Do you have certain doings of yours that you feel perhaps Allah will not forgive?
Certain things that you would be too shy to think about,
let alone speak about, let alone broadcast to people?
If that person is you and that person perhaps is me, undoubtedly.
Ikhlas (Sincerity), dear brothers and sisters,
is a cause of erasing sins, even the Most Major of them.
Do you have certain doings of yours that you feel perhaps Allah will not forgive?
Certain things that you would be too shy to think about,
let alone speak about, let alone broadcast to people,
if that person is you, and that person perhaps is me Undoubtedly?
Ikhlas (Sincerity) is a means of erasing the Most Major of Sins.
You're all aware of the famous Hadith,Abdullah bin ‘Amr (ra), Narrates,
the man who had a card.
Remember the one who brings Allah (swt) on The Day of judgment;
99 scrolls worth of sins,
imagine, each one of those scrolls is as far as you can see, 99 of them.
This man was a binge sinner.
I don't know how he had time to commit all of it.
May Allah pardon us.
He comes to Allah with these crimes,
and they're about to be weighed against his good deeds.
As for his good deeds, they don't find any.
Then Allah (swt) will ask this man, do you deny any of this?
The man will say no, my lord.
Allah Almighty will say to him,
have the angels who are documenting your sins oppressed you in any way with this?
No. Oh my God.
Allah will say to him, do you have any excuses?
The man will say no, my lord.
Then Allah will say to him, however, We will not oppress you.
You do have a good deed. And then a small card is presented.
Imagine 99 scrolls as far as you can see,
and then a small card and it it says inside of it 'La Ilaha Illallah'
that was his only good deed.
The statement of tawheed;'La Ilaha Illallah'
Then Allah will say, go and witness the weighing of your deeds.
The man will say yeah Lord;
What is the use of this card?
I don't need it.
Allah will say, keep it.
We will not oppress you on this day. What happens?
They are placed on the scale.
Now his future is at stake.
The narrator said, the Prophet (pbuh)...
The scrolls of sins went flying up into the air.
On the other side of the scales,
the Card fell to the ground, outweighed everything.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said,
There isn't anything that can outweigh the name of Allah (swt).
So the man was forgiven because of one good deed which was 'La Ilaha Illallah'.
Now wait, wait.
Is this the whole story or is there more to it?
How is it that this man could get away with all of those crimes?
No salah, no fasting, just a Shahada, and he gets away scot free.
Look, Ibn Taymiyyah (Rah), he comments on this.
He says this is the outcome for someone
who said 'La Ilaha Illallah' with sincerity.
He said, because we know people who will commit major sins from the Muslims
who would say 'La Ilaha Illallah' in Dunya.
But they still go to hell. How come?
Because the Ikhlas (Sincerity) was different.
So I ask you, my dear brothers, my dear sisters,
what was it that erased the sins of this man?
It wasn't just the shahada. It was the moment of Ikhlas (Sincerity).
It could have been a moment in the night where he really believed in Allah.
And he said it from the entirety of his soul; 'La Ilaha Illallah'
Ikhlas (Sincerity) melts away a lifetime's worth of sins.
And that's why the prostitute who gave water to a thirsty dog
and Allah was grateful to her and He entered her paradise
despite her prostitution. Ibn Taymiyyah (Rah) comments on this.
He said this prostitute woman gave water to the dog with pure, sincere faith.
Otherwise we know not every prostitute who gives water to a dog enters Jannah.
Do you see class?
What does it do? It dissolves mountains water of ...
Brothers and sisters, that's sincerity.
Ikhlas (Sincerity) is our savior in the hereafter,
When you will hear the announcement, Allah said on the Day of Judgment,
this day the truthfulness of the truthful ones will be benefited by it.
That is the day the people of Ikhlas (Sincerity) will shine.
Al-Junayd Al-Baghdadi, who was the famous worshiper of Iraq of Baghdad,
scholar and worshiper, spent his whole life reminding and teaching about Allah.
When he died, people saw him in a dream
and they said to him what did Allah might you do to you?
How was your standing before Allah? What happened?
He said all of those fancy expressions we used to say have disappeared.
And all of those complicated words have gone
and all of those sciences we used to teach have disappeared.
And nothing benefited us on this day
other than a few units of prayer that we used to pray at night.
All boiled down to a few actions of worship that were done with Ikhlas (Sincerity).
