Actions Based On Intentions - Mufti Minhajuddin Ahmed

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Allahumma salli ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa ala aali Sayyidina Muhammadin Mubarak wa sallim.

Allahumma a'allimna ma yanfa'una wa anfa'ana bima a'allamtana wa zidna a'ilma. Rabbi ishrah li sadri wa yassir li amari wa ahlul uqtatan min lisani yafqahun qawli.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: مَنْ أَعْطَىٰ لِلَّهِ وَمَنْ مَنَعَ لِلَّهِ وَأَحَبَّ لِلَّهِ وَأَبْغَضَ لِلَّهِ فَقَدِ اسْتَكْمَلَ الْإِيمَان

My dear respected brothers and elders, respected sisters and youngsters in Islam, assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. In this hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam narrated by Tirmidhi, Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has mentioned four signs of complete iman.

This is a very beautiful hadith for us because Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has indicated for us that if we develop these four attributes, then not only will we have iman and belief in Allah, but further words of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he has completed his iman. That person will have complete and perfect iman. He will become a kamil mu'min, true believer, perfect believer in Allah.

And our success in this life, in the life hereafter, and our najat and our salvation lies in having iman and amal saliha. So how can we develop these four attributes, four qualities of complete iman? Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, man a'ata lillah, number one is the one who gives. Anything he gives and anything he spends on anyone or any occasion that he is engaged in any activity in which he is giving something, then his actions of giving are lillah for the sake of Allah.

Whenever he makes a payment to anyone, whenever he gives anything to anyone, then it's only for the sake of Allah. His a'ata, his giving is for the sake of Allah. And number two, wa man'a lillah, and he withholds and he prevents and he stops and he stays back, it's also lillah for the sake of Allah.

And number three, wa a'habba lillah, if he loves anyone or he loves anything, it is only and solely for the sake of Allah. Wa abghalla lillah, and number four is if he hates anyone or anything, then this hatred is also lillah for the sake of Allah and Allah alone. This person who has the four qualities mentioned above, Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has said, then he has completed his iman, he is kamil, and a complete, true, and perfect believer in Allah.

So the overall feeling we get from this hadith is that the action of the believer is such that all of his actions are lillah, for the sake of Allah. This is what Allah instructs us in the Quran, to say and to believe, to affirm and to attest. Qul, say, inna salati, really my salah, wa nusaki, and my ibadat, whether they pertain to hajj, the manasik of hajj, or other ibadat, by the need of physical forms of worship.

Wa ma hiyaaya wa ma maati, in fact even my living and my dying. All of these actions, lillahi rabbil alameen, they all belong to Allah and Allah alone, they are for Allah and Allah alone. They are for the sake of Allah.

Lillahi rabbil alameen, who is the Lord of the worlds. Meaning this level of dedication is not only my responsibility, but also the entire aalam should also submit to Allah in such a manner. Lillahi rabbil alameen.

Then Allah ta'ala says, la sharika lah, he has no partner, there is no one else. There is no one else that I dedicate my life to, my dying to, my ibadat to. Lillahi la sharika lah, wabi dhalika umirtu.

And this is what I have been commanded to do. This is the order of Allah. This statement here, wabi dhalika umirtu, this is what I have been commanded, indicates that this is not some higher level, or optional level, voluntary level, you know, extra credit.

But rather this is, we are ma'mur, we are commanded to dedicate our life at this extent. Wabi dhalika umirtu, we are ma'mur, we are commanded. Allah is our amir, commander, we are ma'mur.

Umirtu, I have been commanded. And we should say we are the first to submit. When Allah ta'ala spoke to Ibrahim a.s, Allah ta'ala says, Remember when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala addressed Ibrahim a.s and asked him, submit.

So he could have responded back and said, Aslamtulak, I submit to you. But, this is known as iltifat in balagha, where he changes the, he goes from the second person, he changes to the third person. What he did is, instead of saying, When Allah said to him, submit, he said, I submit to you.

He said, no, aslamtu li rabbil a'alameen. I submit to the Lord of the worlds. This is indicating that, If I'm submitting, I'm submitting because he's my Rabb.

But, Allah is not only Rabb of Ibrahim. Allah is the Rabb of the a'alameen. And the definition of a'alameen is, Everything in existence besides Allah is termed as the a'alameen.

So if I'm submitting to Allah because he's my Rabb, then I'm submitting not to Rabb Ibrahim only, I'm submitting to Rabbul a'alameen, the Lord of the worlds. So everyone else in the world must also submit, should also submit to Allah. Whether they are submitting, then they are true Muslim.

