Sincerity

What a hectic morning so far, not helped by the fact that I got to work late. I was stuck behind a tractor on my way to work for over 30 minutes. So annoying. We are now in the final straight, with 3 days left of fasting before Eid (hopefully, as I have a day off booked) on Thursday. As always, there will be big debate over whether Eid will be on Wednesday, Thursday or even Friday (for some people), but this year I am going to follow the Greenwich Royal Observatory who clearly state that the new moon will be visible on the night of the 1st of October, and therefore Eid will be on the 2nd of October.

With this being the last Monday in Ramadan, I conclude my series of religious topics I've been discussing every Monday since Ramadan began, with a blog about Sincerity. Our intentions reflect our practices and actions. Whatever we do, from the mundane to the complex, God's judgement is based on our intentions, our niyyat. Sincerity is a combination, starting with our intentions, leading to our actions and then perseverance of the correct and halal way of life.

The ultimate in sincerity is to achieve a status whereby our actions are dedicated totally to God and reflect his will and command. God states in the Quran "Now, surely, sincere obedience is due to Allah (alone)..." (Surah 39, Verse 3). Our intentions are the building blocks for achieving this status. Everything we do is judged by our intentions. Seemingly good acts can be meaningless if our intentions are not pure and incorrect acts or mistakes can be overlooked by God if our intentions were pure.

I often find that our intentions get lost when dealing with certain actions or thoughts. For example, take the whole debate about when the 1st of Ramadan is, or when Eid is at the end of Ramadan. Everyone seems to get hung up about which Ayatullah to follow, what mosque to follow and as a result the Muslim community ends up divided. If previously it's been difficult to get Shias and Sunnis to agree on a date, now even the Shia community is divided with Shias following different Ayatullahs who have different rulings. However, if we come back to our intention, then it should be simpler.

Even though the Ayatullahs have different rulings, they all agree that their rules should not cause division within the community, but that is often ignored. However, if we focus on the sincerity of the decision, it should be simpler. Surely, everyone can agree to have the event of Eid on the same day in order to ensure that the community is united in celebration and we all get to enjoy Eid at the same time, on the same day. Whatever doubts there maybe about the moon sightings and various rulings, if we all have the same intention then it shouldn't matter as much as it does. I'm obviously not suggesting that we be careless and pick any random day (as the Saudis seem to do), but with the best intentions and common sense, we should be able to agree on one day for Eid and one day for the start of Ramadan. The way it's currently going, we'll soon be commemorating 10th of Muharrum on different days.

Our actions are derived from our intentions and it is how we then conduct ourselves that determines how close we grow towards God. Perseverance in action, is more difficult than the act itself. Sincerity is subsequent to action. This means a good deed without bragging, without showing-off is the better course of action. For example, if one performs a good deed in secret, he/she will receive reward from God, if he/she then declares this good deed, the level of reward decreases to that of an open good deed and if he/she starts to brag about this deed then the reward is cancelled and he/she may be punished for showing off. Once the intention is established, it needs to be maintained throughout.

It is the sincere intention and pure purpose that determines the perfection or lack thereof of our worship towards God. Struggling to get rid of self-love or pride or ego has to be a continuous process to ensure that our intentions are dedicated towards God. Performing acts of worship or in fact any act, for any other reason, takes us away from that purpose. Acts for the pleasure of others or ourselves can be classified as shirk, and that would be a true meaning of the word - not how the Shias are accused of shirk by associating others with God - and is something that needs constant work. Of course there will be acts which make us feel good, make us feel proud, but if these feelings get in the way of seeking God's blessings and reward then the acts have a negative affect on us.

The constant struggle to drive out love for worldly pleasures is what will draw us closer to God and help achieve total sincerity. Vigilance is constantly required because Shaitan is always close by to try and influence our acts. Remaining sincere at all times means resisting the temptations offered by Shaitan and continuing to focus on gaining God's pleasure. Modify our behaviour step-by-step - get rid of ego and pride in our actions stage by stage and inshallah the sincerity will follow. Our intentions may always be right, be pure but to be sincere means getting rid of any distracting thoughts. When God talks to mankind in the Quran, he asks the people who are righteous to "Say. Surely my prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are (all) for Allah, the Lord of the worlds." (Surah 6, Verse 162)

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?