Some acts of worship have worldly rewards mentioned in connection with them; does focusing on this reward result in a decrease in the reward of the Hereafter?

The questioner : May Allah reward you, O Shaykh. There is evidence from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that there is a type of obedience for which a person is rewarded in both this world and the Hereafter, such as: .

The Shaykh : poverty.

The questioner :, and likewise there is: .

The Shaykh : What?

The questioner :, such as maintaining family ties and being dutiful to one’s parents, which lengthen life and increase provision. So, if a person performs this obedience in order to increase his wealth and lengthen his life, will he be rewarded in the Hereafter?

The Shaykh : Yes, this is an important question. The Islamic Shari'ah, praise be to Allah, contains religious and worldly incentives, because Allah the Exalted knows the deficiency of the servant and his need for what encourages him, and his deficiency and need for what deters him. So righteous deeds were mentioned with the reward of the Hereafter and the reward of this world to encourage the person, because the person needs this in this world and the Hereafter, as He Mighty and Majestic said: . So there is no blame on a person who performs a righteous deed while keeping in mind the worldly reward attached to it, and his reward is not diminished in any way. Because if it did diminish the reward, Allah and His Messenger would not have mentioned it. But this is from the category of incentives. Then, what the heart gains from acts of obedience is worthy of encouraging a person to them. Likewise, the prohibitions came with hudud (fixed punishments) and ta'zir (discretionary punishments) so that people are deterred from what is subject to hudud. So the hudud for zina (unlawful sexual intercourse) for an unmarried person is to be flogged one hundred lashes and exiled from the land for a period of one year, and for a married person it is to be stoned to death. A person may have weak faith, and nothing may deter him from zina except such punishments. This is from the wisdom of the Shari'ah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) used to say in some of his expeditions: , meaning whatever he has with him of weapons, clothes, and other things. Yes.