Sincerity is the Pearl of the Hearts
Since 2012-11-29
O my brother: let's stop to cure the ill souls. Let's stop to reform the cruel hearts. Let's stop to refine the low intentions.
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
All praise be exclusively to Allah; surely the religion (i.e. the worship and the obedience) is for Allah only. Peace and blessings of Allah be upon Prophet Muhammad, the guide to salvation, and upon his family and rightly guided companions and upon whoever follows their right path.
O my brother: let’s stop to cure the ill souls. Let’s stop to reform the cruel hearts. Let’s stop to refine the low intentions.
This is, my Muslim brother, the commodity of the pious... the trade of the winners... and the prize of the Mukhbitûn (those who obey Allah with humility and are humble from among the true believers of Islamic Monotheism)… They have courageously sought it and continued walking towards it over the years and days... it is the in-demand commodity for the truthful and a stagnant commodity for the heedless.
The pine tree bears fruit in thirty years while the gourd tree rises in two weeks. The gourd tree tells the pine tree: the way you take in thirty years I take in two weeks… and I am being told that I am a tree… and you are a tree!!
The pine tree says to it: wait till the fall wind blows. If you stand steady, you can then be proud.
This is an example given by wise men about sincerity.
Brother: the trade of the intentions is the trade of the scholars! Where are you my Muslim brother from such trade?!
If you, brother, do not know its limits, conditions, profits and losses, I will then teach them to you, guided by the words of researchers and statements of the learned. Note the following, brother.
First: they said: “This is singling out the True, Glory be to Him, by the intention of obedience
It is: the purification of actions from the creatures’ observation
It is: the avoidance of the creatures’ observation, even of yourself.” (Ibn Al-Qayyim)
It is said that “Sincerity is to forget the looking of creatures by the permanent looking to the Creator. This who adorns himself falsely to people drops from Allah’s estimation”.
My Muslim brother: sincerity… sincerity… faithfulness… faithfulness…
{And they were commanded not, but that they should worship Allâh, and worship none but Him Alone (abstaining from ascribing partners to Him),} [Sûrat Al-Bayyinah: 5]
{وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا اللَّـهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ حُنَفَاءَ...} البينة: 5
Transliteration: Wama omiroo illa liyaAAbudoo Allaha mukhliseena lahu alddeena hunafaa
{Say (O Muhammad): “Verily, my Salât (prayer), my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for Allâh, the Lord of the ‘Alamîn (mankind, jinn and all that exists). (162). “He has no partner. And of this I have been commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims.”} [Sûrat Al-An’âm: 162-163].
{قُلْ إِنَّ صَلَاتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلَّـهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿١٦٢﴾ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ ۖ وَبِذَٰلِكَ أُمِرْتُ وَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ} الأنعام: 162-163
Transliteration: Qul innasalatee wanusukee wamahyaya wamamatee lillahi rabbi alAAalameena (162) La shareeka lahu wabithalika omirtu waana awwalu almuslimeena
{And who can be better in religion than one who submits his face (himself) to Allâh (i.e. follows Allâh’s religion of Islâmic Monotheism); and he is a Muhsin (a good-doer). And follows the religion of Ibrâhîm (Abraham) Hanîfa (Islâmic Monotheism - to worship none but Allâh Alone). And Allâh did take Ibrâhîm (Abraham) as a Khalîl (an intimate friend)!} [Sûrat An-Nisâ’: 125].
{وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ دِينًا مِّمَّنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُ لِلَّـهِ وَهُوَ مُحْسِنٌ وَاتَّبَعَ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفًا ۗ وَاتَّخَذَ اللَّـهُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ خَلِيلًا} النساء: 125
Transliteration: Waman ahsanu deenan mimman aslama wajhahu lillahi wahuwa muhsinun waittabaAAa millata ibraheema haneefan waittakhatha Allahu ibraheema khaleelan
O Brother in Allah: Do you know what the meaning of submitting the face to Allah is in the words of the Almighty: {one who submits his face (himself) to Allâh (i.e. follows Allâh’s religion of Islâmic Monotheism); and he is a Muhsin (a good-doer)}? [Sûrat An-Nisâ’: 125].
{أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُ لِلَّـهِ وَهُوَ مُحْسِنٌ} النساء: 125
Transliteration: aslama wajhahu lillahi wahuwa muhsinun
It is: “to be sincere in intention and deed to Allah; and perfecting it in pursuance to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and his Sunnah.” (Ibn Al-Qayyim)
My Muslim brother: Your sincerity… your faithfulness to Allah is an evidence of your good deeds...
