Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Bismillahir- Rahmanir-Rahim
1. Introduction
Friends who are blessed by Allah, Have you ever wondered why we sometimes feel utterly exhausted after helping others? Why our hearts are easily disappointed when our kindness is repaid with betrayal, or when our sacrifices go unappreciated by people?The scholars explain an inner secret: the level of a servant’s sincerity [ikhlāṣ] is directly proportional to the purity of his tawḥīd. If in our hearts there remains even a speck of fear of human rejection, or a glimmer of hope for the praise of creation, then that sincerity is already tainted. Absolute sincerity will only be born when the inner eye of a servant fully believes that there is no power, no benefit, and no harm anywhere in the universe except under the sole control of Allah’s hand.
Psycho-spiritually, dependence on creation is the source of all mental fragility [emotional dependency]. Creation by nature is mortal, weak, and ever-changing; thus, pinning hopes on them only breeds anxiety. By contrast, pure tawḥīd soothes the soul because it frees a person from mental slavery to fellow creatures. When the inner self believes that all life’s decisions are in Allah’s hands, the soul becomes firm, calm, and sincere in doing good.Allah SWT affirms the absolute nature of His power—above all created power—in the Qur’an:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُبَايِعُونَكَ إِنَّمَا يُبَايِعُونَ اللَّهَ يَدُ اللَّهِ فَوْقَ أَيْدِيهِمْ
“Indeed, those who pledge allegiance to you are actually pledging allegiance to Allah. The hand of Allah is over their hands.”[QS. Al-Fatḥ: 10]
Allah SWT also affirms that He is the sole sovereign who needs no partner in governing the universe or in accepting the sincere worship of His servants:
مَا لَهُم مِّن دُونِهِ مِن وَلِيٍّ وَلَا يُشْرِكُ فِي حُكْمِهِ أَحَدًا
“They have no protector other than Him, and He shares not His command with anyone.”[QS. Al-Kahf: 26]
The purity of intention—free from hoping in creation—is emphasized by Rasulullah ﷺ in a deeply touching ḥadīth qudsī:
قَالَ اللَّهُ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى: أَنَا أَغْنَى الشُّرَكَاءِ عَنِ الشِّرْكِ، مَنْ عَمِلَ عَمَلًا أَشْرَكَ فِيهِ مَعِي غَيْرِي، تَرَكْتُهُ وَشِرْكَهُ
“Allah, Blessed and Exalted, said: ‘I am the One Who is most free from need of partners. Whoever does a deed in which he associates another with Me, I abandon him and his shirk.’”[HR. Muslim]
2. Lessons and Message
Let us reflect on a touching life portrait of tawḥīd-based sincerity. There was a righteous servant of Allah who devoted the rest of his life to maintaining and cleaning a mosque in a remote village without being paid a single cent. One day, a wealthy donor came and handed him a thick envelope filled with millions of rupiah as thanks for his service. The old man refused the envelope with a sincere smile. The donor insisted, “Take it, sir, it’s your right for your kindness.”The old man shed tears, gently shook his head, then whispered softly, “Son, do not taint my inner covenant with Allah. For decades I have swept this floor while gazing at the sky, believing that only Allah gives me breath, health, and my daily food. I fear that if my hand accepts your money today, my inner eye will start shifting to hope for your arrival tomorrow morning, and my tawḥīd sincerity will collapse before Him.” How saddening to see how fragile our sincerity is compared to the steadfast faith of that old man whose inner eye saw only Allah.
So we can remember the link between sincerity and tawḥīd with an intelligent smile, let us use an analogy about “Begging from a Store Mannequin.”Imagine a man named Boy . Boy needs business capital of 10 million rupiah. But Boy doesn’t go to the bank or pray on his prayer mat. Instead, Boy goes to a luxury mall, then kneels before a plastic mannequin displayed in a clothing store window. Sobbing and clutching the mannequin’s foot, Boy laments, “O handsome mannequin with the cool clothes… have mercy on me, lend me 10 million rupiah! I promise I’ll sincerely worship you for life!”What would people passing by in the mall do seeing Boy’s behavior? They’d surely burst out laughing and call security, “Hey, someone help—this guy’s lost it! Why are you crying and asking for money from a plastic statue that can’t move, has no money, and has no life! ”Astonishing and tickling, isn’t it? Many of us modern Muslims act amusingly like Boy without realizing it! When we do good, give charity, or post religious advice on social media, our hearts secretly “kneel” hoping for praise, likes, and appreciation from people [makhlūq]. Yet creation is, in reality, just like a mannequin: they possess no power at all, cannot guarantee our Paradise, and hold no control over our fate! Why do we demean the value of our sincerity by begging for the pleasure of weak creatures, when Allah—the All-Rich and Sole Controller of this universe—is there?
3. Conclusion & Closing
Friends, the profound moral message from the link between sincerity and tawḥīd is an invitation to liberate our hearts: let us cleanse our inner selves from the pollution of hoping in creation. True sincerity will never be born as long as our inner eye still glances left and right seeking human applause.Let us purify our tawḥīd starting today. When you step out of the house to work, help others, or worship, lock your inner focus on one point only: the pleasure of Allah SWT. Instill full awareness that “the hand of Allah is above all hands,” and that control over our happiness and safety rests absolutely under His sole decree. With that, we will become free individuals—not easily disappointed—and live in the soothing peace of tawḥīd.
May Allah SWT cleanse our hearts from the disease of riyāʾ, purify tawḥīd in our chests, and count us among His servants who are sincere in every breath.
. والله أعلم بالصواب
الحمد لله رب العالمين
Wassalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
Abu Sultan Al-Qadrie
