What makes sincerity necessary for every act of worship?
2026-09-21
T56 · Ibn Taymiyyah
Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah
شيخ الإسلام أحمد بن تيمية
Selected explanation · Selected source passage(s) — fully translated
Selected continuous passage; light punctuation normalization has been applied for reading. The English translates every displayed Arabic paragraph; this selection is not the complete surrounding work. Square brackets identify translator-supplied clarification.
النص العربي
المقتطف
وَلِهَذَا قَالَ: {وَيَوْمَ يُنَادِيهِمْ فَيَقُولُ مَاذَا أَجَبْتُمُ الْمُرْسَلِينَ} و {أَيْنَ شُرَكَائِيَ الَّذِينَ كُنْتُمْ تَزْعُمُونَ} هُوَ الشِّرْكُ فِي الْعِبَادَةِ وَهَذَانِ هُمَا الْإِيمَانُ وَالْإِسْلَامُ وَكَانَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقْرَأُ تَارَةً فِي رَكْعَتَيْ الْفَجْرِ سُورَتَيْ الْإِخْلَاصِ وَتَارَةً بِآيَتَيْ الْإِيمَانِ وَالْإِسْلَامِ فَيَقْرَأُ قَوْلَهُ: {آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ إلَيْنَا} الْآيَةُ فَأَوَّلُهَا الْإِيمَانُ وَآخِرُهَا الْإِسْلَامُ وَيَقْرَأُ فِي الثَّانِيَةِ: {قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ تَعَالَوْا إلَى كَلِمَةٍ سَوَاءٍ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ أَلَّا نَعْبُدَ إلَّا اللَّهَ} فَأَوَّلُهَا إخْلَاصُ الْعِبَادَةِ لِلَّهِ وَآخِرُهَا الْإِسْلَامُ لَهُ.
English translation
English translation reviewed against the displayed Arabic by SalafAlSalih editorial preparation (AI-assisted); explanatory additions appear in square brackets or separate notes.
Selected explanation
For this reason He said, “On the day He calls them and says: What answer did you give the messengers?” and, “Where are My partners whom you used to claim?”—this is [a reference to] associating partners in worship. These two matters are faith and Islam. The Prophet, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, would sometimes recite the two chapters of sincerity [al-Kāfirūn and al-Ikhlāṣ] in the two [voluntary] rakʿahs of Fajr, and sometimes the two verses of faith and Islam. He would recite His statement, “We believe in Allah and what has been revealed to us,” to the end of the verse: its beginning concerns faith and its ending Islam. In the second rakʿah he would recite, “Say: O People of the Book, come to a word common between us and you: that we worship none but Allah.” Its beginning concerns devoting worship sincerely to Allah and its ending submitting to Him.
Source and editorial notes
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā 15/105
مجموع الفتاوى
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā
Arabic passage checked against the cited volume and printed page. English reviewed against every displayed Arabic paragraph on 14 October 2026.