The Acceptable Action

[BintMuhammad]

Bismillâhi-r-Rahmâni-r-Rahîm Al-Hamdulillâhi Was-Salâtu Was-Salâmu 'Alâ Rasûlillâh, Wa Ba'd: As-Salâmu 'Alaikum Wa Rahmatullâhi Wa Barakâtuh​

By: Shaikh Husain al-'Awâyishah
Source: From Kitâb ul-Ikhlâs - The Book of Sincerity (Eng. Trans. by Abu Iyaad as-Salafi)​

Before you take a single step - My brother and sister Muslim - it is vital for you to be acquainted with the path in which your deliverance lies. Do not make yourself exhausted by performing many actions. Perhaps the one who does many actions, does not gain anything but tiredness from them in this world and punishment in the hereafter. This is illustrated in his (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) saying: "Perhaps a fasting person obtains nothing from his fasting but hunger and one who stands during the night in prayer nothing but tiredness." [Reported by Ibn Maajah from Abu Hurairah and Shaikh Al-Albaanee declared it to be authentic in his Saheeh ul-Jaami', no. 3482].

Allaah the Exalted said:

"And We shall turn to whatever actions they did and make them into scattered dust" [Soorah Furqaan 25:23]
He also said:

"It is he who created life and death to see which of you is best in action" [ Soorah Mulk 67:2 ]

Therefore, know before everything else the necessary conditions for actions before they are accepted. It is vital that two great and important matters are fulfilled for every action. If they are not the action will not be accepted.

The First: That the one who performed the action desired nothing but the Face of Allaah Azzawajall by it.

The Second: That the action is in agreement with what Allaah the Exalted has legislated in His Book or His Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) has explained in his sunnah.

Fudayl ibn Ayyaad, a taabi'ee, said regarding the verse {...that He may test you, which of you is best in deeds...} [11:7], "The most sincere and the most correct" so those who were around him said "And what is the most sincere and the most correct?" He replied "Action, if it is correct but not sincere will not be accepted and action, if it is sincere but not correct will not be accepted until it is both sincere and correct. Sincere means that nothing but the Face of Allaah is sought and correct means that it is in conformity with the Sunnah."

And some of the Salaf used to say: There is no action, even if it is insignificant, except that it will have two questions put to it: Why did you do it? and: How did you do it?

The first question is about the reason for the action and its motive. If the motive was for an objective from among the objectives of the world such as seeking praise or status or any other worldly aim, it is an evil action and will be thrown back at its performer. If the motive for the action was to fulfil the right of Allaah of pure enslavement to Him and seeking a means of nearness to Him then it is a good action and will be accepted inshaa'allaah.

The second question is about the following and imitation of the Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam). Was the action from amongst the legislated actions or was it from your innovation and invention? If it was from the guidance of the Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) then it is a good action and if it was in opposition to the practise of the Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) then it is an evil action and will not be accepted from its performer as is proven in the hadeeth of Aa'ishah (ra) who said: The Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) said: "Whoever introduces into this affair of ours something that does not belong to it will have it rejected." [Reported by Muslim]. And she also reports that the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) said: "Whoever does an action which we have not commanded will have it rejected." [Reported by Muslim].
When one of the above two conditions is not fulfilled the action is neither righteous nor acceptable. The saying of the Blessed and Exalted provides evidence for this:

"And whoever places his hope in the meeting with His Lord let him work righteous deeds and in the worship of His Lord, associate none as a partner" [Soorah Kahf 18:110]

Allaah, the Sublime has commanded in this verse that the action should be righteous meaning, agreement with the Sharee'ah. Then He commanded that the person should make it sincerely for Allaah, desiring by it nothing besides Him.

Al-Haafidh Ibn Katheer (rh) said: These are the two pillars of the accepted action. It is necessary that the action is sincerely for Allaah and also correct, upon the Sharee'ah of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam). The likes of this has also been reported from al-Qaadi Ayyaad - may Allaah have mercy upon Him - and others.

Allaah the Exalted also said:

"And who is better in religion than the one who submits his face to Allaah and is a doer of good?" [Soorah Nisaa 4:125]

The meaning of submitting ones face for Allaah is: Making one's intention and action for Allaah, and the meaning of doing good is: Imitating and following the Messenger's (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) Sunnah.

 

[Happy 2BA Muslim]

For acts of worship to be acceptable to Allaah and for a person to be rewarded for them, there are two conditions which must be met:

The first condition: it should be devoted to Allaah Alone. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And they were commanded not, but that they should worship Allaah, and worship none but Him Alone (abstaining from ascribing partners to Him)”

[al-Bayyinah 98:5]

The meaning of worshipping Allaah alone is that the person should intend in all his words and deeds, both inward and outward, to seek the Face of Allaah (i.e., His pleasure). Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And who has (in mind) no favour from anyone to be paid back,

Except to seek the Countenance of his Lord, the Most High”

[al-Layl 92:19]

“(Saying): “We feed you seeking Allaah’s Countenance only. We wish for no reward, nor thanks from you”

[al-Insaan 76:9]

“Whosoever desires (by his deeds) the reward of the Hereafter, We give him increase in his reward, and whosoever desires the reward of this world (by his deeds), We give him thereof (what is decreed for him), and he has no portion in the Hereafter”

[al-Shoora 42:20]

“Whosoever desires the life of the world and its glitter, to them We shall pay in full (the wages of) their deeds therein, and they will have no diminution therein.

They are those for whom there is nothing in the Hereafter but Fire, and vain are the deeds they did therein. And of no effect is that which they used to do”

[Hood 11:15-16]

It was narrated that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say:

‘The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended. So whoever emigrated for worldly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration was for what he emigrated for.’”

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah, may He be blessed and exalted, says: ‘I am so self-sufficient that I am in no need of having an associate. Thus he who does an action for someone else’s sake as well as Mine will have that action renounced by Me to him whom he associated with Me.’” (Narrated by Muslim, al-Zuhd wa’l-Raqaa’iq, 5300)

The second condition: is that the action should be in accordance with the only way which Allaah has prescribed for worship, which is by following the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in the laws that he has brought.

It was narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever does any action that is not in accordance with this matter of ours (i.e., Islam), will have it rejected.” (Narrated by Muslim, al-Aqdiyyah, 3243).

Ibn Rajab (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “This hadeeth forms one of the most important principles of Islam. It is like a scale for weighing up deeds according to their outward appearance, just as the hadeeth ‘The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions’ is the means of weighing up the inner nature of deeds.

Just as every action which is not intended for the sake of Allaah brings no reward to the one who does it, so too every deed which is not in accordance with the command of Allaah and His Messenger will also be rejected and thrown back at the one who does it.

Everyone who innovates in Islam something for which Allaah and His Messenger have not granted permission, that thing is nothing to do with Islam. (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) enjoined following his Sunnah and teachings, and made them binding.

He (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “You have to follow my Sunnah (way) and the way of my rightly-guided successors (al-khulafa’ al-raashidoon); bite onto it with your eyeteeth (i.e., cling firmly to it).” And he warned against bid’ah (innovation), as he said: “Beware of newly-invented matters, for every newly-invented matter is a going astray.” (narrated by al-Tirmidhi, al-‘Ilm, 2600; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Sunan al-Tirmidhi, no. 2157)

Al-Fudayl said: “’best in deed’ means, most devoted to Allaah alone and most in accordance with the Sunnah.

Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid