How sincere are we?

One of the biggest fears of the Companions and their followers was whether their deeds would be accepted by Allah subhanahu wa ta'aala. Through the teachings of the prophet sallallahu alayhe wassalam they came to know that a deed was considered good if first, they had sincerity (Ikhlas), and second, if the deed was done in accordance to the Sunnah. Allah subhanahu wa ta'aala says, "Whoever hopes for meeting with his Lord, let him do good deeds and associate no partners in the worship of his Lord." [18:110]

To do something with sincerity is to scrutinize the deed and intention and free it from all impurities like showing off, pride, or seeking some other benefit in this life. We know that the Satan tries his best to lead people to the Hellfire, and in regards to deeds, sincerity is the easiest for him to attack. We usually know which deeds are considered Sunnah and which are not, so it is easier for the Satan to lead us astray by faltering in our sincerity. Indeed, our struggle to purify for the sake of Allah never ends.

Sufyan al-Thawri said, "I have not tried to cure from myself anything harder than my intention, for it keeps changing on me." This is because of the innate desire in all humans to seek praise from people. The Satan fuels this desire until he lands the person into Hellfire. When you think about that, you can easily see why Allah chose to forgive the prostitute mentioned in the famous hadith - who was drinking from a well in the hot desert and gave drink to a thirsty dog. Because her deed was absolutely sincere to Allah. No one was watching her, she puts her dirty shoe in her mouth, goes back into the well, fills it up, climbs to the top and gives it to the dog. Neither the dog nor any body else was going to reward her for that trouble, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'aala is there and He rewards those who do good with sincerity.

Ibrahim at-Taymi said, "The sincerely devoted one is he who conceals his good deeds like he conceals his bad ones." The righteous Muslims used to go to extremes in hiding their good deeds. Some examples of the fruits of their sincerity can help illustrate the point : Dawood bin Hind fasted for forty years and even his family did not know it. He would take his lunch from them, but would give it as charity on the way. He would then return in the night and eat with his family.

The wife of Hassan bin abi-Sinaan said, "Hassan would come, and like tricking a child to sleep, enter with me into the bed until he knows that I had slept, he would sneak out and stand in prayer."

Yes, that is how sincere they were. They would hide their deeds from everybody, even their own families."Some among the poor of Madinah lived for many years not knowing who continuously delivered their livelihood to their places, and when Ali ibn al-Hussain died, they lost whatever [sustenance] came to them by night. After his death, it was said, serious marks were found on Ali's back from the food-sack he used to carry at night to the homes of the widows and the poor." Only after their death one would be able to find out about what they do.

Their sincerity became so apparent because its importance was clear in their minds and alive in their souls, and their actions reflected it. It is that simple. We should imitate the righteous of our Ummah and try to conduct our actions like theirs. Sincerity is a deed of the heart which no one can see but Allah, but its fruits are evident in all aspects of a person's life and character.

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Wassalam.