{"id":113333,"date":"2019-04-15T23:09:08","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T22:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/khutbahbank.org.uk\/v2\/?p=113333"},"modified":"2019-04-15T23:14:28","modified_gmt":"2019-04-15T22:14:28","slug":"sincerity-is-our-motive-purely-for-god-or-for-others-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/khutbahbank.org.uk\/v2\/2019\/04\/15\/sincerity-is-our-motive-purely-for-god-or-for-others-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Sincerity: Is Our Motive Purely for God, or for Others Too?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By Abu Aaliyah\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0https:\/\/thehumblei.com<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Qur\u2019an says:\u00a0And they have been ordered no more than this: to worship God sincerely, devoting religion purely to Him.<\/em>\u00a0[98:5] According\u00a0to Imam al-Raghib al-Asbahani, sincerity or\u00a0ikhlas<\/em>\u00a0requires the heart \u2018to be emptied of all else besides\u00a0God.\u20191\u00a0This emptying is never that simple, for it involves struggling\u00a0against the lower self so as to strip away the heart\u2019s love of praise or its undue reverence of created things. It demands that the heart\u2019s motives or intentions are purified from conceit, deceit, showing-off or self-aggrandisement so that acts of worship are done exclusively seeking God\u2019s good pleasure.<\/p>\n

Imam al-Qushayri\u2019s words of the topic are not only one of the most authoritative and most cited in the Islamic tradition, they get to the very heart of the matter too. He wrote:<\/p>\n

\u0627\u064e\u0644\u0652\u0625\u062e\u0652\u0644\u0627\u0635\u064f \u0625\u0641\u0652\u0631\u0627\u062f\u064f \u0627\u0644\u0652\u062d\u064e\u0642\u0650\u0651 \u0641\u0650\u064a \u0627\u0644\u0637\u064e\u0651\u0627\u0639\u064e\u0629\u0650 \u0628\u0627\u0650\u0644\u0652\u0642\u064e\u0635\u0652\u062f\u0650\u060c \u0648\u064e\u0647\u064f\u0648\u064e \u0623\u064e\u0646\u0652 \u064a\u064f\u0631\u0650\u064a\u0652\u062f\u064e \u0628\u0650\u0637\u064e\u0627\u0639\u064e\u062a\u0650\u0647 \u0627\u0644\u062a\u064e\u0651\u0642\u064e\u0631\u064e\u0651\u0628\u064e \u0625\u0650\u0644\u0670\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0647\u0650 \u062a\u064e\u0639\u064e\u0627\u0644\u0649 \u062f\u064f\u0648\u0652\u0646\u064e \u0634\u064e\u064a\u0652\u0621\u064d \u0622\u062e\u064e\u0631\u064e\u060c \u0645\u0650\u0646\u0652 \u062a\u064e\u0635\u064e\u0646\u064f\u0651\u0639\u064d \u0644\u0650\u0645\u064e\u062e\u0652\u0644\u064f\u0648\u0652\u0642\u064d\u060c \u0623\u064e\u0648\u0650 \u0627\u0643\u0652\u062a\u0650\u0633\u064e\u0627\u0628\u0650 \u0645\u064e\u062d\u0652\u0645\u064e\u062f\u0650\u0629\u064d \u0639\u0650\u0646\u0652\u062f\u064e \u0627\u0644\u0646\u064e\u0651\u0627\u0633\u0650\u060c \u0623\u064e\u0648\u0652 \u0645\u064e\u062d\u064e\u0628\u064e\u0651\u0629\u0650 \u0645\u064e\u062f\u0652\u062d\u064d \u0645\u0650\u0646\u064e \u0627\u0644\u0652\u062e\u064e\u0644\u0652\u0642\u0650\u060c \u0623\u064e\u0648\u0652 \u0645\u064e\u0639\u0652\u0646\u064b\u0649 \u0645\u0650\u0646 \u0627\u0644\u0645\u064e\u0639\u064e\u0627\u0646\u064a \u0633\u0650\u0648\u064e\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u062a\u064e\u0651\u0642\u064e\u0631\u064f\u0651\u0628\u0650 \u0625\u0650\u0644\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0647\u0650 \u062a\u064e\u0639\u064e\u0627\u0644\u0649. \u0648\u064e \u064a\u064e\u0635\u0650\u062d\u064f\u0651 \u0623\u064e\u0646\u0652 \u064a\u064f\u0642\u0627\u0644\u064e: \u0627\u0644\u0652\u0625\u0650\u062e\u0652\u0644\u0627\u0635\u064f \u062a\u064e\u0635\u0652\u0641\u0650\u064a\u064e\u0629\u064f \u0627\u0644\u0652\u0641\u0650\u0639\u0652\u0644\u0650 \u0639\u064e\u0646\u0652 \u0645\u064e\u0644\u0627\u062d\u064e\u0638\u064e\u0629\u0650 \u0627\u0644\u0652\u0645\u064e\u062e\u0652\u0644\u064f\u0648\u0642\u0650\u064a\u0652\u0646<\/p>\n

