In continuation of making you familiar with the characteristics of Imam Khomeini, today we dwell upon his sincerity in doing obligatory acts and avoiding forbidden acts. In other words, the Imam only thought of pleasing God and nobody else. Whatever he did was for God’s sake no matter if others were content or discontent with him. Sincerity or Ekhlas, as it is called in the Islamic morality, has a very high and important status in Islam.
Ekhlas in Arabic means purity and purifying. According to the Islamic teachings it means doing an act absolutely for the sake of God’s satisfaction. This word and its derivatives have been used in the Qur’an 31 times. According to the noble Qur’an, Ekhlas (sincerity) means doing an act for the sake of God and with the purpose of achieving His proximity. That’s why it is quite opposite to hypocrisy and doing something to satisfy others or to gain the praise of others. In the Islamic morality, sincerity is the highest virtue and it is the criterion for evaluation of deeds. If a consider Islam as a set of divine teachings, ethics and practical deeds, all these concepts lead to a single point, namely, sincerity. According to the Islamic jurisprudence, an individual should have no intention in doing his act but the proximity of God and servitude of God. However, many ulema maintain that if the act of worship is done with the divine intention while there are some worldly gains in it, it will not be void and null. For instance, if a person performs midnight prayer with the intention of God’s proximity, while he also appeals to God for more sustenance, it does not oppose sincerity and purity of act. Furthermore, according to the Islamic jurisprudence, if a person worships God for the fear of punishment or gaining reward, it does not nullify sincerity. Of course, sincerity has several degrees. Imam Khomeini says, “Sincerity means that God has asked us to purify our hearts for His magnanimity so that we enjoy that magnanimity. Since God is needless of the entire creation, He does not need our worship, sincerity and servitude.”
Imam Khomeini, quoting from Khajeh Abdullah Ansari, says that sincerity means to purify and cleanse the act from every impurity. This means that the man’s act should not be mixed with his own satisfaction or even that of the other creatures of God. The Imam describes the sincere people as follows, “The sincere are those who, at the time of worship, see neither themselves nor the creatures; and observing the Lordship of God, they do not aggress in their servitude.”
In Imam Khomeini’s opinion, the acts are valuable according to their spirit; and the spirit of an act is nothing but sincerity. He says, “What enhances the volume of act is being for God and sincerity. An act might be very little in terms of material, but in terms of spirituality, it might be greater than all acts or most of them. La Ilaha illa Allah (There is no god but Allah) consists of several words, but, its grandeur is more than many prayers or most of them and its spiritual volume is greater than all of them. Acts will have spiritual volume when they are accompanied by sincerity. Sincerity is the spirit of the act.”
Imam Khomeini would call on the youths to have sincerity in acts and urged them not to expect people’s humbleness or gratitude for acts. He said, “Try so that the way is for God. Try to close your eyes to the creatures and anything other than God. Don’t pay attention that if you render a service for God, others may come and humble themselves for you. You are the youths that have made efforts during this period for God, you have striven for God. Now you have come a long way for God and have come here to speak and confabulate with us. The act that is for God, God will pay attention to it and if it is not for God, it is nothing even if the entire world pays attention to it.”
Elsewhere, Imam Khomeini said, “We must trample upon our personal intentions. We all must be for God because we are from Him and whatever we have is from Him. Whatever power there is, it is from Him; whatever bounty there is, it is from Him; and He is the light of the heavens and the earth. We are duty-bound, on behalf of Him and our intellect and conscience, to serve He who is the Guardian of whatever we have.”
Imam Khomeini believed that sincerity is not restricted to daily acts of worship but it should prevail in every aspect of life. He maintained that sincerity in acquisition of knowledge is the precondition for attaining wisdom. He said, “The panacea is that human being, who wants his knowledge to be Godly, in every knowledge that he starts to learn, he should strive, through any austerity and labor, to purify his intention. The source of salvation and fountainhead of graces is the pure intention. According to a hadith sincerity for forty days leads to gushing forth wisdom from the heart to the tongue. Then, you who have tried in collection of terminology and concepts in every field and consider yourselves as masters of every knowledge, and count yourselves among the soldiers of God, while you don’t see any effect of wisdom in your hearts or a drop of it on your tongue, be sure that your study and endeavour have not been with sincerity; rather they have striven for the self. Thus, now, understanding that these sciences had no quality and no effect, even if it is for the sake of experience, do embark on purifying your intention and expurgation of the heart from evils and contaminations; then, if you see any effect, pursue it further.”
Elsewhere in his remarks, Imam Khomeini said, “We should take refuge with God from the tricks of the self as its tricks are so exact. Anyhow, we know that our acts are not pure. If we are the sincere servant of God, why is the Satan so dominant over us, while he has vowed to not deal with the sincere servants of God and not invade their sanctity? As our great instructor said, ‘The Satan is the dog at God’s door. If someone is familiar with God, he will not bark at him and disturb him. A dog will not chase those who are familiar with the house owner. The Satan won’t allow anyone who is unfamiliar with the owner to enter the house. So, if the Satan disturbs you, be sure that your acts are not sincere and are not for God Almighty.’”
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