The word · The heart
الإِخْلَاص
Ikhlas
Doing an act for Allah alone, with no eye on who else is watching.
Also written · Ikhlaas · Iklas · Ikhlass · Ekhlas · Ihlas · Sincerity · Purity of intention · Mukhlis · Sincere intention · Doing things for Allah
The meaning
What Ikhlas means in Islam
The word means to make something pure, with nothing mixed into it. The Qur'an says people were commanded only to worship Allah, sincerely devoting religion to Him (Qur'an 98:5), and the Prophet peace be upon him said actions are only by intentions, in Bukhari and Muslim. Ikhlas is not a feeling you generate before an act. It is what is left of the act when the praise does not arrive.
Evidence · Qur’an · Stated directly in the Qur’an
Read beside it
Rooms that name it
- He cupped his hands, recited three suras, and wipedA Light · Aisha · Madinah, nightly
- Surah Al-IkhlasSurah 112 · The Sincerity
- Surah Az-ZumarSurah 39 · The Groups
Words that sit beside it
- Riya'Performing worship so that people will see it, which empties the act of its reward.الرِّيَاء
- NiyyahThe intention in the heart that turns an ordinary act into an act of worship.نِيَّة
- 'UjbSelf-admiration: being impressed by your own good deed as though you produced it alone.العُجْب
- SidqTruthfulness: that your words, your intentions and your actions all report the same thing.الصِّدْق
More from The heart
- 'AfwPardon: dropping a wrong you are owed, without the other person having to earn it.العَفْو
- GhaflahHeedlessness: not the denial of the truth, but the habit of never getting round to it.الغَفْلَة
- Kaba'irMajor sins: the ones the texts single out with a punishment, a curse, or a warning of the Fire.الكَبَائِر
- MuraqabahLiving with the awareness that Allah sees you, at the moment you are acting.المُرَاقَبَة
- SabrHolding yourself steady under what is hard, without complaint to creation and without giving up.الصَّبْر
- TafakkurDeliberate reflection on creation and on your own life, treated as an act of worship.التَّفَكُّر