﴿ وَمَآ أُمِرُوٓا۟ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ ٱلدِّينَ حُنَفَآءَ وَيُقِيمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَيُؤْتُوا۟ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ ۚ وَذَٰلِكَ دِينُ ٱلْقَيِّمَةِ ﴾

“And withal, they were not enjoined aught but that they should worship God, sincere in their faith in Him alone, turning away from all that is false; and that they should be constant in prayer; and that they should spend in charity: for this is a moral law endowed with ever-true soundness and clarity.”

And they were only commanded to worship God, devoting religion purely to HimHe said:All knowledge is concerned with acts (ḥarakāt), until the person attains sincerity (ikhlāṣ). Then when he reaches sincerity, he will attain profound peace (ṭumaʾnīna). For the one whose knowledge [has become] certainty (yaqīn) and whose works are [done in] sincerity, will find that God removes from him three things: anxiety (jazaʿ), ignorance (jahl) and action (ʿamal), and will grant him patience (ṣabr) in exchange for anxiety, knowledge in exchange for ignorance,and the abandonment of choice in exchange for action � but this will only be the case for those who have full awareness of God (muttaqūn). He was asked, �And what is sincerity (ikhlāṣ)?� He replied:It is responding (ijāba), and whoever does not respond has no sincerity. He also said:Sincerity has three facets: worshipping purely for God (ikhlāṣ al-ʿibāda li�Llāh), acting purely (ikhlāṣ al-ʿamal lahu) for Him, and [keeping one�s] heart purely for Him (ikhlāṣ al-qalb lahu). His words, Exalted is He: