Deed & Motive

                            “Or has he not been informed of what

                             is in the scrolls of Moses, and Abraham

                             who fulfilled (his summons) that no

                             bearer of burdens shall be made to bear

                             another’s burden; and that man shall

                             have only what he (himself) strives for;

                             and that his endeavor will be seen, then

                             he will be rewarded for it with the fullest

                             reward; and that the ultimate end is

                             toward your Lord” (53: 36-42)

A deed is an action or performance done by a person and motive is the reason for a certain course of action.

In the Islamic faith, the very existence of mankind is with a certain purpose: to make all our deeds in accordance with our submission, obedience, love and devotion to God, the Creator. This is the overall purpose, however in details we have many purposes, which have the one and unique purpose mentioned above, and that is the motive of all our actions or deeds. For example: we have to eat, to drink, to wear clothes and to find shelter in order to meet our bodily needs. We have to take care of our family and the disabled and the needy. We have to interact with others in the society, because every individual needs the service of the other.

As we talk about deed, we come to the aspect of intention. Intention is something that you want and plan to do. Prophet Muhammad (God’s blessings upon him) said: “The value of deeds depends upon the intentions, and every person will get out of his deed only what he intended for” (Narrated by Umar bin Khattab, and recorded by Al-Bukhari and Muslim in their Collections of Hadith).

After that we come to sincerity. Sincerity is the freedom from deceit, hypocrisy or falseness.  

The Prophet (God’s blessings upon him) said: “True faith is sincerity, true faith is sincerity, true faith is sincerity!” Hearing that from the Prophet, and by repeating his saying three times, the audience asked him: to whom, o Messenger of God? He said: “To God, to His Book, to His Messenger, to any responsible person among you, and to everybody”. (Quoted by Muslim in his “Collection of Hadith” and by An-Nasaie in his “Sunan”).

Realizing that a deed or a performance, good or bad, is not necessarily an easy thing to do, however most things can be recognized as good or bad by everybody. Sadly, we have seen through human history and even now, in many corners of the world, men and institutions with great power spreading corruption and creating disorder, with the slogans of reformation. God has described them in the Qur’an as follows: “And when it is said to them: do not spread disorder on the earth; they say: we are but reformers. Truly, they are the makers of corruption, but they perceive not”  (2:11-12).

For a person who has faith in God, there is a reference that helps evaluate the quality of a deed or a performance, and that is God’s ordinances. Human beings should evaluate with knowledge, which is a gift from God. But many people do evaluate things without knowledge, as God says: “They do not have any knowledge thereof. They follow nothing but conjecture, and indeed conjecture can never substitute for the truth” (53:28).

And because God gives to mankind a little of this knowledge, and gradually, it cannot contain everything totally. God said in the Qur’an: “.. and you have not given of the knowledge only a little” (17:85). Thus, the right and complete guidance can come only from God who has the complete and true knowledge of everything.

 We are ordered by God to be sincere in our deeds and speech and we are told that each person will take the responsibility of what he does in this worldly life:

 “And every human being’s destiny have We tied to his neck; and on the Day of Resurrection We shall bring forth for him a record which he will find wide open; (and he will be told:) Read this your record! Sufficient is your own self today to make out your account!” (17:13-14).

It means that the destiny of each person depends upon his conduct during his life time: “Whoever follows the guidance, he is guided only for the good of his own self; and whoever goes astray, goes astray only to its detriment; and no bearer of burdens shall be made to bear another’s burden..” (17: 15).

To conclude, I would say: only God’s guidance may define the good deed, because good deed is a way of “worshiping” God. And God says: “So, anyone who looks forward (with hope and awe) to meeting his Lord (on Judgment Day), let him do righteous deed and let him not associate anyone in this worship due to his Lord” (18:110).