Altruism

I had a group of GCSE students in the mosque the other day. Nothing out of the ordinary, but one of the boys asked a question and it is not the first time that I heard it.

"Isn't a person who does something just because it is good not expecting any reward better than a person who does something because they want Allah to reward them with paradise."

So my response was something like this:

This is a good question, and its not the first time I have heard it asked. I rather suspect that it's one of those arguments put forward by secular humanism that seems to be popular these days.

My answer to this is from two angles.

The first is that I don't believe that there is any such thing as a truly selfless act. It is true a believer is seeking God's pleasure and His paradise, but even a person who is doing good for no other reason than it is good gets something from that. For example, they get a feeling of satisfaction, a sense perhaps of being noble and just and fair and good . The conscience is satiated. So this is in no way selfless. In fact it could even be argued that this is the ultimate in selfishness. Such a person puts themselves at the centre of the universe. Indeed, such an attitude could even breed arrogance and pride! Hardly "good" characterisitics. As for the believer, God is the centre of all. No good deed is ever accomplished except by the grace of God and an essential component of the deed is that it is done with the pure intention to please God alone. So arguably the believers act is truely more selfless, although he or she still hopes to gain something from it.

The second angle is, who defines what is good? If this person doing good just because it was good was a Fascist in Nazi Germany then herding Jews into gas chambers would make him a highly commended individual. Even recently we can see some Serbs have virtually canonized Slobadan Milosovich. I have even seen paintings of him with a halo and wings like an angel, yet he was responsible for the murder, rape and torture of thousands of Bosnian Muslims. Can we accept that this is good? I think not. So it comes back to this essential matter, who decides?

In Islam there is an absolute standard of morality that has been determined by the Creator. In fact, it is for God alone to determine what is good and evil, right and wrong. Allah, unlike humans, has no vested interest. Allah does not need our obedience and worship. He is self-sufficient, free of wants and needs. What is revealed by way of guidance is because He knows from His perfect wisdom that that is best us.

He thought it was a good answer!

Comments

[iMuslim]

Assalamu alaykum,

Mashallah, that was a good answer.

I think the hardest question to answer is why do non-Muslims who do good deeds, even for the sake of God (e.g., Jews, Christians etc), still go to Hell simply for rejecting Islam (and dying in this state)?

It is an easy question to answer from an Islamic perspective: disbelief in or associating partners with God cancels out the goodness of any deed.

I often think of it in terms of the Scale that will weigh our deeds on the Day of Judgment. Every good and bad deed has a "weight" which is denoted by the importance Allah has placed on that deed. If the deed is very significant in Allah's view, then the weight of that deed is heavy in the scales. Just as belief in Allah is the best of good deeds and thus weighs heaviest in the scale, disbelief is the worst of bad deeds, and too will weigh heaviest in the scale. In fact, disbelief in Allah is SO heavy, that no number of good deeds will ever outweigh it, and thus the balance will always be shifted towards Jahannam.

This analogy however doesn't explain why Allah hates disbelief so much.

I have my ideas based on what Allah has said in the Qur'an, but i do not wish to go into detail in case i am speaking without knowledge, which i do too often! Astagfirullah.

Do you have a good response to this question?

Wa'salam

ARGcomment: I do have some answers for this, it is a very good and important question. Inshallah, I will deal with it. In the mean time you might find another article I wrote on this blog useful. It s called "Do good people go to hell!", look for it under the "Uncomfortable Questions" section.

[Zimarina]

I too thought your response was just dandy aswell alhamdulillah..

In fact, my first instinct is to say there is no such thing as true altruism as much as it might be painted as some ideal pinnacle of humanity. Too often, it's the new-age secular humanists/athiests/give me a new title-ists etc trying to rid the notion of 'self' from our disposition and actions; this is not only dishonest, but completely illogical.

We are so strongly warned against riyaa even for good deeds we commit secretly for the pleasure of Allah (swt)- even INTERNAL riyaa, subhana'Allah because Allah (swt) knows the nature of man- we are so needy and flimsy at times that self-satisfaction is a very strong motivating factor, even when we appear outwardly selfless.

Also- it's quite difficult to explain concepts like these to those who have no conception of Tawheed, those who don't understand that the only pleasure worth striving for is the pleasure of Allah (swt) and that we will not be able to avail EACH OTHER on the Day when it really matters..That warm fuzzy feeling we got from helping Old Gladys across the road will mean diddly squat if it wasn't intended for a higher purpose.

Having said this, even as a Muslim it takes time to really grasp and get your head around as it branches off into issues of intentions and sincerity and we're in whole new arenas there. I have to say, mash'Allah mash'Allah that's something that you (no, not everyone reading- but Abdur Raheem) really helped me understand and may Allah (swt) reward you abundantly for it. Ameen.

Gosh, this blog is like therapy for me!! Next comment subject: the day my guinea pig died dun dun dunnnn :O

[AnonyMouse]

As-salaamu 'alaikum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatu,

It's funny that I came across this... because in the past, and even recently, this was something I used to wonder about...
A part of me used to think, isn't it sort of selfish that we do some things only because we want Allah to reward us for it, instead of doing it straight from the heart?

