Assalam Aleykum!!!
Today I want to speak to you about a form of worship (Ibadah) if you master it, you will enjoy all your ibadaat which you do everyday
Let me start with this short story
There was once a very expert carpenter who used to build perfect houses. The carpenter was getting old, so he decided to retire and informed the owner of the establishment which he was working for.
The owner refused his resignation and tried to persuade him to stay but the carpenter refused saying: I can’t I am too old now and I need to rest and spend the rest of my days with my children. The owner of the establishment accepted the wish of the carpenter under one condition….!! And that is to build one last house for the establishment to benefit from.
The carpenter accepted and started building. He knew this was his last job so he wanted to finish it fast and leave, he did not do a good job this time and he finished so fast and gave the key to the owner.
The owner surprised the carpenter by telling him: Take the key this house is a gift from the establishment to you for all the hard work you have done in the past years.
He told him: Now you have a new house to enjoy with your children instead of your old house……the carpenter almost fainted, when he heard the news. He wished he knew this house was going to be his; he would have built it properly.
Now that you read the story let me tell you about the ibadah I am talking about: It is (Al Ikhlaas) or in other words Sincerity, if you master this ibadah well, you will enjoy all your ibadaat and not just that but you will enjoy all your actions in this life.
What is Ikhlaas?
Ikhlaas means, all your deeds are for the sake of Allah, not for the sake of anyone else.
You are good to your parents whether they are good to you or they are favoring your sister more than you. You are helping the poor whether people knew about it or did not know. What is important to you is that the Angels registered your work and you don’t care about anyone else.
Don’t be good to your friends or in-laws because you want them to be good to you….No….. instead be good to them whether they are good to you or not. The most important thing, Is Allah satisfied with you or not?!
If you pleased Allah, then anything or anyone else doesn’t matter.
The most important thing is for you to enter paradise….. you don’t need anyone to praise you…..it is not important that your manager notices you or praises you when you do your job well….Aren’t you sure that Allah SWT sees you and knows what you are doing??!……so you don’t need any human to notice….believe me, humans won’t be able to reward you and won’t know your value….only Allah SWT is the one who can reward you and he is the one who knows what you deserve and will give you more than you deserve.
Allah SWT says: مَنْ جَاءَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ فَلَهُ عَشْرُ أَمْثَالِهَا
Whoever comes [on the Day of Judgment] with a good deed will have ten times the like thereof [to his credit]…) 6:160
If you think like this, nothing will ever upset you and you will never bother about anyone who did not appreciate you because from the beginning you did not do what you did for them….very few people live like this….
So many people do good in their job and treat their families well but if they do not receive the appreciation, they stop being good and they stop the ihsaan and Ikhlaas…Why?.... You should not stop because you did not work for them and you did not do good for them….the most important thing is you get your reward from Allah SWT and that is it….this is what we call Ikhlaas (Sincerity) All your deeds are for the sake of Allah only.
Have you ever asked yourself ….. What will happen to me if I have Ikhlaas in everything I do?
First let me tell you this, Ikhlaas or sincerity is not one level….it comes in different levels
If Ikhlaas increased in your heart, you will be treated differently and specially by Allah SWT…not like any other person!!......and this special treatment is in these three matters:
1. You will be getting more reward for the deeds you do than anyone else, even if the other person did the same deeds as you did.
The companions of the Prophet PBUH used to do many deeds which many of us do now but their reward was much higher because the level of Ikhlaas in their heart which was way greater than us.
Bukhari, Muslim relate from Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri that Allah’s Messenger warned:
Do not curse my Companions! Do not curse my Companions! I swear by Him in Whose hand my life is that, even if one among you had as much gold as Mount Uhud and spent it in the way of God, this would not be equal in reward to a few handfuls of them or even to half of that.
2. The second special treatment: If you fall in some sins…Allah SWT will overrides them for you.
Abu Huraira reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Verily, a prostitute saw a dog lolling around a well on a hot day and hanging his tongue from thirst, so she drew some water for it in her shoe and Allah forgave her.”
Subhana Allah, not every prostitute will give water to a dog will be forgiven!! But Allah SWT saw the level of sincerity (Ikhlass) in the heart of that prostitute and rewarded her for it.
