Achieving Sincerity Fwd: Achieving Sincerity
Umar ibn Al-Khattab narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,
“Verily, actions are (judged) by their intentions (niyyah) - so each man will have what he intended”
(Narrated in Al-Bukhari)
Narrated Ibn Abbas (May Allah be Pleased with him): The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said,
“Allah ordered (the appointed angels over you) that the good and the bad deeds be written, and He then showed (the way) how (to write).
If somebody (sincerely) intends to do a good deed and he does not do it, then Allah will write for him full good deed (in his account with Him);and if he intends to do a good deed and actually did it, then Allah will write for him (in his account) with Him (its reward equal) from ten to seven hundred times, to many more times.and if somebody intended to do a bad deed and he does not do it, then Allah will write a full good deed (in his account) with Him,and if he intended to do it (a bad deed) and actually did it, then Allah ill write one bad deed (in his account).”
(Narrated in Al-Bukhari)
Here are some statements of the righteous predecessors of the past (the salaf) & some words of wisdom in achieving sincerity:
It was said to Sahl: "What is the hardest thing for the soul (to achieve)?" He said: "Sincerity, when there is no other (worldly) desire in it."
It has been said: "The damage caused to every servant lies in his being pleased with himself. Whoever looks at his soul and sees something in it which he deems to be good has caused its destruction. And whoever is not suspicious of his soul at every single moment is one who is deceived."
One of them said: "Whoever sees sincerity in his sincerity (i.e. he feels that he IS sincere), his sincerity is itself in need of sincerity. The destruction of every sincere person lies in his sincerity to the extent that he sees sincerity in himself. When he abandons seeing sincerity in himself he will be sincere and purified."
Mutraf bin 'Abdullaah ash-Shakheer said: "That I spend the night sleeping and wake up regretful (for not praying tahajjud) is more loved to me than that I spend the night standing in (tahajjud) prayer and wake up in pride."
One of them wrote to his brother: "Make your intention sincere in all of your actions, and little action will suffice you."
Yahyaa bin Mu'aadh said: "Sincerity separates good actions from sins like the separation of milk from faeces (dung) and blood."
al-Junayd said: "To Allaah belong servants who understand, and when they understand they act, and when they act they make their actions sincere. Their recalling of sincerity at the time of doing righteousness is what accumulates the greatest good for them."
Abu 'Uthmaan said: "Sincerity is to forget about the creation by constantly looking at the Creator (in terms of gaining admiration for your deeds)."
Makhool said: "Never does a servant maintain sincerity for forty days in succession except that the streams of wisdom from his heart appear on his tongue."
as-Soosi said: "What Allaah desires from the actions of His creation is sincerity and nothing else."
Ibn Mas'ood said: "Do not learn knowledge for three reasons: to amaze and confound the foolish, to argue with the learned and to make people's faces turn towards you. Rather, seek what is with Allaah with your hearts and actions, since only that will remain and whatever is besides it will go."
Sahl bin 'Abdullaah said: "There is nothing which is tougher upon the soul than achieving sincerity. How many times have I tried to remove the inclination to show off from my heart except that it sprouted in a different colour?"
“Verily, actions are (judged) by their intentions (niyyah) - so each man will have what he intended”
(Narrated in Al-Bukhari)
Narrated Ibn Abbas (May Allah be Pleased with him): The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said,
“Allah ordered (the appointed angels over you) that the good and the bad deeds be written, and He then showed (the way) how (to write).
If somebody (sincerely) intends to do a good deed and he does not do it, then Allah will write for him full good deed (in his account with Him);and if he intends to do a good deed and actually did it, then Allah will write for him (in his account) with Him (its reward equal) from ten to seven hundred times, to many more times.and if somebody intended to do a bad deed and he does not do it, then Allah will write a full good deed (in his account) with Him,and if he intended to do it (a bad deed) and actually did it, then Allah ill write one bad deed (in his account).”
(Narrated in Al-Bukhari)
Here are some statements of the righteous predecessors of the past (the salaf) & some words of wisdom in achieving sincerity:
It was said to Sahl: "What is the hardest thing for the soul (to achieve)?" He said: "Sincerity, when there is no other (worldly) desire in it."
It has been said: "The damage caused to every servant lies in his being pleased with himself. Whoever looks at his soul and sees something in it which he deems to be good has caused its destruction. And whoever is not suspicious of his soul at every single moment is one who is deceived."
One of them said: "Whoever sees sincerity in his sincerity (i.e. he feels that he IS sincere), his sincerity is itself in need of sincerity. The destruction of every sincere person lies in his sincerity to the extent that he sees sincerity in himself. When he abandons seeing sincerity in himself he will be sincere and purified."
Mutraf bin 'Abdullaah ash-Shakheer said: "That I spend the night sleeping and wake up regretful (for not praying tahajjud) is more loved to me than that I spend the night standing in (tahajjud) prayer and wake up in pride."
One of them wrote to his brother: "Make your intention sincere in all of your actions, and little action will suffice you."
Yahyaa bin Mu'aadh said: "Sincerity separates good actions from sins like the separation of milk from faeces (dung) and blood."
al-Junayd said: "To Allaah belong servants who understand, and when they understand they act, and when they act they make their actions sincere. Their recalling of sincerity at the time of doing righteousness is what accumulates the greatest good for them."
Abu 'Uthmaan said: "Sincerity is to forget about the creation by constantly looking at the Creator (in terms of gaining admiration for your deeds)."
Makhool said: "Never does a servant maintain sincerity for forty days in succession except that the streams of wisdom from his heart appear on his tongue."
as-Soosi said: "What Allaah desires from the actions of His creation is sincerity and nothing else."
Ibn Mas'ood said: "Do not learn knowledge for three reasons: to amaze and confound the foolish, to argue with the learned and to make people's faces turn towards you. Rather, seek what is with Allaah with your hearts and actions, since only that will remain and whatever is besides it will go."
Sahl bin 'Abdullaah said: "There is nothing which is tougher upon the soul than achieving sincerity. How many times have I tried to remove the inclination to show off from my heart except that it sprouted in a different colour?"
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