What is a Righteous Person Like?

Holds fast to Allah and is sincere in his religion to Allah

Allah orders believers to live as those "who hold fast to Allah and are sincere in their religion to Allah" in the following verse:

A man is purified if he holds fast to Allah, devotes his life to gain His consent with the knowledge that there is no other deity than Allah, and never gives up on his faith in Allah, whatever happens. Allah enjoins in the Qur'an as follows: "Whoever holds fast to Allah has been guided to a straight path." (Surah Al 'Imran: 101)

"Being sincere in one's religion to Allah" means seeking to gain Allah's consent and satisfaction without expecting any other personal advantages or benefits. Allah also has emphasized the importance of this issue in another verse, and has revealed that the religion could only be lived in the following manner:

In his deeds and prayers, a true believer never strives to obtain the love, satisfaction, appreciation, interest and admiration of any person other than Allah. Any such longings are an indication that he has failed to turn to Allah with complete sincerity and purification. In fact, we frequently encounter people "doing good deeds or establishing prayers for purposes other than gaining Allah's consent." For instance, there are people who brag about helping the poor, or aim to acquire respect or advantages when practicing important religious duties such as the regular prayers (salat). In the Qur'an, people who establish prayers or do good to be seen are mentioned as follows:

Anyone who desires to be seen is indeed looking to gain the assent of other people, rather than Allah. A true believer should meticulously avoid aiming to show off while lending a helping hand, assuming a pleasing attitude, praying or making a sacrifice. The only true aim of one who sincerely believes in Allah should be to obtain Allah's consent. The Qur'an also emphasizes how the prophets performed religious rites only for Allah's consent and never sought personal rewards or advantages. The following words spoken by the Prophet Hud (as) to his people confirms this truth:

A believer never attempts to gain the consent of any being other than Allah. Hence, he knows for certain that Allah possesses all hearts, and that all people would submit if only He wishes so. Furthermore, no amount of worldly acclaim, praise or admiration gained in the world will secure anything in the hereafter. On the Day of Judgment, each man will stand alone in Allah's presence and be asked to account for each of his deeds. On that day, faith, piety, sincerity and submission will play the fundamental role. Likewise, the Prophet Muhammad (saas) reminded believers of the importance of sincerity, by saying "Allah accepts those deeds which were performed purely for His sake and which were meant to seek His pleasure."¹

Turns to Allah with Repentance and is Sincere in deed and intention to Him

Allah informs true believers about genuine faith as follows:

Allah calls attention in another verse that the right way to follow is the way followed by prophets and morally upright people.

Turning to Allah with heartfelt devotion means loving Him so much that one cannot refrain from faith, devotion and fidelity under any circumstances, and fears Him with awe. It is to have faith in Him with such reverence that one anxiously fears Him and ardently avoids losing His consent. Anyone believing in Allah in such a manner is sure to attain self-purification. One who believes and is so devoted to Allah performs prayers and other deeds to earn His consent sincerely. In reward for this, which is the basis of self-purification, true believers are "those who have faith and do right actions and humble themselves before their Lord." (Surah Hud: 23)

Allah instructed true believers to fulfill the orders and acts of worship prescribed in the Qur'an with total submission, sincerity and hearts purified for His sake. In a verse, it is related how Allah reminded Maryam (as) to submit to Him with heartfelt devotion: "O Maryam, worship your Lord devoutly: Prostrate yourself, and bow down (in prayer) with those who bow down." (Surah Al 'Imran: 43)

This is also stated by the Prophet (saas), who said:

"Goodness and comfort are for him who worships his Lord in a perfect manner and serves his Master sincerely."²

Allah also revealed the good news that those obeying Him with heartfelt devotion and fulfilling His orders with submission will be rewarded doubly:

The Qur'an contains many verses that emphasize the fact that prophets are men who turned to Allah with sincere devotion, His purified servants. Some examples are as follows:

Believes in Allah by Showing Him a Great Respect

True believers who attained the level of self-purification defined in the Qur'an believe in Allah "by showing a deep respect." This means that they comprehend Allah's greatness and power; and thus, feel a deep love, a pure respect, and an awe-inspired fear towards Him. Those who devote themselves to Allah with such deep respect and fear never renounce the chance to gain His consent for the sake of any other worldly benefits or rewards. Sincerity is to know that no earthly benefits and rewards, big or small, could ever be more important than gaining Allah's consent and fulfilling His commands. In the Qur'an, this quality of those who are righteous is explained as follows: "... They do not sell Allah's Signs for a paltry price..." (Surah Al 'Imran: 199)

In regards to Allah's orders and prohibitions, no matter what the circumstances are, the righteous, as defined in the Qur'an, never make compromises in their fulfilment of the requirements of the Qur'anic verses. The respectful fear and profound devotion felt deep within one's heart wholly refrains one from behaving in any way displeasing to Allah; and also encourages one to be greatly eager and enthusiastic to adopt a wholesome morality as consented by Allah. In the Qur'an, the respectful fear shown by sincere believers towards Allah is expressed as follows:

In other verses, true believers are described as having their respectful devotion towards Allah increased when they hear Allah's verses:

The respectful devotion of the Prophet Zakariya (as) and his wife is described as an example for believers in the Qur'an as follows:

Another issue mentioned in the same verse is that the sincere believers compete with one with another in doing good deeds for Allah's consent. These people strive continuously—to the limit allowed by their power and wealth—to succeed in earning Allah's assent, mercy, compassion and Paradise.

