How can we observe only Allah’s consent in worship?

- As far as I know, worship should be done for the consent of Allah, rather than with the thought of going to Paradise or Hell.
- However, if I knew for sure that I would not go to Paradise or Hell, I would not worship. After all, I would not be rewarded or punished.
- How can I get rid of this thought?
- How can I worship only by seeking Allah’s consent, without expecting a reward or acting out of fear of punishment?

Dear Brother / Sister,

There are several levels of sincerity in worshippers:

a) The sincerity of those who have no desire other than gaining Allah’s consent, which is the greatest one.

b) The sincerity of the one who worships thinking of the reward and punishment in the hereafter (Paradise and Hell). The condition for its acceptance is “not to do a deed of worship for otherworldly reward, but to regard it only as an encouragement to do that deed of worship.”

That is to say, although the consent of Allah is essential, if the bounties and rewards for performing prayers and avoiding sins are a means of doing that deed of worship or abandoning that sin, and if they encourage a person, inshaallah it will not harm the worship.

The desire to see a result such as getting a reward and getting rid of punishment exists in human nature. For example, if he imagines this desire - while performing a prayer - and prays only for that result, this worship will be either incomplete or reduced to zero.

However, if he keeps that desire in his mind before the prayer and imagines it but acts in a way to gain only the consent of Allah during the prayer, there is no harm in it.

It is a fact that in many verses of the Quran, a connection is established between performing the duties of servitude and gaining reward or getting rid of punishment:

“Those who rest not their hope on their meeting with Us, but are pleased and satisfied with the life of the present, and those who heed not Our Signs; Their abode is the Fire, because of the (evil) they earned. Those who believe, and work righteousness,- their Lord will guide them because of their faith: beneath them will flow rivers in gardens of bliss…” (Yunus, 10/7-9)

In the verses above, a clear connection is established between worldly deeds and their otherworldly results.

The proportions of intentions are also very important. If a person aims to gain Allah’s consent 90%, but has a purpose other than His consent around 10%, he will lose at that proportion.

For example, Imam Ghazali states the following:

“If a person has the intention of ‘fulfilling the requirements of hajj and doing some trade there’ while going on hajj, that person’s reward for the journey will decrease in proportion to his intention. He will gain full thawab of hajj while performing the requirements of hajj - since he does not do trade then. (Ihyau Ulumiddin, Kitabul-Hajj)

It is possible to consider other issues according to this criterion too.

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