### (sincerity)

Bismillah-Irahman Ir-Rahim.
Alhamdulillahi Rabbil ‘Alamin Wassalatu Wassalamu ‘Ala-Asyarafil Anbiya’e Wal Mursalin
Saidina Muhammadin Wa’ala Alihi Wasahbihi Ajma’in
Assalam u Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu.

Amma-Ba'ad,

At-Tahrim 66:8
ُ ‫ت َت ۡج ِرى مِن َت ۡح ِت َها ٱَأۡل ۡن ٰ َه ُر َي ۡو َم اَل ي ُۡخ ِزى ٱهَّلل‬ ٍ ‫ِين َءا َم ُنو ْا ُتوب ُٓو ْا ِإ َلى ٱهَّلل ِ َت ۡو َب ًة َّنصُوحً ا َع َس ٰى َر ُّب ُكمۡ َأن ُي َك ِّف َر َعن ُكمۡ َس ِّيـَٔا ِت ُكمۡ َوي ُۡد ِخ َل ُكمۡ َج ٰ َّن‬
َ ‫ٰ َٓيَأ ُّي َها ٱلَّذ‬
‫ك َع َل ٰى ُك ِّل َش ۡى ٍء َقدِي ٌر‬ َ ‫ٱغف ِۡر َل َن ۖٓا ِإ َّن‬ َ ‫ون َر َّب َنٓا َأ ۡتمِمۡ َل َنا ُن‬
ۡ ‫ور َنا َو‬ َ ُ‫ِيهمۡ َو ِبَأۡي ٰ َمن ِِهمۡ َيقُول‬
ِ ‫ِين َءا َم ُنو ْا َم َع ُهۥۖ ُنو ُرهُمۡ َي ۡس َع ٰى َب ۡي َن َأ ۡيد‬
َ ‫ٱل َّن ِبىَّ َوٱلَّذ‬

O you who have believed, repent to Allāh with sincere repentance. Perhaps your Lord will
remove from you your misdeeds and admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow [on] the
Day when Allāh will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believed with him. Their light will
proceed before them and on their right; they will say, "Our Lord, perfect for us our light and
forgive us. Indeed, You are over all things competent."

Today's khutbah we will talk about an aspect of our deen which is so essential that one has to
carry it with himself anywhere goes, every moment of the day, and with every action and
speech. Yet it is also so one that is easily forgotten and on average a Muslim doesn’t think about
it much. It is Ikhlas, sincerity. We will talk about what it is, what does lack of sincerity do, how it
is connected to piety, and how we can implement it in our lives. Ikhlas means sincerity in
actions, deeds, and speech, only for the sake of Allah. and seeking his pleasure in them.

Ikhlas has so much significance because it is a matter related to the heart, and when one enters
Islam he proclaims his beliefs not only by tongue, but he has to affirm the truth of the beliefs by
heart. As you are familar with the pillars of Iman, you say: "Iqrar Billisan wa Tasdiq bil qalb
(Affirmation by the heart): The latter aspect emphasizes that the beliefs should be internalized
and one should accept to the sincere commitment to those beliefs in one's heart.

Ikhlas is an attribute that touches every aspect of a believer's life. Why? Because it is a
condition for one's deeds to be accepted.
Abu Bakr RA in one of his khutbas he says:

O muslims, The purpose of life is clearly defined to us by Allah. Worshipping him only and
associating none to him in worship. Worshipping him means obedience to him. This life is very
short, and a wise person who understands his purpose will not hesitate to spend his lifetime in
obedience to the commands of Allah, seeking his pleasure only. It is also possible that a person
understands this purpose only by superficially and not by conviction. That means He performs
his duties and obligations to Allah, but lacks sincerity in the heart.

Think of how quick life goes. with blink of an eye, weeks, months, years, and decades pass by.
our own peers, friends, and relatives pass away. Where are our forefathers? Where are the
previous generations, and tribes that are non-existent? Where are the kings who spend their
time conquering, often killing people injustly, collecting wealth? What happened to the their
conquered lands, and thier wealth in gold and silver? and thier protected castles? Previous
generations who are no longer, have completed their period of test.
Their lifetimes came to an end and they joined their deeds and actions. They are residing after
they died either in the dwelling of happiness or misery based on their actions and the sincerity in
them.

I ask again, not too longer later, we will also be considered previous generations once we return
to the Haqq. We should ask ourselves now how do we want to present ourselves in front of
Allah, having spent our lives in Sincere devotion to him, acting only with Ikhlas for his sake, or
like the ignorants and unwise do we want to waste our time for the temporary pleasures,
chasing wealth, or as those who have been hypocrites in our actions during our time on earth?

