Should I perform good deeds out of ...

Egypt's Dar Al-Ifta

Should I perform good deeds out of my love for God or out of keenness for paradise?

Question

One might do good deeds with the intention of getting the reward of heaven.
However, some scholars prefer a person to do for the love and gratitude towards Allah rather than seeking Jannah. So, perhaps the best thing to do is to focus primarily on doing good deeds for the love and gratitude towards Allah; the rewards of Jannah comes more of helping our motivation rather than being the prime motive. What is your comment on this concept?

Answer

The intentions of people in doing good deeds can be classified as follows:
- Some do good deeds out of fear of Allah, thereby avoiding Hellfire.
- Others do good deeds out of hope to enter Paradise.
- However, the worship of those who have insight does not exceed making remembrance of Allah Almighty [dhikr] and pondering over His Beauty and Majesty. The rest of their deeds are nothing but a confirmation and reflection of [their love for Allah]. They are those who occupy the highest rank and the ones who supplicate their Lord morning and evening, seeking to see His Face only. This category of worshippers enjoys the blessing of seeing the Face of Allah Almighty and feel pity for those who seek to see the faces of Hur al-'Aeen. This is comparable to case of those who enjoy looking at the Hur al-'Aeen and feel pity for those who take pleasure in looking at humans. This is because the difference between the pleasure of looking at the beauty of Allah's Face and that of Hur al-'Aeen is greater than the difference between the pleasure of looking at the beauty of Hur al-'Aeen and that of humans.
To conclude, everyone is rewarded according to their intentions. 


 

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