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What Are Your Real Intentions? | Khutbah
In this khutbah, Dr. Omar Suleiman gives advice on how to deeply examine your deeds to ensure they’re truly sincere for Allah, especially when they involve other people. And a warning to avoid “sneaky sins” which Allah can see through and hold you accountable for.
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for him. And we bear witness that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam is his final messenger. We ask Allah to send his peace and blessings upon him, the prophets and messengers that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him, and those that follow in his blessed path until the day of judgment. And we ask Allah to make us amongst them. Allahumma ameen. Dear brothers and sisters, typically when we speak about insincerity and purifying a person's intentions, we think of the scope of riyaa, of showing off. And indeed, the greatest chapter in ikhlas and sincerity is to purify your intentions so that they are only for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala until the only sight that you consider in your life is the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And the worst of all is when a person does that which is meant to be only for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, only for other people. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us a spectrum with our spirituality that even the greatest ascetics, the greatest scholars, the greatest sages that have ever walked the face of the earth spoke about in regards to a constant and consistent battle to purify your intentions to where they are only for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But I wanted to speak about a very specific element in regards to these intentions, which are not malicious or nefarious intentions, and it's not even the particular element of riyaa, of showing off that is most common in creeping up into a person's good intentions. But it's actually when good intentions have worldly incentives. When you have this struggle where there is a good deed but there is a benefit that comes from that good deed as well, which could potentially compromise your intention until the ulterior motive is
not to please Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, but instead something else. And the exterior becomes that deed which is pleasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The other side of that is when a person does not commit an obvious sin, but they're sneaky with their sins. They insinuate, they suggest. There isn't an obvious transgression, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala can see right through the exterior and what a person puts forth as ambiguous, and Allah azawajal will hold people accountable to the intentions if those intentions were malicious and if they were masked by things that appear to be permissible, but that mask some of the greatest transgressions that we can find. So what degree of incentivizing good is acceptable? What degree of masking evil is detectable to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? And I want to start off with this complicated area here. We know about the munafiqeen, the hypocrites. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us from every single shade of hypocrisy. Allahumma ameen. The hypocrites used Islam nefariously and maliciously for the sake of worldly gain and the worst of them used it to cause destruction within the community. But you have this category, that is not within the discussion of nifaq of the munafiqeen, but they're muallafat qulubihim. They're believers or they're people whose hearts are to be softened towards Islam. And I want to explore this for a moment because the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam made a distinction between these two categories of people. Those people that needed a little bit more to embrace Islam. Those people that needed to be pulled in by other means. Those people that needed extra attention to come into Islam. Those people that were seeking some sort of social security to come into Islam. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam spoke to those people and he did what was necessary to get them into the door. They are muallafat qulubihim. They're people whose hearts need to be reconciled and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala even assigns a category of zakah for them. A category of mandatory charity for them. To soften their hearts a bit more. Because not everyone is like the ansar. Who embraced the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and the only thing they wanted was jannah. Some people needed a little bit more in terms of the spoils of battle. Some people needed a little bit more in terms of the guarantees of their positions. Some people needed a little bit more of social validation. And they needed something to get them in the door and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam understood human psychology. And let's face it. Many people who initially embraced Islam, yes they believe in tawheed. They believe in the oneness of God. But there are some other elements that are motivating initially their decision to embrace Islam. They're not hypocrites. You can find these examples throughout history. You can find them in the present. They're not hypocrites. Yes there are people that embrace Islam. Believing in Islam. But there is an immediate thing to be gained from that. And there is something else that comes with that package. But once they get in the door, they immerse themselves in the faith in a way that surpasses anything that used to motivate them before. Anything that might have motivated that initial decision to embrace Islam. So yes you'll find people that want to get married. And they want to marry a Muslim. And I'm