17. HADEETH ON INTENTIONS
‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab quotes Allaah’s Messenger as saying: “Indeed actions are according to their intentions and every person will have what he intended. So, whoever’s migration was for Allaah and His Messenger, then his migration is for Allah and His Messenger. Whoever’s migration was for this world or a woman for marriage, his migration is for what he migrated.” Collected by al-Bukhaaree and Muslim
This hadeeth is so comprehensive, touching almost all aspects of Islaam that Imaam Aboo Daawood said it was half of Islaam. That is, Islaamic knowledge is composed of apparent deeds and the intentions behind them. Imaam ash-Shaafi‘ee was of the opinion that it comprises one third of knowledge, which according to al-Bayhaqee meant that people earn reward with their hearts, tongues and bodies and intention is involved with one of them. Imaam Ahmad expressed that Islaam revolves around three hadeeths: “Indeed actions are according to their hadeeth compilations with this hadeeth, such as al-Bukhaaree in his work Saheeh al-Bukhaaree.
Context of the Hadeeth
In many cases, there are circumstances in which various statements of the Prophet or his acts were done. Knowledge of these contexts help to clarify the intended meaning of the hadeeths. If there is no recorded information about a hadeeth’s context, the general meaning is taken and the hadeeth is studied in the context of the relevant Quranic verses and hadeeths. In this case the Prophet’s companion Ibn Mas‘ood was of the opinion that the statement in this hadeeth was made concerning a man who wanted to marry Umm Qays. When she refused him unless he migrated from Makkah to Madeenah, he did so in order to marry her and was nick-named “the migrant for Umm Qays”.
The Narrator
‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (583-644CE) is considered to be the greatest companion of the Prophet after Aboo Bakr. The Prophet prayed that Allah would strengthen Islaam during the Makkan period by his conversion. With his conversion, five years before the Hijrah (migration to Madeenah), Muslims had the confidence to pray openly after praying secretly for eight years prior to that.5 The Prophet mentioned him among ten of his followers whom he promised paradise and praised his courage and knowledge.
He was the second of what came to be known as the Four Righteous Caliphs, who lead the Muslim state after the Prophet’s death. During his reign, Muslims defeated the Persian and Roman empires and the rule of Islaam spread from Iran to Egypt.
There are over 530 hadeeths narrated by ‘Umar in the books of hadeeth and he was known for his concern to ensure the authenticity of whatever was narrated from the Prophet.
Meaning of “Indeed actions are according to their intentions…”
The term intention (niyyah) refers to one’s resolve to do something as long as nothing prevents it or one’s intention does not change. Jurists refer to the intention as “the intent in the heart that must accompany and precede any act of worship.” A person may state that his or her intent is something and intend something else in their heart. Consequently, the place of the intention is in the heart as held by most scholars. Furthermore, it was not the practice of the Prophet to express his intention out loud before any acts except Hajj.
The first part of the Prophet’s statement addresses the fact that every intentional act done by a rational person has behind it an intent, without which the act would not have been done. The intention may be good and pious, or it may be evil, or it may be religiously neutral. The value of deeds is determined by the intentions behind them. Three people may do the same act with three different intentions as is explained by the remainder of the Prophet’s statement. One may emigrate with the intention of pleasing Allah and obedience to His Messenger, and another may accompany him with the sole intention of marrying a woman or some other worldly purpose, and yet another may accompany them in order to assassinate the Prophet. Externally their acts resemble each other but their internal intentions will determine the real value of their deeds. The act of hijrah was primarily a religious act. The deed of one who did so for the correct intention will be counted as a righteous deed of emigration which will make him eligible for a reward from God. In the second case, the intention of marriage was not evil, but it was wrong for that act, consequently, his emigration would not be considered a righteous deed and he would not be eligible for any reward. In the third case, the emigrant had an evil intent thus not only would he not be eligible for reward, but also it would be considered an evil deed for which he could be punished.
