Explaining that righteous work is what contains sincerity for Allah and following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Shaykh : What is righteous work? What is righteous work? Righteous work is what combines two conditions.
One of them is sincerity for Allah, sincerity for Allah, and the second is: following whom? Following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). This is the righteous work. So work in which there is shirk (associating partners with Allah) is not righteous, and work in which there is bid'ah (religious innovation) is not righteous, for the righteous work is what combines two conditions, one of which is the...
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : One of them is sincerity, and the second is...
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Following whom? Following the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). May Allah reward you. Work in which there is shirk is not righteous work, and it is rejected from the one who did it, by the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) in the Holy Hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Listen, my brother, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says: Meaning, if any person does a deed for Me and associates a partner with Me in it, I am rich without it and I do not accept it. So Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is rich without shirk, so the work of the one who associates partners with Allah is rejected from him.
As for the second, following the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says:"Radd" means "mardud" (rejected), and in the wording"mardud" (rejected). And here I ask: a man who is sincere to Allah, intending by his work the Face of Allah, but he is not upon the Shari'ah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), will his work be accepted? No. What is missing in it? What is missing in it? Following. So if a man were striving, eager for good, worshipping Allah night and day, but not upon the Islamic Shari'ah that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) brought, then his work is what? Rejected, vain, it does not benefit him; rather, it does not increase him from Allah except distance, by the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
Now, another man was following the Messenger completely, meaning he prays as it came from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he performs Hajj as it came from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), but he is a hypocrite in his work, he works so that people see him. May Allah protect us and you from riya' (showing off in worship). He wants people to say, "So-and-so, what Allah willed, worships Allah with the Shari'ah completely." Will his work be accepted? O brothers, a man prays as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed, he performs Hajj as he performed, exactly the same, but he is a hypocrite, he shows off to people, he wants people to praise him for his work. Will his work be accepted? Give us a live answer: Rejected or accepted?
The student: Rejected.

The Shaykh : Rejected, by your agreement, rejected. Why? Because he is not sincere. And Allah the Exalted said: In the Holy Hadith: This one is following the Messenger in the outward appearance of his work, but he is not sincere, so it is not accepted from him.