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Conditions for the Acceptance of Good Deeds The deeds of slaves will not be accepted unless two conditions are met: 1st Condition: Sincerity, i.e. the deeds must be done sincerely for the sake of Allah. Allah says: And they were commanded not but that they should worship Allah, and worship none but Him Alone (abstaining from ascribing partners to Him) and perform As-Salat and give Zakat: and that is the right Deen. (98:5) Allah, the Exalted, says in the Hadeeth Qudsi15F 16: ‘I have no need for partners. Whoever does a deed while associating partners with Me, I would leave him and his Shirk.' (Muslim #2985) 2nd Condition: To follow the example of the Prophet ﷺ; i.e. to observe the act of worship the way he did. This condition would not be correct unless six things are considered: a. Reason for the act of worship: If a person worships Allah for a certain reason which is not recognized in the Shari'ah, his action would be considered as a rejected Bid'ah. Example: Some people observe certain acts of worship during the 27th night of Rajab. They claim that the Prophet ﷺ was taken on the Night Journey in this night. Night prayer is a valid act of worship, but the reason it is initiated during this night is not acknowledged in Shari'ah. With this point, one can clearly differentiate between Bid'ah and Sunnah acts. b. Its type: The act of worship should agree with the Shari'ah in its type. If a person worships Allah by an act of worship 16 Hadeeth Qudsi: Its meaning is from Allah, whereas its words are from the Prophet ﷺ. Every Religious Innovation is a Means of Misguidance ___________________________________________________ 39 which is not acknowledged in the Shari'ah it would not be acceptable. Example: If a person slaughters a horse as a sacrificial animal during the month of Dhul-Hijjah (12th month in the Islamic calendar). This person's sacrificial animal would not be accepted because he belied the Shari'ah in this point, since sacrificial animals can only be a camel, cattle, goat or sheep. c. Its steps: If a person wants to perform a prayer while considering it an obligatory prayer, it would not be accepted since the obligatory prayers are known in the Shari'ah. Likewise, if a person prays Dhuhr prayer five units, his prayer would not be accepted. d. Its method: If a person makes wudhu and washes his feet first and then wipes his head, we say that his wudhu is null and void, since one must make wudhu in sequence. e. Its time: If a person sacrifices his sacrificial animal in the first days of Dhul-Hijjah his sacrifice would not be accepted since he did not do it in the appropriate time. f. Its place: If a person makes I'tikaaf in other than a Masjid, his I'tikaaf would not be correct since it should be done in a Masjid.16F 17 

( 17 Al-Ibdaa' fi Kamaal ash-Shar' for Sheik Muhammad b. Uthaimin.)  

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