Ikhlas, And Ways To Obtain It

(The Brunei Times Islamia)

Imam Nawawi ARBA’IN AN-NAWAWI

It is narrated on the authority of the Leader of Believers (Amirul Mu’minin), Abu Hafs ‘Umar bin al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, who said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah, may peace and blessing be upon him, say:

‘Actions are (judged) by motives (niyyat), so each man will have what he intended. Thus, he whose migration (hijrah) was to Allah and His Messenger, his migration is to Allah and His Messenger; but he whose migration was for some worldly thing he might gain, or for a wife he might marry, his migration is to that for which he migrated’.”

[Hadith narrated by Imam Al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim]

This hadith (saying of Prophet) was said by Prophet Muhammad at the time when a man migrated from Mekah to Madinah during the Hijrah for the sake of marrying someone and not for the sake of Islam.

It is considered to be one of the greatest hadiths in Islam.

Imam Shafi’i said, “This Hadith is one third of the knowledge of Islam; related to about 70 topics of Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence).”

Hikmah

This hadith emphasizes ikhlas (purity in intention – absolute sincerity - to be truthful and honest to Allah alone, performing an act solely for Allah’s sake whereby no other witness except Allah is sought).

Ikhlas is one of the conditions of accepting good deeds. The other condition is that the actions must be done in accordance with the Shariah (Islamic guidance) as it will be explained in the fifth hadith.

This can be seen in the shahadah (testimony of faith):

“I bear witness that there is no god but Allah” is the ikhlas - ensuring that we do things for the sake of Allah and Allah alone.

“I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” - the Sunnah is the manifestation of the Quran - the Messenger of Allah is our example, our best model to follow. Following his Sunnah in our ibadah, Akhlaq (ethics), and Muamalat (dealings) ensures that we are acting in accordance with the Shariah.

To achieve ikhlas, we have to avoid shirk (associating others with Allah, which causes insincerity). Al-Imam al- Harawi said the root cause for insincerity (or shirk) is self-desire (al-hawa). Therefore no action should be done because of selfdesire.

Imam al-Harawi states that there are 7 types of selfdesires:

• To make oneself appear good in the hearts of others.
• To seek the praises of others.
• To avoid being blamed by others.
• To seek the glorification of others.
• To seek the wealth or money of others.
• To seek the services or love of others.
• To seek the help of others for oneself.

Ways to obtain ikhlas:

• Do righteous deeds - the more good deeds we do and hence get closer to Allah, the more sincere we will be.
• Before we do any deed we should firstly seek knowledge (‘ilm) - our actions/deeds should be guided by knowledge so that we do them in accordance to the Shariah.
• Do not give false impressions - do not make others believe that an action we did was good when it was not.
• Al-Imam Ahmad said, “Before you do anything, check your intention (niyyat) - ask yourself before performing an action: ‘Is it for the sake of Allah?’”

There are four things that contradict ikhlas:

• Ma’siat - committing sins - this will weaken our ikhlas.
• Shirk - associating others with Allah.
• Riya’ - performing an ‘ibadah with the intention of showing off to others.
• Nifaq – hypocrisy.

Even though we must always make sure that our actions do not deviate from ikhlas, there are actions, which are automatically considered that of good intentions. For example, seeking knowledge in Islam, helping the community, doing da’wah, etc.

Surely, our life is completely nothing, unless we dedicate every deed only to Allah, Owner of our lives.

International Islamic University
-Malaysia