IKHLAS

FRIDAY SERMON

Ustaz Ellyeen Amineen bin Mohd Salleh

Islamic Affairs OfficerIslamic Centre

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

12 Jamadul Akhir 1435H / 14 Mac 2014

:الحمد هلل القائل

• Dear brothers, may the blessings of Allah be upon you.

• Let us have taqwa to Allah SWT with true taqwa. May the taqwa make us those who receive mercy dan guidance from Allah SWT.

• Allah says in surah al-Nisaa verse 59:

• Which means:

• O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is the best [way] and best in result.

• Brothers in Islam,

• Ikhlas means straight, frank, honest and clean hearts from dirty things.

• In other word, ikhlas is making Allah the sole purpose in all things that can get a person closer to Allah Ta'ala.

• Ikhlas lies in the intention of the heart. This is because the intent is a binding act.

• Those who are not sincere, for indeed their actions will be a waste of time, energy and property without benefit.

• Sincerity of a person is very important to make his life simple, beautiful and meaningful.

• Have we asked ourselves, how sincere are we in doing good deeds?

• A sincere person is someone who does not think of personal interest or monetary gain. The focus of a sincere person is looking for pleasure and acceptance of Allah SWT.

• For example, when a person is putting money into the donation box, his focus is neither left nor right.

• Rather his mind focused on how the money which he donated will be received by Allah swt.

• Is it not that every action depends on one’s intention?

• The Messenger of Allah said:

• "Actions are according to intentions, and everyone will get what was intended.”

• Narrated by al-Bukhari

• Dear Muslims,

• To be a sincere slave of Allah, let us all reflect upon ourselves to see whether we are slaves who are really sincere in our deeds. There are three things that we can do:

• First: Sincerity Test. Just imagine if the environment associated with our daily lives changed. Will we still want to give charity? Are we sincere and happy to do our job?

• Whereas all our good deeds on earth is the acts of worship. Importantly, we have to ask our faith regarding the sincerity of our deeds.

• Second: Feeling anxious if we are not sincere. A person who is nervous about an act that he did is actually a sign that the act is sincere or moving towards sincerity, in sha Allah.

• This is because the feeling that the self is sincere is likely only on the lips, while feeling worried and anxious whether the deed is accepted or not will cause him to constantly reflect upon. This anxiety facilitates him to achieve sincerity.

• Third: Train yourself to sincerely even when feeling tired. Basically all acts of piety in Islam require struggle and overreach even under duress.

• Praiseworthy attributes such as patient, pleased, forgiving others and open hearted are among the deeds that challenge the sincerity of a person to find a point of sincerity to Allah SWT.

• Therefore, the best way to train ourselves to be sincere is to ensure that we renew every intention before doing a good deed.

• Starting today, let us resolve to start any activity with the right intentions for the sake of Allah swt.

• Let us not underestimate the intention because it involves the heart that can lead to sincerity and faith, belief in reward and sin.

• The quality of our practice will be determined by our hearts in order to implement the commands of Allah.

• These recommendations are mentioned in Quran in Surah Al-Bayyinah, verse 5 read earlier in the sermon which means:

• “And they were not commanded except to worship Allah , [being] sincere to Him in religion, inclining to truth, and to establish prayer and to give zakah. And that is the correct religion.”

• According to Al-Fadha'il, leaving a deed for the sake of mankind is riya’, while doing a deed for the sake of mankind is shirk. Sincerity is leaving both of them.

• Therefore, the pulpit urge everyone to clear our minds in performing worship to only think of Allah, pray for the sake Allah, zikir for the sake of Allah, and all good deeds that we do it in the morning, afternoon and night just for the sake of Allah SWT alone.

• Leave for a moment the worldly affairs. We must always remember that we are just heading towards Allah Ta’ala.

• Let us stay away from riya’, arrogant, proud, because we are answerable in front of Allah swt. In addition, let's not forget to ask Allah swt that He bestow us with sincerity in our acts of worship.

• This is the prayer of the Prophet Ibrahim alaihi wa salam in Surah al-An'am, which means:

• “Unless my Lord guides me, I will surely be among the people gone astray.”

• “He is the Ever-Living; there is no deity except Him, so call upon Him, [being] sincere to Him in religion. [All] praise is [due] to Allah , Lord of the worlds.”

• Surah al-Ghafir : 65