{Who has created death and life that He may test you which of you is best in deed} [Sûrat Al-Mulk: 2].
{الَّذِي خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَاةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا...} الملك: 2
Transliteration: Allathee khalaqa almawta waalhayata liyabluwakum ayyukum ahsanu AAamalan wahuwa alAAazeezu alghafooru
The Master of ascetics and the most graceful of the worshippers, Al-Fudayl Ibn ‘Ayyadh said: “it is the most sincere and the most correct”.
They said: O Abu Ali: what is the most sincere and the most correct?
He replied: “If the deed is sincere but not correct, then it will not be accepted and if the deed is correct but not sincere, it will not be accepted. It is only accepted if it is sincere and correct. The sincere is that it is for the sake of Allah and the correct is that it is according to the Sunnah.” Then he recited the words of Allah Almighty: {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.”} [Sûrat Al-Kahf: 110].
{...فَمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو لِقَاءَ رَبِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا وَلَا يُشْرِكْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِ أَحَدًا} الكهف: 110
Transliteration: faman kana yarjoo liqaa rabbihi falyaAAmal AAamalan salihan walayushrik biAAibadati rabbihi ahadan
My brother in Allah: to sincerity… to sincerity… it is the tie of deed and the protection of good deeds from being lost.
{And We shall turn to whatever deeds they (disbelievers, polytheists, sinners) did, and We shall make such deeds as scattered floating particles of dust.} [Sûrat Al-Furqân: 23].
{وَقَدِمْنَا إِلَىٰ مَا عَمِلُوا مِنْ عَمَلٍ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ هَبَاءً مَّنثُورًا} الفرقان: 23
Transliteration: Waqadimna ila ma AAamiloo min AAamalin fajaAAalnahu habaan manthooran
My Muslim brother: Do you know which deeds become as scattered floating particles of dust.?!!
They are the deeds that do not follow the Sunnah or that they are intended to other than the sake of Allah. The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has said to Sa’d Ibn Abi Waqqas, may Allah be pleased with him: “You are not to be left to perform a deed by which you seek the pleasure of Allah, but that you will be given because of it more goodness, a higher degree and eminence.” [Reported by Al-Bukhari].
«إنك لن تخلف، فتعمل عملا تبتغي به وجه الله، إلا ازددت به درجة ورفعة...» رواه البخاري
My Muslim brother: How happy the people of faithful intentions are; and how good their life is, just by sincerity.
Do you, brother, lack the strength to make your heart determine to do good… or to perform noble deeds?!
This is the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, while returning from the holy battle of Tabuk and he is being surrounded by this chaste group… the parade is coming near the pure Medina… Taiba… Taba (they are from the names of Medina)… the House of belief… and the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is then saying: “There are some people in Medina who were with you all the time, you did not travel any portion of the journey nor crossed any valley, but they were with you. They (i.e. the people) said: “O Messenger of Allah! Even though they were at Medina?” He said: “Yes, because they were kept behind by a genuine excuse.” [Reported by Al-Bukhari].
«إن بالمدينة أقواما، ما سرتم مسيرا، ولا قطعتم واديا إلا كانوا معكم. قالوا: يا رسول الله، وهم بالمدينة؟. قال: وهم بالمدينة، حبسهم العذر» رواه البخاري
Brother: these are the intentions of the faithful… the sincerity of the pious… and the sighs of the devout… by which they have reached the degree of the Mujahidin (the strivers in the cause of Allah)… and have ascended the stairs of the doers...
My Muslim brother: stop and listen to the preaching of your Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, if you are one of the listeners… and the responders... This is Abiy Ibn Ka’b, may Allah be pleased with him, listening to this recommendation: “give the glad tiding to this nation of praise, eminence, religion and the establishment in earth. So whoever of them performs the deeds of the Hereafter for this worldly life, he will not have a reward in the Hereafter.” [Reported by Ahmad and authenticated by Al-Albani].
«بشر هذه الأمة بالتيسير والسناء والرفعة بالدين والتمكين في البلاد والنصر فمن عمل منهم بعمل الآخرة للدنيا فليس له في الآخرة من نصيب» رواه أحمد وصححه الألباني
My brother in Allah: How miserable hypocrites are… how far their effort is… and how their deeds are in vain!! They have worked hard for no gain… and have become weary for no hope.
Brother: “If you are not sincere, do not exhaust yourself.”
“How many times he has exhausted himself to be praised by people, then he died and such praise turned into dispraise! If he had exhausted it to Allah, it would have remained as long as time will remain.”
