The Sincere Intention by
By Saad Tasleem | 2026-01-16T16:33:46.584142+00:00 | Topic: Purification
The Sincere Intention
By Sheikh Saad Tasleem | September 29, 2017
Opening: Khutbat al-Hajah
Indeed, all praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His help, and we seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and the wickedness of our deeds. Whoever Allah guides, none can misguide, and whoever He allows to be misguided, none can guide.
وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ
I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone, without partners, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger, peace and blessings be upon him.
O you who believe, have taqwa of Allah as He deserves, and do not die except as Muslims.
O mankind, have taqwa of your Lord who created you from a single soul, and from it created its mate, and from them both scattered many men and women. Have taqwa of Allah through whom you demand your mutual rights, and reverence the wombs that bore you. Indeed, Allah is ever watching over you.
O you who believe, have taqwa of Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. He will then amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment.
أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ ، وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ
To proceed: Indeed, the truest speech is the Book of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace be upon him). The worst of affairs are the newly invented matters, every newly invented matter is an
innovation, every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.
Introduction: Imam Malik and the Muwatta
My brothers and sisters, there is a famous personality in the history of Islam that I would imagine most of us we've heard his name and that is Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy upon him). Imam Malik at his time was the Imam of Medina. Imam Malik was the man that at his time many of his contemporaries would say about him that he is the most knowledgeable person that is alive.
Imam Malik also at his time composed a book which we know as the Muwatta. The Muwatta of Imam Malik is a book that he collected. He collected the hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in this book.
Now before Imam Malik wrote this Muwatta, he informed his peers and his colleagues the other scholars of his intention to compose a Muwatta and many of them they replied to him and they said why would you compose a Muwatta because there are many other Muwattas that already exist. There are many other collections of hadith that are already there. Why would you do another one? There's no need.
And Imam Malik made his famous statement and said: He said that which is for the sake of Allah remains.
That Which is Done for Allah Remains
That which is done with sincerity, that which is done seeking the pleasure of Allah, that which is done seeking reward from Allah, it remains. And today my brothers and sisters when we think of the Muwatta, when we hear about the Muwatta, we don't think of any of the other scholars. As a matter of fact the one name that comes to our mind is Imam Malik.
And so we see that certainly this work of Imam Malik has stood the test of time and sometimes when we talk about this issue and we talk about this statement of Imam Malik that that which is done for Allah remains, oftentimes people approach this issue from that angle. The angle of when you do something for the sake of Allah, then Allah will protect your work. Allah will make sure that it stands the test of time.
Allah will make sure that sooner or later it is accepted by people. However when Imam Malik said that which is done for the sake of Allah remains, he didn't just mean that. He didn't just mean that in the worldly sense or in terms of acceptance from people that your work or that your efforts remain.
That is part of it without a doubt. But the bigger meaning here and the bigger message was that when we do things with the right intentions, when we purify our intentions, when we do things to please our Lord as our first and most important intention, then what remains from that is the reward.
Two Things That Remain
What remains from that are number one, the spiritual implications of that work and number two, the reward, the
thawab, the ajr with Allah.
1. Spiritual Implications
The spiritual implications being how does this work, how does this effort affect us on a spiritual level? Is what we are doing really affecting our soul? Is it bringing us closer to Allah? Is it making us a better person? Is it purifying our nafs?
All of that is dependent upon the intentions. What intention did we have in doing this action? Did we do it for the sake of people? Did we do it to be appreciated? Did we do it to be loved? Did we do it because you know what that's just what's expected of us?
Or did we do it first and foremost to please Allah? If sincerity was part of the process, if we were doing it for the sake of Allah, then certainly it will purify our heart. Certainly it will have spiritual implications that we desperately need.
2. The Reward with Allah
And number two, the reward with Allah. That the reward remains. You see we do a lot in this life and by the way I'm not just speaking about religious matters here.
Of course when we talk about our acts of worship and our religious matters, without a doubt those have to be done for the sake of Allah. But even everything else that we do in life, a Muslim by nature infuses spirituality into everything that they do. Even if it's something that seems like it's not that significant.
Hadith: Have Taqwa Wherever You Are
Even if it's a daily mundane task, a believer is conscious of Allah. A believer is trying to have taqwa in what they are doing. As the Prophet (peace be upon him) told Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him), he said:
Have the taqwa of Allah no matter where you are.
Reference: Sunan al-Tirmidhi 1987
He said, have the taqwa of Allah no matter where you are. And our scholars say that this doesn't mean just physical location, but even whatever situation we're in. If we're happy or sad, if we're frustrated or we're angry or we're joyful, if we feel weak or strong, if we're around people that we know or around people that we don't know, if we're around Muslims or non-Muslims, wherever it may be, the Prophet (peace be upon him) told Mu'adh, have the taqwa of Allah.
Understanding Taqwa
And the taqwa of Allah being the consciousness, being conscious, being aware of Allah. You know oftentimes
when people translate the word taqwa, they translate it as meaning fear, the fear of Allah. When someone says (اتَّقِ الله - ittaqillah) you know they translate that in English, people say fear Allah.
And I'm not going to say that that's an incorrect translation. I'd rather say that's a that's that's an incomplete translation of the word taqwa. Because taqwa goes beyond just fear.
Yes, fear is part of it. But taqwa is being conscious of Allah, is being aware of Allah. As Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), when he was asked about taqwa, how did he respond? He gave the man an analogy.
He said, if you are wearing a long robe, and you're walking through a field or a place that has thorns and shrubbery, how would you walk? And the man replied, he said, well I would gather my robe together, I would gather my clothes together, and I would be careful how I take a step. To protect myself, to protect my clothes, to make sure they don't get torn, they don't get caught in the thorns. And so Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, that is taqwa.
To be aware of Allah. When we take a step, we are thinking of Allah. When we take a step to the right or to the left, when we choose to act, we're thinking of Allah.
When we choose to not act, we are thinking of Allah. That is taqwa. And that is a believer who is conscious of Allah.
Infusing Spirituality Into Everything
And that is infusing spirituality into everything that we do. Whether it be religious acts or even non-religious acts. And so when a believer is thinking of Allah, when a believer is doing things for the sake of Allah, first and foremost, that means that everything that they do in life has spiritual implications.
Everything that they do in life, they're thinking of their Lord and their Creator. You know, sometimes you can see two people doing the exact same thing, the exact same action. And from the outside, they may look exactly the same.
And that's why, by the way, it's not for us to judge what is in someone's heart. It is not for us to say who gets rewarded and who doesn't get rewarded for the deeds that they're doing. It's not for us to say what is in their heart.
Because we don't have access to their heart. Two people, two parties have access to what is in an individual's heart. They themselves and Allah.
So from the outside, two people can be doing the very same action. Doing the exact same thing. But the spiritual implications of those actions can be wildly different.
Because they know that their reward lies with Allah. And that is why sincerity, and that spiritual connection with Allah in everything that we do, is so very very important.
Hadith: Actions Are By Intentions
And that is why one of the first hadith that many of our scholars put in their books is the hadith of sincerity:
(Sahih al-Bukhari)
Actions are judged by their sincerity.
(Sahih Muslim 1907)
And the scholars would put this at the beginning of their books, because they would want the reader to know that before you begin this process, of learning and purifying yourself, and trying to get closer to Allah, rectify your intention.
Work on your intention. And as you keep going in this process, work on your intention. Because that is the only way that you will truly truly benefit from the work that you're about to go into.
Seeking the Love of Allah
So we're speaking about sincerity. We're speaking about purifying our intentions. We're speaking about love, as a matter of fact.
We're speaking about whose love do we desire above everyone else. And the answer to that, my brothers and sisters, has to be the love of Allah. Not only because that's part of our religion, not only because that's a vital part of our religion, but also for us as human beings to live a fulfilled life.
For us to live a life where we are comfortable, where we are satisfied. Then our intentions have to be that we do good for the sake of Allah above everything else. That we desire the love of Allah above everything else.
You know, a lot of times we put our self-worth in what people think of us. We put our value in people's opinions of us. And that's a losing battle.
Because as I said in the first khutbah, people are fickle. People will change. One day someone likes you and the next day they don't.
And so when a person lives their life just trying to please others, just wanting to be liked, and so on and so forth, then that is a losing battle.
Don't Place Self-Worth in Relationships
Sometimes we put our self-worth in our relationships. And it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how close of a
relationship you're thinking of right now. One of the closest relationship you can think of is a spousal relationship, a husband and wife. Sometimes people get married and they put their self-worth in their relationship with their spouse.
Should we want to be loved by our spouse without a doubt? Should we want to love our spouses without a doubt? But we cannot make that the sole matter that adds value to us or that gives us value. Because relationships, like everything else in life, are not perfect. There's ups and downs.
There's good times and there's bad times. Even the best of relationships, my brothers and sisters, are not perfect. And what happens, if the relationship breaks apart, which is normal, and it happens, happens a lot as a matter of fact.
One in two relationships, last time I checked, don't make it. So what happens if we are placed, if we have placed our self-worth and our value just in our marriage, just in our relationship with our spouse? Well what happens is, if that relationship falls apart, then we fall apart. And that is why it's dangerous.
Don't Place Self-Worth in Children
I'll give you another example. Sometimes we place our self-worth in our kids. And the parents who are here, I know you would be able to relate.
One of the most important things that that a parent has in their life can be their children. When a child is born, you feel this immediate connection with your child, and then you sacrifice, and you sacrifice, and you sacrifice for the sake of your children. You give, and you give, and you give, and you give.
And then what happens? Well, we hope for the best, and we pray to Allah that our children are guided towards that which is good. We pray to Allah that our children love us, and respect us, and and so on and so forth. But is that real life? Is that always how it turns out? No, it's not.
And it's very easy to break down and to lose your self-worth if that relationship is destroyed. If your children don't turn out the way you wanted, if our children go in a different direction, if our children go against something that we view to be sacred, that can destroy a person if their self-worth is only in their relationship with their children.
And you know, Allah told us of this:
You do not guide those whom you love, rather it is Allah who guides whom He wills.
Reference: Quran 28:56
Allah gave us examples of this. This message was given to the Prophet (peace be upon him) first and foremost, and by extension us as well.
That the guidance, the hidayah of the people who we love, it's not in our hands. It's in the hands of Allah. And that is why our connection with Allah has to be the strongest, above everything else.
Nuh (peace be upon him), look at his relationship with his son. We have examples in the past, and yes we ask Allah to protect our children and we ask Allah to preserve that love, but from our perspective we want to make sure that when it comes to the desiring to be loved, that we desire to be loved by Allah above everything else.
Living Online
And unfortunately the type of society, global society that we're living in today, where most of us live our lives online, this has become a big issue. We almost live our lives for the sake of other people. We live to show other people and that's about it sometimes.
And you know what? Living online, we're actually very new to this. We don't really truly know the implications of what happens when you spend a few decades online. We're like babies in this world, and so just now we're beginning to learn of the implications of what happens when we live for other people.
And even early on in this process we're learning that people's self-worth is being affected. That people, how they view themselves and how they live their life is being affected.
And if you just take a step back and you think about this issue and say, well does a like on a Facebook post really matter to me that much? And if you just step back it's very easy to be like, yeah that's ridiculous. And that's why a lot of us we won't even admit to it, right? Whether you, you know, does it affect you? Do you really care whether you get 20 likes or 30 likes or whether you get positive comments or negative comments? Well many of us, it does affect us.
And so we need to take a step back and reevaluate why we do what we do. And if we make it part of who we are, if we make it part of our religion, which it is, then we can go about rectifying this matter. Doing things for the sake of Allah.
Do Things So That They Remain
Doing things so that they remain. Doing things so that the reward remains. And you know what? At that point, even if we end up living a life in which we are not accepted, that we go through pain and suffering, even at the hands of someone who is close to us, then still inshallah we can hold on to our sanity.
We can hold on to our well-being. We can inshallah be satisfied because we are seeking the love of Allah. And I'm gonna end with this, and that is a disclaimer.
And that is that sincerity is not a one-time deal. It's not that you're either sincere or not sincere. Sincerity is a process. Sincerity is a lifelong struggle.
And that is why part of our purification is that every day, day-to-day, hour-to-hour, moment-to-moment, we are renewing and refreshing our sincerity.
Closing Dua
And I ask Allah to make us sincere in everything that we do. I ask Allah that our efforts do not go in vain. I ask Allah that we do not become slaves to the opinions of other people. I ask Allah to grant us rest and calm in our hearts.
And I ask Allah to calm our hearts from our fears.
End of Khutbah