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What is the ruling on doing good deeds with worldly intentions and then repenting?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is permissible to perform acts that are not purely devotional – such as giving gifts, presents, and maintaining ties of kinship – with the intention of a worldly benefit, and there is no reward or punishment for them. The doer is rewarded if they intend them as a means of drawing closer to Allah. As for purely devotional acts, sincerity of intention for Allah is a prerequisite for them. One who performs them for worldly gains or out of ostentation is sinful and must repent if they intended other than Allah thereby. One who repents from a sin is like one who has no sin. Among sins is committing a sin with the intention of repenting from it, due to not being guaranteed Allah's deferment.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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