If they are not submitting, they are denying, then they are kafir. He is the one who created you, some of you are submitting, some of you are not submitting. There are two paths, those who are grateful to Allah, those who are ungrateful to Allah.

But, the responsibility is upon all to submit to Allah. That's why Allah ta'ala says:

Who else, who could be there who would turn away from the way of Ibrahim a.s. of how he submitted to Allah, except for the one who is a great fool, who is safih, who is full of foolishness. It is a path of foolishness not to submit to Allah when he is Lord of the worlds.

So this is the sign of iman. That all the actions, إِعْطَاء, to give is for the sake of Allah, مَنْع, to prevent is for the sake of Allah, and حُبّ, and love for the sake of Allah, and بُغْض, and hatred is for the sake of Allah. All of these actions, this basically means every single action of a true Muslim is revolving around Allah.

And, this is what the scholars are saying, that the first hadith mentioned in Sahih Bukhari, and the first hadith in Imam An-Nabi, he mentioned the iraad salihin, and arba'een, and many, many, many books of hadiths begin with this hadith:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1)

All the actions are based upon intentions. Every person will receive that which they intended. Whoever migrated for the sake of Allah and His Messenger, then his migration is accepted as truly for Allah and His Messenger. And whoever migrates for worldly reasons, for financial reasons, or to get married to a woman, then his hijra will be counted for that alone, and he will not receive the reward of the hijra.

So there are so many different discussions regarding this hadith, and pages and pages have been written, whether the niyyah is a condition in ibadat or not, and the fiqh rulings regarding that, all of those discussions actually are not the primary objective of the hadith. The primary objective of the hadith is that every person will receive that reward or that punishment based upon their intention. So when we are doing acts of worship, there is an intention.

There are various different types of intentions. There is an intention that is there لِتَمْيِيزِ الْعَادَةِ مِنَ الْعِبَادَة, that which separates something which is done habitually versus a form of ibadah. عَادَة and ibadah, that which differentiates them is niyyah.

When the person is just standing, and he might be folding his arms because it's a more relaxed position, and if he's standing in a line, it just so happens he's facing northeast direction. So he's just standing in a line, waiting for the train or the bus, versus a person is standing in salah, in ibadah. What's the difference between the two standing positions? The one who is standing behind the imam is not even reciting, he's just standing.

You're just standing and the imam is reciting, and one is standing in the line. What is the difference between the two? This is one type of niyyah. The difference is لِتَمْيِيزِ الْعَادَةِ مِنَ الْعِبَادَة, that which separates something which is عَادَة and done, habitually done, versus a form of ibadah.

So the difference is the niyyah. The one standing in the saf, his niyyah is I'm performing salah. I'm performing two rakaat jummah, salah behind the imam, I'm facing the qiblah, and I'm praying the salah here.

He has the niyyah of fulfilling this rukun, this pillar of the deen, this faridah, this obligation. So he has the niyyah. The other one standing in the line doesn't have the niyyah.

That's the difference. Otherwise physically they might be the same. And then a person is performing two rakaat, another person is performing two rakaat, one is performing faridah of jummah, one is performing nafal, one is performing fajr, one is performing qada, one is performing ada.

A person is performing four rakaat. Is it dhur, is it asr, or is it isha? What's the difference? So this is number two. لِتَمْيِيزِ الْعِبَادَةِ مِنَ الْعِبَادَة, to separate one type of ibadah from another type of ibadah.

May Allah forbid, if a person is traveling and he couldn't perform salah, and he missed a lot of salah, and staying at home in a residence is unthinkable, unfathomable, how could a Muslim leave a salah? It's impossible to believe that. So that is why I'm saying a person was traveling and was unable to, due to the FAA, Federal Aviation Regulations, he couldn't, no crowding in the cockpit allowed, that's why he was not allowed to. And he prayed sitting down, but he will repeat his salah when he lands on the ground.

So he has to pray his Zuhr and Asr, Maghrib and Isha. So when he's praying four rakah, which one is Zuhr, which one is Asr, which one is Maghrib, no, Maghrib is different, it's three rakah, which one is Isha. So the difference will be in the Niyah.

The Niyah will determine, this one is Zuhr, this one is Asr, this one is Isha. Only through the Niyah you can determine the difference. He's performing it silently anyway, all of them, so there's no difference in one, in Asr being silent, in Isha being loud, that is not a differentiating factor in meaning as well.