going to become Muslim too. I'm not ready to become the best Muslim. But tawheed makes sense to me. Islam makes sense to me. I believe that this is the faith. I'll embrace it. It's going to take me time. And subhanAllah they end up surpassing the spouse that was already Muslim in faith. And the entire family. We see that happen too. The Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam understood that mindset. And that was a large group of people in Mecca by the way. That came at the end. In large batches. That needed that extra level of attention in the beginning to bring them into Islam. But here's the thing. Once the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam gave them that extra attention. Once the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did what had to be done to bring them into the faith. Then the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam immediately started the process of divorcing them from every other incentive in faith. And so you'll find the conversations between the Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and Hakeem Nuhizam radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. And others who were considered from the group of muallafati qulubihim. They needed that extra push. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is saying you know this money doesn't mean anything. You know that your only real security is from Allah. You know that tawheed is your saving grace. Your belief in Allah alone. That monotheism is your saving grace in every way. And he encouraged them to learn to fly on their own. When it came to their faith. In many ways the same way that when a person raises a child. And you're teaching them Islam anu. And you don't tell your kids want to memorize Quran. MashaAllah you don't tell them I'm never going to give you a gift when you memorize Quran or memorize anything. Because that would compromise your sincerity for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That would work out really well. If that kid still does it. But good luck with that. Right. Absolutely no worldly incentive. No you know pat on the back. No gift here or there. Nothing to encourage them to their good deeds. It's probably not going to work very well. But you also don't want it to be a pay by memorization system. Right. Memorize this many ayahs you get this. Do this you get that. To where they don't understand at all the concept of reading Quran for the sake of their own good. Or their charity has an immediately you know an immediate worldly
response to it. No sometimes. Hey we do charity for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So you want to give them that means by which they start to fly on their own. And that settles in their heart. But there is an understanding that it takes time to cultivate that. In regards to our community. Halal peer pressure. Good peer pressure. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam mentioned a person who comes to a gathering. And who sits amongst the circles of ilm and dhikr. The circles of remembrance. The circles of knowledge. You know maybe a time or two they just went because their friends brought them. Or they wanted to see other friends. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says to the angels what? When the angels even bring up the protest if you will. That that person that's sitting there did not come because it was the speaker or because it was the gathering or anything else. They came because there was an ulterior motive. And what does Allah azzawajal respond? That these people la yashqa lahum jalis. The one who sits with them will not be deprived. There is a difference that the ulama make between that person who gets that nudge. Gets pulled into the right direction a few times. And a person who only shows up to the masjid very intentionally to utilize the masjid for some sort of worldly gain. Who only shows up to the gatherings to craft a profile for themselves so that they can abuse that profile. That's a hypocrite. The other person had good peer pressure. You want that good peer pressure. To pull you along. To where the incentive is only Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It's not just hypocrite and muhsin, and a person who excels. There are a lot of layers in between there. And a person who is dedicated to their ihsan, to their spiritual upliftment, is going to keep on trying to move along the way to where everything becomes irrelevant in terms of motivation except Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. Everything becomes irrelevant except Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in regards to their spiritual progress. Sometimes it's not going to happen. Sometimes it doesn't necessarily make you sinful. You're just missing out on a great reward. You know you read the very famous hadith, the first hadith in most hadith books, that actions are but by intention and everyone will gain what they intended. And then you go down that hadith, and we usually don't read past the first two sentences. And so whoever makes hijrah for Allah and his Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his hijrah is for Allah and his Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And whoever made hijrah for some worldly benefit, made the migration so that they could benefit in some worldly sense. Or so that they could get married. فَهِجْرَتُهُ إِلَى مَا هَاجَرَ إِلَيْكَ His migration is what he migrated for. And you'll always find the story of this man, Muhajir Umm Qais. Muhajir Umm Qais. Who by the way, they're both Muslims. The man lives in Mecca. The woman either lives in Medina, Umm Qais, or made hijrah to Medina. The scholars differ. But she says to him, listen, if you want to marry me, you've got to make hijrah to Medina. He makes hijrah because he wants to get married. So you cannot say that he has the same reward as the one who made hijrah to flee from بلاد الكفر إلى بلاد الإسلام. From a place where they were being persecuted for their belief to a place of belief. You can't make that person equal in reward to Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali. You can't do that. But at the same time, he's a Muslim. Fine, you know what, that's what's going to motivate you. But don't show up on the Day of Judgment and say, I made hijrah for your sake, ya Allah. You get what you intended. And so if that's what was pushing you at the end of the day, to take that step,
