Reminder – Intentions in writing

In the Name of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful

This is a reminder for myself first and foremost, and for those who strive for sincerity.

Alhamdulila, Allah has given some of us, the passion to write and has facilitated us through many means to expose our writings. We all desire that we share with the world our ideas, and express our views. The best motivation, and the enthusiasm which one can draw from in becoming successful in whatever he/she pursues, is from sincerity.

Yet, we are always under the watch of Shaytaan, ever ready to make us slip at any opportunity we may find in pleasing Allah. He is our open enemy, and I pray Allah protects our deeds, and grants us sincerity in all our actions. Ameen.

We hear of the following hadith, being repeated many times:

‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA), that he said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saying, ‘Actions are only by intentions, and every man has only that which he intended. Whoever’s emigration is for Allah and His Messenger then his emigration is for Allah and His Messenger. Whoever’s emigration is for some worldly gain which he can acquire or a woman he will marry then his emigration is for that for which he emigrated‘

This hadith can be heard, and we can be taught its commentaries, yet absorbing and memorising this as a piece of knowledge isn’t sufficient for us to be content within ourselves, believing that our actions are sincerely for Allah, as it can only be put into practise.

In this context of writing articles, it’s very easy to fall into losing our sincerity. We may begin with a good clear intention, yet as we may proceed in writing, shaytaan will try to deter that. When something is exposed and potentially subjected to praise, one can fall into the danger of losing their sincerity.

I’ll keep this reminder short, and inshAllah pray that Allah protects our sincerity!

1. Renew intentions. We can easily lose our intention whilst writing.

2. Question your motive. Our intention maybe sincere when we first write or begin to write, but sometimes it can waiver whilst writing, as shaytaan will whisper…

‘Dude write so and so, and people will think you’re pious’. How do you know when you’re sincere? You question you’re motives… because the success of the article will be dependent upon you’re sincerity. Is your motive that you write so people ‘wow’ you, or whilst you write, do you think about how Allah will be pleased?

We should be truthful to ourselves, and that’s the only way we achieve sincerity…

We should be wary that we don’t fall into a trade with our deeds…buying praise, with the currency of our lofty deeds!

Finally, when if we get good remarks or praise, it will attack your sincerity, but all in all, if our sincerity was there in first place, it shouldn’t affect us too much, yet if we wanted people to ‘wow’ us, realise how we get happy, and it increases us in motivation to do more…. only because the ‘wow’ that we sought was found. And it’s feeding the insincerity.

However, if you feel praise does attack your sincerity, know that you were sincere!

As Ibn Al Qayyim mentions in the characteristics of the seeker of happiness:

He should be bold in his aspiration, firm in his resolve, and not swayed from his goal by the blame of the blamers or the discouragement of the discouragers.

He should generally be tranquil, constantly in thought, and not be moved by the sweetness of a compliment or the pain of criticism. (Al Fawa’id. Page 265)

We should aim to keep the balance there, that when people do appreciate your writings, continue to write, and don’t let the fear get to you, of am I doing this because people like it. Yes we should because Allah has bestowed a blessing upon you, and 75% of the time, the sincerity, led to people benefiting…

As I end with…

‘All humans are dead, except those who have knowledge, all those who have knowledge asleep, except those who do good deeds, and those who do good deeds are deceived, except those who are sincere, those who are sincere are always in a state of worry’ Imam Sha’fi

Any good from this, is from Allah and His Taufiq, and any errors are from myself.

I pray Allah gives us the ability to act upon our knowledge, and be amongst the sincere. Ameen….

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

We are living in age of high advantage. We have access to world knowledge at the click of a button, when our precedent stars of Islam traveled far lands to gain knowledge. We have lights in every room of each house and on every corner of every street, when they had the light of the moon; we have transportation when they had to walk on foot and ride horses to gain sacred knowledge. Yet, with everything at the tips of our fingers, shouldn’t knowledge be increasing and spreading further?

Rather, today we are seeing people choosing ignorance over knowledge. One of the advices of Prophet (saw) was to take advantage of time before we are occupied, and youth before old age. These intertwine together as at a young age we have less responsibility and more time in our hands. In youth we are at our highest peak in our senses, our energy, and our health and minds are fresh, ready to absorb knowledge like a sponge absorbs water.

The youth are the future of tomorrow and the seeds of success. Therefore we must find the means to success. With the current tension around us, we are in the spotlight; we can take this spotlight, and use it to our advantage. Allah doesn’t put something to us without any wisdom, therefore it is up to us whether we draw out the benefit and utilise it towards our goals.

Allah has blessed many of us by giving us the chance to educate ourselves, where easy accesses to facilities are given. Iqraa was the first command given to Muhammad (saw), to read. Gaining knowledge is an obligation upon all Muslims, for the good of oneself, and society. As one needs to learn the law of Allah to bring justice for themselves and for others as it is a God given way of life who is well aware of what is best for us. The Prophet (saw) said, ‘whoever seeks out a path to acquire knowledge (of the deen) Allah makes it easy a path for them to Jannah’ – Muslim. Even the angels high in heavens to the fish deep in the sea, supplicate for the students of knowledge.

Education of current affairs and our past opens our minds, teaching us to reason and being aware of past history, so we can make a better judgement of the present. The Qur’an tells us to observe the earth and the skies, so there in an instant, we are told to learn the sciences.

Many times we see failure in education amongst the Muslims, with the morals of Islam, and if we were to put the Prophet (saw) in perspective of our lives, we should be the best performers of universities and colleges, as the Prophet (saw) advised us to conduct everything in its best manner.

There are many talented youth who can all give something back to society and raise its standards, it is said the ink of a scholar is more precious than the blood of a martyr. We need to filter the light of Islam and revive it; through our works and this can be done in many ways, through the Media, Journalism or Art. So the youth of tomorrow can improve on our works. Through contribution of writing, and bring new ideas.

Our education can be a form of worship in our youth, if we intend to seek Allah’s pleasure, to share the light of Islam. This will bring about more blessing and make our actions bear fruits.

The Prophet (saw) advised us when acting in the present to be cautious of what tomorrow will bring and its consequences. Motivation is the key; if we make Allah our pinnacle of motivation we will find success and development, if you want to accomplish something, you can!!!

If you have a passion for something, take it and run with it, nothing can stand in your way but yourself. Plant your actions with the seeds of sincerity, you see flourish and grow bearing fruits. If you plant them with insincerity, you will grow nothing but bare branches. I pray the students today, be the stars of Islam, and revive Islam once again as I end with the beautiful hadith: The Prophet (saw) said “to take advantage of five before five: your youth before your old age, your wealth before your poverty, your health before your sickness, your free-time before your preoccupation, and your life before your death.”