The only difference will be the Niyah. And the third type of difference of Niyah is between Ikhlas and Riyah. That which differentiates between Ikhlas, performing salah for the pleasure of Allah, or performing salah to show other people.

(Tirmidhi)

The one who performs salah to show other people has committed a minor form of shirk.

(Sunan Ibn Majah)

I'm the freest of all the partners from having any partner. I do not have any partner, Allah says. If you perform salah for anyone else's pleasure, for anyone else's happiness, then I will not give any reward for that.

The only command you have from Allah is to worship Him with ultimate sincerity. So he has the first intention between adha and ibadah.

He says, no, I'm not standing habitually, I'm standing for ibadah. Second is between one ibadah and another ibadah, is it dhuhr, asr or isha? He has the niyyah of dhuhr. Third is between riya and ikhlas.

Is he performing the ibadah of dhuhr to please someone else, to show someone else or to please Allah? If he's at a party and everyone, they announce, okay, now we will have the isha prayer in the outside hall. So everyone is getting up. Now, if he doesn't feel like praying, nobody ever pray by himself.

But since everyone else is getting up to pray, he has to pray through peer pressure. So why is he praying? To show others, na'udhu billah, so this would fall under riya. These are all different types of niyyah, of intentions.

Normally, when we speak about niyyah, we jump to the last one, we think, oh, niyyah means to do sincerely for the sake of Allah. There are other levels of niyyah and intention that come before that as well. So this is with respect to ibadah.

But this hadith of Rasulullah, innama li kulli min imma nawa, everyone will receive the reward of that which they intended, is not limited to ibadah. Ibadah by default have to be done with ikhlas, with sincerity, only for the pleasure of Allah. But what we learn from the hadith that we began the discussion with, man aata lillah, manaa lillah, ahabba lillah, abghada lillah, whatever you give, you give for the sake of Allah.

Whenever you withhold, you withhold for the sake of Allah. Whenever you love, you love for the sake of Allah. Whenever you hate, you hate for the sake of Allah.

What it tells us is that every single action, in fact, of a believer is supposed to be for the sake of Allah. Not only the formal acts of worship, but every single mundane worldly activity as well, has to be for the sake of Allah. This is what it means to be a true believer.

This is what it means to be a true believer. Every single action is for the sake of Allah. And our mashayikh and teachers, when they taught us this hadith, they told us that there is such a great potential for reward, so much potential for reward that the entire ummah is wasting away, and losing out that reward, just because they are not making the correct intention.

Just because they are not making the correct intention. Every single mundane worldly activity can become rewarding in the court of Allah, and will become a means of making your scale of good deeds heavy on the Day of Judgment, if you just make the correct intention. Sleeping is a big portion of our lives.

If we sleep 8 hours a day, that's one third of our life, since we became baliq. And before that, when we were born, we were sleeping 18 hours a day maybe, or 20 hours. But even after we become baliq, on average if we sleep more earlier, and we slept less later on in life, but on average if we sleep 8 hours, that's one third of our life.

Imagine if we say, worship Allah, can you worship Allah one third of your life? Can you make ibadah for one third of your life? We would say that we have obligations to our family, our children, we have obligations to our community, our parents, and we have other necessities of life, and beyond that we have relaxation and entertainment to keep fresh. How can we do ibadah for 8 hours straight? If we're able to do that, then that's a great achievement. But every single night, 8 hours? Can we worship Allah 8 hours continuously every single night? It seems like an impossible task, impossible feat.

Maybe people in the past had barakah, it's impossible for us. But if we do something called changing our niyyah, and our perspective, then automatically all of our sleep will be recorded as ibadah. It seems that it's so simple, and how is it fair that you get so much reward for such a simple thing? It doesn't even cost anything, no physical exertion involved, no financial burden involved.

There's no burden on the pocket nor on the body. There's juhad, you know, mujahada, bi-amwalikum and bi-anfusikum. There's two types of mujahada, mutajahiduna fee sabirillahi bi-amwalikum wa-anfusikum.

You spend your money in front of Allah, you exert your body in front of Allah. In salah it's physical exertion, in saum it's physical exertion, in zakah it's financial exertion, financial ibadah badaniyah, ibadah maliyah. In hajj it's muraqabun baynahuma, hajj is a combination of both.

Physical exertion in mina, in arafat, muzdalifah, tawaf, sa'i, ramee, all of these things, and there's financial burden as well to spend on the ticket and spend on the hajj. But here it's neither badani nor mali, neither financial nor physical. And one third of your life just to start with can become full ibadah.

And that is point of perspective, your niyah, your intention. If your intention is that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he went to the three sahaba in the famous hadith, this is part of the hadith, where one of them said that I will fast every single day of my life. And the other one said I will never get married.

And the third one said I will stand up in ibadah every night, all night. The Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam came to the three sahaba and said that I fast and I break my fast. Some days I fast, some days I don't fast.

I stand in ibadah in the night and I sleep for some part of the night as well. And I do marry women. Your family has a right over you.

Your physical body has a right over you. So Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam brought them into balance when they were going in extreme. Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam preached a deen of moderation and balance, not a deen of extremism.

We have made you an ummah of moderation. So Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in this hadith he said your body has a right over you. So when you go to sleep, if you make the intention that I am sleeping because my body has a right over me.

And this is the instruction of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. This body is an amanah from Allah for me, a trust that I have to take care of its rights. And I am sleeping so I can become fresh and I can become rested and I will be recharged to further worship Allah.

This is an indirect form of ibadah and I am recharging myself so that I can become ready for direct form of ibadah. When is ibadah maqsoodah, when is ibadah also is ghayr maqsoodah. When is an objective ibadah is salah, qiyam, dua.

That's a tilah of Quran, is a direct objective form of ibadah, ibadah maqsoodah, bizdat. And when is sleeping with intention of refreshing for that ibadah, it's also ibadah, it's an indirect form of ibadah. So I am doing this indirect form of ibadah so I can prepare for the direct form of ibadah.

There is nothing that's not ibadah for the believer. You know we say Islam is a complete way of life. So what does that mean? Everything is Islam.

There is nothing outside the boundary of Islam for a true Muslim. Everything is Islam. He is sleeping.

He is sleeping in Islam. So he has his intention, now he is in entire sleeping. And beyond the intention physically as well, the more of the sleeping should be in accordance of the sunnah of Rasulullah.

Allah doesn't take you to account beyond what your ability is.

But when you start your sleep, sleep on your right hand side. Sleep facing the qibla. Do not keep your feet towards the qibla.

Recite the dua before you go to sleep. These are additional things. But at least if the intention is there, then one third of your life already is written in ibadah.

So how much have we lost? Like the hadith of Abu Huraira and Abdullah bin Umar when he heard the hadith that if you join the Salatul Janaza you get one qirat, one mountain of sawab. And if you go till the grave, then you get another qirat, another mountain of sawab. So I said the hadith, nothing affecting me, so I don't expect it affecting you so much either.

Her ear, one ear, it goes out the other ear. When Abdullah bin Umar heard it from Abu Huraira, he let out a shriek. He said, how many mountains of sawab I lost? I didn't know that.

I used to participate in the janaza and go back to learning and teaching ilm. I didn't go to the grave. So I lost out so much, he became so affected.

So likewise, we lost out on one third of our life because we weren't making the correct intention. And as the objection comes, how can you get so much sawab for such an easy thing? It's supposed to be proportionate. The more sacrifice, the more reward.

Yeah, try it, then you will realize how difficult it is. Why is it difficult? Because you have to remember Allah at all times. Don't be like those who forgot about Allah, so they forgot about their own destiny.

We are in a perpetual state of heedlessness called permanent state of ghafalah. That's how we are leading our lives. You have to have ma'arifa and become an a'arif billah and recognize Allah, then you will remember Allah at all times.

Before sleeping, before eating, remembering Allah that, oh, this is a command of Allah to eat. You come home from work, you're tired, you're hungry, and the food is there in front of you, and you just attack the food. Who has time to remember? Oh, Allah Ta'ala said in the Quran, Oh, those who believe, eat from the pure food that we have provided you.

Eat and drink and do not cross the limits. And Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, your body has a right over you. This is a ni'mah from Allah.

This is a blessing Allah has given me, this halal, tayyib food. So I'm going to enjoy this food, and I'm going to thank Allah for it. If we have that level of perception, then there would be absolutely no level of disobedience of Allah.

At least we have the objective in front of us, that should be the goal. Before sleeping, before eating, before buying, before selling, before loving anyone, before hating anyone, every single action, it is supposed to be for the sake of Allah alone. Let us take this as a homework to begin this mental process.