“A hypocrite fills his sack of provision with sand that burdens him in his way without benefiting him.” (Ibn Al-Qayyim)
My Muslim brother: there is a very famous Hadith, known by all... young and old… noble and low…
Do you, brother, remember this Hadith?
It is the Hadith of “The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions.” [Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
«إنما الأعمال بالنيات» رواه البخاري ومسلم
How great this Hadith is for the people of sincerity… and how marvelous it is for those hearts that are accustomed to join good deeds with intentions… for fear that their deeds might be lost or ignored… this Hadith has such a noble degree and status among the pious that Abdurrahman Ibn Mahdi said: “If I write a book I will make the Hadith of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattab that deeds depend upon the intentions in each chapter.”
My Muslim brother: reforming hearts by sincerity is like reforming lands by rain. This can only be recognized by the people of sincerity.
Brother: “The reality of a slave is in his heart and soul. They cannot be righteous but only with Allah Who there is no god but Him. They cannot be tranquil in this world but with remembering Him. They are returning towards Him with their deeds and actions (good or bad), a sure returning, so they will meet the results of their deeds which they did. There is no reforming but with meeting Him.” (Ibn Taymiyyah)
My Muslim brother: does not a hypocrite feel ashamed that Allah knows his heart well? How ugly it is to prostrate yourself for Allah while your heart is clinging to other than Him. The external appearance of the deed is worship for the Creator, while its internal intention is seeking the love of people. How low the grade of such deprived hypocrites is. {It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches Allâh, but it is piety from you that reaches Him} [Sûrat Al-Hajj :37].
{لَن يَنَالَ اللَّـهَ لُحُومُهَا وَلَا دِمَاؤُهَا وَلَـٰكِن يَنَالُهُ التَّقْوَىٰ مِنكُمْ...} الحج: 37
Transliteration: Lan yanala Allaha luhoomuha waladimaoha walakin yanaluhu alttaqwaminkum
And here is, brother, our noble Prophet saying: “Verily Allah does not look to your bodies nor to your wealth but He looks to your hearts and your deeds.” [Reported by Muslim].
«إن الله لا ينظر إلى صوركم وأموالكم ولكن ينظر إلى قلوبكم وأعمالكم» رواه مسلم
My brother in Allah: how great the sincerity is for the faithful and how noble it is for the worshippers, those who are linked to Allah and who are hard workers. They have subdued their hearts and limbs for it. They have labored in achieving it to get the smells [of paradise]. If you wish, you can hear their words about that, so you may realize their hopes.
Sufyan Ath-Thawry said: “the slave performs an action in secrecy. The devil keeps whispering to him till he talks about it so it moves from secrecy to publicity”.
Yahya Ibn Abi Kathir said: “learn the intention as it is graver than deeds.”
Al-Mubarak said: “A small deed may be great by intention and a great deed may be small by intention.”
Mutraf Ibn Abdullah said: “The righteousness of the heart is by the righteousness of the deeds and the righteousness of the deeds is by the righteousness of the intention.”
Some of the ancestors said: “he whoever wants to be pleased to see his deeds complete has to better his intention. Allah, Glorified and Exalted rewards a person if he improves his intention even if for a morsel.”
My Muslim brother: Those who know have often contended against their souls… How often they move with them the way they hate and wean them against their beloved and accused them of their words and deeds.
Yusuf ibn al-Husayn Ar-Razi said: “Intention is the dearest thing in the world. Many times I endeavor to remove hypocrisy from my heart that it seems as if it is planted in it in another color.”
Yusuf Ibn Asbat said: “Learn the integrity of deed and its ailment. I have learned them in twenty two years!!”
Sahl Ibn Abdullah was asked: “What is the severest matter for the soul?
He said “Sincerity as it has no share with it.”
Brother: How priceless sincerity is as a commodity and how precious it is for those who work for the Hour (the Hereafter)... where the faithful become happy and the hypocrites lose… Where to go for inclination and in darkness, till when one accompanies Satan and how deeds have cheap ornamentation and deception. (Ibn Al-Qayyim)
My Muslim brother: Sincerity is the paradise of the sincere… and the soul of the pious.
Aj-Junaid said: “Sincerity is a secret between Allah and His slave. It is not known by an angel to write it down (in the book of deeds) or by a devil to spoil it.”
Makhul said: “Whenever a person is sincere for forty days but that the sources of wisdom will gush from his heart and tongue.”
Abu Suleiman Ad-Darani said: “whenever a person becomes sincere but that the multitude of dark suggestions and hypocrisy is to cease from coming to him.”
It is said: “sincerity is not to ask for a witness for your deeds other than Allah or for someone to reward you but Him.”
My brother in Allah: How many degrees there are between a hypocrite and a sincere... How far the intentions are between their hearts! This one has attached his heart to the Creator… while the other has attached his heart to those who will die... Oh for these degrees... How many times the pious pray for the righteousness of the hearts… and raise their hands to the Reliever of concerns and woes.
“O Allah: make my deeds righteous. Make it sincere for Your sake; do not make any part of it for anyone but You.”
By those delicate words Al-Faruk ‘Umar Ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, used to invoke Allah. From the invocations of Mutraf Ibn Abdullah, the distinguished pious and example of the knowing: “O my Lord I ask your forgiveness for what I had repented from and returned to and ask Your forgiveness for what I have claimed that it was for Your sake and my heart was mixed with what You knew.”
Brother: How pleased the sincere are with their sincerity. How good the faithful are with their humility to Allah (this who is sincere to Allah tastes the sweetness of worshipping Him which prevents him from worshipping any other one. There is nothing sweeter, tastier, better, softer or finer for the heart than the sweetness of belief which includes worshipping Allah and loving Him and the sincere religion to Him. This requires the attraction of the heart to Allah so that it becomes repentant (to Allah all the time, again and again), and turns to Him in hope and fear. This is shown in the words of Allah Almighty: {Who feared the Most Gracious (Allâh) in the Ghaib (Unseen) and brought a heart turned in repentance (to Him and absolutely free from each and every kind of polytheism).} [Sûrat Qâf: 33].
{مَّنْ خَشِيَ الرَّحْمَـٰنَ بِالْغَيْبِ وَجَاءَ بِقَلْبٍ مُّنِيبٍ} ق: 33
Transliteration: Man khashiya alrrahmana bialghaybi wajaa biqalbin muneebin
My Muslim brother: how foul hypocrisy is. How bad it is on the Day of Meeting (the Hereafter). The wind of hypocrisy is carrion from which noble hearts turn away. The Hypocrisy of the hypocrites has made “the mosque for causing harm” to become a dunghill and ruin (Never stand you therein).
The sincerity of the faithful has alleviated the hate from (there may be a disheveled dusty…) (Ibn Al-Qayyim)
My Muslim brother: How beautiful the invocation of the sincere is… and how nice their whispers in the nights of the negligent are... {(This is) a mention of the mercy of your Lord to His slave Zakariyyâ (Zachariah).)2(. When he called out his Lord (Allâh) a call in secret} [Surat Maryam: 2-3].
{ذِكْرُ رَحْمَتِ رَبِّكَ عَبْدَهُ زَكَرِيَّا ﴿٢﴾ إِذْ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُ نِدَاءً خَفِيًّا} مريم: 2-3
Transliteration: Thikru rahmati rabbika AAabdahu zakariyya (2) Ith nada rabbahu nidaan khafiyyan
Al-Hasan al-Basri said: “secret invocation to Allah is seventy times (in reward) as public invocation. Muslims were striving in praying without their voice being heard. They were whispering to their Lord as Allah Almighty has said {Invoke your Lord with humility and in secret.} [Surat Al-A’râf: 55].
{ادْعُوا رَبَّكُمْ تَضَرُّعًا وَخُفْيَةً...} الأعراف: 55
Transliteration: OdAAoo rabbakum tadarruAAan wakhufyatan
If the invocation which is ordered to be secret includes asking, praising, loving and approaching to Allah, this is then of the greatest treasures that are verily to be concealed from the eyes of the envious. This is a useful religious benefit.” (Ibn Al-Qayyim)
My Muslim brother: Search for the lost heart before starting. The presence of the heart is the first step in prayers. Upon reaching it, you move to the apparent meaning. Upon leaving it you come to the door of confidential talk. If the first place of a guest is unveiling the screen to the heart’s eye, so how a one that does not get out to the desert is eager to enter Mecca?! (Ibn Qayyim)
Brother: have you heard the story of the adulterous woman who quenched the thirst of a dog so Allah forgave her?
“She quenched the thirst of the dog with pure belief that was in her heart so she was forgiven; otherwise, it is not every adulterous woman that quenches the thirst of a dog is to be forgiven. The difference is due to the difference of belief and glorification in the heart.” (Ibn Qayyim)
My Muslim brother: have you not known how the worship of the pious and the direction of the sincere are? They kept their acts of obedience free from afflictions… and were eager to ensure its safety from defects. They covered them with sincerity and faithfulness… and sheltered them in a well-fortified place... Have you not heard about the Master of ascetics and the graceful of worshippers, ‘Amer Ibn Abd Qais, may Allah have mercy on him, who never prayed the optional prayer in the mosque though he was used to praying one thousand rak’ah every day!
