1 Purifying our deeds from any signs of hypocrisy: According to Ibn
Taymiyyah this is the essence of sincerity. Any deed must be purified from any
whims or any desires to beautify our image in the eyes of the people or to seek
their praise or even to avoid their dispraise, or to seek any service or love
from them. All of these things tarnish our actions which must be sincerely for Allah
Rabbul Jallaluh without seeking any other thing.
We must always search for
the impurities and glorify the share of Allah Rabbul Jallaluh in action above
the share of our desires. Many souls are inflicted with ailments that stand
between their actions and reaching Allah. This cannot be singled out except by
the expert eyes of those who know about the hearts, their cures, and their
ailments. Between the action and the heart is always a distance and in this
distance can stand some objects that prevent this action from reaching the heart.
So you find yourself doing
the action and nothing of it reaches your heart; no love, no fear, no hope, no
denunciation for this life, no wish in the afterlife, no light to differentiate
between the patrons of Allah Rabbul Jallaluh and His enemies or to
differentiate between right and wrong. But when the effect of the action
reaches the heart you will be enlightened, you will know right from wrong and
you will know the patrons of Allah Rabbul Jallaluh from His enemies.
