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On the authority of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), from the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), among the sayings he related from his Lord (glorified and exalted be He) is that He said: Allah has written down the good deeds and the bad ones. Then He explained it [by saying that] he who has intended a good deed and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as from ten good deeds to seven hundred times, or many times over. But if he has intended a bad deed and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down as one bad deed.
The differences in evaluating and rewarding deeds are due to the level of Al Ikhlas in doing them, and Al Ikhlas is our topic for the Khutba of today:
"But if he has intended a bad deed and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down as one bad deed."
O Allah, our Lord! Grant peace and blessings to Sayyidina Muhammad, upon his Family, upon his Companions, the trustees upon his message and leaders of his armies, and be pleased with them and us O Lord of the Worlds.
O servants of Allah, I advice you and myself of fearing Allah and I encourage you to obey Him and I will begin with what is good.
Al Ikhlas (sincerity):
1- Worshiping Allah is the purpose of man's creation:
Allah, the Almighty, says,
﴾ And they were commanded not, but that they should worship Allah, and worship none but Him Alone (abstaining from ascribing partners to Him), and perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat) and give Zakat: and that is the right religion. ﴿
Allah’s Command to His first and foremost creature, man, has been connected with only two things; the first is worship, which means complete obedience to His Divine Commands; and the second is Ikhlas, which is purifying the heart from doubt and polytheism. Worship is exterior aspect of devotion, while Ikhlas is an interior one. Worship is connected to the limbs, whereas Ikhlas is connected with the heart. Worship is ostensible, while Ikhlas is secret and hidden. This means that the true Muslim obeys Allah’s commands completely by his limbs, and has Ikhlas in his heart. It is clear that Ikhlas is part of belief. Nay, rather it is the very belief.
2- There are different motivations to offer deeds:
Motives, which lead someone to a certain action, urge him to perfect it, and encourage him to bear hardship and spend a lot for it, are numerous and various. Some of these motives are closely linked to work, and could be noticed with deeds and actions. Others are distant and require some effort and insight in order to be realized. Some are so clear and obvious that they raise no disputation or disagreement. Others are so ambiguous and hidden inside the human soul that they bring about a lot of disputation and disagreement to define or evaluate.
Some motives are instinctive, combined within human nature and urge man to maintain his existence, safety, perfection and continuity.
Some motives are acquired and they stem from the soul after man gets to know his Lord, himself and what has been prepared for him of the everlasting blessings in the Garden of Paradise, as wide as the heavens and earth.
The more good beneficial knowledge a human being acquires as demanded by Allah, the nobler the motive, which pushes him to great deeds and high morals.
The more man is far away from the knowledge leading to Allah, the lower the psychological motive and the more debased deeds and traits are.
Good deeds manifest firm belief. And belief without deeds is like a tree without fruits. Moreover, good deeds are the price for Paradise and the only way to it. In Paradise, believers assume their positions according to the size and multitude of their righteous deeds. To this effect, Allah All Mighty says,
﴾ Those whose lives the angels take while they are in a pious state (i.e. pure from all evil, and worshipping none but Allah Alone) saying (to them): Salamun 'Alaikum (peace be on you) enter you Paradise, because of (the good) which you used to do (in the world)." ﴿
He also says:
﴾ For all there will be degrees (or ranks) according to what they did. And your Lord is not unaware of what they do. ﴿
3- Intention is what counts in deeds:
The value of a certain act depends, before anything else, upon the motive(s) behind it. Moreover, only motives can determine the real value of any action. If someone, for instance, finds a valuable silver coin in the street and bends down to pick it up with the intention to look for its owner, he would be considered a good-doer and will be well-rewarded. If, however, the same coin is picked up by someone with the intention of taking it for themselves, he would be considered an evil-doer and will be severely punished. Both acts are but one and the same; but it is merely intention which makes the former good, and the latter bad.
It has been narrated on the authority of Umar b. al-Khattab that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: (The value of) an action depends on the intention behind it. A man will be rewarded only for what he intended. The emigration of one who emigrates for the sake of Allah and His Messenger (PBUH) is for the sake of Allah and His Messenger (PBUH) ; and the emigration of one who emigrates for gaining a worldly advantage or for marrying a woman is for what he has emigrated.
