fois module 3.5

8/14/2019 FOIS Module 3.5

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Islamic Online University The Foundations of Islamic Studies 101

http://www.islamiconlineuniversity.com 2

The Foundations

ofIslaamic Studies

By Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips

CHAPTER THREE:

HADEETH
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3.5 HADEETH ON INTENTIONS 1

: r :

.

Umar ibn al-Khattaab quoted Allaah s Messenger ( r ) 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 migrationis for Allaah and His Messenger. Whoever s migration was for this world or awoman for marriage, his migration is for what he migrated.

Collected by al-Bukhaaree and Muslim 2

This hadeeth is so comprehensive, touching almost all aspects of Islaam thatImaam Aboo Daawood said it was half of Islaam. That is, Islaamic knowledge iscomposed of apparent deeds and the intentions behind them. Imaam ash-Shaafi eewas of the opinion that it comprises one third of knowledge, which according toal-Bayhaqee meant that people earn reward with their hearts, tongues and bodiesand intention is involved with one of them. 3 Imaam Ahmad expressed that Islaamrevolves around three hadeeths : Indeed actions are according to their intentions, Whoever introduces anything into this affair of ours that is not fromit will have it rejected, and The permissible is clear and the forbidden is clear. 4 Consequently, many of the early scholars preferred to begin their writings or

1 The following analysis and commentary is based primarily on Jamaal Zarabozo s excellentCommentary on the Forty Hadith of a l-Nawawi, pp. 107-178.2 Sahih Al Bukhari, vol. 1, p. , no. 1, and Sahih Muslim, vol. , p. , no. .3 Fat h al-Baaree, vol. 1, p. 11.4 Quoted in Sharh Saheeh Muslim, vol. 13, p. 53; Jaami , p. 5.


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hadeeth compilations with this hadeeth, such as al-Bukhaaree in his work Saheehal-Bukhaaree.

Context of the Hadeeth

In many cases, there are circumstances in which various statements of theProphet ( r ) or his acts were done. Knowledge of these contexts help to clarify theintended meaning of the hadeeths. If there is no recorded information about ahadeeth s context, the general meaning is taken and the hadeeth is studied in thecontext of the relevant Qur aanic verses and hadeeths. In this case the Prophet scompanion Ibn Mas ood was of the opinion that the statement in this hadeeth wasmade concerning a man who wanted to marry Umm Qays. When she refused himunless he migrated from Makkah to Madeenah, he did so in order to marry herand 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 ( r ) after Aboo Bakr. The Prophet ( r ) prayed thatAllaah 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 yearsprior to that. 5 The Prophet ( r ) mentioned him among ten of his followers whomhe promised paradise and praised his courage and knowledge.

He was the second of what came to be known as the Four RighteousCaliphs, 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 spreadfrom Iran to Egypt.

There are over 530 hadeeths narrated by Umar in the books of hadeethand he was known for his concern to ensure the authenticity of whatever wasnarrated from the Prophet ( r ).

Meaning of Indeed actions are according to their intentions

The term intention ( niyyah ) refers to one s resolve to do something as long asnothing prevents it or one s intention does not change. Jurists refer to the intention

5 The commonly quoted story of his conversion in which he was reported to have hit sister in herhead and later read a portion of the Qur aan is not authentic.


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as the intent in the heart that must accompany and precede any act of worship. 6

A person may state that his or her intent is something and intend something elsein their heart. Consequently, the place of the intention is in the heart as held bymost scholars. Furthermore, it was not the practice of the Prophet ( r ) to expresshis intention out loud before any acts except Hajj.

