IKHLAS –
Sincerity of Intention
By Allah Ta’ala, no deed is too small to go unnoticed.
A daughter enquiring to participate in a big walk discovered that donations could be accepted as well. The entry fee was R50 and she had R60, so she decided to donate the R10 to an organization. Her Mother noticed this and said “who donates R10?” implying it is a less amount and her response was “Mom, no deed is too small not to be accepted by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala”.
Whether we do an atom’s weight of good or bad, Allah will see it. When you do good, do it for the sake of Allah. No matter how small someone thinks that deed might be, start with the Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful, and share.
Just because your cousin loves to volunteer at shelters and you love to donate towards the building of mosques, doesn’t make yours or cousin’s deeds null and void in the eyes of Allah, if it is for His sake only.
Intentions are what matters. Verily every action is judged according to it’s intention.
We all show gratitude to our Rabb in different ways and try to get closer to Allah in the smallest of ways and Allah, Al-Basir, sees it, so don’t estimate any good deed. It may be that you donate to building a mosque in the hopes that Allah builds a house in Jannah for you, that you wish for your brothers and sisters to attain closeness to Allah by attending that mosque for daily prayer or Islamic classes.
It may be that your heart is attached to mosques and serves as a reminder to you that Allah is always there for you and perhaps you want that for someone else. It may be that your cousin volunteers at shelters to remind her of the favors Allah has granted her, or that she does so in the hopes that Allah uses her as guide for others. Before doing anything, begin with seeking His blessings and you will find blessings in those things you’re doing; you will find yourself shifting away from the bad things you used to commit because of this.
Remember that Allah does not need our charity but we, insaan( human) are indeed in need of it, we are in need of Him, ar-Razaq. We are in need of rizq which comes not only in the form of money to spend in the course of Allah, but we are also in need of rizq which comes in the form of having our mothers smile at us, hearing children laugh, duas of our parents or loving someone purely for the sake of Allah.
Often we tend to give to others before our family but remember, charity begins at home as the Prophet Muhammad Salallahu alayhi Wa salaam said “The best charity is that which is practiced by a wealthy person”. “And start giving first to your dependents” so for the sake of Allah, start giving charity by smiling at your loved ones, for smiling , is also charity.