Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

My heart feels insincere when I try to get close to Allah, and I want to change. How can I develop sincerity in my relationship with Allah?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

It is important to be critical of your sincerity so as not to let the base human desires sway your intentions.

Your desire to have a relationship with Allah is proof that Allah intends to draw you near to Him.

Allah (Most High) says, “When my servant asks you concerning Me, I am indeed near…” [Quran, 2:186]

That said, there are a few things that one can do to increase in sincerity in their relationship with Allah.

Increasing in Sincerity

1. Supplicate to Allah (Most High) to make you sincere.

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) advised us to say the following supplication three times each day:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ أَنْ أُشْرِكَ بِكَ شَيْئًا وَأَنَا أَعْلَمُهُ، وَأَسْتَغْفِرُكَ لِمَا لَا أَعْلَمُ

“O Allah, I seek refuge in You from associating anything with You knowingly, and I seek Your forgiveness for what I’ve done unknowingly.”
[Haytami, Majma‘ al-Zawa’id]

2. Perform some of your best deeds privately

One of the greatest ways to attain higher degrees of sincerity is to make one’s best good deeds private. Whether it be voluntary prayers, recitation of the Quran, voluntary fasts, charity, or whatever – by keeping it secret and performing it such that no one aside from Allah knows, one will begin to taste the sweetness of sincerity.

This sincerity will then permeate their other deeds, even those done publicly.

3. Setting good intentions before each deed, correcting them in the middle, and seeking Allah’s forgiveness afterward.

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.

He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.

In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.