Submits to Allah with Complete Devotion

Allah points out the importance of the quality of submission in believers in the following verse:

True sincerity entails submission with complete surrender to Allah. However, this submission should be unconditional. One who consents to Allah's will, but is only thankful and submissive to Allah under certain circumstances, could not be regarded as in submission if he becomes rebellious and disobedient under a different set of circumstances. For instance, one who is engaged in good business relations, and earns a sufficient amount of money, could frequently utter that it is Allah Who permitted his circumstances, wealth and good fortune. However, when things take a turn for the worse, he suddenly becomes forgetful of his earlier submissiveness towards Allah. His character changes suddenly, and he begins to grumble continually that he is a good man, that he did not deserve what befell him, and that he could not for the life of him understand why things are not going well. He may even go beyond the bounds of what is acceptable and start to blame Allah by forgetting that Fate always works according to the best and most favorable manner. He may ask himself irreverant questions like "Why have things worked out this way?" "Why did these things happen to me?"

However, trusting in Allah, regardless of the good or bad that has happened to us, or the favorable or unfavorable appearances of events, is in fact that most valued in Allah's presence. Despite the outer appearances, one should be submissive by knowing that each and everything was created with goodness and wisdom:

Hence, all hardships and problems are to test humans. These are caused as specifically as trials, in order to determine who will stay firm and aim at self-purification and submission to Allah.

Those who believe sincerely never doubt the ultimate good of things that happen and always put their trust in Allah in complete submission. They realize that these are only for trial. Their faith is unconditional. On the contrary, it is a sound, strong and firm faith that surmounts all kinds of difficulties one may encounter. They submit themselves to Allah without seeking a worldly reward. In the Qur'an, this determined and decisive attitude of true believers for submission is emphasized as:

In yet another verse, Allah relates that the noblest religion is the one adopted by those who surrender themselves to Allah and believe in Allah alone, and thus underlines the importance of unconditional submission:

The Prophet (saas)had this to say on the same point:

"... The luckiest person who will have my intercession on the Day of Resurrection will be the one who said, 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,' sincerely from the bottom of his heart."³

Turns Towards Allah not Merely During Troubled Times, but Every Moment of his Life

During their lifetimes, some people fail to ponder upon Allah, Who has created them and Who has bestowed worldly blessings upon them. As things harmoniously unfold in their lives, they tend to completely forget that they are actually weak creatures in need of Allah's compassion. Yet, Allah is the only power that can ensure these blessings and make things right.

However, the fact that these people act so carelessly is not based on their ignorance, but rather the truth that they are completely ungrateful and haughty towards Allah. The most telling evidence of this is that these people unfailingly turn to Allah and ask for His help as soon as they realize that they are in desperate straits or when facing affliction or hardship. These people, who previously insisted on denying Allah, immediately start to pray to Him as "His faithful and devoted servants."

Allah informs us of this truth as follows:

As should be apparent from these verses, these people turn their back on Allah until such time, not because they are unaware of Allah's power or they fail to understand that they are liable to worship Allah, but because they grow arrogant. Likewise, they forget how they took shelter in Allah and sincerely and desperately begged for His assistance, and return to their denial as soon as Allah removes the hardship and difficulty. In other words, they act sincerely when faced with problems and insincerely when the problems disappear. The Qur'an provides the following example of such people:

Clearly, these people, who could adopt a more sincere form of behavior if they so wished, promise that they will surely become true believers once Allah helps them. However, as soon as they obtain His help, they turn their face away from Him. Yet, Allah announces that this rebelliousness will be held against them, and warns them of the grievous doom.

