assalamu aleikum
How many of us think of our intentions in our daily life ,when doing something good to someone or performing an act of worship .Do we often ask ourselves,why am I doing this? Do I do this for people or do I do this for the sake of Allah?
We have to always check our intentions ,as our intentions always has to be 100% for Allah .
Before doing anything check your intention.When you performing your daily prayers ,do you do just as a habit ,or do you stand obediently infront of Allah ,sincerely worshiping Him .
You can make every intention for Allah .
When you helping others ,or when someone asked you to do something ,do you want to do it only to please people or to please Allah Subhana wa Taala?
When you spending hours on the phone or internet ,think ,am I doing this just because I want to kill time ,or am I doing this because it will benefit me ?
Always check your intentions..
Our actions are undermined by our intentions - whether they are good intentions or bad intentions. Therefore we should always check our intentions before we do or say anything. We must make sure that the action is for the sake of Allah so that it is accepted by Allah and that we will be rewarded for it, insha Allah.
We learn from the Hadith...
It is narrated on the authority of Amirul Mu'minin, Abu Hafs 'Umar bin al-Khattab, radiyallahu 'anhu, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, say:
"Actions are (judged) by motives (niyyah), so each man will have what he intended. Thus, he whose migration (hijrah) was to Allah and His Messenger, his migration is to Allah and His Messenger; but he whose migration was for some worldly thing he might gain, or for a wife he might marry, his migration is to that for which he migrated."
It is considered to be one of the greatest hadiths in Islam.
Al-Imam al-Shafie said: This Hadith is one third of the knowledge of Islam; related to about 70 topics of Fiqh.
This hadith emphasises ikhlas (sincerity - to be truthful and honest to Allah alone, performing an act solely for Allah's sake whereby no other witness except Allah is sought). Ikhlas is one of the conditions of accepting good deeds. The other condition is that the actions must be done in accordance with the Shariah .
To achieve ikhlas, we have to avoid shirk (associating others with Allah, which causes insincerity). Al-Imam al-Harawi said the root cause for insincerity (or shirk) is self-desire (al-hawa). Therefore no action should be done because of self-desire.
Imam al-Harawi states that there are 7 types of self-desires:-
1. To make oneself appear good in the hearts of others
2. To seek the praises of others
3. To avoid being blamed by others
4. To seek the glorification of others
5. To seek the wealth/money of others
6. To seek the services or love of others
7. To seek the help of others for oneself
* Before we do any deed we should firstly seek knowledge (ilm) - our actions/deeds should be guided by knowledge so that we do them in accordance to the Shariah.
* Do not give false impressions - do not make others believe that an action we did was good when it was not.
* Al-Imam Ahmad said: Before you do anything, check your intention (niyyah) - ask yourself before performing an action: "Is it for the sake of Allah?"
Ibnu al-Qayyim says: Any action we do is subject to three defects:
1. Being conscious that others are observing our actions
2. Seeking a return (benefit/reward) for the action
3. Being satisfied with the action
Examples:
* If we go to the masjid for the salah and we are early, arriving before the Imam and finding a place in the first saff, we should not be proud of ourselves and think of ourselves being better than others. We should praise Allah for enabling us to go to the masjid and for being able to perform the salah without any difficulties.
* After every salah, we should tell ourselves that we could have performed it better and try to improve in our next salah.
There are four things that contradict ikhlas:
1. Ma'siat - committing sins - this will weaken our ikhlas
2. Shirk - associating others with Allah
3. Riya' - performing an ibadah with the intention of showing off to others
4. Nifaq - hypocrisy
Even though we must always make sure that our actions do not deviate from ikhlas, there are actions, which are automatically considered that of good intentions. For example, seeking knowledge in Islam, helping the community, doing da'wah, etc.
How many of us think of our intentions in our daily life ,when doing something good to someone or performing an act of worship .Do we often ask ourselves,why am I doing this? Do I do this for people or do I do this for the sake of Allah?
We have to always check our intentions ,as our intentions always has to be 100% for Allah .
Before doing anything check your intention.When you performing your daily prayers ,do you do just as a habit ,or do you stand obediently infront of Allah ,sincerely worshiping Him .
You can make every intention for Allah .
When you helping others ,or when someone asked you to do something ,do you want to do it only to please people or to please Allah Subhana wa Taala?
When you spending hours on the phone or internet ,think ,am I doing this just because I want to kill time ,or am I doing this because it will benefit me ?
Always check your intentions..
Our actions are undermined by our intentions - whether they are good intentions or bad intentions. Therefore we should always check our intentions before we do or say anything. We must make sure that the action is for the sake of Allah so that it is accepted by Allah and that we will be rewarded for it, insha Allah.
We learn from the Hadith...
It is narrated on the authority of Amirul Mu'minin, Abu Hafs 'Umar bin al-Khattab, radiyallahu 'anhu, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, say:
"Actions are (judged) by motives (niyyah), so each man will have what he intended. Thus, he whose migration (hijrah) was to Allah and His Messenger, his migration is to Allah and His Messenger; but he whose migration was for some worldly thing he might gain, or for a wife he might marry, his migration is to that for which he migrated."
It is considered to be one of the greatest hadiths in Islam.
Al-Imam al-Shafie said: This Hadith is one third of the knowledge of Islam; related to about 70 topics of Fiqh.
This hadith emphasises ikhlas (sincerity - to be truthful and honest to Allah alone, performing an act solely for Allah's sake whereby no other witness except Allah is sought). Ikhlas is one of the conditions of accepting good deeds. The other condition is that the actions must be done in accordance with the Shariah .
To achieve ikhlas, we have to avoid shirk (associating others with Allah, which causes insincerity). Al-Imam al-Harawi said the root cause for insincerity (or shirk) is self-desire (al-hawa). Therefore no action should be done because of self-desire.
Imam al-Harawi states that there are 7 types of self-desires:-
1. To make oneself appear good in the hearts of others
2. To seek the praises of others
3. To avoid being blamed by others
4. To seek the glorification of others
5. To seek the wealth/money of others
6. To seek the services or love of others
7. To seek the help of others for oneself
Ways to obtain ikhlas:
* Do righteous deeds - the more good deeds we do and hence get closer to Allah, the more sincere we will be.
* Before we do any deed we should firstly seek knowledge (ilm) - our actions/deeds should be guided by knowledge so that we do them in accordance to the Shariah.
* Do not give false impressions - do not make others believe that an action we did was good when it was not.
* Al-Imam Ahmad said: Before you do anything, check your intention (niyyah) - ask yourself before performing an action: "Is it for the sake of Allah?"
Ibnu al-Qayyim says: Any action we do is subject to three defects:
1. Being conscious that others are observing our actions
2. Seeking a return (benefit/reward) for the action
3. Being satisfied with the action
Examples:
* If we go to the masjid for the salah and we are early, arriving before the Imam and finding a place in the first saff, we should not be proud of ourselves and think of ourselves being better than others. We should praise Allah for enabling us to go to the masjid and for being able to perform the salah without any difficulties.
* After every salah, we should tell ourselves that we could have performed it better and try to improve in our next salah.
There are four things that contradict ikhlas:
1. Ma'siat - committing sins - this will weaken our ikhlas
2. Shirk - associating others with Allah
3. Riya' - performing an ibadah with the intention of showing off to others
4. Nifaq - hypocrisy
Even though we must always make sure that our actions do not deviate from ikhlas, there are actions, which are automatically considered that of good intentions. For example, seeking knowledge in Islam, helping the community, doing da'wah, etc.
