Prayer, fasting, charity and helping others are all good deeds, but doing them is not enough; they also need to be acceptable to Allah. Writing on Prothom Alo's religion page, Islamic scholar, writer and researcher Raihan Al Imran sets out four conditions for worship to be accepted, drawn from the Quran and hadith.
The first is iman, or faith: belief in Allah, obedience to His guidance and freedom from shirk. He cites verse 124 of Surah An-Nisa, which says that whoever does good deeds as a believer, man or woman, will enter Paradise.
The second is that worship must accord with the guidance of the Prophet (peace be upon him); inventing practices in the name of religion that have no basis is not acceptable. He quotes Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith 2697: whoever introduces into this matter of ours something that is not part of it, it will be rejected.
The third is halal earnings and pure food. He cites Sahih Muslim, hadith 1015, in which the Prophet said Allah is pure and accepts only what is pure, then described a traveller, dishevelled and dusty, raising his hands in prayer while his food, drink and clothing are unlawful, and asked how such a prayer could be answered.
The fourth is ikhlas, sincerity: worship for Allah's pleasure alone, not for praise, status or personal gain. Quoting verse 5 of Surah Al-Bayyinah and verses 4 to 6 of Surah Al-Ma'un on those who pray to be seen, the writer warns against riya, showing off in worship.
His advice is to examine one's intention before any deed, asking whether it is for Allah or for people's praise, and to keep to the rules of halal and haram in every source of income and consumption. The interpretation is the writer's own.
Photo: Azim Khan Ronnie / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Prothom Alo
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