4- "which of you is best in deed" the best deed is the righteous and the most sincere:
Allah says:
﴾ Who has created death and life, that He may test you which of you is best in deed. And He is the All-Mighty, the Oft-Forgiving; ﴿
Fudhail bin Ayadh interpreted the clause
﴾Which of you is best in deed. ﴿
…As “which of you are the most sincere and correct in deed.” And when he was asked, “O Abu Ali! Which deed is the most sincere and correct?”, he replied, “If an act is done out of Ikhlas, but is not correct, it will not be accepted. And if it is correct but lacks Ikhlas, it will not be accepted, either. No act will be accepted, unless it is correct, sincere and in pursuit of the good pleasure of Allah due to the following Ayah:
﴾ (Saying): "We feed you seeking Allah's Countenance only. We wish for no reward, nor thanks from you. ﴿
"Correctness of deed" means to be in agreement with Prophetic Sunnah (the tradition of the Prophet (PBUH). This is because Allah has said,
﴾ Say (O Muhammad to mankind): "If you (really) love Allah then follow me (i.e. accept Islamic Monotheism, follow the Qur'an and the Sunnah), Allah will love you and forgive you of your sins. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." ﴿
Then Fudhail reauthord the verse,
﴾ Say (O Muhammad) : "I am only a man like you. It has been inspired to me that your Ilah (God) is One Ilah (God i.e. Allah). So whoever hopes for the Meeting with his Lord, let him work righteousness and associate none as a partner in the worship of his Lord." ﴿
Allah also says:
﴾ And We shall turn to whatever deeds they (disbelievers, polytheists, sinners, etc.) did, and We shall make such deeds as scattered floating particles of dust. ﴿
The deeds mentioned in this verse are said to mean the deeds which are not in agreement with the Sunnah and those which have been done for the sake of other than Allah.
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: Allah (glorified and exalted be He) said: I am so self-sufficient that I am in no need of having an associate. Thus he who does an action for someone else's sake as well as Mine will have that action renounced by Me to him whom he associated with Me.
In another Divine Hadith He, Glory be to Him, says,
“Ikhlas is one of My Secrets; I put it in the hearts of those whom I love of My slaves.”
5- Al Ikhlas turns worldly deeds into an accepted worship:
Ikhlas in seeking the good pleasure of Allah, exalts the worldly act and turns it into an accepted worship. Thus, any act on the part of man for earning sustenance turns into an accepted worship if the following requirements are fulfilled: It must be fundamentally lawful, and intended for self-sufficiency. It should be spent on man’s family and those under his care. It should be intended to be in service of people in general and Muslims in particular. It must not entail disobedience to Allah or distract man from performing the obligatory or religious obligations. It is narrated that a pious person once saw a man busy at praying in a mosque without doing any work. He asked him “who feeds you?” “My brother”, replied the man. The righteous man said, “Your brother is a better worshipper than you are.”
Mu'ad narrated that the prophet PBUH said:
((He who builds a building or plants a plant without tyranny or oppression will be rewarded as long as people are making use of them))
Jabir (Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah's Messenger (PBUH) as saying: Never does a Muslim plants a tree except that he has the reward of charity for him, for what is eaten out of that is charity; what is stolen out of that, what the beasts eat out of that, what the birds eat out of that is charity for him. (In short) none incurs a loss to him but it becomes a charity on his part.
Thus, good intentions turn mere worldly deeds into worships and good deeds. Man’s responsibilities towards himself, his family and children turns into good and generously rewarded deeds if accompanied by good intentions.
Al-Miqdam ibn Ma'dikarib heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "What you feed yourself is sadaqa for you. What you feed your child is sadaqa for you. What you feed your wife is sadaqa is for you. What you feed your servant is sadaqa for you."
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas transmitted that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him, "You do not spend anything by which you desire the face of Allah Almighty but that you art rewarded for it, even what you place in your wife's mouth."
6- Al Ikhlas in pleasing Allah is considered a good deed:
One may wonder when one gets to know that Ikhlas in seeking the good pleasure of Allah is considered as a good deed if man is prevented from doing such a good deed by certain irresistible circumstances.
In the battle of ‘Usrah, some people came to the prophet (PBUH). They wanted to fight against the infidels with him. They offered their lives in the Cause of Allah; but the prophet (PBUH) could not recruit them (due to the lack of financial means). They went back because they were sad because of being left behind the battlefield. The following Quranic verse was revealed about them:
﴾ Nor (is there blame) on those who came to you to be provided with mounts, and when you said: "I can find no mounts for you," they turned back, while their eyes overflowing with tears of grief that they could not find anything to spend (for Jihad). ﴿
The Prophet (PBUH) praised their belief and Ikhlas and addressed the army going ahead for the battle,
It is narrated by Bukhari from Anas bin Malik (May Allah be pleased with him): We were coming back from the battle of Tabuk with the Prophet (PBUH) when he remarked, "There are people whom we left behind in Al- Madinah who accompanied us in spirit in every pass and valley we crossed. They remained behind for a valid excuse."
Moreover, the Prophet (PUBH) considered illness and travel, when accompanied by Ikhlas in seeking the Reward of Allah as a reason for getting the reward of good deeds, which one used to do when he was healthy and at home. To this effect, he (PBUH) said
Abu Musa reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “If a servant performs a good practice, but then is occupied by sickness or travel, it will be written for him as a good deed like he used to do when he was healthy and settled.”
