Conditions for deeds to be acceptable to Allaah

When a Muslim does an action, what conditions make it acceptable and
therefore rewarded by Allah. Is it simply that you intended to follow
the Qur'an and Sunnah, and therefore you will be rewarded even though
you may have been wrong in your action. Or is it that you must have
the intention, but you also need to follow the correct Sunnah as well.
Praise be to Allaah.
For acts of worship to beacceptable to Allaah and for a person to be
rewarded for them, there are two conditionswhich must be met:
The first condition: it should be devoted to Allaah Alone. Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
"And they were commanded not, but that they should worshipAllaah, and
worship none but Him Alone (abstaining from ascribing partners to
Him)"
[al-Bayyinah 98:5]
The meaning of worshipping Allaah alone is that the person should
intend in all his words and deeds, both inward and outward, to seek
the Face of Allaah (i.e., His pleasure). Allaahsays (interpretation of
the meaning):
"And who has (in mind) no favour from anyone to be paid back,
Except to seek the Countenance of his Lord,the Most High"
[al-Layl 92:19]
"(Saying): "We feed you seeking Allaah's Countenance only. We wish for
no reward, nor thanks from you"
[al-Insaan 76:9]
"Whosoever desires (by his deeds) the reward of the Hereafter, We give
him increase in his reward, and whosoever desires the reward of this
world (by his deeds),We give him thereof (what is decreed for him),
and he has no portion in the Hereafter"
[al-Shoora 42:20]
"Whosoever desires the life of the world and its glitter, to them We
shall pay in full (the wages of)their deeds therein, and they will
have no diminution therein.
They are those for whomthere is nothing in the Hereafter but Fire, and
vain are the deeds they did therein. And of no effect is that which
they used to do"
[Hood 11:15-16]
It was narrated that 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with
him) said: "I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) say:
'The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will
get the reward according to what he has intended. So whoever emigrated
for worldly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration was for
what he emigrated for.'"
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, Bad' al-Wahy, 1).
It was narrated by Muslim from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Allaah, may
He be blessed and exalted, says: 'I am so self-sufficient that I am in
no need of having an associate. Thus he who does an action for someone
else's sake as well as Mine will have that action renounced by Me to
him whom he associated with Me.'" (Narrated by Muslim, al-Zuhd
wa'l-Raqaa'iq, 5300)
The second condition is that the action should bein accordance with
the only way which Allaah has prescribed for worship, which is by
following the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in
the laws that he has brought. It was narratedthat the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Whoever does any action
that is not in accordance with this matter of ours (i.e., Islam), will
have it rejected." (Narrated by Muslim, al-Aqdiyyah, 3243).
Ibn Rajab (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:"This hadeeth forms one
of the most important principles of Islam. It is like a scale for
weighing up deeds according to their outward appearance, just as the
hadeeth 'The reward of deeds depends upon theintentions' is the means
of weighing up the inner nature of deeds. Just as every action which
is not intended for the sake of Allaah brings no reward to the one who
does it, so too every deed which is not in accordance with the command
of Allaah and His Messenger will also be rejected and thrown back at
the one who does it. Everyone who innovates in Islam something for
which Allaah and His Messengerhave not granted permission, that thing
is nothing to do with Islam.
(Jaami' al-'Uloom wa'l-Hukam, part 1, p. 176)
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) enjoined
following his Sunnah and teachings, and made them binding. He (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "You have to followmy
Sunnah (way) and the way of my rightly-guided successors (al-khulafa'
al-raashidoon); bite ontoit with your eyeteeth (i.e., cling firmly to
it)." And he warned against bid'ah (innovation), as he said: "Beware
of newly-invented matters, for every newly-invented matter is a going
astray." (narrated by al-Tirmidhi, al-'Ilm, 2600; classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani in Saheeh Sunan al-Tirmidhi, no. 2157)
Ibn al-Qayyim said: "Allaah has made devotion of worship to Him alone
and followingthe Sunnah the means ofdeeds being accepted; if these
conditions are not met, then deeds are unaccaptable."
(al-Rooh, 1/135)
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Who has created death and life that He may test you which of you is
best in deed"
[al-Mulk 67:2]
al-Fudayl said: "'best in deed' means, most devoted to Allaah alone
and most in accordance with the Sunnah.
And Allaah is the Source of strength.

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