5- The heart’s deeds must be given the utmost care and kept under constant watch.
6- Migration from lands of unbelief to the lands of Islam ranks among the most excellent acts of worship, provided it is undertaken solely for the sake of Allah Most High.
Benefit: Ibn Rajab notes that acting for other than Allah falls into several categories:
• Sometimes the deed is pure ostentation, intended only to impress people and gain some worldly benefit. This almost never issues from a true believer, and there is no doubt that it nullifies the deed and makes its doer deserving of Allah’s displeasure and punishment.
• At other times the deed is for Allah but is accompanied by show-manship. If ostentation is present from the very beginning, the sound texts indicate that the act is invalid. If the work was originally for Allah and the thought of showing off arises later, and the person repels it, then—by unanimous agreement—it does not harm him. The early scholars, however, differed about what happens if he allows that later ostentation to continue: does it void the deed, or is the doer still rewarded according to his original intention? End of adapted quotation.
Hadith 1
On the authority of Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said,
“Allah does not accept the prayer of any one of you when he is in a state of ritual impurity until he performs ablution.”
Glossary of hadith terms:
1- “Allah does not accept” is worded as a negation, which is stronger than a mere prohibition, for it forbids the act and at the same time denies its reality.
2- “He becomes impure” means that a hadath has occurred—anything exiting from either of the private parts or any other nullifier of ablution. In its original linguistic sense, ḥadath meant “annoyance” or “harm.”
3- “Hadath” is a legal state deemed to reside in the limbs; its presence prevents the validity of any act of worship for which purification is a condition.
Overall meaning:
The Wise Lawgiver has guided anyone who wishes to pray not to enter the prayer except in a good state and with a pleasing appearance,