Once upon a time, there was a man named Ibn Gud‘aan. He related his story: 'I once went out during the spring and I saw my camels healthy and with big udders that were filled with milk. I looked at my favorite she-camel and told myself that I would offer it as charity for my poor neighbor, who had seven daughters. I took it and knocked on my poor neighbor's door. When he opened the door, I said to him: 'Please accept this she-camel as a gift from me.' He was thrilled and speechless. He benefited a great deal from that she-camel; he used to drink from its milk and carry the firewood that he gathered on its back. "

Later on, spring was over and summer came with its high temperatures and drought. The Bedouins began moving from one place to another in their pursuit of water and pasture.

Ibn Gud‘aan added: "We set off seeking underground water, in this wide desert. I entered one of these holes to bring some water, while my three sons waited for me above. I lost my way in those underground tunnels and could not come out!"

The three sons waited three days for their father to come out of the hole, but he never showed up. They thought that he had lost his way and died from hunger. In fact, they wanted him dead so as to get hold of his fortune. They hastened to their house and divided his money between them! Then, they remembered that their father had given their poor neighbor a she-camel; so, they went to him asking him to give it back: 'Either you give the she-camel back to us and take this he-camel in exchange or we will take it by force and you will not get anything in return.'

The poor neighbor said: 'I will inform your father of what you are doing.'

They said: 'He is already dead'

The poor neighbor exclaimed: 'Dead! What? How did that happen? Where did he die?'

They answered: 'He went into an underground hole and never came out.'

The neighbor said: 'Take the she-camel and I do not want your camel, just guide me to that hole.'

The three sons took the neighbor to the hole and left. The neighbor took a rope, tied it to a rock next to the hole, took a flame and crawled down into the hole. He kept crawling and creeping inside that hole until he smelled water. Suddenly, he heard moaning and groaning; he kept moving forward, probing in the mud until he touched a body of a man. He placed his hands over his nose so as to make sure that he was still breathing; he pulled him out of that hole after blindfolding him so as to protect his eyes from the strong light of the sun outside.

The neighbor rescued Ibn Gud‘aan; fed him with some dates, then carried him on his back and took him to his house. Ibn Gud‘aan was returned to life.

The poor neighbor inquired: ' Ibn Gud‘aan, tell me how could you survive a whole week under the ground?'

Ibn Gud‘aan answered: 'When I lost my way inside the hole and could not come out, I sat by a spring of water so as not to die out of thirst. Yet, water alone would not keep me alive; after three days I was extremely hungry and did not know what to do. I lay on my back, putting all my trust in Allah The Exalted, believing that He Would Save me from that calamity. Suddenly, I felt drops of milk falling into my mouth; I sat down, but could not see anything, for it was black darkness down there. I felt a pot of milk near my mouth and I used to drink from that pot until I was full, then the pot would disappear. This happened three times a day, but two days ago the pot did not appear to me and I do not know why?'

The neighbor said to Ibn Gud‘aan: 'I can tell you why. Your sons thought that you were dead, so, two days ago they came to me and took the she-camel, that you had given me, and this was the she-camel that produced the milk that you were drinking from all those days inside the hole. Indeed, Muslims are in the shadow of their charities.' [Each one is in the shadow of his Charity]

Anas ibn Maalik, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet  said: "Good deeds shield one against a bad and ill-fated death, mishaps, diseases and doom; indeed, the people of goodness in this life are the people of goodness in the Hereafter." [Al-Albaani: Saheeh]

Allah The Almighty has created all of creation to worship Him, and He sent Messengers to people so they would worship Him alone with no partner.

Allah The Almighty Says (what means):

• {And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion} [Quran 98: 5]


• {And We sent not before you any messenger except that We revealed to him that, "There is no deity except Me, so worship Me."} [Quran 21: 25]

• {And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [saying], "Worship Allah and avoid Taaghoot.} [Quran 16: 36]

Allah The Almighty cannot be worshipped perfectly except by dedicating all acts of worship to Him in all sincerity.