That whatever action we do, it's not only when we come for Jum'ah, Oh, why did we come for Jum'ah here? For the sake of Allah. But when we go back to earn, why are we earning? That earning is also for the sake of Allah. When the Jum'ah is over, goes spread out in the earth, and goes seek the bounty of Allah.

So when you're earning, you have to have, and we must all have this intention, that earning, The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, earning a halal livelihood is an obligation after the other obligations. After the other obligations. Not, you continue to earn during the Jum'ah Salah.

Allah Ta'ala is saying, When the Adhan is called, Hasten to the remembrance of Allah. Leave the transactions. Leave that halal business, and earning for the family, all of that.

Leave that. Come to Salah. But after Salah, go back and earn.

So why are we earning? For the sake of Allah. Because, it's an obligation in our Deen, if we have this intention. It's not only, wanting more and more and more.

Then that will bring you destruction. Until you reach your graves, you will be wanting more and more. Material rat race.

So that is not what our objective is. Our objective is to fulfill, the obligation of providing for our family. Once we have this current intention, then our entire outlook on life will be different.

And then we will become a at the highest level of Ihsan. That's why Rasulullah when he was asked by Jibreel in the Hadith Jibreel, What is Ihsan? He didn't say, That you perform Salah as if you see Allah. That's how everyone translates it.

But he didn't say, He said, You do Ibadah as if you see Allah. You notice? He didn't say you perform Salah. If you check out most of the, many of the translations of this Hadith, They say that, you perform Salah as if you see Allah.

And if Allah cannot see you then, if you cannot see Allah, then you realize that Allah is seeing you. As if you see Allah, you perform Salah. As if you see Allah, if you cannot reach that level, then at least recognition Allah is watching you.

But that's not what the Prophet said. He said Ibadah. And Ibadah is much more comprehensive than Salah.

Salah is one of the forms of Ibadah. It is the best form of Ibadah. But it is not the only Ibadah.

Everything in the life of a Mumin is Ibadah. That means when doing business, he does business as if he sees Allah. And when he is with his wife and children, in entertainment, he does it with the intention that, for the sake of Allah.

Entertainment with the wife, as well for the sake of Allah. Rasulullah in Sahih Bukhari, it's a Hadith. Hadith of Umm Zar'a.

One of the most beautiful Hadiths. I can't say most beautiful, they are all beautiful Hadiths. Very beautiful Hadith, very interesting Hadith.

Where Rasulullah from the language perspective, is very interesting. And there is like literally, whole books and Risalas, just explaining this Hadith. Where Nabi sat with Aisha and he narrated to her the story of 11 women.

And he says that, that 11 women gathered together. And the first one said, they said, let us describe our husbands. So the first one said, and she goes on a very long, poetic description of how her husband is.

Then the second one says, my husband is better. And then she describes her husband in a very rhyming, interesting manner. And the language is so profound and so much Lugha and vocabulary there.

Then the third one says, this is in Sahih Bukhari, the fourth one, fifth one, sixth one. Then Umm Zar'a, she describes her husband, how brave warrior he was, and how many, how daring conquest he did, and how kind he was to the wife, and how he loved her, and how loyal he was, etc. The Hadith of Umm Zar'a.

The eleventh one, that's the name of the whole Hadith based off of her, because she won the competition. Then they agreed that she has the best husband. And then Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam asked Aisha Siddique, Oh Aisha, am I not better for you than the husband of Umm Zar'a was for Umm Zar'a? Then she said, yeah, you are definitely better than the husband of Umm Zar'a.

This is in Bukhari, rigorously authenticated Sahih narration. So this falls under man ahabbalillah, that this time of entertainment and love with the spouse is also for the sake of Allah. For the sake of Allah.

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

Even the morsel of food you place in the wife's mouth is sadaqa, but if your intention is pure. If your intention is that you want to fulfill your need with your wife, that's why you are putting the luqma, then you will be no reward for that. There is absolutely no reward for putting a morsel of food with the other intention.

If the intention is that this is an Amatullah, a slave girl of Allah, that was a daughter of some person who was interested in my care, and I will have to love her and cherish her for the sake of Allah, because she is a mu'mina. And it is my obligation to take care of my wife per the deen and sunnah of Rasulullah. With that intention you place the morsel of food, then the morsel of food you place in the wife's mouth will become a reward, a sadaqa as well. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us tawfiq that all our actions are for the sake of Allah alone.

Give us ikhlas in our actions, and allow us to change our perspectives in our lives.