As reported by Umar, Radi Allahu ‘anhu:
I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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’s been awhile since I shared a reminder. May Allah forgive me, but I stopped because they didn’t seem to receive any pageviews. Google tracking reported few, if any, hits to any of them, where my photo-related posts usually get one or two views… But why do I share the reminders? Do I share them to get pageviews? Or do I share them as a reminder to myself first, to give glory to Allah azza wa jall and His messenger, peace be upon him.
At best, intention should be for three things: seeking Allah’s pleasure, avoiding His displeasure, and following His commandments. It should be fairly easy to intend one of those for any given action, even the most mundane and regular. Going to work and doing the best job that I can in order to earn His sustenance; getting a haircut to look my best when I stand in front of Him during prayer; sitting in traffic… can we sit in traffic, intending to seek Allah’s pleasure, avoid His displeasure, and/or follow His commandments? Well, I can seek His pleasure in traffic by remembering Him with my heart and tongue. I can avoid his displeasure by keeping my emotions under control, avoiding cursing other drivers or honking the horn out of anger. I can follow his commandments in traffic by letting other drivers merge in front of me, showing patience and generosity.
It’s really not that hard.
May Allah help me rectify my intention. May He grant me the strength and will to examine and modify my intention, and to pay attention to my intention. May He protect me from mixing intentions, or intending toward that which displeases Him. Ameen.
