Ikhlaas or sincerity is the source of safety from the clutch of Shaytan and his trials. It is the ticket to Paradise and the first of the command of Allaah to the entire mankind. Owing to the significance of ikhlaas to the ultimate success of man, it is natural that one would be interested in knowing what sincerity is; how one can tell when one is sincere and in what ways can one measure the level of sincerity in the heart? In the beginning, when Allaah created our father, Adam, He favoured him above all of His other creatures including angels and jinns. Allaah says: "And indeed We have honoured the children of Adam,and We have carried them on land and sea, and have provided them with At- Tayyibat (lawful good things), and have preferred them above many of those whom We have created with a marked preference." (Q17[Israai]: 70)
Part of Allaah's favour is that He commanded that the angels (and Shaytan) prostrate to Adam but owing to envy Shaytan refused and Allaah consequently cursed him. Allaah says to Shaytan:"Then get out from here, for verily you are accursed, rejected. And verily, upon you is the curse till the Day of Judgement. He said: Oh my Lord grant me respite till the Day they are raised up. He (Allaah) said: Then you are of those who have been granted respite till the Day of the Appointed Time. He (Shaytan) said: Because you have put me in the wrong I will beautify for them (what is on) earth and I shall mislead them all, except Your servants among them who are sincere. (Q38[Sad]:77-83) In this narration, Shaytan made a vow in the presence of Allaah that he will mislead the whole of mankind.
However, he did make an exception: the sincere servants of Allaah. Ikhlaas or sincerity is the source of safety from the clutch of Shaytan and his trials. It is the ticket to Paradise and the first of the command of Allaah to the entire mankind. Allaah says, "Say (Oh Muhammad SAW): "Verily, I am commanded to worship Allaah (Alone) by obeying Him and doing religious deeds sincerely for Allaahs sake only and not to show off, and not to set up rivals with Him in worship. "(Q39[Zumar]:11) Owing to the significance of ikhlaas to the ultimate success of man, it is natural that one would be interested in knowing what sincerity is; how one can tell when one is sincere and in what ways can one measure the level of sincerity in the heart? Literally, sincerity is synonymous with such values as honesty, truthfulness, trustworthiness, genuineness, frankness, openness, candour and innocence. This is an indicatlon of the universality of this human quality.
Sincerity is a value that is shared, appreciated and sanctioned by all. Spouses cherish it in each other, the led appreciate it in their rulers and Iist goes on. However, in the religious sense, Ikhlaas is that one "s speech, action, emotions, feelings are free from all impurities and desires of the soul. Such impurities and blemishes could be: desiring praise - he is a scholar, he is a doer of good he is a skilled reciter, he is brave and other such things attracting attention to oneself to achieve ones goals and objectives, fulfilment of ones personal needs, running away from rebuke and criticism showing off, seeking worldly gains.
What Sincerity Means
When all these are removed and are non-existent so that none but Allaah is desired, the resultant feeling or situation is that of Ikhlaas. Allaah says in a hadeeth qudsee: "I am so Self-Sufficient that I am in no need of having partners. Thus whoever does an action for someone elses sake as well as Mine, will have that action rejected by Me to him whom he associated with Me."(Muslim) Sincerity in thought, word and deed that in a nutshell is what Islaam is all about, the consciousness of Allaah, in relation to himself, those around him, and his Maker, all three in away being interrelated. The Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) said, "Verily, the reward of deeds depends upon the intention and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended." (Muslim) If the intention is to show off then the good deeds are nullified.
The most severe punishment on the Day of Judgment will be occasioned by the sin of insincerity. The Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) said, "The first man (whose case) will be decided on the Day of Judgment, will be a man who died as a martyr. He shall be brought (before the Judgment Seat). Allaah will make him recount His blessings (i.e. the blessings which He had bestowed upon him) and he will recount them (and admit having enjoyed them in his life). Then, will Allaah say: What did you do(to requite these blessings?) He will say:I fought for you until I died as martyr. Allah will say: You have told a lie,you so fought you that might be called a brave warrior and you were called so.
Then orders will be passed against him and he will be dragged with his face downward and cast to Hell. Then there will be brought forward a man who aquire knowledge and impacted it(to others) and recited the quran, He will be brought, Allaah will make him recount His blessings and He will recount them (and admit having enjoyed them in this lifetime). Then will Allah ask:What did you do (to requite these blessings?) He will say:I acquired knowledge and I disseminated it and recited the Quran seeking your pleasure. Allah will say: You have told a lie,you acquired knowledge so you might be called a scholar and you recited the Quran so it might be said: He is a Qaari and such has been said. Then orders will be passed against him and he shall be dragged with his face downward and cast into fire.
Then will be brought a man whom Allah has made abundantly rich and had granted every kind of wealth. He will be brought, Allah will make him recount His blessings and He will recount them (and admit having enjoyed them in this lifetime). Then will Allah ask: What have you done (to requite these blessings?) He will say: I spent money in every cause in which You wished that it should be spent. Allaah will say: You are lying. You did (so) that it might be said about (you): "He is a generous fellow", and so it was said. Then will Allaah pass orders and he will be dragged with his face downward and thrown into Hell." (Muslim)
Islaam has invited us to sincerity and persuades us to live within it at all times, in all our dealings, whether public or private, expecting reward from none but Allaah: "Say: Truly, my prayer my service of sacrifice my life and my death, (all) for AIlaah, The Lord of the Worlds". (Q6[Anaam]: 162) To further stress the importance of Sincerity at all times, the Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: "Allaah neither look at your bodies nor your appearances but He looks at your hearts." (Muslim)
Also, the Muslim is exhorted at every step of the way to give charity, yet the best charity, we are taught, is the one whereby "the givers left hand does not know what the right hand gives." Things that contradict Ikhlaas So this is Ikhlaas, the sincerity with which Allaah commanded us and those who came before us. The opposite of it is riyaa or showing off, doing something in order to gain a portion of the world and other such things which we have mentioned previously. Allaah has warned against this numerous times. He said: "And We shall turn to whatever actions they did and make them into scattered dust." Also, "And if you were to associate partners (with Allaah) then vain would be your works and you would be among the losers." (Q25[Furqan]:23)
The Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) also said: "He who lets the people hear of his good deeds intentionally to win their praise. Allaah will let the people know his real intention (on the Day of Resurrection) and he who does good things in public to show off and win the praise of the people. Allaah will disclose his real intention (and humiliate him)." (Bukhari)
Abu Saeed al-Khudree (RA) said: "We were talking about Maseeh ud-Dajjaal in the presence of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam). He said: Shall I not inform you about something which I fear more for you than Maseeh ud-Dajjaal? We said: Of course, Oh Messenger of Allaah! He said: "The Hidden Shirk. A man stands for prayer and beautifies his prayer for those who are watching him. The Messenger of Allaah (sallallaphu alayhi wa sallam) explained that riyaa is more dangerous to his ummah than Maseeh ud-Dajjaal!! And he gave an example of how it can occur during the greatest of the acts of worship, the prayer!! How then for the other actions? Aside from riyaa, there are two other closely related opposites of sincerity and these are Sumah and Ujb.
Sumah is similar to riyaa , but as the scholars explained, it is those verbal statements that a person does for the sake of people. Such as someone making ballooned statements about his abilities just to make others think he is courageous. Ujb is the cousin of riyaa. It is when a person becomes impressed with himself for the great deeds that he has done. This and all the other types are viruses that can kill our actions and turn them against us on the Day of Resurrection.
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited