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The Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, said: إِنَّ اللهَ يُحِبُّ أَحَدَكُمْ إِذا عَمِلَ عَمَلاً أَنْ يُتْقِنَهُ، قِيلَ: وَمَا إِتْقَانُهُ يَا رَسُولَ الله؟ قَالَ: "يُخْلِصُهُ مِنَ الرِّيَاءِ وَالْبِدْعَة"Which means: “Certainly, Allah loves for one of you when performing a good deed to perform it properly.” Someone said: “How is that, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied: “One does it only for the sake of God and according to the rules of the religion.” (Narrated by As-Suyutiyy.) Sincerity (Ikhlas) in obeying Allah is among the obligations of the heart. It is also one of the good characteristics of the good believer. It is to perform the good deeds for the sake of Allah only and not seeking the praise and respect of people. Allah made sincerity a condition for the acceptance of the good deeds. The sincere person is the one who performs the good deeds—such as praying, fasting, Hajj, Zakah, or reciting Qur’an—seeking the reward from Allah, and not for the sake of people praising and mentioning him. On the other hand, riya' (insincerity) is the opposite of sincerity. It is performing the good deeds, such as fasting, for the praise of the people and their admiration. Insincerity nullifies the reward of the deed. The performer of any good deed that is done with insincerity receives no reward, whether it was done for the praise of people only or coupled with seeking the reward. Moreover, such a person commits an enormous sin.
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