How do you make a pure intention before starting your journey of Qur'ān memorisation? How do you make it exclusively for the sake of Allāh? How do you protect yourself from making it an act of impressing people? How do you stay away from doubts and from having mixed intentions that pull you away from continuing on the path?
These are questions that many of you may ask silently, but never had the courage to ask. These are questions that many of you have asked me and which is why I am speaking about this today. If Allāh wills, with His facilitation, perhaps I can provide you with small steps of guidance.
What is sincerity (ikhlās)?
I have previously mentioned the following:
Sincerity is when you do an action, your intention and heart do not pay any attention to:
- the self
- the action
- and those around
Sincerity is when engaged in any action you become blind to everything save Allāh. You do not see people, yourself or the action. When everything goes out of the picture, this is sincerity. Meaning is purely for the sake of Allāh and purely for Allāh.
I’ll give you an example of this. Think about a time when you or someone else engaged in conversation with a young child or a baby. What did they do? it’s likely that they behaved in a childish manner. They spoke the language of the child. They made sounds and behaved in a certain way. Why did do that? It’s sincerity. They do that purely for the child. At that moment, they don’t stop and think – what am I doing? what will others think about me? what if I sound ridiculous? what if this and that? They forget themselves, their action and those around them. In fact, if you made a video of someone doing this and edit it to remove the context, the person may look like something is wrong with them. In the same way, sincerity for Allāh is present when you feel like this when performing an action that is good and permissible grounded with good intentions.
What is sincerity (Intentions)
In other words, whenever there's a manifestation of the 'self', 'me', and 'I' - that is the absence of sincerity. When you begin to remove the 'self', the 'me', and the 'I', you enter into the valley of sincerity (ikhās). To be anti-nafs is to be sincere. To be pro-nafs is to be insincere. Sincerity is to seek the pleasure of Allāh, it's a pure motivation. Showing off removes it. This is why sincerity is about purity (taqwa) of the heart:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَنْظُرُ إِلَى صُوَرِكُمْ وَأَمْوَالِكُمْ وَلَكِنْ يَنْظُرُ إِلَى قُلُوبِكُمْ وَأَعْمَالِكُمْ
“Verily, Allāh does not look at your appearance or wealth, but rather He looks at your hearts and actions.” (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2564)
How do you get sincerity (ikhlās)?
There's a misunderstanding that worship ('ibādah) itself will produce sincerity. This is not the case. In reality, our worship itself requires sincerity and needs showing off to be removed. Sincerity is a pre-requisite, not an outcome:
The first of men (whose case) will be decided on the Day of Judgment will be a man who died as a martyr. He shall be brought (before the Judgment Seat). Allah will make him recount His blessings (i. e. the blessings which He had bestowed upon him) and he will recount them (and admit having enjoyed them in his life). (Then) will Allah say: What did you do (to requite these blessings)? He will say: I fought for Thee until I died as a martyr. Allah will say: You have told a lie. You fought that you might be called a" brave warrior". And you were called so. (Then) orders will be passed against him and he will be dragged with his face downward and cast into Hell.
Sahih Muslim
Then will be brought forward a man who acquired knowledge and imparted it (to others) and recited the Qur'an. He will be brought And Allah will make him recount His blessings and he will recount them (and admit having enjoyed them in his lifetime). Then will Allah ask: What did you do (to requite these blessings)? He will say: I acquired knowledge and disseminated it and recited the Qur'an seeking Thy pleasure. Allah will say: You have told a lie. You acquired knowledge so that you might be called" a scholar," and you recited the Qur'an so that it might be said:" He is a Qari" and such has been said. Then orders will be passed against him and he shall be dragged with his face downward and cast into the Fire.
Then will be brought a man whom Allah had made abundantly rich and had granted every kind of wealth. He will be brought and Allah will make him recount His blessings and he will recount them and (admit having enjoyed them in his lifetime). Allah will (then) ask: What have you done (to requite these blessings)? He will say: I spent money in every cause in which Thou wished that it should be spent. Allah will say: You are lying. You did (so) that it might be said about (You):" He is a generous fellow" and so it was said. Then will Allah pass orders and he will be dragged with his face downward and thrown into Hell.
This is why we ask about how we can protect ourselves. So how do we become sincere? We should first seek answers from the Qur'ān.
Being attached to pious company
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَكُونُوا۟ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰدِقِينَ
O believers! Be mindful of Allāh (have taqwa) and be with the truthful.
Qur'ān | 9:119
It is a universal fact that you take from your company. So if your company is corrupt, you will take something of corruption from them. Likewise, Allāh is telling us that to be sincere we should 'be' with those who are sincere. One of the signs of someone that is sincere is that they speak the truth without thought. Being in the company of someone that speaks the truth will lead you to speak the truth. Being in the company and friendship of those who have sincerity is not limited to a physical reality, but also by reading their words and works. Being in a pious living company that speaks and reminds you of Allāh and His Messenger (ﷺ) is best. In its absence, this can be done by taking their company via books, audio, or video.
When you surround yourself with good people, genuine people, and sincere people you feel more confident. Why? They are confident people themselves, and they are positive. Believers are meant to be mirrors to each other and that happens with this type of company because they are true believers. They are those from whose tongues and hands you are safe (hadith) and thereby they are those from whose tongues and hands you benefit from.
This also means that sincerity is also linked to guarding your tongue and speaking the truth. This is why company is fundamental. Allāh has connected Taqwa to the truthful.
If there's a shortcut to sincerity, it is company.
