So, I am at a loss… I have heard varied views regarding this issue, which is not exactly an issue but it will be great if someone can elucidate on it.
I mean when I pray, I do not think about the reward alone; when I do anything good, I somehow feel that there should not be any element of greed , any motive behind it. By that I mean why does one need to think of sawab all the time. But in reality one’s acts are sub-consciously guided by the dichotomy: jaza and saza… the reward and the fear of God’s wrath.
And I know pretty well too that there is so much emphais on ‘sawab’ from God’s side on whatever good we do which goes on to prove that we should strive for good inorder to get the promised reward from Allah the Almighty… But then again, there is some guilty feeling that somehow surfaces/re whenever I think of this whole issue.
What do you guys think about it? Is this the right kind of mindset?
I know what you mean lost soul, let me see if I can come up with some stuff that will better explain how I concluded on this issue. It may take me a little time.
I hear you yaar. The following hadith on the importance of intention makes things even more difficult for me , Im struggling with this issue as well.
'Umar b. al-Khattab narrated that the Prophet (S) said: Deeds are [a result] only of the intentions [of the actor], and an individual is [rewarded] only according to that which he intends. Therefore, whosoever has emigrated for the sake of Allah and His messenger, then his emigration was for Allah and His messenger. Whosoever emigrated for the sake of worldly gain, or a woman [whom he desires] to marry, then his emigration is for the sake of that which [moved him] to emigrate." Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim.
Quran 55:59 Is the reward of goodness aught save goodness?
this is what Allah says in the Quran....
a good deed deserves a good reward....
and then Allah mentions who this reward is for.....
Quran 2:112 whosoever surrenders his will to Allah while doing good, his reward is with his Lord....
and that is what the intention shud be when doing good....
to seek Allah's pleasure by doing a good deed....
this is what the prophets mindset was....
it ihas been reported on more than one occasion, and for more than one prophet, (e.g. 10:72, 11:29, 11:51, 26:109, 26:127....) "O my people! I ask of you no reward for this. My reward is from none but Allah
also it is reported about Ali bin Abu Talib (ra), and his wife Fatima bint Muhammad (ra).... Quran 76:8-9
*And they feed, for the love of Allah, the indigent, the orphan, and the captive,-
(Saying),"We feed you for the sake of Allah alone: no reward do we desire from you, nor thanks. *
and this is exactly how we shud think when we do any good deed....
Indeed, 2 Good, true that ,'Ina ma al aamalu Bin niyaat' Aamaal ka daroo madaar niyaton par hai... Sometimes it becomes mindboggling too. But I firmly believe somehow that even if we perform certain act solely for Allah; we will be given something in turn... as Armughal also quoted. I mean a good deed ultimately translates/transforms into a reward whether we have that intention or not...
I do not know whether I make sense or not but well.. Munni we will be waiting for your response too :-)