Justice is not to treat all people the same, but it is to treat everyone according to their heart and neyya
Look at the example of Prophet Musa PBUH, he threw the boards which had the words of Allah SWT and broke them, he pulled the beard of another Prophet (Haroon) PBUH and reproached Allah SWT on the night of Isra’a about Prophet Mohammad PBUH….despite all that Allah SWT forgave him, and treated him with very special treatment….why?.....because he did a lot for the sake of Allah, He stood up to Feroun and he spent years trying to guide Bani Israeel.
Now look at Prophet Yunus PBUH, he did not have the status and deeds of Prophet Musa PBUH, so when he wronged Allah SWT once, Allah SWT locked him inside the whale as a punishment.
So there is a big difference between the one who commits a sin and has a big account full of good deeds and the one who commits a sin and his account is not as full or empty.
3. The third special treatment is: the happiness which you will feel in the dunia before the Akhera
The Prophet PBUH said: “Whoever makes the Hereafter his preoccupation, then Allah places freedom from want in his heart, gathers his affairs, and Dunya (worldly life) comes to him despite being reluctant to do so. And whoever makes Dunya his preoccupation, then Allah places his poverty in front of his eyes, make his affairs scattered, and nothing of the Dunya comes to him except that which has been decreed for him.” [At-Tirmidhi]
The companions of the Prophet PBUH used to work so hard to hide their deeds so that it is purely for the sake of Allah. They will be praying in a Jama3ah and cry out of the fear of Allah and the one next to them does not feel them or notice them. Nowadays we see people screaming and weeping so loudly in the masajid. Allah SWT loves Al 3abd Al Khafi (the one who hides his deeds)
Now that we learnt all this, what could stop us from Ikhlaas?
Ikhlaas does not need a physical effort from us. It is a work of the heart and the neyya so let’s not waste it.
But there is a slight problem with some of us. Some of us always feel that they are doing Reya’a (showing off) no matter what they do, the shaytaan always comes to them and convinces them that they are doing Reya’a…… I will talk more about this issue and how to solve it next time in shaa Allah.
Translated from lecture of one of my favorite Sheikhs Mushari Al Kharraaz
Today I want to speak to you about a form of worship (Ibadah) if you master it, you will enjoy all your ibadaat which you do everyday
Let me start with this short story
There was once a very expert carpenter who used to build perfect houses. The carpenter was getting old, so he decided to retire and informed the owner of the establishment which he was working for.
The owner refused his resignation and tried to persuade him to stay but the carpenter refused saying: I can’t I am too old now and I need to rest and spend the rest of my days with my children. The owner of the establishment accepted the wish of the carpenter under one condition….!! And that is to build one last house for the establishment to benefit from.
The carpenter accepted and started building. He knew this was his last job so he wanted to finish it fast and leave, he did not do a good job this time and he finished so fast and gave the key to the owner.
The owner surprised the carpenter by telling him: Take the key this house is a gift from the establishment to you for all the hard work you have done in the past years.
He told him: Now you have a new house to enjoy with your children instead of your old house……the carpenter almost fainted, when he heard the news. He wished he knew this house was going to be his; he would have built it properly.
Now that you read the story let me tell you about the ibadah I am talking about: It is (Al Ikhlaas) or in other words Sincerity, if you master this ibadah well, you will enjoy all your ibadaat and not just that but you will enjoy all your actions in this life.
What is Ikhlaas?
Ikhlaas means, all your deeds are for the sake of Allah, not for the sake of anyone else.
You are good to your parents whether they are good to you or they are favoring your sister more than you. You are helping the poor whether people knew about it or did not know. What is important to you is that the Angels registered your work and you don’t care about anyone else.
Don’t be good to your friends or in-laws because you want them to be good to you….No….. instead be good to them whether they are good to you or not. The most important thing, Is Allah satisfied with you or not?!
If you pleased Allah, then anything or anyone else doesn’t matter.
The most important thing is for you to enter paradise….. you don’t need anyone to praise you…..it is not important that your manager notices you or praises you when you do your job well….Aren’t you sure that Allah SWT sees you and knows what you are doing??!……so you don’t need any human to notice….believe me, humans won’t be able to reward you and won’t know your value….only Allah SWT is the one who can reward you and he is the one who knows what you deserve and will give you more than you deserve.
