15.

١٥. عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُمَا قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:

«مَنْ سَمَّعَ سَمَّعَ اللّٰهُ بِهِ وَمَنْ رَاءَى رَاءَى اللّٰهُ بِهِ».

15. Ibn Abbas (r.a.) reported Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) as saying:

“If anyone wants to have his deeds widely publicized, Allah will publicize (his humiliation). And if anyone makes a hypocritical display (of his deeds) Allah will make a display of him.” (Muslim, Al-Zuhd, 47-48. Also see Bukhari, al-Raqaiq, 36; Ahkam, 9; Tirmidhi, al-Zuhd, 48; Ibn Majah, al-Zuhd, 21)

 

Explanations:

Sincerity (ikhlas) means cleansing and purifying the heart, observing Allah’s contentedness in all actions and words by protecting oneself from all spiritual illnesses, and staying away from hypocrisy, the act of showing off, and arrogance.[1] Therefore, being sincere is a feeling hidden in our hearts.  According to Junayd Al-Baghdadi, sincerity is so secret that an angel cannot record it into the rewards, and Satan cannot mess it up, and the inner selves of human beings cannot be spoiled because of it since they don’t know what it is. (Sarraj, Luma’, p. 290; Kushayri, al-Risalah, p. 446)

Allah the Almighty wants His servants to be sincere.

“Verily it is We Who have revealed the Book to you in Truth: so serve Allah, offering Him sincere devotion.” (Al-Zumar (The Troops); 39:2)

“Say: “Verily, I am commanded to serve Allah with sincere devotion.” (Al-Zumar; 39:11)

Allah the Almighty informs us that He will not accept deeds that are performed without sincerity and not for the sake of Him no matter how plentiful they are. When performed sincerely, even a few good deeds may be enough for us.  As a matter of fact, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) stated this in one of his sayings as:

“Be sincere in your religion!  If you do this, even a few good deeds can be enough for your salvation.” (Hakim, IV, 341/7844)

Allah’s servant should then realize that sincerity is like a soul in his body and should build his life on the basis of being sincere by performing all of his acts only for the sake of Allah.  One must give what he gives for the sake of Allah as well as hold what he holds for the sake of Allah; one must love what he loves for the sake of Allah as well as hate what he hates for the sake of Allah; and one must act thinking about the consent of Allah when he performs a good deed or guides others to any good deeds. One should turn this understanding into his natural state and be sincere to Allah, to His book, to His Messenger, to the Qur’an, to the leaders of Muslim believers, and to all Muslims. (Muslim, Kitab Al-Iman, 95)

The faith of a believer who reaches this level of spirituality becomes perfect, and he starts to experience the delight of Islam. With the perfection of faith, sincerity flourishes in his heart, and he finds salvation. (Ahmad, V, 147)

There are many benefits of sincerity:

First of all, it protects us from going astray by the tricks of Satan[2] and it guides us awayfrom the Hell fire.[3]

By summoning the help of our creator, it keeps evil and adultery away. [4] As a matter of fact, Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) informed us that Allah helps the followers of Muhammad due to the supplications, prayers, and sincere feelings of the weak. (Nasai, Jihad, 43/3176)

Sincerity elevates the level of acts of worship and makes them more valuable in the sight of Allah. In many narrations, while referring to the divine rewards of worship and supplications,

“To do it sincerely from the heart” [5] or

“To believe its divine rewards and ask for the rewards only from Allah, or in other words, to be sincere” [6] are required, which is sufficient to prove the importance of being sincere.  As a matter of fact, in one noble hadith:

“When a servant of Allah avoids greater sins (and lives a pious life) and says La ilahe illallah with full sincerity, the doors of the sky open up and this phrase ascends to al-Arsh (the Highest Sky).” (Tirmidhi, Daawat, 126/3590)

In short, being sincere is the thing that brings us peace in this world and salvation in the Hereafter. When sincerity is absent, humans start to hope help from helpless beings.  They can neither benefit anyone nor ward off troubles. In this regard how meaningfull the following story is:

When Mecca was conquered, Ikrimah, the son of Abu Jahl, escaped from Mecca by a ship in fear of his life since he used to be a fierce enemy of Islam. They got caught in a storm in the sea.

People on the ship said:

“Now be sincere and turn towards only to Allah! Here your deities cannot benefit you at all.”

Upon this Ikrimah said:

“I swear by Allah, if only sincerity can save me on the sea, it is sincerity again what can save me on the land. O Allah! I swear by You, if You save me from this trouble, I will go to Muhammad (pbuh) and put my hand on his hands and find him to be forgiving and kind.”