hijratuhu ila man hajra ilayh. The Prophet ﷺ said, leave the man alone. Don't go condemn him, don't lash him. He's got to think about this himself and think about why he's really doing what he is doing. And that's what makes this hadith so beautiful. The hadith of Abu Hurayra radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, where he said that the Prophet ﷺ said that there is a man that went out, that a man went out to visit a brother of his in a faraway town. And Allah ﷻ sent an angel to him. And the angel said to him, where are you going? He said, I want to go visit a brother of mine who lives in this place. And the angel says to him, hal laka alayhi min ni'matin tarubuha? Is there some sort of favor, anything you're, what are you really going for? Is there something you're expecting from this person? Is there a payment that you're hoping for? Is there something else that you're hoping to get out of this that hopefully in the capacity of that visit, he also says, and oh, by the way, you can have this too. And I've been meaning to do this for you. Is that person a powerful person? What are you really going for? Now this person is talking to an angel that's been sent by Allah ﷻ. And he does not simply say, I'm just going to visit him because he's my friend. Qala la ghayra anni ahbabtuhu fil lah. He said the only reason I'm visiting that person is because I love that person for the sake of Allah. What a beautiful answer. He didn't ask him, do you love him for the sake of Allah? Or are you doing it for Allah or something else? He simply said, is there something that you're seeking other than just a visit, just a check-in? Is this really a check-in or is this something else? He's saying, not only am I not seeking anything, I love this person for the sake of Allah. And the angel says, Allah has sent me to you. SubhanAllah, what a special person. Allah
sent me to you to tell you, innallaha qad ahabbaka kama ahababtahu fihi. Allah loves you the way that you love that person for his sake. How beautiful. So when you call someone or when you visit someone or you check up on someone and it's just, oh nothing, I was just checking in. But you already have programmed in your mind that I'm going to probably need something from this person in a week or so or a month or so. And it's going to look really bad if the first time I check in on this person is, you know, at that point, so let me put in a preliminary check-in. Call them up now so that when I need them, it doesn't look so awkward because I haven't spoken to that person for a long time. Not necessarily haram, but don't include yourself in this hadith. Don't put yourself in the reward of this hadith. And it could be haram, obviously, if there is, you know, deception involved in that and ghush in that. And that's why the Prophet ﷺ said, innal muslim idha a'da akhaahu almuslim lam yazal fihi khurfati aljannati hatta yarji' He said ﷺ that when a brother goes out to visit his brother, just a visit for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you are in a wide garden of jannah until you get back. You're walking and you're picking the fruits of jannah. As Ibn Hajar rahimahullah said, waqad wa'ada allahu ta'ala ala hadhal khuluqin nabeel biwasi'il ajri wal ata' Allah has rewarded this noble characteristic that you find in so few people. So few people will do that. Will call you because they're calling you for Allah. Will visit you because they're visiting you for Allah. Allah has promised that person not just his love, but an expansive reward. Because most people have an ulterior motive. Because they view relationships as transactional. They don't view them as for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Very few are like that. And how does that come to reality later on? That's why the Prophet ﷺ said that alman, almanan, not Allah azawajal who is almanan and he has the right to do so. But the one who does man bima ata, who
reminds you of favors they did for you later on, that's a sign of nifaq. Why? Because Allah azawajal says it in the Quran, la tubtilo sadaqatikum bil manni wal adha. Don't void your charity. Don't void your goodness by reminding the person, boasting to the person. Remember when I did this for you? Remember when I did that for you? Or adha, or even hurting the person. And Allah azawajal says that it's like a rock and a rain comes on that rock, fatarakahu salda, and it just leaves that rock bare. You see the stone, it was soil on top, but the stone has been laid bare. So when you do something for someone, don't remind them that you've done it. Forget the favor you did for them, and when you interact with someone, don't show them something so that you can get a favor from them. If it's really for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, then you'll visit them and call them for Allah, and if you really wanted something from Allah instead of from them later on, you'll never say it to them again. That's it. Imagine if the Prophet ﷺ used to do that to people. But the hypocrites would do what? They'd mention favors they didn't even do for the muhajireen. They sat out the entire process of receiving the people of Mecca, but they still boasted as if they took them in and they spent their resources on them. They took the credit of the Ansar without taking on the labor of the Ansar, and that's a sign of hypocrisy. Don't mention your favors to people. Don't only initiate with people because you want another favor, if you want the reward from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And the last thing I'll say here, dear brothers and sisters, is the opposite of this is also true, which are the sneaky sins. What are the sneaky sins? The sneaky sins are when you don't actually backbite but you're doing something even worse than backbiting. And Imam al-Ghazali talks about this, and I'll paraphrase because of the shortness of time. He says what's even worse than directly coming out and backbiting someone is when you bring up their name in