And that is what will save people on the Day of Judgment.
The people of Ikhlas (Sincerity).
Abdullah ibn Judan, generous man,
He was known for his generosity.
In fact, he's from the tribe of Thame.
And the people of tribe of Tame produced many notable people in Islam and in Jahliah.
He was a Jahilli man (ignorant), pre-Islamic man.
But he was known for his generosity.
He gave things like he didn't fear death.
But he died before the prophet (pbuh) became a prophet.
And our mother Ayesha (ra), she said to the Prophet (pbuh)
that you know Abdullah ibn Judan was a very generous man.
So good with the guests.
The whole of Arabia knew about him.
What's his outcome?
Will he enter Jannah?
He said to her no. Why?
Because not once in his life did he ever say my Lord,
forgive my sins on the Day of Judgment.
So Ikhlas (Sincerity) is a means of saving people on Yaumul Qiyamah as well.
Remember the favor of Allah upon you.
If you feel you have insincerity,
if you feel you are showing off and reciting Quran.
You fear that people are praising you for being a practicing Muslim
and you're being praised and you just don't know you're showing off maybe.
Remember the favor of Allah upon you
that will usually quiet in the screams of showing off.
Why? You say to yourself who guided me to Islam?
Who inspired me to worship?
Why me from all others?
Others who are far more intelligent than me, far smarter than me,
better grades than me, better access to knowledge than me.
How come Allah chose me to worship Him over others?
How is it that I find it easy to stay away from sins
that my neighbor is falling prey to every other day?
That's the favor of Allah upon you.
That's not your intelligence,
that's Allah's favor and He can pull it away at any moment.
Allah said,
they think it's a favor upon you, oh Prophet, that they've become Muslims.
Say to them it's not a favor upon Me that you've become Muslims,
rather it is Allah's favor upon you that He has guided you to faith,
if you are truthful. Remember He chose you from the masses.
This is a humbling reality.
As the Prophet would say if it wasn't for you, Allah, we would not be guided,
we would not give in charity, and we would not have prayed.
Remember the insignificance of people.
This helps you manage the screams and the demands of showing off.
Who are people?
What are people?
For the sake of whom you are risking your hereafter,
that you're trying to impress him or her, or them?
Who are people and what are people?
Are they worth it?
Look at man when he is hungry, how does he behave?
Or when he is thirsty? Vulnerable.
I show off to him.
Look at man when he runs out of his house and he's not wearing, he's unclothed
for one reason or another, I show off for him.
Look at man, how he behaves when he's ill
or when he hasn't had matrimonial relations for x number of days,
how some people behave.
We show off for these weak beings, who are people?
And what of him?
Or he becomes poor, or when he becomes rich.
When they love you people, they praise you and they exaggerate.
And when they hate you, they despise you, they swear at you, they exaggerate.
These are the people we're trying to show up for.
Who are people?
And then when they die, look at that person that you intended their pleasure.
Yeah, Allah...
If you are unaware of his death,
don't worry, the neighbors will tell you because of the stench of that corpse.
And these are the people we want to show off for.
Who are people? And what are people?
Man is created from a despised fluid.
Our origins is semen a despised fluid spam.
If you were to go out of your house and some of it is still on your clothes.
You'd be so embarrassed if someone was to see it, despised fluid.
That's what you and I were made out of.
What is there to show off about?
And how are we intending to impress people?
That's the origins.
So remember the consequences of showing off.
It's a form of shirk;
associating partners with Allah.
Good deeds will not count on the Day of Judgment.
Good deeds will diminish in size.
Allah will remove ease from your life.
Remember, whoever does something to be seen by people,
Allah will expose him.
And whoever does something to be heard by people, Allah will expose him.
It's a consequence. Remember the consequences of showing off.
dua try to learn this one if you can. Prophet Salah taught it to Abu Musa (ra)
Oh Allah, I ask you to protect me from associating partners with You
whilst I know and I ask you to forgive me for what I don't know.
research it. Memorize it.
Lastly, remember, brothers and sisters, don't give up.
Ikhlas (Sincerity) isn't about removing insincerity from your heart forever
and eliminating it.
We can't do that.
It's impossible. Forget it.
It's about managing it and realizing it's an ongoing struggle.
It's a battle that in of itself is a sign of sincerity that you're scared of it.
It bothers you.