Any act done with the sole intention of pleasing Allaah which is according to the sharee‘ah is considered an act of worship or ‘ibaadah. Those acts that are purely worship must be accompanied with an intention for them to be acceptable to God. Among them, according to the majority opinion among jurists, are wudoo, ghusl, tayammum, salaah, zakaah, sawm, hajj, i‘tikaaf. For example, the Prophet said:
“One who does not make the intention to fast during the night of Ramadan (for the next day) will not be rewarded for the fast.” If a person did not eat due to an illness or a lack of food, it could not be counted as fasting from a religious perspective. The act of fasting must be preceded by the intention for it to be acceptable to God. Therefore, intentions are one means of distinguishing between non-religious acts and religious acts. They also distinguish between obligatory and voluntary acts of worship.
Intention is one of the deeds of the heart which are under human control and is a result of personal choice. Consequently, humans are instructed to make their intentions pure and to define their purposes. They are prohibited from committing shirk in their intentions and from deviating their intentions to prohibited acts. Were intentions not under human control, the divine order to have purity of intention and to avoid shirk would be an obligation which human beings could not fulfill.
The Spanish jurist Ibn Hazm stated, “Intention is the secret of servitude and its spirit. Its place, with respect to deeds, is like the soul with respect to the body. It is inconceivable to consider a deed of servitude that is not accompanied with its soul. In that case, it is like a dilapidated body.” Purity of intention distinguishes between worshipping Allah correctly and worshipping Him incorrectly, and as such should be the ultimate goal and purpose of human beings. This is verified in Allaah’s statement:
“They were only commanded to worship Allah, making the religion sincere for Him…” (Soorah al-Bayyinah, :5)
It should be noted that there are some deeds which do not need intention for their validity. For example, cleaning one’s clothing from ritual impurities is a precondition for formal prayer. If one cleaned it along with other items without intending to clean it for worship, it would still be considered ritually pure and may be used for worship.
On the other hand an act might be fundamentally religiously neutral (mubaah), meaning according to jurists – that there is no reward or punishment for one who does it or does not do it. However, it may be turned into an act of worship eligible for reward if it is done because it was permissible while avoiding the forbidden and or as a means of coming closer to God. To that effect the Prophet stated the following: “Anything you spend seeking Allaah’s Countenance will be rewarded, even for [the bit of food] that you put in your wife’s mouth.”
Ibn al-Qayyim wrote in his classic, Madaarij as-Saalikeen, “The most exclusive [group of] people who become close to Allah are those who change the nature of their permissible acts and deeds of obedience to Allah.” He also wrote, “The customary deeds of those people who truly know Allah are acts of worship [for them] while the ritual acts of worship are customary deeds for the masses.”The masses of Muslims approach prayers, fasting and other religious deeds as common daily practices that they must do because it is part of their culture. Most of them have no strong intention in their hearts of doing acts of worship for the sake of Allah. If the quality of the act is poor, it does not matter much to them because they are doing it just to finish. Righteous deeds done for show are cursed and the Prophet labeled them as “hidden shirk” (ash-Shirk al-Khafee or ash-Shirk al-Asghar) and warned against it severely as the thing he feared the most for his followers.
Where intentions are mixed between God and others, Allaah also rejects them according to the Prophet’s quote from Allah, “I am so self-sufficient that I am in no need of having an associate. Therefore, anyone who does a deed for someone else’s sake as well as for My sake will have the deed left to the one he associated with Me.”In that respect, Ibn Rajab stated, “I know of no difference of opinion on this point among the Salaf although some later scholars did differ on this point.”
On the other hand, if someone does a religious act for the pleasure of Allah and people praise him for it, his reward will not be affected. When the Prophet (r) was asked about one who did that he replied, “That is a prompt part of the good tidings that the believer receives.”
Intentions beyond Actions
The actions of the heart can take one beyond the bounds of physical deeds. That is, a person may be rewarded for having the intention to do a deed which they never got the opportunity to do. During the Prophet’s era, a man prepared for jihad but died before being able to do so. His daughter said to him, “I wish you could have died a martyr, for you had prepared for it.” The Prophet informed her, “Indeed Allah, Most Great and Glorious, has given his reward to him according to his intention.”
Consequently, when women are disallowed from making Hajj due to not having a mahram for their protection, they should not feel denied and end up making Hajj anyway. For their sincere desire to make Hajj may earn them far greater rewards than many who actually make the Hajj. And they should not forget that most Muslims never get the opportunity to make Hajj in their lifetimes due to economic reasons.
Meaning of “and every person will have what he intended.”