Sincerity is the basic building block of religion, the essence of worship, and prerequisite for the acceptance of any action. It is like the foundation of a building and the soul to the body. Therefore, Allah The Almighty made the actions of non-Muslims like dust dispersed because they lack the essential two elements: belief in the oneness of Allah The Almighty and sincerity. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And We will regard what they have done of deeds and make them as dust dispersed.} [Quran 25: 23]

Such loss will be the fate of all those who did not sincerely dedicate their worship to Allah The Almighty, and those who sought with it other than Allah The Almighty. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Whoever desires the life of this world and its adornments - We fully repay them for their deeds therein, and they therein will not be deprived. Those are the ones for whom there is not in the Hereafter but the Fire. And lost is what they did therein, and worthless is what they used to do.} [Quran 11: 15-16]

The loser in the true sense of the word is the one who performs numerous deeds and then Allah The Almighty makes them as dust dispersed and throws him in Hellfire on his face. Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated a Marfoo‘ Hadeeth that reads:

"The first one among the people to be judged on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who was martyred. He will be brought and Allah will remind him of His blessings and he will acknowledge them. He will say: ‘What did you do with them?’ He will say, ‘I fought for Your sake until I was martyred.’ He will say: ‘You are lying; rather you fought so that it would be said that you were brave, and that was said.’ Then He will order that he be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell. “And there will be a man who acquired knowledge and taught it, and recited the Quran. He will be brought and Allah will remind him of His blessings and he will acknowledge them. He will say: ‘What did you do with them?’ He will say, ‘I acquired knowledge and taught it, and I recited the Quran for Your sake.’ He will say: ‘You are lying; rather, you acquired knowledge so that it would be said that you were a scholar, and you recited the Quran so that it would be said that you were a reciter, and that was said.’ Then He will order that he be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell. “And there will be a man to whom Allah gave abundant wealth of all kinds. He will be brought and Allah will remind him of His blessings and he will acknowledge them. He will say: ‘What did you do with them?’ He will say, ‘I did not leave any way that You like charity to be spent but I spent charity for Your sake.’ He will say: ‘You are lying; rather, you did that so that it would be said that you were generous, and that was said.’ Then He will order that he be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell.” [Muslim]

May Allah The Almighty guard us against such disappointment.

Glory be to Allah The Almighty, from Whom none of our affairs is hidden. He knows the treachery of the eyes, and all that the breasts conceal. No matter how much a person deceives and misleads people with his outward appearance, all such deception will be to no avail. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Indeed, the hypocrites [think to] deceive Allah , but He is deceiving them. And when they stand for prayer, they stand lazily, showing [themselves to] the people and not remembering Allah except a little.} [Quran 4: 142]

Moreover, the Prophet  said:"Allah does not look at your outward appearance or your wealth, rather He looks at your hearts and your deeds." [Muslim]

Surely, people will know the truth soon, either in the worldly life or in the Hearafter. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {As for the foam, it vanishes, [being] cast off; but as for that which benefits the people, it remains on the earth. Thus does Allah present examples.} [Quran 13: 17]

One of the greatest reasons behind the absence or lack of sincerity in our actions is seeking worldly gains or aspiring to earn the praise and commendation of people. Ibn Al-Qayyim  said, “Sincerity cannot be combined in the heart together with love of being praised and commended, and greed for what other people have, except in much the same way that water and fire, and lizard and fish are combined.”


He added, “

So if your conscience tells you to seek sincerity, then turn to greed first, and slaughter it with the knife of despair, then turn to the love of being praised and abandon it in the same way those who love the pleasures of this world abandon the Hereafter. If you are successful in slaughtering greed and in abandoning love of being praised, then sincerity will be easy for you. And if you ask, and what will facilitate slaughtering greed and abandoning love of being praised for me? I reply: as for slaughtering greed, then what will facilitate this for you is your knowledge with certainty that there is nothing whatsoever that is desired, except that with Allah alone are its treasures, none possesses them except Him, and the slave is given nothing from them except by Him. As for abandoning love of being praised, then what will facilitate this for you is your knowledge that no one’s praise benefits and adorns, and no one's dispraise harms and makes one ugly, except the praise and dispraise of Allah Alone. A Bedouin said to the Prophet  ‘Indeed whoever I praise is adorned, and whoever I dispraise is unadorned.’ The Prophet  said: ‘That is [for] Allah The Almighty [alone].’” [At-Tirmithi and Ahmad]

So abandon seeking the praise of the one whose praise does not adorn you and whose dispraise does not make you any worse, and seek the praise of the One whose praise is the source of all beauty and whose dispraise results in all forms of ugliness.