May Allah make us among the Mukhliseen.

### Lack of Sincerity

What does lack of sincerity do. Indeed, if sincerity is the sign of a believer whom Allah loves,
then lack of sincerity in actions and worship is the sign of hypocrites, whom Allah hates.
In a hadith we are informed that the sign of hypocrites are that they perform good deeds to
show off themselves as good, thus in thier heart they are not sincere to Allah. And whenever he
speaks he lies. Listen to this important hadith which gives us an important lesson.

![[CleanShot 2024-01-01 at 16.00.33@2x.png]]

![[CleanShot 2024-01-01 at 16.03.21@2x.png]]

Becoming a Shahid is an ideal way of leaving this world that every Muslim wishes for. but this
hadith shows us that without sincerity in the actions, even the struggle of fighting in the path of
Allah goes in vain, but Also such a person is harshly punished.
Similarly, the other great acts mentioned are pursuing Islamic knowledge, or understanding your
deen to practice for yourself and teach others. There is no doubt that dying as a martyr in Allâh's
Cause, learning beneficial knowledge and teaching it and spending money in Allâh's Cause are
some of the best righteous deeds there are and the hardest to perform. However with the
incorrect intentions, such a person, even though he might be an Alim or a Qari, will gain Allah's
wrath because he did all that for himself, and his status and not for Allah. Also Charity which is
an act that saves one from the hellfire, could be the cause of fire itslef if it is done with any
wrong intentions such as having Riyya or showing off.

Therefore, brothers, we should strive that all our religious acts, and non religious, should be
done not for oursleves, our status, or worldly gain, but only for for Allah with ancticipating the
reward only for him in the hereafter.

Ali RA signs of one who shows off and lacks Ikhlas

1- Lazy when alone
2- Active in front of people
3- Increases his actions when praised
4- Decreases when someone criticises

### Sincerity in Intentions

As we saw, piety is connected to Sincerity and sincerity is connected to intentions.

Al-Bukhâri and Muslim narrated that 'Umar RA, said, "I heard the Messenger of Allâh saw,
say:
"Verily, the reward of deeds depends upon the Niyyah (intentions) and every person will get the
reward according to what he has intended."

Every action that was not performed for Allâh's Sake only, is invalid and fruitless in this life and
the Hereafter.

Significance of this Hadith: Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), said: The
fundamentals of Islam revolve around three Hadith: This Hadith of Omar, the Hadith of Aishah
(may Allah be pleased with her) which states: **Whoever introduces something into our religion
which is not a part of it, then it is rejected**, and the Hadeeth of An-Numan (may Allah be
pleased with him), which states: **The lawful is clear, and the unlawful is clear.

**Everyone will be rewarded according to their intention**, indicates that the intention is the
basis for either a reward or punishment. Whatever is for Allah the Exalted and in accordance to
the Sunnah, then the person will earn a reward, and whatever is for other than Allah the
Exalted, then the person will be punished.

There are a few points related to the concept of niyyah, intention, which are important to know.
Intentions distinguish between acts. Two different persons might perform the same act, paying
equal effort to it. Yet, one of them earns a reward while the other earns no reward, or even
punishment, because the intentions were different in each case.
- For example, a person may perform intermittent fasting from Fajr and Maghreb only intending
a physical benefit such as losing weight. Although technically he fasted the same period of time
as prescribed for a voluntary fasting, he would not be rewarded for it because he did not intend
to fast for the sake of Allah.
● Intentions are also the basis for distinguishing between different acts of worship. For
example, although Dhuhr and Asr are both 4 rakat, it is the intention that distinguishes
between them.

The Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬informed us that the recompense for migration differs based on the
intentions and goals of the migration. Whoever migrates out of love for Allah and His Messenger
such as migrating to learn Islamic knowledge or to practice the religion freely then such a
person has truly migrated to Allah and His Messenger,

On the other hand, whoever migrates seek some worldly gain or to marry a woman, then their
migration is for whatever they migrated to. Neither of these cases are migrants for the sake of
Allah.

- Based on intentions, ordinary actions can become acts of worship.