As for the purified ones, who turn to Allah with an open heart, there is no difference in their behavior whether in times of of hardship or prosperity. As they are well aware of Allah's absolute power, they always live with a fear and awe of Him in their hearts. For this reason, they behave righteously throughout their lives, and serve Allah with a heartfelt and undivided devotion. Allah declares that people who act sincerely only when they are faced with hardships, and others who purify themselves and strive so all their lives, will in no way be equivalent in terms of the reward awaiting them in the hereafter. While true believers will be rewarded with Paradise, the rest will be punished with the Fire. The following verses correspond to this promise:

Is Never Reluctant to Serve and to Worship Allah

In the following verse, Allah makes light of those people who claim to be believers while failing to truly have faith:

These are the people who have denial in their hearts, despite being counted among the true believers, and worshiping with them, and establishing relationships with them. One of their most defining characteristics, distinguishing them from those who have true faith in Allah, is that they are reluctant to serve and worship Him. True believers are sincere men and women who harbour a heartfelt faith in Allah, who turn to Him with sincerity and who worship Him with a great love and respect. In the subsequent verse, Allah describes the reward awaiting such behavior in the hereafter, and presents the example of the angels as a model for mankind:

As is announced in this verse, one of the distinguishing signs of sincerity and righteousness is to never be reluctant in serving and worshipping Allah. Likewise, the true believers are able to remain eager to worship Allah under all kinds of circumstances and conditions. For this reason, they never lose their enthusiasm, even if they are forced to sacrifice their lives or property, or to confront hardships and afflictions.

The Prophet Muhammad (saas) reminded believers of the importance of worshipping Allah with steadfastness and sincerity by saying: "... do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately, and worship Allah in the forenoon, and in the afternoon and during a part of the night, and always adopt a middle, moderate, regular course whereby you will reach your target (Paradise)." ⁴

The Qur'an features many examples of this superior morality expressing these sincere efforts made by true believers. For instance, there are those who repeatedly asked the Prophet (saas) for a mount to go to war and who failed to take part in it as they could not find one; also mentioned are those who returned after failing to find anything to spend. Although these people were certainly aware that they could face serious detriment in war such as being killed, maimed or injured, they willingly desired to take part, merely on account of their sincere faith and strong purity of self. The Qur'an portrays such people as:

The Qur'an also features examples of those who under similar circumstances again were reluctant to serve and worship Allah, in order to make true believers realize the difference between such two kinds of people. The related verse states:

Men, who claimed with their tongues that they were worshipping Allah and that they were obeying the Prophet (saas), asked to be excused from the war, in complete contradistinction to true believers, even though they were well-advantaged in terms of property and wealth. These men, who refrained from participating in war in a time when Muslims were facing great hardships, showed shameless audacity towards Allah. Nowadays, the same circumstances could also apply for different cases of affliction or trouble. It should always be remembered that, in the verses of the Qur'an, our Lord revealed that the hearts of these people, who prefer to preserve their worldly goods rather than embarking on a job that could lead them to gain Allah's consent, and at a time when Muslims needed their assistance and support, are sealed.

Sincerely Desires to be Purified

One of the most important characteristics of any true and sincere believer is that he honestly desires and strives to be purified from all kinds of attitudes and moral defects forbidden in the Qur'an, in order to attain the level of morality pleasing to Allah. Humans are prone to make mistakes. Yet, Allah announces in the subsequent verse that He has inspired the human soul not only with the limits of sin and evil, but also of ways to avoid them.

Any true believer with the fear of Allah in his heart aims to be purified from the evil side of his soul. He strives to attain the level of the sublime morality defined in the Qur'an, by making proper use of his conscience and intelligence. Any serious effort made by someone, who sincerely desires to be cleansed, is an indication of his "true faith and purification."

Only one who has absolute faith in Allah and the hereafter would attempt to dissipate the evil side of his soul. Otherwise, he would prefer to deny the existence of his evil side and prevent it from becoming known to others. He would hope that no one would be aware of it. Though, Allah has the best knowledge concerning both the inside and the exterior of everyone. Allah is aware of the most secret of secrets. On the Day of Judgment, all the deeds done by each person will come to light. The sincere believers, who are aware of this fact, are recognized by their struggle against their inner-self (an-nafs). In the Qur'an, this feature of theirs is defined as follows:

Makes a Concerted Effort and "Ever-abiding" Good Works

In the following verse Allah announces that the ever-abiding good works are better in reward and expectation with Him:

These acts also are important indicators of one's sincerity and purity. Some people are capable of performing good deeds, not because they are fearful of Allah, but they would like to gain worldly honor or admiration in the eyes of people. For instance, one may send his furniture or clothes to those left homeless and in need as a result of an earthquake. He may lend a helping-hand to his neighbors, or behave in a kind, compassionate and considerate manner. He may also be friendly, tender and understanding towards his employees. He may be respectful and tolerant of his elders. If necessary, he may be self-sacrificing, taking part in activities organized by aid institutions. These are certainly good deeds. However, what is really important is the constancy and patience shown while behaving in such ethical behavior. Throughout his life, any Muslim who has purified himself should lend a helping-hand to anyone in need, without regard for people's opinions of him. These efforts made only to gain Allah's consent also serve to prove the extent of their sincerity. However, if the said person fails to lead the remaining part of his life by complying with the above-mentioned morality, and to behave in a similar self-sacrificing and devout manner, then the purity he would have achieved while performing other deeds becomes vulnerable.

