22. FRUITS OF SINCERITY
I wonder at he who pretends to be an abstainer [i.e. practicing self-denial and having no interest in worldly pleasures and affairs] in the hope of being near to the hearts of people while forgetting that their hearts are controlled by the One for Whose sake he performs his deeds, and if He is pleased with his deeds and deemed sincere then He will draw the hearts of people to him, and if not, He will turn the hearts of people away from him.
If a person heeds to the hearts of mankind, whether they like him or not, then his intention is mixed with shirk because he should only suffice with the One for Whom he performs his deeds.
It is because sincerity (ikhlas) necessitates that a person does not intend to attract the attention of hearts of people to him as such attention should happen not by seeking it but rather by disliking it.
This is because one should know that people will see the signs of his deeds, in general, even if they did not see any of them because hearts testify to the righteousness of the pious even if they do not see his deeds.
However, a person who intends to let people become aware of his deeds should understand that his deeds will be in vain because such deeds will neither be accepted by Allah nor people whose hearts are made to turn away from him causing his knowledge and life to be wasted.
Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (radiy Allahu anhu) reported that the Prophet said: “If one of you worked inside a solid stone that has no door or a window, his deeds will still go out to the people, regardless of who he is.”
Thus, a slave [of Allah] should fear Allah and turn to the One who can benefit him and pay no attention to the praise he may receive as it shall inflict him and others with a trial.
(Source: al-Hafiz Abu’l-Faraj ibn al-jawzl [d. 597AH] “CAPTURED THOUGHTS being” a translation of his masterpiece ‘Sayd al-K hatir)
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