Continually working on your intentions and mindset
Working on your intentions before you start is important. You must know why you're going to memorise. You have to practically work on your intentions. Write them down. Reflect over them. Reflect over yourself daily. Check yourself before you wreck yourself. Part of this is to actually adopt a particular mindset:
- when you look at others, see them as better than you
- when you look at others, see them as sincere but when you look at yourself, you see insincerity
- when you look at others, see their good but when you look at yourself, you see faults
This type of mindset will protect you from so many sins and it will help you become sincere. Why? Because you will never assume you are sincere nor see sincerity within you. It will keep you on your toes and help you avoid falling into traps.
Constantly being watchful and listening to reminders
As human beings, we are prone to forgetfulness and attachments. This is from the meanings of 'Insān' (to be human). As humans, we hold a unique combination of forgetfulness and attachment (love). These are opposites - you can't love something and forget it. You can't remember something without some form of attachment. Likewise, as humans also host two other opposites. We are made of the earth (the body) and the soul (rūh) which is not earthly. These opposites both have their own needs and require sustenance. Whenever the body is overfed with its attachments, the soul weakens. This as a result makes you prone to forgetfulness. You forget Allāh and sincerity is compromised. If you begin to pay attention to the the needs of the soul through remembrance (dhikr), the more you begin to remember. The more those attachments you have start to become more controlled, balanced, or even removed.
To become sincere, you need to constantly do two things.
Firstly, be watchful over the degrees of your forgetfulness of Allāh and your attachments (love) of your ego (nafs). We have within us detectors for this. Do you feel sensitive to reciting Qur'ān? Do you feel discomfort from reciting Qur'ān? Do you feel empty when offering salāh? Have you lost the way you used to feel about Qur'ān? All these types of things show us where we are. Whenever something feels out of place, it means we need to re-member. This means you need spiritual food. You need a booster. This is why maintaining dhikr and the company of people of dhikr is important.
Secondly, you need to constantly listen to reminders. As Muslims, we pray five times a day. Why not once? Once is not enough. We are constantly in need of being reminded. For a sincerity of intent we have to remove out of a state of negligence.
وَلَقَدْ ذَرَأْنَا لِجَهَنَّمَ كَثِيرًۭا مِّنَ ٱلْجِنِّ وَٱلْإِنسِ ۖ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌۭ لَّا يَفْقَهُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ أَعْيُنٌۭ لَّا يُبْصِرُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ ءَاذَانٌۭ لَّا يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَآ ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ كَٱلْأَنْعَـٰمِ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْغَـٰفِلُونَ
Indeed, We have destined many jinn and humans for Hell. They have hearts they do not understand with, eyes they do not see with, and ears they do not hear with. They are like cattle. In fact, they are even less guided! Such ˹people˺ are ˹entirely˺ heedless.
Al-A'rāf, 7:179
If you're sleeping, your heart and mind are closed, what difference does righteousness make? They awaken the heart by successive reminders. You should practically, listen to the message of guidance many times a day.
You take three meals a day perhaps and in the same way you need to take the food of remembrance. When you receive the messages continuously, only then you can benefit from admonition. You don't benefit from mere listening, you need to be actively listening and wanting to listen.
This is not about listening to reminders of knowledge, this is about listening to admonition too. We don't like to listen to admonition but if we want to change, we need to, and constantly.
Paying attention to the steps that will lead to purity
There are five steps that followed in sequence that will lead you towards purity and will help maintain sincerity. Pay attention to the first three as these lead to foundations for sincerity.
1. Making sure you're physically pure
You have to move from the outward to the inward. The first step is not to work on what lies within. It's what's bothering you on the outward. This begins with purification of the body. Always make sure that you remain in the state of Wudū' as much as you can. It will provide so many untold benefits. Pay attention to everything concerning physical purification.
2. Making sure your senses are pure
Every sense has a door to your heart. If you throw dirst into the door of your eyes, your ears, your tongue, etc, how can you expect light to enter them? If you're praying, reciting Qur'ān, and memorising but you're lying, you're watching porn, you're eating haraam, earning haraam, then how can we expect to achieve blessings? We're not being sincere. If you take a shower, will you be happy to wear dirty clothes straight after? No. Your body is the dress of your heart, how can it be clean, if it's outward is dirty? Work on your limbs.
3. Making your mind pure
Thoughts need to be purified for good intentions and sincerity. You purify your mind, you have purified thoughts. This is where you become watchful over your thoughts. Thoughts lead to action. You have to cut thoughts before they manifest themselves.
Everything is interconnected. Your outer living, your outer actions, indicate your inside. If I visit someone’s bedroom and you see up and down, then everything of his is upside down. Whatever is seen in the outer is a reflection of the inner. If you discipline the outer, it will help the inner. Just focusing on the inner always does not matter. That’s why Allah has constituted the prayer with different acts. Otherwise, he would have said to meditate as people do in other religions. Islam is special - you do ‘sujood’, ‘ruku’, all these are apparent acts. Why? Every physical act has an effect on the internal. We read ‘tasbih’, it has an effect on our hearts. So when our heart is purified, our intentions are purified. When we wash our bodies, all doors for evil are closed. We purify our mind, we have purified our thoughts.
4. Making your heart pure
This is the place of wishes and desires, and this can only be pure if your mind is pure. Like mentioned above, our outer actions show the state of your heart - it's a reflection of your inner life and reality. You have to discipline your outer world to discipline the inner world. You can't just focus on the inner. This is why the salaah is physical! This leads to purification of desires and secrets - the inner self. This means you begin cutting off from what takes you away from Allāh.
This then leads to the 5th step which is the purification of the soul (rūh).
However, all of these things have a requirement. You need to seek knowledge and you need to take action.
This is an entire journey. This journey is a journey to Allāh and it has several stages, conditions, and tasks. That is a subject for another day. But know one thing, we are all on a path to sincerity and always ask Allāh for it. Beg for openings and guidance.
These are a few thoughts from me today and I hope it is helpful.
Allāh grant blessing.
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