A person:
“Allah is One.”
may say.
But within their life:
people’s approval,
being seen,
being praised,
their own name coming to the fore,
success being credited to them
they may become attached.
While the tongue says that Allah is One, the heart may wait at many doors.
Ikhlas is tawhid becoming deed.
If tawhid in the mind means:
“Allah is One.”
then ikhlas in life is:
“Then my servitude too is for Him alone.”
to be able to say.
The well-known definition in the Hadith of Gabriel from our Prophet is as follows:
“Ihsan is that you worship Allah as though you see Him; and if you do not see Him, He surely sees you.”
Bukhari and Muslim
Whether people see or do not see is secondary. The real matter is to live knowing that Allah sees.
Making the Religion Purely for Allah
In the Qur’an there is a very clear expression that conveys the essence of ikhlas:
وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ حُنَفَاءَ
“Yet they were commanded only to worship Allah, making the religion purely for Him, as people of pure devotion.”
Al-Bayyinah, 5
Ikhlas is not only cleansing oneself of bad intentions.
Of worship,
of goodness,
of service,
of prayer,
of hope
and of servitude—it is to turn their direction toward Allah.
A person may do a very beautiful deed outwardly.
But the same deed may carry two different values in two different hearts.
One:
“Let people think well of me.”
does it for that.
The other:
“May my Lord be pleased.”
does it for that.
From the outside the deed may look the same.
But intention determines the deed’s direction with Allah.
Our Prophet (PBUH):
“Deeds are only according to intentions.”
said.
(Bukhari, Bad’ al-Wahy, 1; Muslim, Imarah, 155)
So ikhlas is the unseen side of the deed.
People’s eyes see the act.
But Allah also knows the intention that gives birth to the act.
If No One Were to Know
A person cannot always easily read their own intention.
The ego can quietly enter a work done for Allah:
“Let what I did be known.”
“Let my name be written.”
“Let success be counted as mine.”
“Let the good be carried out by my hand.”
“Let my group win.”
The good continues; but slowly the “I” settles at the center.
One of the important measures stressed in the Treatise on Ikhlas is also this: in a service done for Allah’s pleasure, the real matter is not through whose hand the good comes about, but that the good comes about.
This is a trial in which the ego is strained.
If no one in the world were to learn of the good I did, would I still do it?
I did a good deed.
My name will not be written.
No one will thank me.
No one will know.
People may even think someone else did it.
Is my heart still at ease?
If:
“Allah knows.”
is enough, we are approaching a very beautiful place of ikhlas.
“If no one saw, no one applauded, no one thanked—is knowing that Allah is pleased enough for me?”
Ikhlas Is Not Treating People as Worthless
Ikhlas is not:
“What people think has no importance at all.”
becoming coarse by saying that.
We have responsibilities toward people.
The promises we make,
the trusts we carry,
accountability for the work we do
and the rights others have over us matter.
Ikhlas is not disregarding people; it is not making people’s approval the aim of servitude.
A task must be done well.
One must be honest with people.
It may also be necessary to state the truth in order to clear up a misunderstanding.
But after all of this, the heart’s final question should be:
“How did people see me?”
not,
“Was my Lord pleased with this deed?”
People’s appreciation can be beautiful.
But ikhlas is that when that appreciation does not come, the deed’s direction is not corrupted.
Good Intention Alone Is Not Enough
The Qur’an corrects not only a person’s intention but also the path they take.
In Surah Az-Zumar, the excuse of those who take protectors besides Allah is related as follows:
وَالَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مِنْ دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلَّا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَىٰ
“Those who take protectors besides Him say, ‘We worship them only so that they may bring us nearer to Allah.’”
Az-Zumar, 3
The excuse in this verse appears religious on the surface:
“We want to draw near to Allah.”
But a good-looking excuse did not make a wrong form of worship right.
From this a very important measure emerges:
Intention must be right.
The path must also be right.
Saying “My aim is beautiful” is not enough on its own.
Intention will be right.
The path will also be right.
If I want to draw near to Allah, I must draw near by the path Allah has shown.
Ikhlas answers not only:
“For whom am I doing this?”
but also
“Am I doing it in the way that pleases Him?”
that question as well.
Because if the Owner of servitude is Allah, then He also sets the measure of servitude.
Placing Sacred Authorities Between Allah and the Servant
Az-Zumar 3 shows us that accepting Allah’s existence alone is not enough for tawhid.
The people mentioned in the verse:
“There is no Allah.”
were not saying.
Claiming nearness to Allah, they were placing other sacred authorities between themselves and their worship.
Therefore tawhid is not only believing in Allah’s existence.
prayer,
worship,
ultimate hope,
absolute surrender
and servitude—to turn them toward Allah alone.
Of course a person learns from a teacher.
They consult a scholar.
They may ask for the prayer of righteous people.
They take a doctor, a friend or a guide as a means.
But no means is put in Allah’s place.
No human word is raised above Allah’s measure.
No love is turned into worship.
A means is used; it is not taken as Lord.
