We draw the conclusion that that which grants value to man...

We draw the conclusion that that which grants value to man is in reality attentiveness to Allah. If a person remembers Allah, his deeds have been performed for Him but in other than this case, it is not possible for him to do anything for Allah and as a result his acts are not valuable.

Worthwhile Deeds from the Viewpoint of Islam A lot of people imagine that the more value a deed has for the society, the more its spiritual value and the more effective it is for spiritual ascendance and perfection of man. They imagine that a deed that has benefit for human beings has also been done for Allah or has been performed in Allah’s way and for this reason they pay more attention to the ‘bigness’ of a deed.

They say that such and such a person has spent so much from his wealth to build a hospital or mosque. This conception is very superficial. It is true that one of the criteria of a good deed is for it to be beneficial for people, but it is not true that every good deed that is beneficial for the people leads to a person’s perfection.

A deed leads to perfection when, in addition to being beneficial, the motive and intention of the performer of that deed are sound, constructive and totally for the sake of Allah. From the viewpoint of Islam, the standard for a Godly deed that is effective in the spiritual ascendance and perfection of man is not…