How do I know if I'm following a cause for the right reasons or just seeking belonging?

Rabia al-Adawiyya lived a question like this her whole life. She asked: am I loving God, or loving the idea of being loved? The honest answer is probably both, and that's not failure—that's human. Here's what matters: notice what happens when no one's watching. When the group isn't cheering, when there's no status to gain, do you still care about the thing itself? Rabia's insight was radical—she stripped away transaction entirely. She didn't serve God to earn heaven or avoid hell. She served from pure devotion. You don't need to be that pure (few of us are). But you can ask yourself: If this cause disappeared tomorrow, if nobody knew I was part of it, would I still show up? If the answer is yes, even a little—that's real. If the answer is mostly no, that's worth examining. Maybe the belonging part is what you actually need right now, and that's okay to name. Communities are built on mutual need. The problem comes when you pretend it's only about the cause when it's really about the group. Start small: what draws you—the mission, the people, or the identity? Write it down without judgment. Then ask which part would survive losing the other two.