The Meaning of ikhlas

The Meaning of ikhlas is Purifying Deeds From Blemish or Flaws.

Harawi has put ikhlas as purifying deeds from any flaws, i.e. his deeds are not mixed with dirt of desires, be they seeking beautification in the hearts of created beings, or seeking their praise, running away from their conciences or  wanting to be revered by them, desiring their wealth, or wanting them to serve him, or any other illnesses and flaws, which in a nutshell is to desire something besides Allah with deeds                 .

Harawi places the first level of ikhlas (sincerity) is to make sight of the action out of the action, not asking reward for actions, Descending from being content with an action, three illnesses infect a  deed doer : seeing it observing it, seeking for an exchange for it, being content with it and relying on it.

At this level he gets free from this affliction. What saves him from looking at his deeds is looking at Allah’s great bounty, favour and adaption for him, and that he is so and so due to Allah, not because of himself, that his deeds were by Allah’s will and not his, as Allah says, “And you cannot will unless (it be) that Allah wills – the Lord of the worlds.” (81:29).

In this situation it is useful for him to witness the power of force, and that he is just a tool. That his actions are like the movements of trees and blow of winds, and that the mover of them is not he, and the doer is not he, he is dead, and a dead person does not do anything, and even if he is left alone there will be no good deeds from him at all, as the nafs (soul) is ignorant and a transgressor, its nature is laziness, preferring desire (shahawat) and inaction. It is the source of every evil, place of every badness. A thing like this does not produce any good, nor good its concern or (business).                 .

The good that comes from him is nothing but from Allah and by him, not from the slave nor by him. The Allah almighty says, “And had it not been for the Grace of Allah and His Mercy on you, not one of you would ever have been pure from sins. But Allah purifies (guides to Islam) whom He wills.” (24:21). The inmates of Paradise say, “Praise be to Allah who guided us to this.” The Allah Almighty says to His Messenger (pbuh), “And  had We not made you stand firm, you would nearly have inclined to them a little.” (17:74).

Allah says, “But Allah has endeared the Faith to you and has beautified it in your hearts…” (49:7).

Every good in a slave is just a favour, benevolence and favour from Allah, and he is the one to be praised for.

What rids a slave of being content with his deeds is two things. Firstly, looking at his weaknesses and illnesses, his shordoing in them, the self’s share in it and also Satan’s share, for rarely is there an action without Satan having a share in it, even a small one, and the self’s share as well. The Prophet (pbuh) was asked about a person’s turning to another direction in his prayers. He said, “It is theft done by Satan towards a servant’s prayer.” If that is the case with a turning for a second, how about the heart’s turning to something other than Allah? Ibn Mas’ud companion says, “Do not anyone of you let Satan take a share of your prayer. He sees that he must not turn away except from his right.” If this simple matter is considered Satan’s share of a slave’s prayer, then how about something above that? The self’s share in deeds is known only by truthful persons who possess.