a gathering where you know that other people are going to tear them up, or you suggest something, you insinuate, right? So you know that that person hates that other person. And you say in the gathering, well, what about so and so? Or have you heard from that person lately? And you have that smirk on your face. You think Allah doesn't see that? You think you're fooling Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? Or you know how that person is? No, how is that person? And your intention is that people will take that person. It's like serving, you know, ayyuhibbu ahadukum man yaakul lahma akhihi mayta, is eating the dead flesh of your brother. What about cooking your brother and putting him on a platter and then serving him to a gathering? And so as al-Ghazali rahimahullah says, you have your sin, because Allah knows what you meant, and you have the sin of the other people too, because they wouldn't have sinned had you not invited them to that. You instigated it. You provoked it. That's why most slander is by ishara. It's by insinuating something. That's how our mother Aisha radiya Allah ta'ala anha was slandered. Insinuations, instigations. And so you don't suggest and then think that Allah azawajal does not know. Your Lord knows what your heart intends. Your Lord knows what your tongue conceals. Your Lord knows where your thoughts are. And wallahi, this is one of the greatest diseases that we have in our community. Someone's not been around for a long time and you bring up their name and you just suggest something. Well, you know how that person is. Oh, there's going to be a gathering. Oh, there are going to be cameras there. Oh, you know that person's going to show up. You might as well have accused the person of kibr. You might as well have accused them of every spiritual disease. And so I end with a beautiful example of the opposite side of this. Ka'b ibn Malik radiya Allah ta'ala anhu. When he was back home, as he missed Tabuk, he missed the expedition of Tabuk. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he asked, where is Ka'b ibn Malik?
And Ka'b is the narrator of this hadith, meaning he is the victim of what he's about to share. Ka'b ibn Malik says, qala rajrun min bani salima, that a man from Bani Salima said. So Ka'b is going to conceal the identity of the man who hurt him when he wasn't there. That's the ihsan of the companions, the righteousness of the companions. He said that this man said, Ya Rasulullah, habasahu burdahu, wannatharu fee itfaihi. He probably got held back because you know, mashallah, Ka'b has made some money recently. So Ka'b probably was looking at his shirt, looking at his cloak, looking at his garden and got a little bit lazy. He didn't say Ka'b is one of the munafiqeen. Ka'b got held back. He made that suggestion. And Ka'b says, Mu'adh ibn Jabal stood up and said, bi'sa ma qult. What a nasty thing you just said. Wallahi, Ya Rasulullah, ma alimna alayhi illa khairah. I swear, O Messenger of Allah, we only know good things from him. Ka'b said, I never forgot that from Mu'adh. Ka'b got the news afterwards, right? It got transferred. Mu'adh didn't come back and say, hey man, that other guy was talking about you in Tabuk and then I stepped in and I had your back. No. Mu'adh did that because Mu'adh was the scholar of this ummah. He understood what you were suggesting was evil. And so we ask Allah to protect us from motivations that contains our good deeds and motivations that delude us into thinking that Allah will not see our sins. May Allah protect us from what we conceal and what we make public. May Allah protect us from what we have done and what we will do. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to be raised with the Prophet ﷺ and his family and his companions in the highest level of forgiveness. Allahumma ameen. Aqoolu khawli hadha wa astaghfirullah alayhi wa alaikum wa risala al muslimeen. Fa astaghfiru. Inna huwa alghafurur raheem. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. Wassalatu wassalamu ala rasulihi al kareem wa ala alihi wa sahbihi. Wassalam tasliman kathira.
Dear brothers and sisters, I want to ask you as we make du'a to please remember the family in Allen who had that tragedy that befell them a few weeks ago. The Sherwani family. Please keep them in your du'a. They're still struggling and they've been through a lot. So I just want you to remember them in your du'a as you do with the brothers and sisters in Libya and Morocco. And also a very special sister that passed away, Sister Sarah Bijella in Michigan, who was the Amira of the Al-Maghrib chapter in Michigan. An amazing sister, subhanAllah, that passed away after a long bout and leaves behind a husband and a 13-year-old daughter. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala have mercy on her and accept her as a martyr. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect her family and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make it easy for the Sherwani family, have mercy on their deceased ones and uplift them and all of our brothers and sisters around the world. Surah Al-Fatihah. Surah Al-Fatihah.
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