Intentions are the foundation of every action

Intentions are the foundation of every action

Everything you do or say, begins with an intention (niyah). The importance of the intention is that whatever your action, you will be judged by that initial intention.

Narrated 'Umar bin Al-Khattab: 'I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended. So whoever emigrated for worldly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration was for what he emigrated for." [Sahih al-Bukhari]

"There is no fast for the one who does not intend to fast before dawn." [Sunan an-Nasa'i]

It was narrated from Abu ad-Darda' who attributed it to the Prophet (SAW):

"Whoever goes to his bed intending to get up and pray qiyam at night, then sleep overwhelms him until morning, will have recorded that which he intended and his sleep is a charity given to him by his Lord, the Mighty and Sublime." [Sunan an-Nasa'i]

There are four initial stages that a person goes through before committing a sin.

• In the first stage, the idea crosses their mind to commit the sin and in most cases, they are insinuated by Shaytaan (Devil). But you are not yet condemned, because you cannot control nor stop shaytaan (Devil) from whispering ideas to you.
• In the second phase, you then begin to feel an urge or desire to commit the sin. (E.g. a fasting person is walking along the streets, they smell an aroma of food that is pleasant and automatically they feel the pangs of hunger and desire to taste the food. But this feeling cannot control you [unless you allow it], so they are not punished for this.
• Within the third stage, you become inclined to commit the sin.
• In the fourth element, you then make the intention to either give in to temptation and commit the sin or to suppress the evil thoughts and feelings and make the intention not to commit the sin; here you have made up your mind, the intention is written, the pen has been lifted and the ink is dried. And you are at this point judged by Allah.

Ibn 'Abbas reported Allah's Messenger as saying, 'Allah records the good deeds and the evil deeds. If anyone intends to do a good deed but does not do it, Allah enters it for him in His record as a complete good deed:

'And if he intends to do a good deed and does it, Allah enters it for him in His record as ten to seven hundred and many more times as much. If anyone intends to do an evil deed and does not do it, Allah enters it for him in His record as a completely good deed; but if he intends to do it and does it, Allah records it for him as one evil deed.' [Sahih al-Bukhari & Sahih Muslim]

Nobody knows someone else's intentions except the all-Knowing [Al-Alim], the all-Aware [Al-Khabeer].

"You watch the outer whilst I watch the inner." Allah said to His Angels. Whilst we are aware that we are appointed two Angels, one on our left recording the bad/evil deeds that we do (e.g, backbiting, lying, being unkind, swearing, not praying...) and then the Angel on the right who records all the good deeds that we do (e.g, praying, giving zakat, kindness to parents, reading Qur'an...). Allah the all-Knowing, the all-Seeing, all-Hearing, has a record of His own with all your good and bad intentions.

"And indeed, [appointed] over you are keepers, Nobel and recording; They know whatever you do." (Qur'an, Surah al-Infitar, The Cleaving 82, verses 10-12)

"And [for] every person We have imposed his fate upon his neck, and We will produce for him on the Day of Resurrection a record which he will encounter spread open. [It will be said], 'Read your record. Sufficient is yourself against you the Day as an accountant." (Qur'an, Surah al-Isra (The Night Journey) 17, verses 13-14)

According to the verses of the Qur'an, the books/scrolls of deeds good and bad, will be hung around your neck on the Day of Judgement, so you are able to read them yourselves and become aware of your character.

"And the record [of deeds] will be placed [open], and you will see the criminals fearful of that within it, and they will say, 'Oh, woe to us! What is this book that leaves nothing small or great except that it has enumerated it?' And they will find what they did present [before them]. And your Lord does injustice to no one." (Qur'an, Surah al-Kahf (The Cave) 18, verse 49)

"The Day every soul will find what it has done of good present [before it] and what it has done of evil, it will wish that between itself and that [evil] was a great distance. And Allah warns you of Himself, and Allah is Kind to [His] servants." (Quran, Surah Ali-Imran (The Family of Imran) 3, verse 30)

Nothing escapes the Originator, the Creator, not a thing, whether you make it apparent or conceal it; He knows. This is something we need to be aware of and more vigilant of in our day-to-day life. Taqwa is an Arabic term used in the Qur'an which means 'fear and abstinence and forbearance'.

To have Taqwa is about being aware that Allah is watching you at all times, he hears your most inner thoughts. And with having Taqwa it can act as a protection, a shield. Like a protective barrier between yourself and the punishment of Allah. When we are conscious of Allah, He will be present in our minds, and we will think of Him often. Our deeds will be only to please Allah because we have chosen to put Him first and because our awareness of Him is high, our actions will relate to Him, in order to please Him and only Him.

"Have Taqwa of Allah in order that you might succeed." [Qur'an, surah ali-Imran (The family of Imran) 3, verse 200]

With attaining Taqwa, we will need to stay aware that Allah is with us, He knows our intentions even if others do not, and He knows our secrets. He will be the One whom we ought to be pleasing. So be sincere with your intentions to please the Creator, because He too holds a record for every single one of us.

Taqwa is not something you just have, it is something to seek every day, in order to build our awareness of Allah out of fear of Him. There are levels of Taqwa:

[1] That a person guards against disbelief; this is the station of Islam.

[2] That one guards against sin and forbidden acts; this is the station of repentance.

[3] That one guards against doubtful matters; this is the station of scrupulousness.

[4] That one guards against what is lawful [but superfluous]; which is the station of worldly detachment.

[5] That one guards the heart against other than God being present in it; this is the station of spiritually witnessing God.

[At-Tashil li'Ulum al-Tanzil (Beirut: al-Maktabah al-'Asriyyah, 2003), 1:98]

Have Taqwa (fear Allah) and have sincerity in your intentions to please only the Creator, make it your high priority, otherwise it will become an empty intention, resulting in an empty reward.