The first part of the Prophet s statement addresses the fact that everyintentional act done by a rational person has behind it an intent, without which theact would not have been done. The intention may be good and pious, or it may beevil, or it may be religiously neutral. The value of deeds is determined by theintentions behind them. Three people may do the same act with three differentintentions as is explained by the remainder of the Prophet s statement. One mayemigrate with the intention of pleasing Allaah and obedience to His Messenger(r ), and another may accompany him with the sole intention of marrying awoman or some other worldly purpose, and yet another may accompany them inorder to assassinate the Prophet ( r ). Externally their acts resemble each other buttheir 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 correctintention will be counted as a righteous deed of emigration which will make himeligible for a reward from God. In the second case, the intention of marriage wasnot evil, but it was wrong for that act, consequently, his emigration would not beconsidered a righteous deed and he would not be eligible for any reward. In thethird case, the emigrant had an evil intent thus not only would he not be eligiblefor reward, but also it would be considered an evil deed for which he could bepunished.

Any act done with the sole intention of pleasing Allaah which is accordingto the sharee ah is considered an act of worship or ibaadah. Those acts that arepurely worship must be accompanied with an intention for them to be acceptableto God. Among them, according to the majority opinion among jurists, are wudoo,ghusl, tayammum, salaah, zakaah, sawm, hajj, i tikaaf. For example, the Prophet(r ) said:

One who does not make the intention to fast during the night of Ramadaan (for the next day) will not be rewarded for the fast. 7

6 Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi, p. 123.7 Sunan an-Nasaa ee, vol. , p. , no. , and authenticated in Saheeh al-Jaami , vo. 2, p. 1114.


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If a person did not eat due to an illness or a lack of food, it could not be countedas fasting from a religious perspective. The act of fasting must be preceded by theintention for it to be acceptable to God. Therefore, intentions are one means of distinguishing between non-religious acts and religious acts. They also distinguishbetween obligatory and voluntary acts of worship.

Intention is one of the deeds of the heart which are under human controland is a result of personal choice. Consequently, humans are instructed to maketheir intentions pure and to define their purposes. They are prohibited fromcommitting shirk in their intentions and from deviating their intentions toprohibited acts. Were intentions not under human control, the divine order to havepurity of intention and to avoid shirk would be an obligation which human beingscould not fulfill. 8

The Spanish jurist Ibn Hazm stated, Intention is the secret of servitudeand its spirit. Its place, with respect to deeds, is like the soul with respect to thebody. It is inconceivable to consider a deed of servitude that is not accompaniedwith its soul. In that case, it is like a dilapidated body. 9 Purity of intentiondistinguishes between worshipping Allaah correctly and worshipping Himincorrectly, 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 Allaah 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 theirvalidity. For example, cleaning one s clothing from ritual impurities is aprecondition for formal prayer. If one cleaned it along with other items without

8 Al-Ghazzaalee s in Ih yaa Uloom ad-Deen quotes stories of early scholars in they stated howdifficult it was for them to develop correct intention and how some would refrain from acting fordays until their intention was present for certain deeds. If they are authentic quotes, they can onlybe taken as personal accounts and not the basis for principles of faith. Al-Ghazzaalee concludedthat humans cannot create this drive or make it appear in themselves and Ibn Khaldoon alsostated that most people do not have control over the intention of most of their actions ( Muqaasid,p. 40).9 Quoted in Muqaasid, p. 68-9.


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intending to clean it for worship, it would still be considered ritually pure andmay 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 punishmentfor 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 whileavoiding the forbidden and or as a means of coming closer to God. To thateffect the Prophet ( r ) stated the following: Anything you spend seeking Allaah sCountenance will be rewarded, even for [the bit of food] that you put in your wife s mouth. 10

Ibn al-Qayyim wrote in his classic, Madaarij as-Saalikeen,

The mostexclusive [group of] people who become close to Allaah are those who change thenature of their permissible acts into deeds of obedience to Allaah. He also wrote, The customary deeds of those people who truly know Allaah are acts of worship[for them] while the ritual acts of worship are customary deeds for the masses. 11 The masses of Muslims approach prayers, fasting and other religious deeds ascommon daily practices that they must do because it is part of their culture. Mostof them have no strong intention in their hearts of doing acts of worship for thesake of Allaah. If the quality of the act is poor, it does not matter much to thembecause they are doing it just to finish.

Righteous deeds done for show are cursed and the Prophet ( r ) labeledthem as hidden shirk (ash-Shirk al-Khafee or ash-Shirk al-Asghar ) and warnedagainst it severely as the thing he feared the most for his followers.

