Laa tushriku bihi shai'aa.

Narrated Abu Huraira:
A Bedouin came to the Prophet and said, "Tell me of such a deed as will make me enter Paradise, if I do it." The Prophet said, "Worship Allah and do not associate any partners with him." ... (to be continued)

Ta'budu Allaha wa laa tushriku bihi shai'aa.

Worship Allah and do not associate partners with him. This was the first thing that the Prophet SAW mentioned as his recipe for Jannah. The first part of this step is, worship Allah, acknowledge Allah as your lord, and the second part is to not associate any partners with him. The Prophet is basically telling us to not commit shirk.

Now all of us know what shirk is. And we feel that we know it so well that it gets to a point where we feel it is elementary for us to talk about shirk, right? 'This is baby stuff, tell me something that I don't know', right? However, we have to be careful, because there is a tradition of the Prophet SAW that is extremely powerful in conveying a certain message, and it goes something like this:

On the Day of Judgement, the first to be brought forward to Allah will be the one who died as a martyr, and Allah will make known to him His favors and the man will recognize, and then Allah will ask , 'What did you do about this?' And the man will reply that he fought for the sake of Allah until he died a martyr, and Allah will say, No, you have lied, but you fought so that the people would say look at this man, he was so brave, he fought and died in the path of Allah, and you got what you wanted. So he will be dragged on his face and thrown into the Fire.

And then he will be brought who had memorized and recited the Qur'an, and Allah will ask him what he did about the favours that he granted him, and the man will say that he learned the Qur'an and recited it for Allah's sake and he seeked and gained knowledge and taught it for Allah's sake, and Allah will say, No, you have lied. But you learned and recited the Qur'an so the people would say that this person is a Qari'! And you gained knowledge and taught it so people would say that this person is an Aalim! And you got what you wanted in the Dunya. And so this person will be dragged on his face and thrown into the Fire.

And then he will be brought who never had an oppurtunity pass him by without him giving his wealth for the cause of Allah, and Allah will ask him what he did with His favors he bestowed upon him, and he will say that he donated and gave generously in the path of Allah, and he will be told, No, you have lied. Instead you gave that money so that people would say that this person is so generous! And you got what you wanted in the Dunya. There will be nothing left for him in the Akhirah. And he will be dragged on his face and thrown into the Fire.

This is the reality of Shirk, because this is what the Prophet SAW feared for his Ummah more than the Dajjal. It is the hidden shirk, which is none other than Riyaa', or showing off. And this is an issue for all of us, whether we be the layman or the greatest scholar, it is equally incumbant on all of us to correct and constantly strive to perfect our intentions. And the scholars say that this is the hardest thing for a believer to control! And all of us will know this to be true by experience!

So when we read or hear an Ayah that says Worship Allah alone, or a tradition such as this, where the Prophet SAW says Worship Allah and do not associate any partners with him, we've got to pay attention! Take heed! This isn't a point we can just skip because we're not in our houses worshipping idols, but this is such a crucial matter that it can turn the greatest of deeds, the martyr! The Hafidh! The one who gives his wealth for Allah! This minor shirk of showing off can turn these things into absolutely nothing!

Summer camp started over here, and I've been working with the kids as a counselor/teacher and what not, and our theme for this week is Niyyah or Intentions. Today the Imam took over Islamic Studies and talked about intentions and how we should make sure our intentions are pure. And so a kid raised his hand and made a comment where he said that this is so easy to talk about, but so hard to do. This kid said out loud what we all know and feel in our hearts. Easier said than done.

And so the Sheikh replied, that THIS is the struggle, for us to constantly renew our intentions, constantly ask WHY it is we are doing what we are doing, struggle with the whispers and plots of Shaytan to turn our deeds into wasted energy and wasted breath, and IF one day, some day, you are able to do this, to purify your intentions in whatever you do, know that you will be going to sleep that night as one who will enter Paradise, because you have purified yourself from the inside out.

Ya Allah, help us in our battle against ourselves and the whispers of Shaytan and help us purify our intentions and make everything for Your safe alone, Aameen.