prescribed.

Allah Most High has said:

“...to test you as to which of you is best in deeds.”

Al-Fudayl ibn ʿIyād, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “The most sincere and the most correct.” They asked: “Abū ʿAlī, what does ‘the most sincere and the most correct’ mean?” He replied: “If a deed is sincere but not correct, it will not be accepted. If it is correct but not sincere, it will not be accepted until it is both sincere and correct. Sincerity means that it is done for Allah, and correctness means that it accords with the Sunnah.”

What al-Fudayl said is agreed upon among Muslims: a deed must be prescribed and commanded, which is what makes it righteous, and one must intend thereby to seek the Face of Allah. As Allah Most High has said:

“So whoever hopes to meet his Lord, let him do righteous deeds and associate no one in the worship of his Lord.”

ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb, may Allah be pleased with him, used to say:

“O Allah, make all my deeds righteous, make them sincerely for Your Face, and let no one else have any share in them.”

Among the verses expressing this meaning is His saying, Most High:

“Yes, whoever submits himself to Allah and does good will have his reward with his Lord. No fear will be upon them, nor will they grieve.”

Allah Most High also said:

“And who is better in religion than one who submits himself to Allah, does good, and follows the faith of Abraham, a man of pure monotheism? And Allah took Abraham as a close friend.”

In Sahīh Muslim, Abū Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Allah Most High says: ‘I am utterly without need of partners. Whoever does a deed in which he associates someone else with Me, I disavow it, and it belongs entirely to the one he associated with Me.’”

In the Sunan, al-ʿIrbād ibn Sāriyah said:

“The Messenger of Allah admonished us