How do I Know if I am Sincere?

How do I know if I am sincere? I asked this question way back in September 2004 to some of the students of knowledge, the late Shaykh, Dr. Saleh as-Saleh (rahimahullaah) and my good friend, Mu’tasim al-Hameedee.

I was not able to catch all the points of benefit that Shaykh Saleh as-Saleh mentioned, but I will try my best to paraphrase what I managed to take of notes:

He said that his Shaykh, Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (rahimahullaah) said that: We should always be checking ourselves and asking: “Did I really do that for Allaah?” He said that we should make the du’aa where we ask Allaah (subhaanahu wa Ta’aala) to protect us from falling into shirk (and of course doing an act for other than Allaah is shirk) and that we should seek forgiveness often. He continued by saying that shaytaan is always trying to corrupt our intention and trying to take away from its purity. He then went on to say that the Salaf used to say that they found nothing more intense then striving to be sincere. He closed by saying that when you find yourself having an inclination to read the Qur’aan and seek (beneficial) knowledge then this is a sign of there being sincerity in ones actions.

Br. Mu’tasim al-Hameedee said (to paraphrase):

That there is no meter that we can attach to our heart or our body to give a reading, and that everyone knows in himself what he is doing and why he is doing it, and everyone is a proof against himself or on behalf of himself. You know when you are doing an action whether you are doing it for the sake of Allaah or for the sake of showing off, you know it in your heart, and it is not something that has to be learnt, it is something from our fitrah and we are created with this sense and we know ourselves if we are doing what we are doing for Allaah or for the people.

Some of the righteous predecessors mentioned some signs, and they where that if you find yourself more active in worship when you are in front of others and that you do not have the same zeal or strength in worship when you are by yourself then this is a sign that there is something wrong with your intention, and this is a sign you are doing it for the sake of the people, maybe not completely for the people, but at the least there is some deficiency in your intention.

There is a story about a man who was fasting, and this man used to pray very quickly at home, but on this day, the day he was fasting he went to the masjid and he prayed and the people were saying what an excellent prayer he is praying, so he turned around in his prayer and said to them: “I am fasting today too!”

The Muslim is always struggling with his intention, shaytaan will always come and try to corrupt that intention, so always have in mind that I am doing it for the sake of Allaah because Allaah ordered me to and I hope to get reward for it.

So be warned - Brother and Sister Muslim - that no action is acceptable to Allaah if somebody else is given a share in it. Reflect carefully upon the words of Yoosuf bin al Hussain ar-Raazee: "Indeed the hardest thing (to achieve) in this world is Ikhlaas. How many times have I struggled to extinguish riyaa (showing off) from my heart except that it only appeared again in a different colour" [1]

Also reflect upon the words narrated by Ibn Qudaamah al-Maqdisee in his [Mukhtasir Minhaaj il-Qaasideen] "Indeed mankind, all of them, are destroyed except those with knowledge and all those with knowledge are destroyed except those who act upon it and all those who act are destroyed except those who are sincere in their action and all those who are sincere are in great danger (of associating other than Allaah in their actions)". [2]

1 [Jaami ul-Uloom wal-Hikam] of Ibn Rajab al-Hanbalee
2 [Mukhtasir Minhaaj il- Qaasideen] of Ibn Qudaamah al-Maqdisee

Notes taken by Aboo Uthmaan