Ikrimah (r.a.), who was saved from the storm, did what he said and went to the Prophet Muhammad right away and converted to Islam. (Nasai, Tahrim al-Dam, 14/4064)

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) used to ask for sincerity for himself and his family from Allah and pray saying:

اَللّٰهُمَّ رَبَّنَا وَرَبَّ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ اجْعَلْنِي مُخْلِصًا لَكَ وَأَهْلِي فِي كُلِّ سَاعَةٍ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ يَا ذَا الْجَلَالِ وَالْإِكْرَامِ

“O Allah, the Lord of us and everything else! Make me and my family in this world and in the Hereafter sincere to You, O my Glorious and Kind Lord!” (Abu Dawud, Witr, 25/1508; Ahmad, IV, 369. Also see Tirmidhi, Daawat, 30/3419)

In the Noble Qur’an, we are informed that other prophets were sincere servants of Allah as well.[7]  That is because they did not seek anything in their message and mission but did it only for the sake of Allah and refused all proposals made to them to have them give up their cause.

Since sincerity is known only to Allah, Allah is the only one who can compensate it.  Allah’s compensation is priceless and no one can estimate its value.

Opposite of sincerity, i.e. insincerity (showing-off), is a big disaster for the Hereafter.  Associating others to actions that should be done only for the sake of Allah means that you are notsatisfied with Allah’s knowing and His contentedness and are hoping to get others’ appreciation.  This is a sickness of heart and a weakness of faith that wastes the divine rewards of the good acts.  As a matter of fact, since Allah knows everything in our hearts, it is impossible to hide any intention and thought from Him. The following saying of the Prophet is significant in terms of explaining the disappointment of insincere people in the hereafter:

“The first of men (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). Allah will make him recount His blessings which He had bestowed upon him and he will recount them and admit having enjoyed them in his life.

Allah the Almighty will say:

“What did you do to requite these blessings?”

He will say:

I fought for You until I died as a martyr.”

Allah the Almighty will say:

“You have told a lie. You fought so that you 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 into Hell.

Then there will be brought forward a man who acquired knowledge and imparted it (to others) and recited the Qur’an. He will be brought forward and Allah will make him recount His blessings and he will recount them and admit having enjoyed them in his lifetime.

Then will Allah ask:

“What did you do (to requite these blessings)?”

He will say:

I acquired knowledge and disseminated it and recited the Qur’an seeking Your pleasure.”

Allah will say:

You have told a lie! You acquired knowledge so that you might be called “a scholar,” and you recited the Qur’an so that it might be said: “He is a Qari (good reader)” and such has been said.” Then orders will be passed against him and he shall be dragged with his face downward and cast into the Fire.

Then there will be brought a man whom Allah had made abundantly rich and had granted every kind of wealth. He will be brought and Allah will make him recount His blessings and he will recount them and admit having enjoyed them in his lifetime.

Allah will (then) 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.”

Allah the Almighty 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 Allah will pass orders and he will be dragged with his face downward and thrown into Hell. (Muslim, Kitab Al-Imara, 152)

As it is seen, being insincere drags someone to the foolishness of exchanging the sake of Allah and the divine rewards of the Hereafter with the insincere applauses of people. In the end, neither the contentedness of Allah nor the satisfaction of people will have been earned. This is because, Allah makes the intention of those who act insincerely known to others and disgraces him in front of others by belittling him.[8] When the insincerity of someone becomes known, the hearts turn away from him. On the other hand, by letting others know the act of a person to others, Allah degrades the rewards of the acts done for the worldly benefits also.

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“Allah the Most High and Exalted said: “I am the One, the One Who does not stand in need of a partner. If anyone does anything in which he associates anyone else with Me, I shall abandon him with the one whom he associates with Allah.” (Muslim, Kitab Al-Zuhd, 46)

In other words, as it is written insincere humans are told to get the rewards of their acts not from Allah but from those to whom they showed off their actions to. However, receiving anything from humans is most of the time impossible. Even if it is possible, it would be next to nothing compared to Allah’s rewards.

For this reason, the Companions of the Messenger of Allah used to pay attention to sincerity and be very careful about staying away from insincerity. The following advice of Abu Huraira is enough to prove how far the Companions of the Prophet lived from being insincere:

“When someone fasts, he should tide up himself so that the trace of the fast is not seen on him.” (Bukhari, Al-Adabul Mufrad, no:1303)



[1] Hypocrisy (Riya): Showing off, doing a deed for humans (not God) to see and appreciate.  Showing off (Sum’a): Doing a good deed or giving charity so that people would hear.  Arrogance (‘Ujub): Someone’s liking and seeing himself better than others (not necessarily displayed to others but felt inside).

[2] Al-Hijr; 15:39-40

[3] Al-Saffat; 37:40

[4] Yusuf; 12:24

[5] See Bukhari, Ilm, 49; Daawat, 2; Muslim, Salah, 12; Abu Dawud, Salah, 36/527; Tirmidhi, Fazail al-jihad, 19/1653; Ahmad, I, 63; IV, 16.

[6] Bukhari, Iman, 25, 28, 35, 37, 41; Salah, 45, 46; Hebah, 35; Tibb, 31; Muslim, Imarah, 117.

[7] Maryam; 19:51; Yusuf; 12:24; Al-Saad; 38:45-46; Az-Zumar; 39:11.

[8] Also see Ahmad, II, 162.

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