If a servant strives against himself until he does not care about life and the praise and commendation of people and dedicates all his worship to Allah The Almighty, he will be one of the people of sincerity whose every action, word, love and hatred is for the sake of Allah The Almighty alone. The inward and outward actions of such a person are purely for Allah The Almighty alone. They do not seek reward or praise from people, nor do they seek a noble position among them, nor do they seek a great status in their hearts, nor do they want to escape from their blame. If you turn into such a person, you will be the most powerful person, for your guardian is Allah The Almighty who is the All Powerful and most Strong. Upon reaching this stage, you will be one of the people of honor in this world and in the Hereafter.

Dedicating deeds to Allah The Almighty in all sincerity has many fruits. In the following lines, we will touch upon some of them so that they may encourage us to strive more earnestly to dedicate our actions and words sincerely to Allah The Almighty alone. You should know that amongst the fruits of sincerity are that actions and words cannot be accepted except with sincerity. No matter if an action is good, if it is not done sincerely for the sake of Allah The Almighty, it will be of no avail. Abu Umaamah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated a Marfoo‘ Hadeeth that reads: “Allah The Almighty never accepts any deed except what is done sincerely for His sake.” [An-Nasaa’i] The same applies to words. The Prophet  said, describing the luckiest person who will have his intercession on the Day of Resurrection: "The one who said, ‘Laa ilaaha illa Allah (there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah)’ sincerely from his heart." [Al-Bukhari]

Amongst such fruits are that sincerity strengthens the heart, makes one more self-possessed and able to bear the burdens of worship and obligations of Islam. If one contemplates the conditions of some of the sincere and truthful people, he will clearly notice this. A good example of this is the strength and self-possession of the Prophet  although his life was threatened. He said to his Companion (Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him) while they were in the cave, and in the words of the Quran (which mean): {He said to his companion, "Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us.} [Quran 9: 40]

Surely, sincerity and truthfulness with Allah The Almighty enable one to support what is right and fight what is wrong regardless of the power of the wrong. Hoode, may Allah exalt his mention, the Prophet of Allah The Almighty, had no prominent miracle unlike the other prophets. However, he called his people to worship Allah The Almighty alone and renounce worshiping other than him. His people argued with him and said what Allah The Almighty informed us of in their story in His Noble Book: {They said, "O Hoode, you have not brought us clear evidence, and we are not ones to leave our gods on your say-so. Nor are we believers in you. We only say that some of our gods have possessed you with evil." He said, "Indeed, I call Allah to witness, and witness [yourselves] that I am free from whatever you associate with Allah. Other than Him. So plot against me all together; then do not give me respite.} [Quran 11: 53-55]

Also amongst the fruits of sincerity is that it enables one to get rid of the plots and the whispers of the devils. Allah The Almighty informed us what Iblees said when he asked to be reprieved (what means): {Except, among them, Your sincere servants.} [Quran 15: 40]

Sincerity also averts evil and immorality. Allah The Almighty Says (what means) in the story of Prophet Yoosuf, may Allah exalt his mention: {And she certainly determined [to seduce] him, and he would have inclined to her had he not seen the proof of his Lord. And thus [it was] that We should avert from him evil and immorality. Indeed, he was of Our sincere servants.} [Quran 12: 24]

Moreover, a small amount of sincere work can be a cause for attaining the satisfaction of Allah The Almighty as in the Hadeeth of the Prophet  in which he said:“Fear the Fire, even if by giving half a date (in charity).” [Al-Bukhari]

Thus, even half a date given in charity with sincerity can protect one from the torture of Hellfire out of the great generosity of the Most Gracious, the Bestower. However, many tons of dates in charity to show off will send one to the lowest depths of the Hellfire as Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Indeed, the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire - and never will you find for them a helper.} [Quran 4: 145]

Another benefit is that the slave can be supported because of his sincerity. In this regard, Mus‘ab ibn Sa’d narrated that Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqaas, may Allah be pleased with him, thought that he was better than other people but the Prophet  said:“Allah helps this Ummah because of its weak people, their Du‘aa’ (supplication), their Salah (prayer) and their sincerity.” [An-Nasaa’i]

Acts of worship cannot be preferred on the basis of their forms or number but they are preferred according to the intention that the heart holds. So, the description of both actions can be the same; however, there is a gap of preference among them as wide as the distance between the heavens and the earth. Two men may stand in prayer in the same row but the difference in their reward and degree is like the distance between the heavens and the earth. ‘Ammaar ibn Yaasir, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah  saying: ‘Verily, a man may finish his prayer but nothing is written for him except one tenth, ninth, eighth, seventh, sixth, fifth, quarter, third, or half of it.’” [Abu Daawood]