The Acceptable Action

Taken from The Righteous Action
Shaykh Muhammad Nasirud-Din al-Albani - al-Hijra magazine (vol.4 no.2)Al-Ibaanah Magazine Issue No.1 - Dhul-Qa’dah 1415H / April 1995

Therefore, in these ahâdîth, the Prophet sallallâhu ’alayhi wa sallam encouraged us to make our actions righteous, whether gaining wealth or other things. However, we must remember a certain fact about this action, a fact that many people neglect. The explanation of this fact should actually be a complete lesson in itself; and it is that only a righteous action is beneficial, not just any action.

So what are the conditions that a Muslim must fulfill in order for the action to be righteous? This is shown in the statement of Allâh - the Exalted and Sublime: “Say (O Muhammad): Verily I am only a man like yourselves, but revelation has been revealed to me that the One whom you should worship is only One Deity. And whoever hopes to meet his Lord, let him do righteous actions; and in the worship of your Lord, do not associate anyone along with Him.”

Two Important Conditions

The Scholars of Tafsîr have said that the end of this verse is anindication that there are two conditions for an action to berighteous and acceptable: [5]

Firstly: That the action must be in accordance with the Sunnah. Therefore, if the action is done as an act of worship, but is not in accordance with the Sunnah, it is not a righteous action. The reason is that compliance with the Sunnah is one of the conditions for the action’s righteousness. The proofs of this are many, but it is enough to state one: The hadîth of the Prophet sallallâhu ’alayhi wa sallam in which he said: “Whoever innovates in this matter of ours what is not upon it, it shall be rejected.” [6]

Therefore, any action that was not part of Islâm when Allâh revealed it upon the heart of the Prophet Muhammad sallallâhu ’alayhi wa sallam is not a righteous action. About this, Allâh - the Most High - says: “This day I have perfected your Dîn for you and completed My favour upon you and I have chosen Islâm as your Dîn.” [7]

It must be remembered that Bid’ah (innovation) [8] is not divided into five categories, as some Scholars say. A proof for this is that the Prophet sallallâhu ’alayhi wa sallam said: “Every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Hellfire.” [9]

Secondly: That after being in accordance with the Sunnah, the action has to be sincere, purely seeking the Face of Allâh - the Most High - because Allâh says at the end of the aforementioned verse: “And in the worship of your Lord, do not associate anyone along with Him.” This means that the person seeks, by his righteous action, only the Face of Allâh - the Exalted and Sublime. However, if he seeks other than Allâh, then he has setup partners with Allâh (made shirk with Allâh), therefore his action is rejected.

This is confirmed by Allâh in an authentic hadîth Qudsî: “I am so self-sufficient that I am in no need of having any partners. Thus, whosoever does an action for the sake of someone else as well as Me, will have that action rejected by Me, to him whom he associated with Me.” [10]

Consequently, if the action is righteous but not sincere for the sake of Allâh’s Face, it is rejected. Moreover, if the action is purely for the sake of Allâh’s Face, but not in accordance with the Sunnah, it is likewise not accepted.

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5. Ibn Kathîr says in Tafsîr Qur’ân ul-’Adhîm (3/114): “Thus, for an action to be acceptable it has to fulfill two conditions. Firstly: It must be sincere for Allâh alone. Second: It must be corrcct and in accordance with the sharî’ah. So if the action is sincere, but not correct, it will not be accepted.”

6. Related by al-Bukhârî (5/301) and Muslim (no.1718) - from’Âishah radiallâhu ’anhu.

7. Sûratul-Mâ’idah 5:3. Imâm ash-Shâtibî relates in al-’ltisâm (l/49): “Imâm Mâlik - rahimahullâh - said: Whosoever introduces into Islâm an innovation has lied against the message of Muhammad sallallâhu ’alayhi wa sallam. Since Allâh has said: “This day have I completed your Dîn for you.” So whatever was not Dîn that day, cannot be considered as part of the Dîn today.”

8. Ash-Shâtibî says in al- ’ltisâm (1/37) about the Sharî’ah definition of Bid’ah: “A newly invented way in the Dîn, in imitation of, or corresponding to the sharî’ah, through which nearness to Allâh is sought. This action not being supported by any authentic proof - neither the action itself, nor the way in which it is performed.”

9. Sahîh: Related by Muslim (6/153) from Jâbir ibn ’Abdullâh. The additional wording “and all that misguides, misguides to the Fire.” is related by an Nasâ‘î (l/224) with a Sahîh isnâd - as Ibn Taymiyyah has mentioned in al-Fatâwâ (3/58).

10. Related by Muslim (no.2985) and Ibn Mâjah (no.4202) - from Abû Hurayrah radiallâhu ’anhu.