The True Station of Our Prophet (PBUH)
Here there is a very important and delicate distinction.
To say “Worship is for Allah alone” is not to diminish the guidance of our Prophet (PBUH).
He taught us the revelation.
He showed the Qur’an by living it.
How we are to love Allah,
how we are to pray,
how we are to worship,
how we are to treat people
we learn from his sunnah.
Obeying him is a command of the Qur’an.
Loving him is part of faith.
But our Prophet (PBUH) shows us the path to Allah; he does not become the aim of worship.
The Qur’an commands him to say:
قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ مِثْلُكُمْ يُوحَىٰ إِلَيَّ أَنَّمَا إِلَٰهُكُمْ إِلَٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ
“Say: I am only a human being like you. It is revealed to me that your god is One God.”
Al-Kahf, 110
This verse does not lessen our Prophet’s worth.
On the contrary, it protects his true station:
Allah’s servant and Messenger.
Our Prophet (PBUH) also warned us not to go beyond the measure concerning himself:
“Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians exaggerated in praising Jesus son of Mary. I am only Allah’s servant. Say of me, ‘Allah’s servant and Messenger.’”
(Bukhari, Anbiya, 48)
To love him rightly is to protect the tawhid he taught.
To follow in his footsteps is to turn worship only toward the Allah whom he too worshipped.
Love does not break the measure.
True love remains faithful to the measure taught by the one who is loved.
Ikhlas Is Not Trusting One’s Own Ikhlas
A person may sometimes:
“My intention is clean.”
feel sure of themselves by saying this.
But intention is not fixed.
Into a work begun for Allah there may in time mix show,
the desire to be praised,
the wish to appear superior
or looking down on others.
Therefore ikhlas is not a station won once and completed.
It is turning the intention again and again toward Allah.
Before the deed a person asks:
“Why am I doing this?”
During the deed they ask:
“Has the direction of my heart changed?”
After the deed they ask:
“Am I crediting this to myself, or do I know it as my Lord’s favor?”
A person of ikhlas does not inflate their own goodness.
Because the desire to do good,
the opportunity,
the strength
and the outcome too they know as Allah’s favor.
Instead of saying “I did it”:
“My Lord granted it.”
they say.
Turning the Whole of Life Toward Allah
In the Qur’an our Prophet (PBUH) is commanded to say:
قُلْ إِنَّ صَلَاتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
“Say: Truly my prayer, my rites of worship, my life and my death are for Allah, Lord of the worlds.”
Al-An‘ām, 162
Ikhlas is not sought only inside the prayer.
While working,
while giving,
while speaking,
while remaining silent,
while defending a right,
while leaving a work behind,
and while doing a good that no one knows, it is also sought.
A person may sometimes leave their worship to Allah and the rest of their life to people’s judgment.
But the Qur’an wants me to turn my life toward Allah together with my prayer.
Ikhlas is that life not be divided.
It is not being one person in private,
and another before people.
It is narrowing the distance between the good people see and the intention Allah knows.
The Freedom Ikhlas Gives
The person attached to people’s approval places an invisible rope in people’s hands.
If praised, they rise.
If criticized, they collapse.
If seen, they work.
If unseen, they give up.
If thanked, they continue their goodness.
If not, they regret what they did.
Ikhlas loosens this bond.
A person no longer surrenders their goodness to people’s shifting judgment.
Because they know:
Even if people do not see, Allah sees.
Even if people do not know, Allah knows.
Even if people do not thank, the deed is not lost.
Even if people misrepresent it, the intention is not hidden from Allah.
This does not make a person irresponsible.
On the contrary, it makes them more careful.
Because now they try to beautify not only the part people can see, but their whole intention that Allah knows.
The Three Measures of Ikhlas
From today’s note we can keep three questions:
First:
If no one were to know, would I still do this good?
Second:
When the same good comes about through someone else’s hand, can I truly rejoice in that?
Third:
Even if my intention looks beautiful, is the path I walk in line with the measure Allah has shown?
The first question can expose show,
the second the ego,
and the third going beyond the measure.
Ikhlas is striving to cleanse these three together.
This Note’s Heart Key
Ikhlas, before hiding goodness, is being able to turn the heart’s direction to Allah alone.
Tawhid:
“Allah is One.”
means this.
And ikhlas is:
“Then my servitude, my intention, my hope and the ultimate pleasure I seek are also for Him alone.”
to be able to say.
Even if people do not know, Allah knows; even if the good does not come about through my hand, Allah’s will is fulfilled.
What falls to me is:
to purify my intention,
to fit my path to His measure,
to do my deed well
and to await the return from Him alone.
Prayer
O Allah,
turn our hearts toward You alone.
Make our intention, our deed and our servitude purely for Your pleasure.
Protect us from giving up when we are not seen, from taking offense when we are not praised, and from mixing our ego into goodness.
Grant us right intention and the right path with which You are pleased.
Grant us to follow our Prophet (PBUH) as he deserves.
Make Your pleasure more precious to us than all of people’s approval.
Amin.