The same way method of assessment could be applied to any act that we do. The reward of the
act is based on the intentions, so before doing any act we should set the right intentions and ask
ourselves for what purpose and for whom am I doing this? For eg. if you are working hard in
your jobs to earn food for your family, you can set the right intention to go out with knowing that
you are obtaining from Allah's bounties in the Halal right ways for fullfilling your responsibility of
taking care of your family, a duty Allah has commanded you to, and that you seek rewards for
your efforts only from Allah. With such a mindset you will have Allah in your heart as you
perform you work, therfore asking for his help. And in return your work will be easy for you, and
also Allah swt will reward you for sincerity behind the actions. On contrary, if you never think of
Allah in doing these acts, most probably jobs and earning food will be a burdensome effort that
you dislike and as a result you will not enjoy the results of it, the food that you make, or the
family you share the food with.

● Good intentions vs bad intentions. Humans are created imperfect and they will make
mistakes, thus they will make intentions to do bad acts. Whoever intends something and
takes concrete steps but is not able to do the action due to factors outside their control,
then they will still be rewarded for the intention. However with the mercy of Allah those
bad intentions could also be converted to rewards. How so?

To apply intentions of sincerity in our actions, it is important to know that among the private and
public actions, there is a higher chance that our intentions are corrupted in public actions. For
eg. showing off might appear in the acts of charity and Hajj, because these acts are carried out
in public and bring benefit to people, making it hard to observe perfect sincerity while performing
them. However, if showing off appears in these acts, it will invalid them and earn one Allâh's
anger and torment.
Peers’ and Society’s Influence
Brothers sometimes in our own Islamic communities, the culture and people look down upon
religiosity, even though they are muslim. People who practice Islam with Ikhlas to the fullest
extent they do along with the Sunnah’s, people may Isolate him or tell him to change his attire,
or actions, or even beliefs. But brothers we should be aware that practice Islam for the sake of
Allah not for people. Allah has told us not to be discouraged by the criticism of people:

Al-Ma'idah 5:54
‫يل‬ِ ‫ون فِى َس ِب‬ َ ‫ين ي ٰ َُج ِه ُد‬ َ ‫ف َي ۡأتِى ٱهَّلل ُ ِب َق ۡو ٍم ُي ِح ُّبهُمۡ َو ُي ِحبُّو َن ُهۥٓ َأ ِذلَّ ٍة َع َلى ۡٱلم ُۡؤ ِمن‬
َ ‫ِين َأعِ َّز ٍة َع َلى ۡٱل ٰ َكف ِِر‬ َ ‫ٰ َٓيَأ ُّي َها ٱلَّذ‬
َ ‫ِين َءا َم ُنو ْا َمن َي ۡر َت َّد مِن ُكمۡ َعن دِي ِنهِۦ َف َس ۡو‬
‫ض ُل ٱهَّلل ِ ي ُۡؤتِي ِه َمن َي َشٓا ۚ ُء َوٱهَّلل ُ ٰ َوسِ ٌع َعلِي ٌم‬ ۡ ‫ون َل ۡو َم َة ٓاَل ۚ ٍِئم ٰ َذل َِك َف‬
َ ُ‫ٱهَّلل ِ َواَل َي َخاف‬

O you who have believed, whoever of you should revert from his religion - Allāh will bring forth
[in place of them] a people He will love and who will love Him [who are] humble toward the
believers, strong against the disbelievers; they strive in the cause of Allāh and do not fear
the blame of a critic. That is the favor of Allāh; He bestows it upon whom He wills. And Allāh is
all-Encompassing and Knowing.

Hadith in Termidihi:
The one who seeks Allahs happiness at the expense of the anger and displeasure of people
(family at weddings etc) Allah is happy with him and makes people happy with him. The one
who seeks people’s happiness at the expense of the displeasure of Allah, Allah is angry with
him and he makes people angry with him too.
So we see that Sincerity only brings good because Allah is in control of our thing. If we prioritize
the pleasure of Allah than the pleasure of society or people. Then Allah will love us while
making people be happy with us.

