How Pure Is Your Intention?

In the famous hadith on intention narrated by Umar Ibn Khattab (ra), Prophet Muhammad ﷺ stated:

“Verily, deeds are only with intentions. Verily, every person will have only what they intended. Whoever emigrated to Allah and his messenger, his emigration is for Allah and his messenger. Whoever emigrated to get something in the world or to marry a woman, his emigration is for that to which he emigrated.”[1] (Bukhari and Muslim)

Intention is one of the critical factors that we would be judged upon in the day of Judgement. Any good or religious deed, was it done to please Allah alone or to please others or for the sake of fame, money etc.?  Such religious deeds done for others’ sake leads to the Hellfire, as Allah only accepts deeds done purely for His sake. This includes all religious deeds such as prayer, reading Qur’an, gaining religious knowledge and teaching it, giving charity or zakat, striving in Allah’s path and more. However, worldly activities if done for the sake of dunya, then it won’t be liable for punishment, however the benefit would be limited to this world. However, we can even convert worldly deeds to be eligible for reward in the Hereafter by intending to do those deeds for Allah’s sake. Let me illustrate with an example: Say, we are going to our jobs to earn money. We can intend that: ‘O Allah, I’m going to my job to earn a halal living to worship You by fulfilling my responsibilities towards my family, to give charity and zakat etc. So, my Rabb – who has blessed me with all these provisions – place barakah in my rizq and help me be grateful to You and use my earnings to earn Your pleasure.’

Or let us say, you’ve had a long day and are getting ready to hit the sack. Instead of just crashing, you can follow the sunnah, and implement recommendations by Prophet ﷺ and to do wudu, read adhkar, read Qur’an and or simply intend that ‘O Allah, I’m resting to recharge my body so that I can gain strength to worship You. Please help me wake up for Fajr/Tahajjud’ and your whole sleep can be converted to ibaadah!

The importance of niyyah is emphasized in this hadith of how good deeds can not only be rendered useless, but be a reason for entering hell-fire, if done with the wrong intention:

Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Verily, the first people to be judged on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who was martyred. He will be brought, the blessings of Allah will be made known and he will acknowledge them. Allah will say: What did you do about them? The man will say: I fought in your cause until I was martyred. Allah will say: You have lied, for you fought only that it would be said you were brave, and thus it was said. Then, Allah will order him to be dragged upon his face until he is cast into Hellfire. Another man studied religious knowledge, taught others, and recited the Quran. He will be brought, the blessings of Allah will be made known and he will acknowledge them. Allah will say: What did you do about them? The man will say: I learned religious knowledge, taught others, and I recited the Quran for your sake. Allah will say: You have lied, for you studied only that it would be said you are a scholar and you recited the Quran only that it would be said you are a reciter, and thus it was said. Then, Allah will order him to be dragged upon his face until he is cast into Hellfire. Another man was given an abundance of blessings from Allah and every kind of wealth. He will be brought, the blessings of Allah will be made known and he will acknowledge them. Allah will say: What did you do about them? The man will say: I did not leave any good cause beloved to you but that I spent on it for your sake. Allah will say: You have lied, for you spent only that it would be said you are generous, and thus it was said. Then, Allah will order him to be dragged upon his face until he is cast into Hellfire.”[2]

If done with the right intention, then there is ‘ikhlas’ or sincerity in our actions which is a requirement for the deed to be accepted by the Rabbul ‘Alameen (The Lord of the Worlds). In its absence the deed is rendered useless or even worse - a reason for our destruction as detailed in the hadith above.

A point to note is that Shaitan can try to corrupt our action before we even start the act, while performing the act or after we complete the act. We tend to loosen our guard after we complete the act and we have to ensure riyaa (intention to please others) does not creep in when we think about the good deed we performed! A Muslim has to be vigilant all the time and guard his intentions like a soldier who guards a fortress under threat of attack from a strong enemy.

[The article is an excerpt from the chapter on "Self-Purification" in my upcoming book, "Emotional Intelligence: Reflecting On The Prophetic Way"]

[1] Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 54, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1907

[2] Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1905; Grade: Sahih according to Muslim