Likewise, there may be some people in ignorant societies who are capable of performing such good deeds even though they do not admit to believing in Allah. However, they do not perform these acts because of their fear of Him or in hope of the hereafter. They aim to gain some worldly rewards and benefits, whether large or small. For instance, they may have helped the earthquake survivors just to dispose of their unwanted items of furniture and clothing. Again, the respect he shows towards his elders may merely be the result of the influence of cultural traditions. Similarly, he may be treating his employees in a friendly manner in order to win them over to gain more prestige at work and thus a better income. He may be contributing his help to aid organizations to gain esteem and respect in society. In order to be able to assert for certain that these deeds derive out of the fear of Allah and the superior morality commanded by Allah, the said person would have to use the same effort in each and every moment of his life, and to continually behave in compliance with the Qur'an. The importance of calling on Allah "morning and evening," all day, "ever-abidingly" is emphasized as follows:

If one sincerely believes in the existence of Allah and of the hereafter, then he will in no way be capable of acting otherwise. Hence, such a person knows for certain that he will be accountable for each moment lived in this world, and will be worthy of eternal life in Paradise only if he leads a life complying with Allah's consent. Consequently, he hastens to do good deeds in order to gain Allah's consent with each of his acts, words and attitudes. By questioning "What more can I do?", "How should I behave in order to gain Allah's consent and mercy?", "Which of my manners do I have to correct in order to behave in a more ethical manner?" he strives hard. Likewise, it was announced in the Qur'an that the behavior of those striving, as they ought to strive, are worthy of a great reward. The verses maintain:

Aside from Acts of Worship, Continuously Strives to be Righteous

Allah highlights in many verses of the Qur'an that divine morality should be applied to every part of the life of a true believer. One must live as a Muslim, speak as a Muslim, and think as a Muslim, from the moment he opens his eyes in the morning to the moment he falls asleep at night. He should aim for purity and intend to always act sincerely and honestly towards Allah, and to make the best possible use of his will and conscience to this end.

However, some people struggle to limit religion to certain specific rites. They believe that one's spiritual life should be separated from their worldly one. Somehow, they find this idea logical and even sensible. They remember Allah and the hereafter only when they practice their prayers, fast, give alms to the poor, or perform pilgrimage (hajj). At other times, they become carried away by the confusion and complexity of the worldly affairs. Because they forget Allah and the reward that they will receive on the Day of Judgment, they become unconcerned about gaining Allah's consent and fail to strive to this end.

They do not consider that they are also expected to think religiously while walking on the street, eating their meals, working in the office, engaging in sports, conversing with others, pursuing a commercial transaction, watching television, talking of politics and listening to music, etc. As they assume that these are merely worldly matters, they tend to believe that their plans too should therefore be worldly. Yet, one could live perfectly in compliance with the morality of the Qur'an and attain sincerity while engaged in these matters. He can show an interest in his duties and be attentive while conversing with others, having his meals, engaging in sports, attending his school or work, doing the cleaning, watching television and listening to music. Yet, he must strive to obtain Allah's blessing while performing all these activities.

All manners that please Allah are explained clearly and in detail in many verses of the Qur'an. Many details concerning how to be just and fair in trading, not resorting to methods to obtain unjust earnings, to give full measure and full weight etc. are clarified in the Qur'an. When a person lives with the fear of Allah and acts in light of these verses, he is doing trade in compliance with Allah's consent and sincerity. Similarly, refraining from profane talk, not remaining silent while others disparage the Qur'an, and speaking truthfully and with wisdom are all components of this sublime morality mentioned in the Qur'an. Therefore, no one should form the wrong opinion that religion comprises only certain religious rites and that sincerity can only be attained by performing these rites. Due to the complexity of our worldly lives, people are liable to be engaged in many different matters. What is important is that one should always be with Allah in his heart, seek Allah's consent in his every action, never sacrifice the morality of the Qur'an, and guard his purity.

Is Even-tempered, Sincere and Reliable

One who consistently aims to act sincerely will often be found to be good-natured and genuine. Such a person, who only considers Allah's consent, and who does not seek any worldly rewards, could never be phoney, insincere or unnatural. He is well-mannered in behavior, appearance and speech. As he would not strive to gain influence over people, or be overly ambitious, he will be likeable, making others feel at ease with him. As he would aim only to obtain Allah's consent, he will be well aware that any feigned disposition aimed at gaining influence over people will damage his integrity. He will be comfortable and at peace in the knowledge that Allah is his only friend and guardian.

One who firmly guards his purity and sincerity, may hope that Allah will accept each of his deeds as pious and reward him with a bountiful recompense, both in this world and in the hereafter.