This part of the Prophet’s statement may be considered as emphasis for the first part, “Indeed actions are according to their intentions,” which stressed the importance of purity of intention (ikhlaas) and warned against doing religious acts for show or for other wrong intentions. Or it may be considered the consequence and the first part the cause. That is, in the first part, the Prophet made it clear that every deed must have an intention behind it. In the second part he informed that reward and punishment will be in accordance with the intention. If one intended the pleasure of Allaah and the Hereafter in his or her religious deeds, that will be the consequence. While those who intend the fleeting pleasures of this the world may be given it or they may not. As Allaah said:
“For whoever desires the transitory enjoyment of this world, I will promptly grant it what I wish and to whom I wish…” (Soorah al- Israa, 🙂
This part of the Prophet’s statement could also mean that the reward for deeds depends solely on the nature of the intentions behind them. With regard to this, Ibn Rajab said, “…[It] is a statement about the sharee‘ah ruling. That is, the only portion belonging to the doer from his deed is his intention. If it was sound or pious, his deed is sound and he will have its reward. If it was evil, then his deed was evil and he will carry its burden… [Thus,] the first sentence indicates that the goodness or evilness of an act is according to the intention that brought it into being. The second sentence indicates that the reward for the doer for his deed is according to his pious intention and his punishment for his deed is based on his evil intention.”Al-Ashqar also wrote in this regard, “The truth to which the Quran and Sunnah testify is that the real thing that is made obliged by the sharee‘ah rulings is the person’s soul. The body is just a tool for it. If a deed is without what the soul has been ordered to fulfill – which is purity of intention then the deed that the body performs is a type of useless play and straying.”
When the Prophet stated that everyone would get what they intended, he meant that their reward or punishment in the next life would be according to what they intended, not literally that their intent would be fulfilled in this life. Because most people do not get whatever they intend in this world. If the person’s intent was for the sake of Allah, then he or she earns Allaah’s pleasure and His reward. If the person’s intention was religiously neutral, the result will also be religiously neutral though it may not be exactly what the person intended. And if the person had an evil intent, the result will ultimately be evil; not what they intended but according to what they intended.
Meaning of “So, whoever’s migration (hijrah) was for Allah and His Messenger, then his migration is for Allah and His Messenger…”
The word hijrah literally means “to leave a place of abode and emigrate to another people; from one land, district or town to another.” However, from the sharee‘ah perspective it means “to emigrate from the territory of disbelievers to the territory of the believers or to any place of safety or refuge on account of religious persecution.” During the Prophet’s lifetime there were two hijrahs. The first was from Makkah to Abyssinia around the fifth year of the prophethood and the second was from Makkah to Madeenah in the thirteenth year. In the first hijrah a small band of Muslims who were able to escape persecution in Makkah sought refuge with the ruler of Ethiopia at the Prophet’s suggestion and they remained there until the time of the second hijrah. When the Prophet migrated to Madeenah, it became obligatory on all Muslims to join him there. In this regard Allaah revealed the verse:
“Indeed those whom the angels take in a state of self-oppression will be asked, ‘In what condition were you?’ They will reply, ‘We were weak and oppressed in the land.’ They will be asked, ‘Wasn’t Allaah’s earth spacious enough for you to emigrate?’ Such people will find their abode in Hell – what an evil destination.” (Soorah an- Nisaa, 4:97)
Once Makkah was conquered that obligation was removed with regard to Madeenah as the Prophet said: “There is no hijrah after the Conquest of Makkah, but what remains is jihaad and intention.” Although it is this hijrah which this hadeeth seems to refer to, the text is general and there is no authentic evidence to limit it. Furthermore, hijrah as a principle remains an obligation on all Muslims until the Last Day, as indicated in the Prophet’s saying, “Hijrah will not end until repentance ends. And repentance will not end until the sun rises from the West.” The object of hijrah is to shift one’s residence to a location in which one can best practice Islaam. On that basis, scholars have categorized the different types of hijrah as follows:
