بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Table of contents:
One of the biggest issue with modern day Muslim is to purify his intention and work sincerely to please Allah, not others. But why it so tough? How to increase the sincerity actually?these and other questions will be answered in this blog Inshallah.
1. Why to be sincere?
The Prophet ﷺ said:
Actions are judged by intentions, and everyone will get what they intended to. So whoever emigrated for the sake of Allah and His Messenger, then his emigration is for Allah and His Messenger. And whoever emigrated for worldly pleasures or to marry a woman, then his emigration is for that, for which he emigrated.
Sahih Bukhari 1.
The story behind this hadith is that there was a man who was deeply in love with a woman. She agreed to marry him but on one condition that he will emigrate with her from Mecca to Medina. Driven by this desire, he did it. This incident came to be known among the companions and ultimately reached the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ through this said the hadith and taught everyone this important lesson.
The worldly matter appears pleasing to the observer but are nothing at a higher spiritual level.
The one with knowledge works sincerely for the sake of Allah, while the one without knowledge just increase his pursuits in his worldly gain, and even uses faith and other religious blessings to use it for temporary worldly benefits, or just to please others.
It was narrated from Abu Huraira that the Messenger ﷺ said,
Religion is sincerity (An Nasiha), they said, to whom, O Messenger of Allah? He said, to Allah, to His Book, to His Messengers, to the Imams of Muslims, and to their common folk.
Sunan An-Nasai 4200
2. Why its so tough?
We know sincerity is religion, but still fail to do it. Why? If we just precisely look into our lives, we would see a major influence of toxic companies around us. They are not just friends, but include the society as a whole, who have their mindsets to show off their achievements, work for the purpose of earning materialistic goods, or profit. These effects somehow manages to impact our mindset too, the ultimate result of which is that we at least start trading our good deeds for some praises of those fellows.
This is also rooted to our neuro circuitry, where our mind releases specific hormones and neurotransmitter whenever we receive praise. This leads to an addiction-like cycle where our mind gets a trigger after seeing that, then do the routine to tell about our ibadah, good deeds, etc., and to get the reward:praise of crowd, even if that's fake.
This intentional display of our deeds and ibadah not just rob us of our reward of afterlife, but also make us weak and lethargic in worldly pursuit as well, as well as we get a pseudo-success feeling by hearing the praise of other people.
Although it's allowed and in fact good to let people know about your some deed (limited to farz) but the intention should be to motivate them and let them have knowledge so that you can network better with like-minded ones. Moreover, limit your sharing to only obligatory ones, like fars prayer. As per ulema, it's allowed to let others have knowledge about your fars namaz, zakat, etc., but not about your sunnah, nafil, sadaqah, etc.
3. How to be more sincere?
The first thing is to know how to
critically think:You should ask yourself before posting & sharing anything, to your inner conscience that is it good? If yes, then is it for the sake of Allah? If the answer is no, then stop and correct your intentions by being mindful of Allah, making duas, correcting your mindset, etc.
Network with righteous people: They will impact & inspire you to strive for the best with sincerity.
Practice mindfulness :This will help you take better judgment. Just for a few minutes, empty your mind from all the clutter that you have accumulated and focus on your breathing. Begin by five minutes and then gradually increase.
4. Conclusion
Sincerity is the foundation of a Muslim's faith and actions. It requires constant vigilance and self-reflection to ensure that our deeds are done solely for the pleasure of Allah. The challenges in maintaining sincerity arise from societal influences, personal desires, and the pursuit of worldly praise. However, through critical self-assessment, mindfulness, and surrounding ourselves with righteous company, we can align our intentions with the ultimate purpose of pleasing Allah.
اللهم مُصَرِّفَ الْقُلُوْبِ صَرِّفْ قُلُوْبَنَا عَلَى طَاعتِكَ
O Allah! Controller of the hearts, direct our hearts to Your obedience
Ameen.
Comment down any question or dought you have regarding islam and its doctrines. Future blogs will inshallah include the solution to them ☺️
Fiqh & hadith related doughts will be explained by ulema of the specific fields inshallah
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