Action and Intention

[gord]

Assalamu Alaykum!

As I explore deeper into Islam, I see stuff about action and intention. Can someone explain more about this? I hear Allah judges by your intention and in other places he judges by your action. Is it he judges good intentions and bad actions? ie. if you think about doing something bad, but don't do it, you won't be judged for it, while if you have the intention of doing something good, but don't do it for some reason, you are rewarded for the intention? The reward would be greater though if you actually did it of course?

Thanks for any info! :)

[Hulk]

Wa alaykumsalam,


Sounds like you've been doing a lot of reading

An example of the importance of intention would be from this hadith


Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Verily actions are by intentions, and for every person is what he intended. So the one whose ‘hijrah’ (migration) was to Allaah and His Messenger, then his ‘hijrah’ was to Allaah and His Messenger. And the one whose ‘hijrah’ was for the world to gain from it, or a woman to marry her, then his ‘hijrah’ was for what he made ‘hijrah’ for."
[Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]


From my understanding we are judged by our intention and action but the intention behind the action comes first. This also relates to the importance of knowledge in Islam for in order for us to be able to carry out the right action we must first have knowledge of what the right action is.


It is very important to do things with the right intention, as it has to do with the state of your heart(which is again important in Islam). On an internet forum for example, many of us come here with the right intention to learn but because of the nature of the medium we are using sometimes our ego gets the better of us and somehow our intentions change from wanting to learn to wanting to defend our ego. When this happens the ability to learn gets hindered. Which is why it's important to always be checking/rechecking our intention and re-aligning it if it is misaligned.


With regard to what you said the answer is yes if we do have a good intention but somehow things don't work out we will still be rewarded for our intention. So before carrying out an 'amal(action) make sure you have the right niyyah(intention) and also it should be done with 'ilm(knowledge), then InShaaAllah you will be rewarded for your ibadah(worship). Worship here does not merely refer to our salaah(prayers). Acts of ibadah can be the simplest things like as long as the intention is correct.

InShaaAllah someone more knowledgable will be able to share what they know. What I can tell you is that the more you learn about Islam you will see that they are all interconnected, there is much meaning to be found and internalised.

[faithandpeace]

I am a bit curious about this as well as a new revert. From what I understand both intention and action are important but I am hoping someone more educated than me can shed some light on this. :)

[gord]

Thank you Hulk. Appreciate the reply!

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[Signor]

The relationship between actions and intentions:

Scholars have differed as to the exact meaning of the words: "Actions are but by intentions." Some later scholars have advanced the opinion that it refers to actions that are correct, valid, and accepted in Islam. This opinion restricts the meaning of this hadîth to specific acts of devotion that require an intention to be acceptable and worthy of reward, like prayer, fasting, and the obligatory emigration to Madinah.

As for other activities like eating and drinking - or even virtuous acts like fulfilling one's trusts - would not fall under the meaning of this hadîth if we were to accept this view.

Others are of the opinion that this hadîth is talking about actions in general. This is the most correct opinion, and it is the view of the majority of scholars, especially the earlier ones. This was clearly what Ahmad b. Hanbal understood from the hadîth, because he said: "I prefer that when anyone does any deed - whether it be prayer, fasting, or charity, or whether it be any other kind of virtuous deed - he should have his intentions always precede his actions, for the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: 'Actions are but by intentions…'."

According to this understanding, the hadîth is addressing all of our voluntary actions, since everything we do has some sort of intention behind it. When the Prophet said: "…and every man will have only what he intended", he was informing us of the implications of this in Islamic Law. If a person performs a good and correct deed with a good intention, then his action will be good and rewardable, and if he performs the same action with a bad motive, then his action will be bad and deserving of punishment.

Likewise, if a person performs a permissible action without an intention to do something good or bad, but merely with the intention of doing something permissible, then he will be deserving of neither a reward nor a punishment for doing so.

Deeds can be good and bad in and of themselves. However, a person will only be deserving of a reward for his good deeds if he performed them for the sake of Allah and not for some ulterior motive.

Allah says: "There is no good in much of their secret talk save (in) him who enjoins almsgiving and goodness and peace-making among the people. Whoever does this seeking the good pleasure of Allah, We shall bestow on him a vast reward." [Sûrah al-Nisâ': 114]

Ibn Rajab comments on this verse that Allah describes enjoining almsgiving, goodness, and reconciliation as good deeds in and of themselves. This is because such deeds benefit the people. However, Allah only promises a reward to those who carry out these deeds "seeking the good pleasure of Allah". Therefore, if a person performs these good and beneficial deeds for the sake of Allah, then the deeds will be good for him as well as for those who benefit from his deeds. If he had other ulterior motives, then these deeds will be of no good for him. [Jâmi` al-`Ulûm wa al-Hikam]

Ibn Rajab further observes that a person who prays, fasts, and recites Allah's name with some ulterior motive is performing deeds that have no good in them whatsoever. The person who performs such deed in such a manner is earning sin for doing so. At the same time, his deeds do not bring the least benefit to anybody else.

You can read more here

[Ahmad H]

This Hadith should suffice in answering your question:

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: The Great and the Glorious Lord said (toangels): Whenever My bondsman intends to corn it an evil, do not record it against him, but if he actually commits it, then write it as one evil. And when he intends to do good but does not do it, then take it down is one act of goodness, but if he does it, then write down ten good deeds (in his record). (Book #001, Hadith #0233)
(Sahih Muslim)

And yes, the reward is more for the good you do, the Qur'an speaks of it:

6:160 He that doeth good shall have ten times as much to his credit: He that doeth evil shall only be recompensed according to his evil: no wrong shall be done unto (any of) them.

[faithandpeace]

Jazakallah khair for posting these Hadiths and for these insights. This confirms much of what I have generally believed with regards to these matters. It makes perfect sense that one must have purity of thought (knowledge) accompanied by purity of intention (heart) in order to perform the proper actions. It can be easy to conduct actions mindlessly without placing much consideration one's intent but it increases the risk that the action may not ultimately be good especially if ego creeps in. I feel so much better and more secure in my imaan and a sense of inner peace whenever I have tried to do something (however so small of a deed) for Allah's (swt) pleasure only and that sense of peace and surety feels like a reward in and of itself per Allah's (swt) will. I hope to keep learning more about these concepts. It sounds like my understanding on this is correct but I humbly accept any corrections and further guidance. And Allah (swt) knows best! :)

[gord]

This Hadith should suffice in answering your question:

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: The Great and the Glorious Lord said (toangels): Whenever My bondsman intends to corn it an evil, do not record it against him, but if he actually commits it, then write it as one evil. And when he intends to do good but does not do it, then take it down is one act of goodness, but if he does it, then write down ten good deeds (in his record).
(Sahih Muslim)

And yes, the reward is more for the good you do, the Qur'an speaks of it:

6:160 He that doeth good shall have ten times as much to his credit: He that doeth evil shall only be recompensed according to his evil: no wrong shall be done unto (any of) them.

Excellent! Makes sense! Thank you!

[Hulk]

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: The Great and the Glorious Lord said (toangels): Whenever My bondsman intends to corn it an evil, do not record it against him, but if he actually commits it, then write it as one evil. And when he intends to do good but does not do it, then take it down is one act of goodness, but if he does it, then write down ten good deeds (in his record). (Book #001, Hadith #0233)
(Sahih Muslim)

Thank you for sharing this hadith, I have been told of it but as I've never had the opportunity to actually read the hadith I decided to keep it to myself but alhamdulillah now I have reference. This is really beautiful, we don't realise that Allah has made the path to paradise easy.