as he was commanded, sincerely for the sake of Allah Most High.

Regarding the words of Allah Most High,

“that He might test you as to which of you is best in deed”

[Surah Hūd: 7],

al-Fudayl ibn Iyād said, “The most sincere and the most correct.”

He was asked, “Abū Alī, what does ‘the most sincere and the most correct’ mean?”

He replied, “If a deed is sincere but not correct, it is not accepted; and if it is correct but not sincere, it is not accepted. It must be both sincere and correct. Sincere means that it is done for Allah, and correct means that it accords with the Sunnah.”

Thus, if a person guilty of major sins (1) fears Allah with respect to a particular deed, Allah accepts it from him. Yet if someone better than he does not fear Allah with respect to a deed, Allah does not accept it from him—even if He accepts another deed from him.

Since Allah accepts only from those who perform a deed in the manner prescribed [for it] (2), it is reported in the Sunan collections from Ammār, from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—that he said:

“A servant may finish (3) his prayer with only one-half of it (4) recorded for him, or only one-third, or only one-quarter”—and he continued until he said—“or only one-tenth.” (5)

Ibn Abbās said, “You gain from your prayer only as much of it as you are mindful of.”

It is also stated in the hadith:

“Many a fasting person gains nothing from his fast but thirst, and many a person who stands in prayer gains nothing from his night prayer but sleeplessness.” (6)

The same applies to Hajj, jihad, and other deeds.