This is the religious jurisprudent of strong faith, Abu Wa’il, the brother of Ibn Salamah, he was sobbing while praying at home. If the world had to be given for him provided that someone would see him while sobbing, he would never do it... May Allah have mercy on him.
On the same road walked Ar-Rabi’ Ibn Khaitham Ath-Thour. He was a follower of the Prophetic guidance… the student of Ibn Mas’ûd… the one of the happy line. All his deeds, may Allah have mercy on him, were performed in secret. A person would enter upon him while reading from the Quran, so he covers it with his clothes.
When Ayûb As-Sikhtiyani, may Allah have mercy on him, is overwhelmed by sobbing during a meeting he stands and leaves it so that no one would notice him.
Ibn Sirin, may Allah have mercy on him, was laughing in the morning crying at night.
Brother: you may admire, like me, Dawud ibn Abi Hind, may Allah have mercy on him, who fasted for twenty years without the knowledge of his family. He used to take his lunch to the market and give it away in charity in his way. The people in the market thought that he had eaten in his house while his family thought that he had eaten in the market!!
My Muslim brother: This is the nature of the sincere and the way of the repenting. They are away with their hearts from people, so they win the trade of faithfulness. They make wonders. Oh how great ends are for the intelligent!
Abdah Ibn Suleiman said: “We were in a brigade with Abdullah Ibn al-Mubarak in the Byzantine lands. We faced the enemy. When the parties met, a man from the enemy asked for dueling. A man accepted. He chased him for some time, stabbed and killed him. He killed another one, and another one and another one. People crowded over him and I was among them. He was covering his face with his sleeves. I pulled his sleeves to be surprised that he was Abdullah Ibn al-Mubarak!
He said: oh you, Abu ‘Amr, are one of those who have slandered me?!
Imam Ibn Al-Jawzy said: “behold, may Allah have mercy on you, to this sincere master how he was afraid for his sincerity if the people saw and praised him; so he veiled himself.”
My brother in Allah, say with me: May Allah have mercy on those faithful… those sincere… and give them from the greatness of His charity the rewards of the pious… and gather them with the group of the survivors… on the day where the sovereignty is to the Lord of the worlds. He may gather us with them, amen… amen… amen.
Brother: seek refuge with Allah from the state of the hypocrites… and the slogan of the negligent…. How many times did hypocrisy spoil the hearts… and how many times did it destroy the souls that they do not fear nor repent.
It may be known about a worshipper that he fasts all the time so he does not break his fast. If he breakfasts he does that secretly in order not to lose his prestige. This is the hidden hypocrisy. If he carved for sincerity and hiding his state, he would have breakfasted before those who know that he fasts and then he returns to fasting without letting anyone know about it. Some may inform about his fasting saying: I have not breakfasted for twenty years. He is misguided that he is only saying this to be taken as a model to be followed. Allah knows the intentions” (Ibn Aj-Jawzi)
My Muslim brother: how bad are the homes of the negligent… and how poor is the land of the hypocrites… There where the lands have become barren… and goodness have blackened… they are the homes where owls and crows whoop and croak… they are homes that neither preserve water nor produce plants. They are just bottoms!!
{And who can be better in religion than one who submits his face (himself) to Allâh (i.e. follows Allâh’s religion of Islâmic Monotheism); and he is a Muhsin (a good-doer - See V.2:112). And follows the religion of Ibrâhîm (Abraham) Hanîfa (Islâmic Monotheism - to worship none but Allâh Alone). And Allâh did take Ibrâhîm (Abraham) as a Khalîl (an intimate friend)! [125]. And to Allâh belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And Allâh is Ever Encompassing all things.} [Surat An-Nisâ’: 125-126].
{وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ دِينًا مِّمَّنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُ لِلَّـهِ وَهُوَ مُحْسِنٌ وَاتَّبَعَ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفًا ۗ وَاتَّخَذَ اللَّـهُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ خَلِيلًا ﴿١٢٥﴾ وَلِلَّـهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۚ وَكَانَ اللَّـهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ مُّحِيطًا} النساء: 125-126
Transliteration: Waman ahsanu deenan mimman aslama wajhahu lillahi wahuwa muhsinun waittabaAAa millata ibraheema haneefan waittakhatha Allahu ibraheema khaleelan (125) Walillahi ma fee alssamawati wama fee alardi wakana Allahu bikulli shayin muheetan
Written by Azhary Ahmad mahmoud
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