\u2018Sincerity is to single-out the Real [God] as the sole object of devotion. Meaning that one desires by their obedience to draw closer to God, exalted is He, to the exclusion of all else, such as making a show [of one\u2019s piety] for people; seeking their praise; taking pleasure in their compliments; or other such things besides drawing closer to God, exalted is He. It is right to say that sincerity is: Purifying the act from creation having any share in it.\u20192<\/p>\n

♦<\/h5>\n

Abu Umamah al-Bahili relates that a man came to the Prophet \ufdfa\u00a0and said: I saw a person who fought for reward [booty] and renown: what will he get? The Prophet \ufdfa said: \u2018There is nothing for him.\u2019 He \ufdfa\u00a0then went on to say: \u2018God does not accept an act, except if it is done sincerely seeking His face.\u20193\u00a0Ikhlas<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 doing an act of worship seeking to draw closer to God, or seeking God\u2019s face \u2013 undoubtedly had degrees or depths. The lowest is to do an act of worship with the sole intent of pleasing God, seeking some worldly or otherworldly reward from Him. Deeper than this is when the act is done, as above, with the sole aim of drawing closer to God, but not desiring any reward; doing it purely for the love of God and nothing else. Deeper still is when the act is done purely for the love of God, but such is the depth of faith, such is the purity of devotion, that one doesn\u2019t see their act as emanating from any effort or achievement on their part, but from God\u2019s unmitigated grace. Masters of the inward life tell us that this is the degree of sincerity where the devotee is oblivious to their sincerity, for the heart is beholden only to God.<\/p>\n

O Lord! make our actions correct and sincere,<\/em>
\nseeking nothing\u00a0but Your face;<\/em>
\nand let no one have<\/em>
\na share of our<\/em>
\nworship of<\/em>
\nYou.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2248<\/h3>\n

1.\u00a0Mufradat Alfaz al-Qur\u2019an<\/em>\u00a0(Damascus: Dar al-Qalam, 2002), 293.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Al-Risalat al-Qushayriyyah<\/em>\u00a0(Jeddah: Dar al-Minhaj, 2017), 476.<\/p>\n

3. Al-Nasa\u2019i, no.3140. Al-\u2018Iraqi declared its chain to be\u00a0hasan.<\/em>\u00a0See:\u00a0al-Mughni \u2018an Haml al-Asfar<\/em>\u00a0(Riyadh: Maktabah al-Tabariyyah, 1995),\u00a03; 1177; no.4299.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Abu Aaliyah
\n“\u2018Sincerity is to single-out the Real [God] as the sole object of devotion. Meaning that one desires by their obedience to draw closer to God, exalted is He, to the exclusion of all else, such as making a show [of one\u2019s piety] for people; seeking their praise; taking pleasure in their compliments; or other such things besides drawing closer to God, exalted is He. It is right to say that sincerity is: Purifying the act from creation having any share in it.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":113334,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,42,41],"tags":[332],"class_list":["post-113333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-beliefs-and-practices-of-islam","category-building-good-character","tag-abu-aaliyah","column","twocol","has-thumbnail"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/khutbahbank.org.uk\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/khutbahbank.org.uk\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/khutbahbank.org.uk\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/khutbahbank.org.uk\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/khutbahbank.org.uk\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113333"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/khutbahbank.org.uk\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113337,"href":"https:\/\/khutbahbank.org.uk\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113333\/revisions\/113337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/khutbahbank.org.uk\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/khutbahbank.org.uk\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/khutbahbank.org.uk\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/khutbahbank.org.uk\/v2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}