WHAT ARE "GOOD WORKS"?

In the final analysis, enjoining right and forbidding wrong is one of
the most obligatory of actions and one of the best and most
praiseworthy acts. Allah said:
[And He will test you, which of you are best in actions.] Qur'an 67/2.
Al-Fadheel ibn Ayaadh (A great Makkan scholar of the second century)
said about the "good actions" mentioned in this aya:
"(i.e.) The most sincere, and the most correct. Verily any action if
it is done in complete sincerity, but is not correct, it is rejected,
and if it is completely correct, butis not done with total sincerity,
itis rejected. Only that which is done with complete sincerity to
Allah and correctness according to Allah's law is acceptable. The
sincere action is that which is purely for the sake of Allah, and the
correct action that which is inthe tradition ( Sunnah ).
It is a requirement of righteous deeds that they be done solely for
the Face of Allah ta'ala, for Allah does not accept any actions except
for those with which His Face alone was sought. This is as in the
sahih hadith narrated by Abu Huraira that the Prophet said:
"Allah ta'ala says: I am the partner least in need of any partner.
Whenever someone doesan act, partly for me and partly for an imagined
partner, I am completely free of that action, and it is wholly for the
partner which was associated with me."
This is the essence of Tauhid which is the basis of Islam. It is the
deen of Allah with which He sent all of the Prophets. For its sake, He
created the creation, andit is His right over all of His slaves: that
they worship Him alone , andnot associate with Him anything.
The righteous deeds which Allah and His Prophet have enjoined are
simply obedience . Every act ofobedience is a righteous deed, and it
is the work dictated by the shari'a and the Sunnah. They are
everything which has been enjoined upon us either as obligations or as
commendable acts. This then is righteous deeds( Al-'amal As-saalih ),
and it is what is good ( hassan ), and it is righteousness ( Al-Birr
), and it is all that is good ( Al-khair ). Its opposite is
disobedience ( Ma'siya ), and corrupt action ( Al-'amal Al-faasid ),
bad deeds ( As-Sayyi'aat ), rebellion ( Al-fujuur ), oppression (
Adh-dhulm ), and transgression ( Al-baghyu ).
Every action must contain two thing: intention, and movement (action).
Thus, the Prophet said:
"The most truthful names are Harith (i.e. he who tills the earth) and
Hammaam (one who ever sets objectives and seeks their fulfillment)."
Everyone is a tiller and a seeker ofobjectives he has actions, and he
has intentions. However, the onlypraiseworthy intention which Allah
accepts and rewards, is the intentions of doing an action solely for
the sake of Allah.
The praiseworthy deed is the righteous deed, and it is the the deed
with which we have been ordered. For this reason, Umar ibn Al-Khattab
used to say in his du'a :
"O, Allah make all of my deeds righteous, and make all of them purely
for your Face, and do not make therein any share at all for anyone
else."
This being the case for all righteous deeds, it is also the case for
enjoining right and forbidding wrong, and it is necessary for it to be
so (i.e. the act of ordering or forbidding must be good and
praiseworthy which as we have seen means that it is correct and solely
for thesake of Allah, is obedience to Allah, and is done for no
ulterior motive.) This is in reference to the one who enjoins and
forbids others.