I know in Islam that when we perform sunnah, we are paid, and when we don’t perform sunnah, well, we are not punished. But here is a question. When you don’t, what sunnah? When we perform sunnah, we are paid. Paid? Yeah. Rewarded, you mean? Yes, yes. Quite right. Now, I would like to know, somebody is passing, is hungry, I give him food. And? I give him food. Somebody who is hungry. I don’t know him. So in that way, I’m sure that I’m paid by Allah.
Now, and there is also another person who doesn’t believe in Allah, but also he has fed somebody else who was having the same hunger as that one whom I’ve served, and with the same quantity. Is that somebody who is not a believer, or who is not? Yes, I have got your question. Now, tell me, if I ask someone to go and open the door, he may do it, right? And if you ask somebody to go and open the door, he also may do it. The function which is performed will be the same. In the latter case, will I reward him, who has gone at your bidding, or will you reward him? If I ask someone to go and open the door, will you reward him, or will I reward him? No. Who is going to reward him, pay him for this? I or you?
Well, he has rendered service, but… No, just a minute. I ask this gentleman to go and do something, some bidding, which I ask him to do. After that, can he turn to you for reward? Because I followed him, so you reward me? No. No? Why not? I’ll pay word of thanks to him. Pardon? I’ll pay word of thanks to him. No, no. If he has done something at my bidding, for my sake, if he has done something for my sake, will you reward him? Why should you? I’m responsible for that. Yes, exactly, exactly. So if somebody does something for Allah’s sake, it is Allah to reward him. If he does not do anything for Allah’s sake, he is least concerned, like you are. Yes. Now, I’ve done something for somebody. Yes? On behalf of… On what? On behalf of yourself, or on behalf of God? On behalf of myself, so that Allah… So you should reward yourself? So that Allah can… No, no, why should Allah be concerned with this? No, no, that is not the point.
I have made it very clear by demonstrating to him, that whoever does something for the sake of somebody, that somebody it is who is responsible for the reward. Not everybody else. So this is why the very first tradition noted in the holy Bukhari is that the actions will be judged according to intentions. Whichever intention you may have, the same action may be behind so many intentions, but the result of the same action will be different, it will depend upon the intention. For instance, I do something for the sake of a relative of mine, somebody else does the same thing for the sake of the state, another person does exactly the same thing for the sake of a friend. In each case, the reward or love, whatever be the expectation, should be directed differently.
If I do something for your sake, you should give me reward. If I am expecting love in return, you should love me. If I do it for the sake of somebody else, he should do it, not you. As you yourself said, you will be least concerned. So whatever you do for the sake of God, for that reward is due to him. Whatever you do for your own sake or whatever else sake you may please, whatever you may believe, it is not for God to reward you for such things. Well, to be more clear, I am trying to say that, I am just giving an example in Ethiopia, just one example. People, sometimes back home, even up to now, they are dying of hunger.
Now, an example that, an Ahmadi, we have contributed towards the help at that end, and that helped us going there. It has helped to some extent. Now, also another group. The Russians did it. The Russians also did it. And the Americans also did it. And Europeans, yes. So now my question is here, where it comes in that way. I would like to know whether here Allah looks in such a process that the Muslims are helping, the communists… No, it’s not that simple, as you put it. Allah looks at the actions right at the very source where they begin. So Allah knows whether a Christian or a Hindu or a Muslim or whatever he be, is doing it for the sake of pleasing Allah, or for some other reason.
If that person or that people do it for the sake of gaining some political strength, political popularity or world opinion and so on, Allah will not be concerned with paying them any reward at all. Why should he? But if he knows that if a Christian or a Hindu or any person following any religion who believes in God, does it for his sake, to please him, then Allah will be concerned. The Prophet ﷺ has made such things manifestly clear in so many ways. You know, he illustrates things to us so beautifully that he just reaches the very root of things. He explains the philosophy of things. At one time he said, if you put a morsel into the mouth of your wife, that can be out of love for your wife. A mouthful of something, some food, you directly feed your wife with, you know.
Be very courteous to them. So suddenly you think this is also a way of pleasing Allah. So you take a mouthful of something and feed it to your wife directly. He said in the first instance there will be no reward, only the love would be the reward. In the second instance there will be two rewards in reality. Allah would be pleased, of course. Plus the love would come automatically. Because whether you do it for the sake of Allah or for other’s sake, the very act would produce some love in the heart of your wife. So, why not gain the most? Why be happy with the least? So you should always improve your intentions, which are behind every act you have. To an extent that you draw the greatest benefit out of that. You reap the biggest harvest for the same labour.
An intelligent farmer, for instance, he puts into earth the same amount of seeds as an unintelligent or unhardworking person may do. So the harvest is so different. In some cases even the seed is not returned. In other cases it fills the coffers with money and things, you know. So this is what Allah wants us to do. Allah wants us to get the very best of our actions by directing our intentions in the right direction and have always a bearing towards Allah so that for each thing we do, even in normal life, we are rewarded by Allah. But there are others who do apparently good acts, as you have mentioned, but their ulterior motives are not in reality good. They do it for their own sake or for the sake of showing off or for the sake of certain other things.
They do it egotistically. Not by way of helping others but helping themselves in this sense that they want to show off or bind other people under strings and so on. So for that there will not be any reward from Allah. In some cases there could even be punishment for such expenditures.
