Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

how one can purify his intention,niat, I try to do some good but after some time it comes in my mind that I`m doing this good for showing some body and so I refuse to do that work.Please send me its solution thanks 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Intentions good deeds show off

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Beloved brother in Islam, the criterion to determine whether a deed is done to earn the Pleasure and Good Will of Allah Subhanah or is done to show off to mankind, is to determine what was the intention that inspired you to do the deed in the first place!

If the intention that inspired to do the deed was only to earn the Pleasure and Good Will of the Lord, then the deed will be for Allah Subhanah; and if the intention that inspired the deed for any other purpose, then it will be for that purpose and one should not expect to earn any reward from Allah Subhanah for these deeds.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 1.1 Narrated by Umar bin Al Khattab

I heard Allah's Messenger (saws) saying, "The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended.”

Provided that the deed one intended to do was for Allah Subhanah, and then the Shaytaan whispers some thoughts into one’s mind that the deed might earn some worldly praise, etc., one should not pay attention to such thoughts…for the Shaytaan will always try to dissuade the believers from doing anything that will bring them closer to their Lord.

Thus what is of paramount importance is that one determines ones intention before one initiates a good deed; and if the inspiration to do the good deed was to earn the Pleasure and Good Will of the Lord Most Gracious, then that deed would be acceptable to Allah Subhanah.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan