere in religion, worship, and devotion to Him (Blessed and Exalted is He). Then the Sunnah came, as is its usual custom with the Noble Qur'an, to add explanation and clarification. The verse states that they were only commanded to be sincere, but the hadiths clarify an additional matter, which is that the lack of sincerity by the believer to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in his righteous deed makes his righteous deed evil, and he will be punished for it on the Day of Resurrection. It is not merely that his righteous deed is erased and he comes on the Day of Resurrection with nothing for him and nothing against him. Rather, the person who performed the righteous deed without being sincere to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), but associated others with Him, is in a better state than the one who did not perform the deed at all. This is because if the deed was an obligation, the one who did not perform it is punished for leaving the obligation. As for the one who performed this obligation but associated others with Allah in it and was not sincere to Allah, he is punished twice. The first degree of punishment is because he did not fulfill the obligation; if he fulfilled the obligation but intended something other than the Face of Allah, he did not fulfill the obligation. The other degree of punishment is because he associated partners with Allah. So he is punished for wasting the obligation and punished for associating partners with Allah in this obligation. For this reason, the one who did not perform this obligation is less evil than the one who performed the obligation but associated partners with Allah in it and was not sincere to Allah. And if the deed was a voluntary act, not an obligation, then the one who performed it without being sincere in it is punished because of his lack of sincerity, because of his associating others with Allah in his worship. As for the one who did not perform this voluntary act, there is nothing for him and nothing against him, because he did not neglect an obligation and did not commit a sin due to lack of sincerity. This is what happened. Meanwhile, the one who performed the voluntary act and the voluntary worship and associated others with Allah in it is one who is punished, not rewarded, by Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) on the Day of Resurrection.