I cant carry on like this ?!

[Zobia]

Assalamu Alaikum,

I'm having a hard time finding out what the word intention means.
We are all going to be judged on our actions by our intentions
Now this is why i want to know what the word intention means
Sometimes i understand it, most of the time i do not understand
what is the definiton of the word intention from an islamic point of view ??
is it a reason for why you did something or a purpose ?
I would like if you could give clear answers,
i just don't get it so it makes me confused about all of my acts and i feel messed up !!
Because i know unintentional is when something happens that was not deliberate, it was an accident
But i have no idea what an INTENTION is and what it means to do something intentionally.!
:|

May Allah (SWT) reward you for answering.

walaikum assalam.

 

[Alpha Dude]

Wa alaykum salam,

Intention can be good or bad.

Good intention is when you are doing something purely for the sake of Allah. E.g if you pray salah thinking that Allah will be pleased with you.

However, if you are praying salah and in your mind think 'If I pretend to do this really good all the people watching around me will praise me for being so pious', that would be wrong.

Don't do things related to worship for show/to impress other people. Focus on whether Allah will be happy with you or not.

Another aspect of intention is when you intend to do something good but are not able to carry it out fully. For example, if you intend to go to hajj but on the way there, you get lost due to circumstances out of your control and it leaves you unable to reach makkah. In such a case, you would be rewarded for your intention of hajj inshaAllah.

Basically, think of Allah and earning his happiness whenever you do any good deed. Don't do it for showing other people that you are good.

 

[Woodrow]

Keep in mind that while all things we do have an intent on our part, the result is not always what we desired. This we have no control over.

But we do always have control over what we intend the result to be and we have control over our actions that will lead us to or lead us away from our intended result. For example it is my intent to drive to Fargo for Jummah. I make a sincere effort to get to Fago, but get stuck in an unexpected blizzard. I did all I could to get to Fargo, but can not make it. I have done all I could to fulfill my intent. Unforeseen conditions stopped me, not my desire or choice my intent was sincere.

Now suppose I have the intent to go to Fargo for Jummah, I know it is a 4 hour drive under the best conditions. I know snow is forecast and there will be delays. However, I get side tracked with a TV show, and do not leave the house until 4 hours before Jummah, I get stuck and can not make it to Jummah. Now this would be my fault as my intent was not sincere enough for me to take the needed precaution of leaving early, knowing ahead there was a likelihood of a delay. My intent was just mental gibberish, not sincere and I was not prepared to take the actions needed to avoid being too late. I did not have any real intent to get to Fargo for Jummah, even though I made an attempt to go. My actual intent was I will go to Fargo, as long as it does not interfere with what I am now doing.