How is the sincerity of intention in deeds?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : He asks, "How is the sincerity of intention in deeds, O honorable Shaykh?"
The Shaykh : Sincerity of intention in deeds is for a person to forget everything other than Allah, and for the only thing motivating him to this act of worship to be obedience to the command of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and the desire for His reward and seeking His Face (Mighty and Majestic). He should forget everything related to this world in this act of worship, so he does not care whether people see him or not, or hear him or not, and he does not mind them whether they praise him or criticize him. Also, among the causes of sincerity is that when a person performs an act of worship, he keeps in mind the command of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) regarding it, and keeps in mind following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in it.
An example of this is a man who stands to perform ablution for prayer. Here we say, first, keep in mind that you are performing ablution in obedience to the command of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), as if you are now reading the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Ma'idah 5:6] And as if with your ablution you are saying, "Hear and obey." You will find in this sweetness, pleasure, and love for purity, because Allah commanded you to do it. Then keep in mind that in this act you are following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), as if the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is in front of you and you are following him in this ablution. By this, the reward and recompense for sincerity and following are realized for you, and thereby the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah is realized. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Sincerity of intention in deeds is for a person to forget everything other than Allah, and for the only thing motivating him to this act of worship to be obedience to the command of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and the desire for His reward and seeking His Face (Mighty and Majestic). He should forget everything related to this world in this act of worship, so he does not care whether people see him or not, or hear him or not, and he does not mind them whether they praise him or criticize him. Also, among the causes of sincerity is that when a person performs an act of worship, he keeps in mind the command of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) regarding it, and keeps in mind following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in it.
An example of this is a man who stands to perform ablution for prayer. Here we say, first, keep in mind that you are performing ablution in obedience to the command of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), as if you are now reading the saying of Allah the Exalted:
O you who have believed, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles
يا أَيُّهَا الَّذينَ ءامَنوا إِذا قُمتُم إِلَى الصَّلاةِ فَاغسِلوا وُجوهَكُم وَأَيدِيَكُم إِلَى المَرافِقِ وَامسَحوا بِرُءوسِكُم وَأَرجُلَكُم إِلَى الكَعبَينِThe questioner : May Allah bless you.