YOUR ACTIONS SHOULD BE FOR SAKE OF ALLAH (S.T.)

Jan 16, '13 11:26 AM for everyone

Your actions should be for the sake of Allah only. Only then will you get the result you deserve.  In the time of Prophet Musa (A) there lived a pious man, who used to remember Allah day and night. One day this man heard about a tree which was being worshipped by some people. This news made him so angry that he went to find the tree and chop it down. As the man reached the tree Shaitan appeared in front of the man disguised as an old man. Shaitan asked the old man what he was going to do. The old man said that this tree was being worshipped by some people, so he was going to chop it down. Shaitan asked the old man that if Allah wanted the tree to be chopped, would He not have sent a Prophet to do it. The pious man did not listen. They began to argue and shout at each other until finally they began fighting. The pious man managed to knock Shaitan down on to the floor and sat on him. Shaitan begged him to let him go and told him that he had thought of a solution which would help the man in this world and the next. The man listened. Shaitan continued that he would pay the man 2 Dinars everyday, of which the man could partly spend on himself and partly on the poor. In exchange the man should leave the tree uncut till Allah commanded whether it was right or wrong to cut it. The pious man was misled by Shaitan. He thought the suggestion was a good one and agreed. The next day when the pious man woke up he found 2 Dinars under his pillow. He was delighted and spent some on himself and some on the poor. But the following day there was no money to be found. This made him very angry, so he again took his axe and went to cut the tree. On reaching the tree he again met Shaytan disguised as an old man, who asked him what he had come to do. The pious man replied that he had come to chop down the tree. To which Shaitan answered that he had no power to do this and it was better for him to go back home. They again fought but this time Shaitan succeeded in overpowering the pious man and knocked him down. The pious man was very surprised and asked Shaitan why it was that last time they fought he managed to overpower him but this time he could not. Shaitan replied that it was because the first time they fought the man had come for the sake of Allah only, but the second time the man had come for the sake of money.  Moral: If you do something for the sake of Allah only, then Allah will give you special strength to carry it out. (Anecdote from the life of Imam Ali (A))