Where intentions are mixed between God and others, Allaah also rejects themaccording to the Prophet s quote from Allaah, I am so self-sufficient that I am inno need of having an associate. Therefore, anyone who does a deed for someoneelse s sake as well as for My sake will have the deed left to the one he associated with Me. 12 In that respect, Ibn Rajab stated, I know of no difference of opinionon this point among the Salaf although some later scholars did differ on thispoint. 13

On the other hand, if someone does a religious act for the pleasure of Allaah

and people praise him for it, his reward will not be affected. When the Prophet

10 Sahih Al Bukhari, and Sahih Muslim,11 Mabaahith fee an-Niyyah, p. 15.12 Sahih Muslim, vol. , p. , no. .13 Jaami , vol. , p. .


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(r ) was asked about one who did that he replied, That is a prompt part of thegood tidings that the believer receives. 14

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 whichthey 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 youcould have died a martyr, for you had prepared for it. The Prophet ( r ) informedher, Indeed Allaah, Most Great and Glorious, has given his reward to himaccording to his intention. 15

Consequently, when women are disallowed from making Hajj due to nothaving a mahram 16 for their protection, they should not feel denied and end upmaking Hajj anyway. For their sincere desire to make Hajj may earn them fargreater rewards than many who actually make the Hajj. And they should notforget that most Muslims never get the opportunity to make Hajj in their lifetimesdue 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 thefirst part, Indeed actions are according to their intentions, which stressed theimportance of purity of intention ( ikhlaas ) and warned against doing religious actsfor show or for other wrong intentions. 17 Or it may be considered the consequenceand the first part the cause. That is, in the first part, the Prophet ( r ) made it clearthat every deed must have an intention behind it. In the second part he informedthat reward and punishment will be in accordance with the intention. If oneintended 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 thisworld may be given it or they may not. 18 As Allaah said:

14 Sahih Muslim , vol. , p. , no. .15 al-Muwatta, Sunan an-Nasaa ee,16 A close adult male relative with whom marriage is absolutely forbidden (eg. Father, brother,son, uncle, grandfather, etc.).17 This was the opinion of al-Qurtubee and other scholars ( Commentary on the Forty Hadith of a l-

Nawawi, p. 133).18 Sharh Riyaad as-Saaliheen, vol. 1, pp. 12-3.


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For whoever desires the transitory enjoyment of this world, I willpromptly grant of 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 deedsdepends 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 onlyportion 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 deedwas evil and he will carry its burden [Thus,] the first sentence indicates that thegoodness or evilness of an act is according to the intention that brought it intobeing. The second sentence indicates that the reward for the doer for his deed isaccording to his pious intention and his punishment for his deed is based on hisevil intention. 19 Al-Ashqar also wrote in this regard, The truth to which theQur aan and Sunnah testify is that the real thing that is made obliged by thesharee ah rulings is the person s soul. The body is just a tool for it. If a deed iswithout what the soul has been ordered to fulfill which is purity of intention than the deed that the body performs is a type of useless play and straying. 20

When the Prophet ( r ) stated that everyone would get what they intended,he meant that their reward or punishment in the next life would be according towhat 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 sintent was for the sake of Allaah, then he or she earns Allaah s pleasure and Hisreward. If the person s intention was religiously neutral, the result will also bereligiously 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 theyintended but according to what they intended.

Meaning of So, whoevers migration ( hijrah ) was for Allaah and His Messenger, then his migration is for Allaah and His Messenger

The word hijrah literally means to leave a place of abode and emigrate toanother people; from one land, district or town to another. 21 However, from thesharee ah perspective it means to emigrate from the territory of disbelievers to

19 Jaami , vol. 1, pp. 64-5.20 Muqaasid, p. 69.21 Arabic-English Lexicon, p. 2880.


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5. Hijrah from whatever Allaah has prohibited.25

Consequently, those who make hijrah for the sake of their religion will berewarded on the basis of that pious intention even if they die before achievingtheir goal. Allaah indicated that saying:

Whoever leaves his home emigrating to Allaah and His Messengerand death over takes him, his reward is incumbent on Allaah.

