The meaning of being sincere towards Allah and how the Muslim can achieve that

Worship has three pillars, one of which is being sincere towards
Allah. How can we be sincere towards Allah? I am very ambitious, and
Iwant to acquire the greatest amount of shar'i knowledge, and I want
to be a daa'iyah. Allah has blessed me with many talents whichare
needed for da'wah and spreading knowledge, and I want to be strong
enough to pray qiyaam and fast. I have memorised the Book of Allah in
full and now I am in the process of reinforcing my memorisation and
learning how to recite it properly. I am learning shar'i knowledge and
I have a number of projects and ideas for serving the Book of Allahand
supporting the Deen, but my progress is slow for a number of reasons
and because of many obstacles, especially from my family and the
society around me -- how much I am suffering from them! Because of
physical weakness and health problems, I am not able to expend a great
deal of effort, and if I do, I will spend several days unable to move.
I always write out schedules for all these tasks and I try to follow
them, but I cannot do that because of changing circumstances. I live
on my own and I cannot find a sister to share my goals or a leader to
help me and follow up with me so that I can fulfil my ambitions. I
have lookeda great deal but I cannotfind anyone and I do notknow the
reason why I am so slow; is it because sincerity towards Allah
issomething that I have not achieved yet or what? This makes me very
sad and pains me a great deal, and holds meback from reaching my
goals. If there is any advice, then do not withhold it from me,
because I am in the greatest need.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
Sincerity towards Allah isthe best type of sincerity. The Muslim is
being sincere towards his Lord if he achieves sincerity in three
aspects: faith and properbelief, acts of obedience,and morals and
manners. Faith does not mean mere wishful thinking. The one who
issincere in his faith is the one who attains faith in the way his
Lord wants from him, which includes sincerity in faith, sincerity in
intention, and sincerity in fear of Allah, may He be exalted. Not
every actof obedience is sincere unless it is done, both outwardly and
inwardly,in a manner which Allah likes.
Allah has described the sincere in one verse, in which He says
(interpretation of the meaning):
"It is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, and each and every act of
obedience to Allaah) that you turn your faces towards east and (or)
west (in prayers); but Al-Birr is (the quality of) the one who
believes in Allaah, the Last Day, the Angels, the Book, the Prophets
and gives his wealth, in spite of love for it, to the kinsfolk, to the
orphans, and to Al-Masaakeen (the poor),and to the wayfarer, andto
those who ask, and toset slaves free, performs As-Salaah
(Iqaamat-as-Salaah), and gives theZakât, and who fulfil their covenant
when they make it, and who are patient in extreme poverty and ailment
(disease) and at the timeof fighting (during the battles)." Then Allah
says,after listing all these attributes: "Such are the people of the
truth and they are Al-Muttaqoon (the pious)"
[al-Baqarah 2:177].
Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
This verse includes a number of great meanings, important principles
and sound beliefs.
Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 1/485.
Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahmaanal-Sa'di (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Such" means those whohave the characteristics mentioned, such as
goodbeliefs and actions which are the effect, evidence and light of
faith; the morals and manners which lend dignity to man and are the
essence of humanity.These are the ones who are "the people of the
truth", whose faith is sincere, because their actions confirm their
faith. "And they are Al-Muttaqoon (the pious)", because they refrained
from what is forbidden and did what is enjoined, because these things
include all good attributes by implication, and becausefulfilling
one's covenant is the essence of the entire religion, and because the
acts of worship mentioned in this verse are the greatest acts of
worship and the one who does them will undoubtedly do other acts of
worship.They are the righteous, the sincere people of truth, the
pious.
Tafseer al-Sa'di, p. 83
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Among the things we learn from this verse is that what is mentioned is
true sincerity towards Allah and towards His creation, because Allah
says: "Such are the people of the truth"; they are sincere
towardsAllah, as on the basis of these good beliefs they establish
faith and beliefin Allah, the Last Day, theAngels, the Book and
theProphets, and they establish prayer, pay zakaah, and give what
isdear to them to the charitable causes mentioned. As for their
sincerity towards Allah's creation, that is includedin the words of
Allah: "who fulfil their covenant when they make it", which is one
ofthe signs of sincerity. Hence Allah says: "Such are the people of
the truth", as they are sincere in their beliefs, in their
interactions withAllah and with other people.
Tafseer Soorat al-Baqarah, 2/293, 294
Secondly:
You should note that sincerity with Allah is notsomething that we can
make a show of and convince ourselves of whilst abandoning righteous
deeds. Rather sincerity towards Allah isin the intention and in the
action when we do it and when the means of doing it become available.
The one who is sincere towards his Lord will, by means of the
sincerity of his intention, attain that (reward) which the one who
does the action attains, if something keeps him from doing the action.
It was narrated from Sahl ibn Hunayf (may Allah be pleased with him)
that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
"Whoever sincerely asks Allaah for martyrdom, Allaah will cause him to
attain the status of the martyrs, even if he dies in his bed."
Narrated by Muslim, 1909.
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
A person can have nothing more beneficial than sincerity towards his
Lord in all his affairs, along with sincerity of resolve, so he should
be sincere towards Him in his resolve and in his actions. Allah says
(interpretation of the meaning): "And when the matter (preparation for
Jihaad) is resolved on, then if they had been true to Allaah, it would
have been better for them" [Muhammad 47:21]. So his happiness lies in
sincerity of resolve and sincerity of action. Sincerity of resolve
means certain desire to do an action and not hesitating to do it. If
his resolve is sincere, all that is left is sincerity of action, which
is doing one's best and striving one's utmost when doing it , and not
letting anything,outward or inward, holdhim back from it. Resolveof
purpose prevents him from becoming weak-willed and sincerity of action
prevents him from becoming lazy or lethargic. If a person is sincere
towards Allah in all his affairs, Allah will give him more than He
gives to others, and this sincerity results from true love of Allah
and true trust in Him. So the most sincere of people isthe one who is
loves Allah most and puts mosttrust in Him.
Al-Fawaa'id, p. 186, 187
Thirdly:
A Muslim may be confused as where to begin, and how he should order
his affairs by night and day. But this should not form an obstacle for
the one whoseeks to do good or seekknowledge or call people to Allah.
The Muslim may rid himself of this confusion by organising his time.
He can allocate the first partof his day for memorizing Qur'aan, and
he can organise the rest of his days for seeking knowledge by means of
tapes, reading books, and attending classes and study circles, and
fulfilling whatever duties he or she may have as a husband or wife,
whether he or she is working or not.
What we advise our sister to do is to start and not delay, and to be
sincere in your intentionso that Allah will make your affairs easy for
you.
For more information please see the answer toquestion number 105308 .
We ask Allah to help you to obey Him and to guide you and give you strength.
And Allah knows best.