• Sincerity (ikhlāṣ) to Allah alone: that the servant intend the Face of Allah, His pleasure, and His reward in all his outward and inward deeds. Its opposite is to act for show or fame, or for some passing worldly benefit. The touchstone is found in His words about the foremost of creation: “They seek bounty from their Lord and His good-pleasure” (al-Māʾidah 5:2), and in the Prophet’s ﷺ saying: “Actions are only by intentions, and each person shall have only what he intended. So whoever’s migration was to Allah and His Messenger, his migration is to Allah and His Messenger; and whoever’s migration was for some worldly gain he might attain, or for a woman he might marry, his migration is to whatever he migrated for.” (1) All deeds are judged by this standard.

Migration (hijrah) here may also be understood in its broader, universal sense, as in the Prophet’s ﷺ statement: “The emigrant is the one who abandons what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden.” (2)

• Fear (khawf), awe (khashyah), humility (khudūʿ), submissiveness (ikhbāt), and apprehension (wajal): their meanings are closely related:
  • Fear restrains the servant from violating the sanctities of Allah.
  • Awe shares that restraining quality, but is distinguished by fear that is coupled with knowledge of Allah.
  • Humility, submissiveness, and apprehension arise out of that fear and awe: the servant humbles himself before Allah, draws submissively near to his Lord in repentance, and his heart becomes apprehensive.
  • Khushūʿ (humble attentiveness) is the presence of heart while one is engaged in obedience to Allah, accompanied by stillness of both outward form and inward state. This is a particular kind of khushūʿ. The constant khushūʿ that marks the elect of the believers springs from the servant’s complete knowledge of his Lord and his continual mindfulness of Him, until it takes hold of the heart just as love does.