(Soorah an-Nisaa, 4:100)

This segment of the hadeeth is a prophetic example of deeds being counted andrewarded 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 givento his son. When he told the Prophet ( r ) that he had not desired that, he wasinformed, For you is what you intended, and his son was told, For you is what

you have received. 26 The Prophet ( r ) repeated or restated Allaah and HisMessenger in order to emphasize the importance and greatness of the purpose of the migration. The goal of Allaah and His Messenger is the ultimate goal of intentions for this life and the next. Furthermore, it is a singular goal which cannotbe mixed with any other. Whereas the reasons for worldly goals are too numerousto count so for whatever he migrated suffices. 27

It has also been noted that by using for them instead of for Allaah 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 obeysAllaah and His Messenger has indeed been guided. And whoever disobeys themhas strayed, the Prophet ( r ) corrected him and told him to say instead, Whoever disobeys Allaah and His Messenger. 28

Meaning of And whoevers migration was for this world or awoman for marriage, then his migration is for what he migrated.

The Prophet ( r ) belittled the goal of the person who migrated for worldlygoals by not repeating what he previously mentioned. Migration for economicbetterment from one Islaamic environment to another equally Islaamicenvironment is permissible according to sharee ah . When a person emigrates for

25 The Prophet ( r ) said, The one who truly makes hijrah is one who avoids what Allaah has prohibited. Sahih Al Bukhari, vol. 1, p. 18, no. 9.26 Sahih Al Bukhari, vol. , p. , no. .27 Jaami , vol. 1, p. 73.28 Sahih Muslim, vol. , p. , no. .


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material gain from a relatively Islaamic to a non-Islaamic environment, itbecomes haraam. In doing so, he puts his own Islaam at risk as well as thereligion of his family. His hijrah is cursed and his family is likely to be spirituallyand socially destroyed.

Marriage is specifically mentioned in the closing statement, even it thoughit is a part of worldly goals, because of the great danger that women or theopposite sex in general pose to piety and righteousness. Allaah warned about thedanger of spouses saying:

Indeed there is in your spouses and children a trial, so beware of them.

The Prophet ( r ) also said, Indeed the world is sweet and alluring and Allaah isgoing 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. 29 He further said, I have not left any trialafter me more harmful to men than women. 30

The trial of women is evident from the numerous cases of sexual scandalinvolving leading political figures like Bill Clinton, former president of the UnitedStates of America, to leading religious figures like televangelist Jimmy Swaggart.People are commonly trapped into spying for other counties using women. Manyreligious cults like the Jehovah s Witnesses and the Moonies commonly usefemales to recruit members. Commercially, goods are often promoted usingfashion models.

Intentions and Deeds

Ibn Ajlaan said, A deed is not useful unless accompanied by threefactors: awareness of Allaah; good intention; and correctness of the deed. 31

Ash-Shaatibee divided all acts into four categories:

1. The intent and the act are both consistent with the sharee ah. These are thebasic conditions of a righteous deed.

2. The intent and the act contradict the sharee ah. This represents one of theforms of sin where the intent is sinful and the act itself is sinful.

29 Ibid., vol. , p. , no. .30 Sahih Al Bukhari, vol. , p. , no. ; Sahih Muslim, vol. , p. , no. .31 Jaami , vol. 1, p. 71.


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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 audiocassette with the intent of listening to music only to find that it is arecording of Qur aan.

b) The person s intent is evil and he is aware that his act was in agreementwith the sharee ah. For example, a person who does not normally coverherself, puts on the complete Islaamic garb when attending Islaamicgatherings. 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 thesharee ah. Most forms of bid ah fall under this category, like celebratingthe Prophet s birthday. Likewise, the principle of the ends justifies themean, where people commit sins with good intentions belongs under thiscategory.

b) The person s intent is correct but is unaware that his act is inconsistentwith the sharee ah. Such an act is a genuine mistake for which a personmay still be rewarded. No sin would be written against him as in the caseof forgetfulness.

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