We know Khalid bin Walid as a formidable war expert, both before he converted to Islam and afterward. Khalid was the leader of the Quraish infidels who repelled the Islamic forces in the Uhud War.
Khalid also appeared as a formidable warlord after converting to Islam. Various wars against the enemies of Islam were won by the Muslims thanks to his leadership, so that he was nicknamed Saifullah (Sword of Allah) because of his expertise to fight to defend the religion of Allah.
It turned out that Khalid was not alone in fighting skills, but also a commendable mental attitude. One of them is his sincerity in jihad to defend religion and Muslims.
It is said, when the Yarmuk War against the Roman army was raging, suddenly a messenger came carrying a letter from the Caliph Umar bin Khattab. The letter contains an order for Khalid bin Walid to resign as warlord and be replaced by Abu Ubaidah.
Without protesting or objecting, Khalid immediately handed over the post to Abu Ubaidah and continued to fight as an ordinary soldier. He was not affected by the change in his position because what had motivated him to do jihad was not the position he held, nor did he want to get an award from Umar or other people, but was simply sincere because of Allah SWT and for the sake of enforcing His sentence (li i'la-i sentenceillah).
Khalid himself said, he fought not because of Umar, but because of Allah.
STORY The popular description of Khalid's mental attitude above contains a sublime message: sincere because Allah must underlie every Muslim in doing good. Today how difficult it is for us to find a figure like Khalid who fights solely for the sake of Allah, not for material gain, popularity, rank, public praise, awards, or "merit stars".
In the world of Sufism, sincerity is included maqam or station which a Sufi needs to go through to get closer to Allah SWT. Sincere is also one of the conditions for the acceptance of our deeds by Allah SWT (accepted). This is based on several verses al-Quran which hints at it.
"Even though they are not commanded except to worship Allah by purifying their obedience (sincere) to Him in practicing religion straightly ..." (QS al-Bayinah: 5, see also QS 4: 146, 7:29, az-Zumar: 2,11, 2: 139, Luqman: 32).
In the above story, Khalid has shown how a person is mukhlis behave. Because his motive for fighting was sincere, he was even willing to put down his high position. He does not care about worldly status and benefits in the form of rank or popularity, because what he is aiming for is the pleasure of Allah.
The opposite is sincere riya, namely wanting to be praised by others. People who do good things but aim to gain worldly benefits such as popularity, praise, etc., that's called joy. And this kind of charity has no value of worship with Allah SWT.
Ikhlas is a mental attitude that makes the pleasure of Allah (mardhatillah) as the only motive and orientation of acts of worship or good deeds. His Word,
"And among humans there are people who sell themselves because they seek the pleasure of Allah; and Allah is Most Merciful to His servants " (QS 2:207).
A mukhlis looking for nothing else but mardhatillah in practice. He does not want people's praise, appreciation, popularity, or the respect and respect of others because of his deeds, but is merely looking for mardhatillah, sincere because of Allah SWT.
Charity that is not done sincerely will be in vain. Not getting merit or not being recorded as good deeds. The Prophet (saw) hinted at this with His words, "Indeed, the deeds depend on the intention. Really for someone according to what he intends ... " (Narrated by Bukhari).
Thus, for example, if a person prays because he wants to be praised by others, then the reward is limited to people's praise. If someone gives charity because he wants publicity, popularity, or is known as a generous person, then that is the "reward". Allah knows best. (ASM. Romli). *