7- Hypocrisy nullifies deeds:
If hypocrisy, which is the opposite of Ikhlas, sneaks into good deeds or even worships and devotional services, it turns them into deeds worthy of blame and punishment. To this effect, Allah Almighty says,
﴾ So woe unto those performers of Salat (prayers) (hypocrites), Who delay their Salat (prayer) from their stated fixed times, Those who do good deeds only to be seen (of men), ﴿
Whenever hypocrisy creeps into spending money, it renders it void and valueless in the sight of Allah. To this effect, Allah All Mighty says,
﴾ O you who believe! Do not render in vain your Sadaqah (charity) by reminders of your generosity or by injury, like him who spends his wealth to be seen of men, and he does not believe in Allah, nor in the Last Day. His likeness is the likeness of a smooth rock on which is a little dust; on it falls heavy rain which leaves it bare. They are not able to do anything with what they have earned. And Allah does not guide the disbelieving people. ﴿
The prophet PBUH said:
“Be sincere in your deen (religion); even a small deed will be enough for you.”
Quotes of scholars about Al Ikhlas:
Here are some of the sayings of some scholars about Ikhlas:
- Ikhlas is that man’s secret acts and the open ones are the same. Hypocrisy on the other hand is that man’s open deeds are better than his secret ones. And truthfulness in Ikhlas is that man’s interior should be better than his exterior.
Ikhlas is to single Allah, the Almighty, for obedience and devotion. One should purify his deeds from eye-service.
- A sincere person is never a hypocrite; and a truthful one is never self-conceited. Ikhlas is never perfected except by truthfulness just as truthfulness is never perfected except by Ikhlas; and they both can never be perfected without patience.
- Ikhlas is being heedless of people’s observation of man’s deeds and being in continuous observation of the Creator. Whosoever beautifies himself for people with what he does not possess drops in Allah’s estimation.
- It has been said that abandoning work for the sake of people is hypocrisy; and performing any act for the sake of people is polytheism. But if Allah keeps you away from them both, that is Ikhlas.
- Ikhlas is the secret between Allah and His slave; it will not be corrupted because it is not known by either an angel to record it, or by Satan to spoil it or by a desire to incline it.
- Ikhlas is that you should not seek any witness on your deeds other than Allah, and that you should seek no reward from anyone except from Him.
- Whosoever feels that he is sincere enough, his Ikhlas lacks Ikhlas.
And when a true believer gets rid of being pride of his Ikhlas, he will become of the chosen sincere elite. This is because the hardest thing to man is Ikhlas, for his self has no benefit from it.
The second Khutbah:
Who is Zaid Al Khair?
Before he embraced Islam, Zaid Al-Khaiyr was one of the bravest and most generous people. When the news of the Prophet (PBUH) reached him, he desired to know about his religion; so he prepared his camel and invited prominent men of his people to visit Yathrib (Medina). When they came nearer to Medina, they went straight towards the Prophet’s mosque and made their animals kneel down at its door. It so happened that when they entered, the Prophet (PBUH) was on the pulpit delivering a sermon. They were highly impressed by his sermon. They were amazed by the attachment of Muslims to him, their careful listening to him, and their being affected by his sayings. When the Messenger (PBUH) saw them, he said,
“I am better for you than ‘Uzza and all what you worship. I am better for you than the black camel (metaphorical expression of the most precious wealth in Arabia), which you worship other than Allah.”
When the Prophet (PBUH) finished his speech, Zaid, the knight, stood up among the crowds of Muslims having the appearance of one of the most handsome men with perfect countenance and a tall stature and began speaking out with his loud voice, “O Muhammad, I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah.” The Prophet PBUH came towards him and said
“Who are you?”
He replied, “I am Zaid, the knight”. The Prophet (PBUH) said,
“Nay, but you are Zaid the good, not Zaid the knight. All Praise be to Allah, Who brought you from your homeland and made your heart soft for accepting Islam.”
Then the Prophet (PBUH) took him in honor to his house with some of his Companions among whom were Omar.
At home, the Prophet (PBUH) put a cushion for Zaid. It was difficult for him to lean on it at the presence of the Prophet (PBUH). He said, “O Messenger of Allah! I swear by Allah I cannot lean in your presence!” The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said,
“O Zaid! All men who were described to me proved to be inferior to the image I had made about them, except for you, Zaid. O Zaid! you have two traits that are beloved by Allah and His Messenger.”
He asked, “What are they, O Messenger of Allah?” The Prophet (PBUH) replied,
“Patience and Clemency.”
Zaid said: “Praise to Allah that He has made me as Allah and His Messenger like!" then he turned to the prophet PBUH and said: "O Messenger of Allah! Just give me three hundred knights and I guarantee to you that I shall attack the Romans and defeat them.”
The Prophet (PBUH) appreciated his courage and said,
“What a (great) man you are!”
Then all of Zaid’s people who were with him embraced Islam as soon as he did. When he wanted to go back to his people’s land in Najd, the Prophet (PBUH) bade him farewell him and said,
“What a (great) man this is!”
On his way back he passed away. And it was not a long time between his acceptance of Islam and his death; but his Ikhlas for Islam and his great ambitions for the spread of this religion sufficed him from lots of work blemished by hypocrisy. In this context, the Messenger of Allah addressed one of his venerable Companions,
“O Mu’ad! Be sincere in your religion, a little work suffices you.”
