بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Allah says in the Holy Qur’an:

“Remember, when your Lord said to the angels: “I have to place a successive authority (Khalifah) on the earth,”

Surah Baqarah

Today I learnt a profound lesson, an answer to a question many young Muslims have had before.

I would like to share that lesson with you

I was learning about the beginning of creation. As stated in the Ayat above, Allah says to his Angels that He (SWT) will send a creation to Earth to rule it.

When Allah made this decree, Iblis was present in the gathering, and thus believed Allah would grant such high authority to him. After all, whom else could it be? The Angels resided in the heavens and he was of the Jinns who worshiped Allah to the extent that it has been said that there was not a place in the heavens that Iblis had not worshipped Allah upon. He had obtained such closeness to Allah and thus believed himself to be the Khalifa whom Allah had announced.

Such was the devotion of Iblis that he believed himself worthy of such high a status as the Khalifa of the Earth.

So you see. Iblis not only thought himself better than Adam (AS), but he believed he deserved all Allah was bestowing upon a creation made of “clay and water”

So when Allah first created Adam (AS), Iblis refused to bow. And that was his downfall.

Now a question I’ve always had, is that if Iblis had such love in his heart for Allah, that he spent so many thousands of years in worship of Allah, then how can such a true servant of Allah disobey Him, the Almighty?

Today I found that answer.

And that answer points to the true intentions of Iblis.

Because Allah is Al-Aleem, The All-Knowing. And Allah was aware of Iblis’ intentions and Allah knew it would be Iblis, his most devoted servant amongst the Jinnkind who would fall to his own ignorance and pride and who would disobey the command of Allah.

Through Iblis’ reaction to Allah’s declaration we learn that the true motive behind Iblis’ acts of worship were purely selfish– he hoped to gain the pleasure of Allah in order to rise in ranks and gain power within the Earth. And so instead of rising, he fell. Instead of attaining that which he spent thousands of year in worship to obtain, he lost it all with on act of Ignorance. (No wonder Iblis is so bitter and filled with hatred towards mankind. He believes he fell from Allah’s grave because of Adam (AS). However, it was his own actions and intentions that caused him to be cursed by Allah.)

Here we learn the importance of pure intentions. The very first Hadith on the very first page in Sahih Bukhari states:

“Innamal a’maalu bin niyyah”

Indeed charity depends on intention

Narrated by Hazrat Umar (RA)

Scholars in Islam say that this Hadith itself is a third of faith. Sincerity in actions and purifying our intentions are the main basis on all of our deeds. This is what our deeds will truly be judged on.

One person may give a date in charity and the next may give an entire garden of date trees in charity; yet it will the person who gave that single date who will attain all the reward and that will be is due to the fact that his intentions were pure.

Hazrat Abu Hurairah says:

The Messenger of Allah told me:

“On the day of Resurrection, Allah will descend to judge between the people. Every nation will be kneeling. The first people Allah will summon will be :

1) a man who had memorised the Qur’an

2) a man who was killed for Allah’s cause

3) a wealthy man

Allah will say to the one who memorised the Qur’an:

“Have I not taught you what I revealed to my Messenger”. And they will reply with “indeed my Lord” and Allah will ask them “what did you do with what you were taught?” And he will say “I used to recite it day and night”

Allah will say: “You have lied” and the Angels will say: “You have lied”.

Allah will say “No. You intended that people will say “so and so recites the Qur’an perfectly”

And it was said : so you have taken the reward you had hoped for.

Then the wealthy man will be brought and Allah will say to him: “Have I not provided for you limitlessly in a way that you never felt in need of anyone?” He will say: “Yes indeed my Lord” Allah will say “What did you do with what I have given you?” He will say: “I used to spend on my family and relations and give in charity”

Allah will say: “You have lied” and the Angels will say: “You have lied”

Allah will then say: “No. You intended that people would say so and so is open-handed”

And it was said: so you have taken the reward you had hoped for.

Then the man who was killed for Allah’s sake will be brought and Allah will ask him: “For whose sake were you killed?” And he will say: “I was ordered to fight for your sake, so I fought and was killed”

Allah will say: “You have lied” and the Angels will say: “You have lied”.

Allah will say: “No. You intended that people will say so and so is brave”

And it was said: so you have taken the reward you have hoped for.

Then Abu Hurairah said: “The Messenger of Allah hit me on the knee and said “Oh Abu Hurairah! These are the first people of Allah’s creatures with whom the Fire will be stoked on the Day of Judgement.”

This Hadith clearly shows the importance of sincerity and true intentions behind our actions. And Allah states:

And have they been commanded to do no more than to worship Allah, offering Him sincere devotion, being true in faith, to establish the regular prayer and to pay Zakaat. And that is the upright and straight religion.

98:5 – The Holy Qur’an

Let us think about our own intentions.

Are we any better than Iblis? Iblis’ intentions were still to attain power by “impressing” Allah. We as humans are much worse. We try to gain power, but not by not trying to impress the Creator but rather we strive all our lives to impress His creation.

If our deeds were based on the pleasure of Allah Almighty, then we would never speak the words “but what will people say”. We would never live our lives on the basis of another humans opinion. If our intentions were truly pure, we would seek nothing but the pleasure of Allah.

Yet, unfortunately that is not the case. Every small act we do now has the shadow of “what will people say” placed upon it.

Our homes are clean; not because cleanliness is half of faith. But because what will people say

We are well dressed; not because it is Sunnah. But because what will people say

We work hard; not for the pleasure of Allah. But because what will people say

We feed our families; not for Allah’s sake, to help our families grow stronger to propagate Islam. But because what will people say

We do charity, not for Allah. But because what will people say

If our actions were truly pure, we wouldn’t let our lives revolve around the number of likes on our pictures and how many followers we have on social media. We wouldn’t need to stay on trend, to keep up with the times because who else do we have to impress but Allah; who judges our actions solely on their intention. We wouldn’t really care about what people said.

Purify our intentions. Let every small, or big, act we do be solely for the pleasure of Allah. Seek to attain only Allah’s pleasure. That’s the root of all existence. To worship Allah with the purest of intentions.

May we always seek the pleasure of Allah in everything we do and May Allah always be pleased with us

Ameen.

Peace and love,

Bibi Aysh x