and that he will be recompensed according to his first intention. This view is also transmitted from al-Hasan and others … End quote.

Therefore, guard your deeds against shirk more vigilantly than you guard your own lives from enemies or your wealth from thieves, for the peril of shirk is tremendous.

We ask Allah to grant us and you safety and sincerity in word and deed.

B. Seeking the worldly life through one’s deeds

Directing an act of worship toward worldly gain is a form of shirk in intention and purpose. Allah has warned against it in His Book, and His Messenger has warned against it in his Sunnah. It occurs when a person performs an act that should be done solely for Allah’s sake while aiming instead at some worldly benefit. Such shirk negates perfect monotheism and renders the deed void.

Allah, Blessed and Exalted, says: “Whoever desires the life of this world and its adornment, We shall fully repay them for their deeds therein, and they will not be deprived. Those are the ones who will have nothing in the Hereafter but the Fire; all that they did in this life will be lost, and their deeds will prove worthless.” ⦗1⦘

The meaning of these two noble verses is that whoever intends through his deeds nothing but worldly advantages, Allah may grant him in this life the full portion of what he sought—health, happiness, wealth, family, and children. Yet this is subject to His will, as He says elsewhere: “We hasten for him therein whatever We will for whom We please.” ⦗2⦘ Such people will have nothing in the Hereafter except the Fire, because they performed no deeds that would save them from it. Their works will count for nothing in the next life, receiving no reward, for they never sought the Hereafter.

Qatadah said: “Allah, Exalted is He, states: Whoever makes the world his sole concern, pursuit, and intention, Allah recompenses him for his good deeds in this world. Then, when he reaches the Hereafter, he will have no good deed for which he can be rewarded, whereas …”