By Dr. Norlain Dindang Mababaya 

4.   Sincerely seek Allâh’s Pleasure to attain everlasting rewards 

  Aside from firm belief in the absolute oneness of Allâh, Islâm guides us to attain ultimate success by sincerely seeking Allâh’s Pleasure.  Everything we say and do must be for the pleasure of our Creator.   So many ayât (verses) in the Qur’ân remind us that Allâh I  is the final Goal  of all (e.g., 3:28,  5:18, 48, 105, 6:164, 24:42, 25:15, 31:14, 40:1-3, 42:15, 53:42, 50:43, 60:4 and 64:1-4). In the Qur’ân Allâh I  enjoins us to:

“Say: ‘Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death are (all) for Allâh, the Rabb (Cherisher and Sustainer) of the Worlds.’”  (6:162)

The above Qur’ânic injunction implies that we must develop Ikhlâs (Sincerity) to Allâh.  This means to do good deeds purely for the pleasure of Allâh and not out of self-conceit to seek appreciation or praise from people.   Allâh I has clearly commanded us to worship Him with sincerity as shown in the following Qur’ânic injunctions:

“Say, ‘Verily, I am commanded to serve Allâh with sincere devotion.’”   (39:14)

“Call then upon Allâh with sincere devotion to Him even though the Unbelievers may detest it.”   (40:14)

“And they have been commanded no more than this: to worship Allâh, offering Him sincere devotion, being True  (in Faith); establish regular prayer;  and  to give Zakat. And that is the Religion Right and Straight.”   (98:5)

In line with the above commandments, Allâh’s Messenger r teaches us to be sincere to Allâh in the performance of our deeds. In this way, we attain Allâh’s rewards. The Prophet r makes it clear that every deed is rewarded according to our intention:

 ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab t said,  “I heard Allâh’s  Messenger r saying, ‘The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended. Thus he whose migration was for Allâh and His Messenger r, his migration had been for Allâh and His Messenger r, and he whose migration was to achieve some worldly benefit or take some woman in marriage, his migration had been for that for which he migrated.’” (Bukhâri 1/1 and Muslim 3/ 4692)

It is for our success that we always purify our intention for the sole pleasure of our Creator.  Everything we do including the acquisition of knowledge must be purely to please Allâh I the Most High and not for any self-conceit or selfish interest. We must always be conscious in purifying our intention for every single act of worship or deed that we do. The following authentic Ahâdîth should serve as admonitions for us to purify our intention, solely for Allâh’s sake:

Jundub t  narrated that the Prophet r said,  “He who let the people hear of his good deeds intentionally, to win their praise, Allâh will let the people know his real intention (on the Day of Resurrection). And he who does good things in public to show off and win the praise of the people, Allâh will disclose his real intention (and humiliate him).”    (Bukhâri  8/506)

Utban ibn Malik Al- Ansari t  who was one of the men of the tribe of Bani Salim narrated: “Allâh’s  Messenger r came to me and said , ‘If anybody comes on the Day of Resurrection who has said ‘La ilaha illal-lah,’ (‘There is no God but Allâh’) sincerely, with the intention to win Allâh’s Pleasure, Allâh will make the Hell-Fire forbidden for him.’”  (Bukhâri  8/431)

Ka’b ibn Malik t narrated that Allâh’s Messenger r said  “He who acquires knowledge in order to fall into polemics with other scholars and prove his superiority over them, or to dispute with the ignorant or to attract the attention of the people, Allâh will throw him in the Fire.”   (Tirmidhi  225 and Ibn Majah narrated by Abdullâh  Ibn Umar)

It has been narrated on the authority of Sulayman ibn Yasar t who said,  “People dispersed from around AbuHurayrah, and Natil, who was from the Syrians, said to him: ‘O Shaykh, relate (to us) a tradition you have heard from Allâh’s Messenger r.’ He said,  “Yes. I heard the Allâh’s Messenger r said  ‘The first man (whose case) will be decided on the Day of Judgment, will be a man who died as a martyr. He shall be brought (before the Judgment Seat). Allâh will make him recount His blessings (i.e. the blessings which He had bestowed upon him) and he will recount them (and admit having enjoyed them in his life).  (Then) will Allâh say: ‘What did you do (to requite these blessings)?’  He will say: ‘I fought for Thee until I died as a martyr.’  Allâh will say: ‘You have told a lie. You fought so that you might be called a brave warrior. And you were called so.’ (Then) orders will be passed against him and he will be dragged with his face downward and cast into Hell.  Then,  there will be brought forward a man who acquired knowledge and imparted it (to others) and recited the Qur’ân. He will be brought, Allâh will make him recount His blessings and he will recount them (and admit having enjoyed them in his lifetime).  Then will Allâh ask: ‘What did you do (to requite these blessings)?’  He will say: ‘I acquired knowledge and disseminated it and recited the Qur’ân, seeking Your pleasure.’ Allâh will say: ‘You have told a lie. You acquired knowledge so that you might be called “a scholar”, and you recited the Qur’ân so that it might be said,  “He is a Qari” and such has been said.’ Then orders will be passed against him and he shall be dragged with his face downward and cast into the Fire.  Then will be brought a man whom Allâh had made abundantly rich and had granted every kind of wealth. He will be brought, Allâh will make him recount His blessings and he will recount them and (admit having enjoyed them in his lifetime).  Allâh will (then) ask: ‘What have you done (to requite these blessings)?’  He will say: ‘I spent money in every cause in which  You wished that it should be spent.’     Allâh will say: ‘You are lying.   You did (so)  that   it might be said about (you): “He is a generous fellow”, and so it was said.’ Then will Allâh pass orders and he will be dragged with his face downward and thrown into Hell.  (Muslim 4688)

As much as possible, we should make use of everything that Allâh  the Exalted has given us to Him  with utmost sincerity. We must dedicate everything to Him Alone in order that our deeds will not be in vain. We should remember that on the Day of Judgment, we shall be questioned about our life, wealth and knowledge:

Abu Barsah Nazlah ibn Ubayd al Aslami t narrated that the Prophet r said,  “A servant of Allâh will remain standing on the Day of Judgment till he is questioned:  about his age and how he spent it;  about his knowledge and how he utilized it; about his wealth from where he acquired it and in what (activities) he spent it; and about his body as to how he used it.”   (Tirmidhi  407)

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