1. Hijrah from the land of disbelief (Daar al-Kufr) to the land of Islaam (Daar al-Islaam).
2. Hijrah from a land of bid‘ah (heresy and innovation).
3. Hijrah from a land dominated by haraam to one less dominated.
4. Hijrah from a land where one’s life or limb, health, or property is threatened.
5. Hijrah from whatever Allah has prohibited.
Consequently, those who make hijrah for the sake of their religion will be rewarded on the basis of that pious intention even if they die before achieving their goal. Allah indicated that saying:
“Whoever leaves his home emigrating to Allaah and His Messenger and death overtakes him, his reward is incumbent on Allah.” (Soorah an-Nisaa, 4:100)
This segment of the hadeeth is a prophetic example of deeds being counted and rewarded according to their intentions. Even if the end result is not what is intended, the reward will be based on the intent as in the above-mentioned verse. On one occasion a man gave some charity for distribution and it was in turn given to his son. When he told the Prophet that he had not desired that, he was informed, “For you is what you intended,” and his son was told, “For you is what you have received.” The Prophet repeated or restated “Allah and His Messenger” in order to emphasize the importance and greatness of the purpose of the migration. The goal of “Allah and His Messenger” is the ultimate goal of intentions for this life and the next. Furthermore, it is a singular goal which cannot be mixed with any other. Whereas the reasons for worldly goals are too numerous to count so “for whatever he migrated” suffices.
It has also been noted that using “for them” instead of “for Allah and His Messenger” would refer to Allaah and His Messenger with a single pronoun, which is inappropriate. On one occasion, when a person said, “Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has indeed been guided. And whoever disobeys them has strayed,” the Prophet corrected him and told him to say instead, “Whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger.”
Meaning of “And whoever’s migration was for this world or a woman for marriage, then his migration is for what he migrated.”
The Prophet belittled the goal of the person who migrated for worldly goals by not repeating what he previously mentioned. Migration for economic betterment from one Islaamic environment to another equally Islaamic environment is permissible according to sharee‘ah. When a person emigrates for material gain from a relatively Islaamic to a non-Islaamic environment, it becomes haraam. In doing so, he puts his own Islaam at risk as well as the religion of his family. His hijrah is cursed and his family is likely to be spiritually and socially destroyed.
Marriage is specifically mentioned in the closing statement, even it though it is a part of worldly goals, because of the great danger that women or the opposite sex in general – pose to piety and righteousness. Allaah warned about the danger of spouses saying:
“Indeed there is in your spouses and children a trial, so beware of them.”
The Prophet also said, “Indeed the world is sweet and alluring and Allah is going to make you successors in it. So look and see how you behave. Beware of this world and beware of women. For, certainly the first trial that afflicted the Israelites was concerning women.” He further said, “I have not left any trial after me more harmful to men than women.”
The trial of women is evident from the numerous cases of sexual scandals involving leading political figures like Bill Clinton, former president of the United States of America, to leading religious figures like televangelist Jimmy Swaggart. People are commonly trapped into spying for other countries using women. Many religious cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Moonies commonly use females to recruit members. Commercially, goods are often promoted using fashion models.
Intentions and Deeds
Ibn ‘Ajlaan said, “A deed is not useful unless accompanied by three factors: awareness of Allah; good intention; and correctness of the deed.”
Ash-Shaatibee divided all acts into four categories:
1. The intent and the act are both consistent with the sharee‘ah. These are the basic conditions of a righteous deed.
2. The intent and the act contradict the sharee‘ah. This represents one of the forms of sin where the intent is sinful and the act itself is sinful.
3. The intent is wrong but the act is consistent.
a) The person had a sinful intent, but was unaware that his act was in accordance with the sharee‘ah. For example, a person borrows an audio cassette with the intent of listening to music only to find that it is a recording of the Quran.
b) The person’s intent is evil and he is aware that his act was in agreement with the sharee‘ah. For example, a person who does not normally cover herself, puts on the complete Islaamic garb when attending Islaamic gatherings. This is an act of hypocrisy (nifaaq).
4. The intent is correct but the act is inconsistent.
a) The person has the correct intent but is aware that his act contradicts the sharee‘ah. Most forms of bid‘ah fall under this category, like celebrating the Prophet’s birthday. Likewise, the principle of “the ends justifies the mean,” where people commit sins with good intentions belongs under this category.
b) The person’s intent is correct but is unaware that his act is inconsistent with the sharee‘ah. Such an act is a genuine mistake for which a person may still be rewarded. No sin would be written against him as in the case of forgetfulness.
By Bilal Philips
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