Of course, I got over that - al-Hamdulillah - but it was something I puzzled over for quite a while... reading your answer made it even clearer for me, al-Hamdulillaah! :)

JazakAllahu khairan! :)

[Yahya]

Ye G phat answer. Classic as usual.

[Umber]

Really interesting question and interesting answer too masha'Allah! I do have something to say about it but as usual its in my head and im not sure how to put into words so that it makes sense lol! Anyways when and if I figure it out ill be back to comment more but over all that was a really inetersting read alhamdulillah! Also are you doing anything on the 25th December in the masjid? Im urgently looking for a Xmas alternative which is close by!

[Tarek Anchassi]

Asalaamu aleikom

You could also add:

1) Doing a deed for other than the sake of Allah is a misdeed
2) How can one expect any reward from Allah when he neither believed in Him, nor did he do good deeds for His Sake- on the Day of Judgement, the Mushrikeen will be told to seek reward from those they worshipped (and they won't be able to)
3)If one loves Allah, then he will do what He orders- doing what is good is not "selfish"

ARGcomment: Nice additions Tarek, mashallah! I covered some of this in a previous post "do good people go to hell." (under Uncomfortalbe Questions)

[S. Roqayah]

Aslmkm ARG,
The boy was asking about the rewards from doing good rather than the act of doing good itself so his question is more about sincerity rather than selfishness/selflessness. I personally think that the answer would simply be: We don’t know! It is up to Allah to judge a person as better than the other. The only thing that we are allowed to analyze is that no matter what people claim the goals of their deeds are, the important thing is they do good instead of bad. He also needs to be informed that Allah's rewards are important to keep us humble. People need guidance NOT intimidation and labeling them as selfish with hardly good characteristics, arrogant, and proud, is just plain cruel. Moreover, I just don’t see how people can be judged as if they have committed the ultimate crime to being selfish, arrogant and proud just because they feel content about themselves from doing good deeds. I believe that it is God’s given rights to all mankind to feel satisfied, noble, just, fair and good whenever we do good. God created us like so and He commanded us that we should, regardless of some people's claims to desire His rewards or not. We should feel satisfied bcz Allah is satisfied with our deeds, we should feel noble bcz Allah loves us for our nobility, we should feel just and fair bcz Allah adores our just and fairness to others, so on and so forth. So, when true believers, who put God in the center of all, do good deeds, they too will feel satisfied, noble, just, and fair. Does this mean that they have put themselves at the centre of the universe for feeling the same way as those who claimed to wish none of His rewards? Does that also mean that they have impurities in their intentions to please Allah? Or perhaps you think just bcz they are such true believers they will not feel any of those feeling when they do good?! I highly doubt it!
Salam

ARGcomment: I think i clearly said that it might lead to arrogance, pride etc...not that it certainly would. And I wasn't talking about believers anyway, I was talking about humanists/atheists.

[Siti Roqayah]

Assalamualaykum,

Hello ARG, I just want to wish you Ramadhan mubarak. I also want to apologize if some of my foolish comments may have hurt your feelings. May you have a blessed Ramadhan brother, inshaallah. Peace be with you and your wonderful family. Salam

ARGcomment: Ameen. May Allah bless us all.

[Siti Roqayah]

To the Atheist/humanist reply: Fair enough!
My internet provider is acting up again so I didn’t see your reply before I posted my last one. It's weird and truly annoying because I'm in the middle of working on my project. May Allah make my computer run faster. Amin :)

[Noamaan Mohammed Khan]

Salaam bro!! I read ur reply and it satisfied me!! I loved this section(uncomforta....ques.)!! I wish u Ramadhan mubarak! Brother, may Allah reward u with paradise. I sometimes cry when i think of u and the way u came to Islam. I feel that i'm not close to Allah as much as u are, cuz i did not struggle to find the path......it was on my way! I feel my iman is weak and i'm sometimes affraid that i may fall into evil! Please remember me in your dua' and may Allah make this month a month of goodness and a guide for me, as a source to grow in my imaan! May Allah guide all of us to the truth. I also wish ramadhan mubarak to all those who read this, assalam alaikum!!

[Amr]

As-salam

Ok well i have a question about a hadith of the prophet. "one of you has not really beleived, untill you want for your brother what you want for yourself."
Isnt that an expression of altruism?
It seems that wishing for a brother, gets you nothing at all and is not self-serving in any way: Altruism

ARGcomment: errr...ok with all respect I think you need to read my article again. You certainly DO get something. You'll get the pleasure of Allah, which will bring peace and tranquility and blessings into your life, and of course paradise inshallah..which is not quite nothing.

[heat pump reviews]

It's pretty lucky to find your webblog!Just one suggestion: It will be better and easier to follow if your blog can offer rrs subscription service.

ARGcomment: I'll look into it.