### How to Be a Mukhlis?

To do actions:

### Commitments for the following year

As we start another year in the calendar commonly used here. We see many people trying to
make good intentions for bettering themselves in this year. Alhamdulillah this is a good thing,
especially among youths who set up goals for the following year. While sometimes those
resolutions turn out to work and goals achived, but most often we see returning to our normal
habits that aren't ambitious to pursue our best selves. That's where our learning today comes
into action as well. As we have started another year, let's reflect on the intentions behind the
goals that we set up for oursleves. InshaAllah if we have the right intentions and sincerity that all
our acts are for the obedience of Allah swt then be assured that only good will come to you.
either Allah will help you achieve your goals, or if you don't then there was goodness in not
realizing those plans. That being said, I'd like to suggest to everyone, primarily youth who might
have time and energy to do more, is to seek knowledge of deen that is fardh upon you, knowing
the fundamentals of Islam and so much that is needed to live your daily lives knowing the way of
doing things according to the Sharia. and Make concrete decision to leave the bad habits and
repent to Allah and ask him for his help. Good habits could be many, becoming healthy and
stronger muslim because Prophet saw said a stronger muslim is better than a weaker muslim.
Becoming more connected with your parents and obedient to them. making the intention to
perform the faraidh Salah, Zakat, and Fasting properly. learning the Quran, reciting it daily, or
maybe memorizing it. Whatever you do, May Allah make your hearts pure, your intentions
sincere, and your deeds beneficial.

### Dua for Palestine

Last but not the least, please do not be forgetful of what's happening to our brothers and sisters
in Palestine and Ghaza. they are going through a great trial, but it is a trial for all the Ummah.
Muslims are like one body if one part is in pain then the whole body experiences pain. Therefore
it is our duty to help them in any legit way we can and which is in our capacity. that could be
donating to humanitarian groups that work on the ground, that could be sharing awareness and
talking about this issue. and most importantly to make duas for them.

‫ الل ُه َّم َأصْ لِحْ َأحْ َوا َل‬،‫ين‬ َ ‫الل ُه َّم َأصْ لِحْ َأحْ َوا َل المُسْ لِ ِم‬
َ ِ‫ين فِي ِفلِسط‬

‫الل َواِإل ْك ِر ِام‬ َ ‫ َيا َذا‬،‫ان‬

ِ ‫الج‬ ٍ ‫ين وفي ُك ِّل َم َك‬ َ ‫المُسْ لِ ِم‬.
َ ِ‫ين فِي ِفلِسط‬

O Allah! Rectify the affairs of the Muslims in Palestine. O Allah! Rectify the affairs of the Muslims
in Palestine and in every place, O Lord of Majesty and Bounty.

**‫اللَّ ُه َّم َأصْ لِحْ ُأ َّم َة م َُح َّمدٍ** **اللَّ ُه َّم َفرِّ جْ َعنْ ُأ َّم ِة م َُح َّمدٍ** **اللَّ ُه َّم ارْ َح ْم ُأ َّم َة م َُح َّم ٍد‬
_**“O Allah! Improve (help) the state of the Ummah of Muhammad. O Allah! Grant ease to the
Ummah of Muhammad. O Allah! Have mercy on the Ummah of Muhammad.”**_

‫ص ۡبرً ا وَّ َثب ِّۡت اَ ۡقدَ ا َم َنا َو ۡانص ُۡر َنا َع َلى ۡال َق ۡو ِم ۡالکٰف ِِر ۡي َؕن‬
َ ‫َر َّب َنآ اَ ۡف ِر ۡغ َع َل ۡي َنا‬

Our Lord, pour upon us patience and plant firmly our feet and give us victory over the
disbelieving people.

ِ ‫ِين َودَ مِّرْ َأعْ دآ َء ال ِّد‬

ِ ْ‫ين َواحْ ِم َح ْو َز َة اإلس‬
َّ‫الم َيا َرب‬ َ ْ‫ َوَأ ِذ َّل ال ِّشر‬،‫ِين‬
َ ‫ك َوال ُم ْش ِرك‬ َ ‫ الل ُه َّم َأعِ َّز اِإلسْ ال َم َوالمُسْ لِم‬،‫ِين‬
َ ‫الل ُه َّم َأعِ َّز اِإلسْ ال َم َوالمُسْ لِم‬
‫العا َلمِين‬
َ

_**“O Allah! Raise the standing of Islam and the Muslims. O Allah! Raise the standing and the
Muslims, and degrade the standing of Kufr and the Kaafireen, and Shirk and the Mushrikeen.
Destroy the enemies of the Deen, and protect the lands of Islam, O Lord of the Worlds.”**_

‫ ومن فتنة الدنيا وعذاب القبر‬،‫ ومن ظلم العابد‬،‫اللهم إني أعوذ بك من جار الجبار‬
_**“O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the oppression of the tyrant, from the injustice of the
worshipper, from the trials of the world, and the torment of the grave.”**_

### Ending with last reminder

Brothers, Iblees is a sworn enemy to humanity, He said to Allah:

Those who are sincere to Allah are the ones protected from Shaytan.

### Sadaqallahul Addheem.