اإلخالص طريق الخالص Sincerity is the Way to Salvation #1 Sincerity is very important and honorable in life. There is no other way to salvation. It is He who enables you to travel on land and sea until, when you are in ships and they sail with them by a good wind and they rejoice therein, there comes a storm wind and the waves come upon them from everywhere and they assume that they are surrounded, supplicating Allah, sincere to Him in religion : If You should save us from this, we will surely be among the thankful. - 10:22 يونس Allah subjected the land and the sea for you. Imagine yourself sailing on a ship, enjoying the pleasant breeze, when all of a sudden, the breeze turns into a stormy and violent wind, whipping the sea into huge waves, surrounding the ship. You see destruction, and are sure you will perish. At this desperate moment, you call upon Allah, with sincerity, to save you. And that is your salvation. The key to salvation in the place of destruction is to call Allah with sincerity. There is no way out of a problem except with Allah. And when they board a ship, they supplicate Allah, sincere to Him in religion. But when He delivers them to the land, at once they associate others with Him - 29:65 العنكبوت When sailing upon a ship, where no one else can save them, they call upon Allah with sincerity. When they are saved by Allah, they go back to their shirk. And when waves come over them like canopies, they supplicate Allah, sincere to Him in religion. But when He delivers them to the land, there are [some] of them who are moderate [in faith]. And none rejects Our signs except everyone treacherous and ungrateful - 31:32 لقمان When the people on the ship are overwhelmed with waves like shades upon them, they call Allah
with sincerity. After Allah saves them, as He will anyone who calls Him sincerely, the people are divided into two groups. One group is moderate in doing good deeds, not doing too much. The other group are deniers. The definition of ikhlas to purify from mixing any dirt In the legislation, the definition of ikhlas is To purify the deeds from any trace of any of the following impurities إرادة النفس wanting to do the deed for your own self You have to free yourself from your desires. Don't work for yourself; although this seems a natural concept, but it spoils your heart and deeds. طلب التزين في قلوب الخلق seeking to beautify your image in the eyes of the creation This is the wiper of good deeds; the nafs wants beautification of your image in the eyes of people. This spoils the sincerity. If people think you are good by themselves, this is a blessing. But to seek to beautify yourself in their eyes is shirk. It is a trap and the way to destruction. You must work to be beautiful in the eyes of Allah alone. طلب مدح الخلق seeking the praise of the creation In your heart, when you do a good deed, you want people to praise you. You don't need to show your deeds to anyone but Allah. You should seek only the praise of Allah. This is ikhlas, the way of freedom. When your heart is chained to people, you are unhappy. When you break free of the chains of attachment to people, you are free and unstoppable. الحرب من ذم هم escaping from their dispraise You sometimes do or don't do things so that people don't criticize you. You are afraid of spoiling your reputation. طلب تعظيمهم seeking their respect You do things so that people respect you. You must not have an attachment with people. When your eyes are always on the mouths of people, worried about what they are saying, you are unhappy and stressed. This is destruction.
طلب أموالهم seeking their wealth You do things to get a material reward from people, a worldly gain and benefit. Ikhlas is an invitation to freedom, from the chains of attachment to people. Ikhlas is to purify your insight from seeing anything from your deed except the face of Allah When you do deeds, your heart should not look at anyone but Allah. As soon as your eyes look at people, you will want something from them. Live with a one-to-one relationship with Allah. You have been created to worship Allah. و م ا خ ل ق ت ال ج ن و اإل نس إ ال ل ي ع ب د ون And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me - 51:56 الذاريات This is freedom and release. Your heart should not look at anyone else but Allah. When your heart turns to people, that is dangerous, leading to destruction, and chains around your heart. The Messenger of Allah صلى اهلل عليه و سلم said : اإل ح س ان أ ن ت ع ب د اهلل ك أ ن ك ت ر اه ف إ ن ل م ت ك ن ت ر اه ف إ ن ه ي ر اك. صحيح البخاري كتاب # 65 حديث 4777# Ihsan is to worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you do not achieve this state of devotion, then (take it for granted that) Allah sees you. Ikhlas is sincerity for the sake of Allah, in all your actions, words, movements, and intentions. This is monotheism (belief that there is only One worthy of worship). ق ل إ ن ص ال ت ي و ن س ك ي و م ح ي اي و م م ات ي هلل ر ب ال ع امل ني Say : Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds 6:16 األ ن ع ام All your life should belong only to Allah. Whatever you do or don't do, should be only for the sake of Allah. Entering life, and exiting life, all should be only for the sake of Allah.
And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion, inclining to truth, and to establish prayer and to give zakah. And that is the correct religion 98:5 البينة Allah created you for only to worship Him, and Allah commands you only for ikhlas By default, you have to worship Allah. The command is not for worship, but for sincerity. Allah wants us to be saved. Islam is the religion of salvation. The way to destruction is attachment and following the desires, of yourself, and others. The next command is for prayer. You cannot establish the prayer properly without ikhlas. Sincerity and worship must go hand in hand. Look at this honorable and steadfast religion, this is Islam. Indeed, We have sent down to you the Book, [O Muhammad], in truth. So worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion 39:2 The Qura'an is the truth, and everything in it is also the truth. So you have the truth in your hands. The Qura'an will make you pure, it is the way and the means to gain Ikhlas. Islam is not only worship, it is a way of life. You cannot be sincere without the Qura'an. The more you interact with the Qura'an, the more you will be pure. You're eyes will only be towards Allah, because you will be listening to Him all the time. When a child is small, the most interaction he has is with his mother, so he looks at her for everything. When the father tells him to do something, the child will look at the mother for approval. هلل امل ث ل األ ع لى for Allah is the best example 16:60 النحل If you are exposed to اهلل,كالم the words of Allah, all the time, you will only turn to Him, for all your needs. Then your heart will be pure and sincere.
Unquestionably, for Allah is the pure religion. And those who take protectors besides Him [say], "We only worship them that they may bring us nearer to Allah in position." Indeed, Allah will judge between them concerning that over which they differ. Indeed, Allah does not guide he who is a liar and [confirmed] disbeliever 39:3 الزمر To Allah belongs the way of Ikhlas, a pure religion. Allah wants you to be sincere in life, with relationships with people too. The way to that end is that you be sincere to Allah. Don't look at being sincere only to people; Allah has to come first. That is the way to salvation. Say, [O Muhammad], "Indeed, I have been commanded to worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion 39:11 الزمر صلى اهلل عليه و Allah commands the Prophet Mohammad to have Ikhlas for Allah. To be chained to people can سلم lead to unhappiness. Say : Allah [alone] do I worship, sincere to Him in my religion 39:14 الزمر Worship only for the sake of Allah. All these evidences are to show us that Allah created you to worship Him, and He commands us to be sincere to Him. Song deal with people, deal with Allah, for His praise. We ask Allah to make us from among those who have sincerity