بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Imām al-Nasā’ī said:
Chapter 24 – One Who Campaigns (in Jihād) Seeking Reward and Renown
ʿĪsā ibn Hilāl al-Himsī informed us, he said: Muhammad ibn Humayr narrated to us, he said: Muʿāwiyah ibn Sallām narrated to us, from ʿIkrimah ibn ʿAmmār, from Shaddād Abū ʿAmmār, from Abū Umāmah al-Bāhilī, he said:
جَاءَ رَجُلٌ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ ، فَقَالَ : أَرَأَيْتَ رَجُلًا، غَزَا يَلْتَمِسُ الْأَجْرَ وَالذَّكْرَ، مَالَهُ؟ ، فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ : «لَا شَيْء لَهُ ، فَأَعَادَهَا ثَلَاثَ مَرَّاتٍ ، يَقُولُ لَهُ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ: لَا شَيْء لَهُ، ثُمَّ قَالَ : إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَقْبَلُ مِنَ الْعَمَلِ ، إِلَّا مَا كَانَ لَهُ خَالِصًا، وابْتَغِي به وجهة
A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: “What do you think about a man who campaigns (in jihād) seeking reward and renown—what (reward) is there for him?” So the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) said: “There is nothing for him.” He repeated it three times, (and) the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) was saying to him: “There is nothing for him.” Then he said: “Indeed Allāh does not accept from any deed except that which was (intended) purely for Him and through which His Face was sought.” (Sunan al-Nasā’ī 26/202-203 with Imām Al-Ithyūbīs commentary, who declared it Sahīh. Also declared Hasan Sahīh by Imām Al-Albānī in his checking, and authenticated in al-Sahīhah #52)
Explanation
Imām Al-Ithyūbī said:
“…and he said: “What do you think” meaning inform me “about a man who campaigns seeking” meaning requesting “reward” meaning recompense from Allāh The Most-High “and renown” meaning the people’s mention of him for bravery —”what (reward) is there for him?” meaning what thing from the reward is there for him? Does he obtain the reward that he intended from Allāh The Most-High, or is there nothing from it for him? So the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) said: “There is nothing for him,” meaning there is nothing for him from the reward, because of his mixing in his intention. “He repeated it three times” meaning the questioner repeated the question to the Prophet (ﷺ), to confirm this tremendous matter. “The Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) was saying to him: “There is nothing for him,” meaning he answered him that there is nothing from the reward when he mixed with it the intention of renown among the people. ‘Then he said “Indeed Allāh does not accept from any deed except that which was purely for Him“‘ from the impurities of selfish motives “and through which His Face was sought“—with the verb built for the passive voice, meaning that work was done seeking His Face, Glorified and Exalted is He.
This hadīth indicates that the believer will not have his righteous deed accepted from him if he does not intend by it the Face of his Lord, The Mighty and Majestic, and it is the meaning of His statement, The Most-High:
فَمَن كَانَ يَرْجُوا لِقَاءَ رَبِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا وَلَا يُشْرِكْ بعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِ أحداً
“So whoever hopes for the meeting with his Lord, let him do righteous work and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone” [al-Kahf: 110].
If this is the state of the believer, then what will be the condition of the disbeliever in his Lord, if he does not devote his work purely to Him? The answer is in His statement, The Most-High:
وَقَدِمْنَا إِلَى مَا عَمِلُوا مِنْ عَمَلٍ فَجَعَلْتَهُ هَبَاهُ مَّنثُورًا
“And We will proceed to what they have done of deeds and make them as scattered dust” [al-Furqān: 23].
And assuming that some disbelievers intend by their righteous work the Face of Allāh, The Most-High, despite their disbelief, then Allāh The Most-High does not waste that on them, but rather He recompenses them for it in this world. The explicit text from the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) came regarding that, and it is his statement (ﷺ):
إن الله لا يظلم مؤمنا حسنة، يعطى بها – وفي رواية يثاب عليها الرزق في الدنيا – ويُجزى بها في الآخرة، وأما الكافر قيطعم بحسنات ما عمل بها لله في الدنيا، حتى إذا أفضى إلى الآخرة لم يكن له حسنة يجزى بها
“Indeed Allāh does not wrong a believer (for) a good deed—he is given for it—and in (another) narration: he is rewarded for it (with) provision in this world—and he is recompensed for it in the Hereafter. As for the disbeliever, he is fed with the good deeds that he did for Allāh in this world, until when he proceeds to the Hereafter, there will be no good deed for him to be recompensed with.” Narrated by Muslim 135/8 and Ahmad 125/3.
This is the principle in this matter: that the disbeliever is recompensed for his good deed according to the Sharī’ah in this world, so his good deeds do not benefit him in the Hereafter, nor is the punishment lightened for him because of them, let alone that he be saved from it.
This is regarding the good deeds of the disbeliever who dies upon his disbelief as is apparent from the hadīth.
But if he becomes Muslim, then Allāh, Blessed and Most-High, writes for him all his good deeds that he did during his disbelief, and He recompenses him for them in the Hereafter, as many hadīths came regarding that, such as the hadīth of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī in marfūʿ from (i.e. raised to the Prophet):
إذا أسلم العبد ، فحسن إسلامه، كتب الله له كل حسنة كان أزلفها، ومحيت عنه كل سية كان أزلفها، ثم كان بعد ذلك القصاص، الحسنة بعشر أمثالها، إلى سبعمائة ضعف، والسيئة بمثلها إلا أن يتجاوز الله عنها
“When the servant becomes Muslim and his Islām is good, Allāh writes for him every good deed that he had previously done, and every evil deed that he had previously done is erased from him. Then after that is the reckoning: the good deed (counts) for ten like it, up to seven hundred times, and the evil deed (counts) for its like, unless Allāh overlooks it.” A Sahīh hadīth. Mālik narrated it in [his Muwattaʾ], and al-Nasāʾī, and al-Bayhaqī in Shuʿab al-Īmān.” (Sharh Sunan al-Nasā’ī 26/-202-204)
fawaaids.com 