[diutuartina]

I was curious about this hadith....

Every action is judged by intention...and so when one gives in charity to be shown to the world, then it is rejected from him. This is obvious.

My question, however, comes from the fact that at times, doing goods can be a form of dawah. this is why its so important to be recognizable as muslims. The sahaba (radiallahu anhum) attracted people with their actions. I often hear ppl saying how sisters shouldnt wear niqaab because it gets in the way of dawah...but if sisters in niqaab are perfecting their actions, there is no BETTER dawah than a sister in niqaab. Maybe ppl dont feel comfortable walking upto a niqaabi and asking her questions but when they see a niqaabi helping someone/being kind to someone, that holds more of an effect on them than a 2 minute conversation.

So my question is...if someone is in public and they go out of their way to do something nice for the same exact person(non-muslim) day after day, hoping to make a positive impression on them and the ppl that see around them, does this count as doing it to show the world? Because in a way...you ARE doing it to show the world. But youre doing it to make the world think better of muslims as a whole, not just yourself as an individual. So that somehow makes it seem right. But at the same time...shaytaan has promised to come at us from the front, back and sides. This could just be shaytaans way of corrutping our intentions and making it seem islamic, when in the end, each one of these good deeds would be thrown in our face.

Any thoughts?

[Infiseeenvelp]

I was curious about this hadith....

Every action is judged by intention...and so when one gives in charity to be shown to the world, then it is rejected from him. This is obvious.

My question, however, comes from the fact that at times, doing goods can be a form of dawah. this is why its so important to be recognizable as muslims. The sahaba (radiallahu anhum) attracted people with their actions. I often hear ppl saying how sisters shouldnt wear niqaab because it gets in the way of dawah...but if sisters in niqaab are perfecting their actions, there is no BETTER dawah than a sister in niqaab. Maybe ppl dont feel comfortable walking upto a niqaabi and asking her questions but when they see a niqaabi helping someone/being kind to someone, that holds more of an effect on them than a 2 minute conversation.

So my question is...if someone is in public and they go out of their way to do something nice for the same exact person(non-muslim) day after day, hoping to make a positive impression on them and the ppl that see around them, does this count as doing it to show the world? Because in a way...you ARE doing it to show the world. But youre doing it to make the world think better of muslims as a whole, not just yourself as an individual. So that somehow makes it seem right. But at the same time...shaytaan has promised to come at us from the front, back and sides. This could just be shaytaans way of corrutping our intentions and making it seem islamic, when in the end, each one of these good deeds would be thrown in our face.

Any thoughts?

reminds me of the sahaba radiyallho anhum who went to china to trade i believed and a lot of ppl became muslim cause of there akhlaaq

[Infiseeenvelp]

Also regarding the shaytaan messig u up isnt that where the Shiekh kicks in??

[diutuartina]

which shaykh??

[beonecenry]

salamu `alaykum

There are never just the two extremes of acceptability and rejection. There is a whole shade of gray in between the two.

The general principle as established from the Prophetic narrations is that one will be rewarded bi qadri niyyatihi.

Thus, one can intend to pray to save himself from the fire, and he will be rewarded for doing so mainly because fear of the fire primarily arises because Allah has warned us of its tortures and torments in His book and through His Messenger. Yet the one who worships Allah only for the sake of worshipping Him - since He is worthy of all worship - is at a higher level (maqam). Yet, both are accepted in Allah's eyes, inshaAllah.

Similar is the case with what you mentioned.

Wasalam
Salman

[Infiseeenvelp]

Also regarding the shaytaan messig u up isnt that where the Shiekh kicks in??

i meant a shieakh in tassawuff who can guide u

[WordofViagra]

I agree when you say that shaytaan will come upon us from all sides...because if you were doing good for people to see you and think that muslims are good people, then they would be unaware that you just want them to see you and think good of muslims, ie that is your true intention, because being good doesn't mean that you want people to think of you as good, rather if Allah thinks you are good then you are good. So the main thing would be to keep in mind the intention of pleasing Allah, because there are some things you do to please Allah that will make non muslims think you are good, eg giving charitably, but if you gave secret charity and a non muslim didn't think you were good, what would it matter? So then it comes down to da'wah, I think da'wah is mainly from the religious aspect, ie telling people about jannah and jahannam, and about Allah, angels, prophets, qadr etc....and many non muslims think that muslim men look down on women or mistreat women, and are violent, so as long as these two things are avoided, then that's about it...not sure if this made complete sense, but that's what i think.
to summarise, we should fear God, do good deeds that please Him. may Allah guide my family to islam, ameen. say ameen please