If you claim to be a believer, then you must put forward the necessary actions and comply with their requisites.
If you’re not applying the practices necessitated by your faith and not living with the viewpoint and conduct that befits a believer, then you’re only deluding yourself.
This delusion is not going to be of any benefit to you in the future.
Your actions reflect your intention – whether or not it is for the sake of Allah.
All relations that aren’t for the sake of Allah are bound to end and result in regret one day.
What does ‘for the sake of Allah’ mean though?
It is to be true to yourself; to live by your essential reality!
It is to live by the morals of Allah and to evaluate all things and beings based on the reality of Allah.
It is to strive to aid others towards Allah so the pleasure of Allah can become apparent on them.
A relation for the sake of Allah means to be with someone who shares this same purpose.
Being subject to divine wrath is nothing other than being blind to Allah as one’s essential reality! To assume Allah’s wrath is simply to burn in hell in the future; thus, failing to see the very wrath to which one is currently subject is a clear indication of this. Who can be in more wrath than one who is oblivious to the reality of Allah in his essence? The very failure to recognize and live by this is the greatest torment and punishment one can experience.
Thus, to recap, living for the sake of Allah is the natural necessity and result of being a believer, if we’ve been blessed with faith! As such, we must forego all forms of hypocrisy, stand by and advise the truth, and be patient with the results. We must refrain from preaching what we don’t practice ourselves and practice what we preach! We must not acquiesce with our environment at the expense of our faith! We must not deify things that give us emotional and bodily pleasures, but rather live by the principles of our faith in Allah, as the verse reminds us:
“That which is with Allah is better than entertainment and trade... Allah is the best of providers!”[1]
12.7.98
New Jersey – USA