Allah SWT says: مَنْ جَاءَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ فَلَهُ عَشْرُ أَمْثَالِهَا
Whoever comes [on the Day of Judgment] with a good deed will have ten times the like thereof [to his credit]…) 6:160
If you think like this, nothing will ever upset you and you will never bother about anyone who did not appreciate you because from the beginning you did not do what you did for them….very few people live like this….
So many people do good in their job and treat their families well but if they do not receive the appreciation, they stop being good and they stop the ihsaan and Ikhlaas…Why?.... You should not stop because you did not work for them and you did not do good for them….the most important thing is you get your reward from Allah SWT and that is it….this is what we call Ikhlaas (Sincerity) All your deeds are for the sake of Allah only.
Have you ever asked yourself ….. What will happen to me if I have Ikhlaas in everything I do?
First let me tell you this, Ikhlaas or sincerity is not one level….it comes in different levels
If Ikhlaas increased in your heart, you will be treated differently and specially by Allah SWT…not like any other person!!......and this special treatment is in these three matters:
1. You will be getting more reward for the deeds you do than anyone else, even if the other person did the same deeds as you did.
The companions of the Prophet PBUH used to do many deeds which many of us do now but their reward was much higher because the level of Ikhlaas in their heart which was way greater than us.
Bukhari, Muslim relate from Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri that Allah’s Messenger warned:
Do not curse my Companions! Do not curse my Companions! I swear by Him in Whose hand my life is that, even if one among you had as much gold as Mount Uhud and spent it in the way of God, this would not be equal in reward to a few handfuls of them or even to half of that.
2. The second special treatment: If you fall in some sins…Allah SWT will overrides them for you.
Abu Huraira reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Verily, a prostitute saw a dog lolling around a well on a hot day and hanging his tongue from thirst, so she drew some water for it in her shoe and Allah forgave her.”
Subhana Allah, not every prostitute will give water to a dog will be forgiven!! But Allah SWT saw the level of sincerity (Ikhlass) in the heart of that prostitute and rewarded her for it.
Justice is not to treat all people the same, but it is to treat everyone according to their heart and neyya
Look at the example of Prophet Musa PBUH, he threw the boards which had the words of Allah SWT and broke them, he pulled the beard of another Prophet (Haroon) PBUH and reproached Allah SWT on the night of Isra’a about Prophet Mohammad PBUH….despite all that Allah SWT forgave him, and treated him with very special treatment….why?.....because he did a lot for the sake of Allah, He stood up to Feroun and he spent years trying to guide Bani Israeel.
Now look at Prophet Yunus PBUH, he did not have the status and deeds of Prophet Musa PBUH, so when he wronged Allah SWT once, Allah SWT locked him inside the whale as a punishment.
So there is a big difference between the one who commits a sin and has a big account full of good deeds and the one who commits a sin and his account is not as full or empty.
3. The third special treatment is: the happiness which you will feel in the dunia before the Akhera
The Prophet PBUH said: “Whoever makes the Hereafter his preoccupation, then Allah places freedom from want in his heart, gathers his affairs, and Dunya (worldly life) comes to him despite being reluctant to do so. And whoever makes Dunya his preoccupation, then Allah places his poverty in front of his eyes, make his affairs scattered, and nothing of the Dunya comes to him except that which has been decreed for him.” [At-Tirmidhi]
The companions of the Prophet PBUH used to work so hard to hide their deeds so that it is purely for the sake of Allah. They will be praying in a Jama3ah and cry out of the fear of Allah and the one next to them does not feel them or notice them. Nowadays we see people screaming and weeping so loudly in the masajid. Allah SWT loves Al 3abd Al Khafi (the one who hides his deeds)
Now that we learnt all this, what could stop us from Ikhlaas?
Ikhlaas does not need a physical effort from us. It is a work of the heart and the neyya so let’s not waste it.
But there is a slight problem with some of us. Some of us always feel that they are doing Reya’a (showing off) no matter what they do, the shaytaan always comes to them and convinces them that they are doing Reya’a…… I will talk more about this issue and how to solve it next time in shaa Allah.
Translated from lecture of one of my favorite Sheikhs Mushari Al Kharraaz
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