Sheikh Belal Assaad
Assalamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh
All praise and gratitude are due to Allah SWT. May the blessings and peace of Allah SWT be upon His Messenger PBUH.
Dear brother/sister,
Two quick and effective strategies in dealing with intentions and sincerity in good deeds are as follows:
1. Practice doing voluntary goods deeds in secret and promise yourself never to tell anyone about them. For example: Go online and donate a few dollars and stay anonymous, pray some voluntary prayers in private, help someone etc. But before you do them, prepare yourself by promising yourself that these are special acts which you will only keep between you and Allah SWT. The more you do this, the more you will feel it easy to not show off your good deeds in other areas.
2. After you do a good deed, and you slip by mentioning it with intention of showing off, privately say to Allah SWT the following words: “O Allah, please do not hold me accountable for the praise I have received from this. Forgive the secret sins I have committed which they do not know about, that had they known about I would be humiliated. And make me better than the compliments they assume of me.”
Both the above have proven very effective in the long run, and will save your good deeds, by Allah’s Will and Mercy.
And Allah knows best.