The Hadith of Intentions: Heart Actions and Fiqh Rulings of Niyyah

He (RH) said:

The first Hadith: On the authority of the Commander of the Faithful, Abu Hafs Umar bin Al-Khattab (RA),

who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:

"Actions are but by intentions, and every person shall have only that which he intended.

So whoever's emigration was for Allah ﷻ and His Messenger, then his emigration was for Allah ﷻ and His Messenger;

and whoever's emigration was for worldly gain or a woman to marry, then his emigration was for that to which he emigrated."

It was related by the Imam of the Hadith scholars, Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Ismail

bin Ibrahim bin al-Mughirah bin Bardizbah al-Bukhari al-Ju'fi,

and Abu al-Husayn Muslim bin al-Hajjaj bin Muslim al-Qushayri al-Naysaburi,

in their two Sahihs, which are the most authentic books compiled.

Yes, this is the first Hadith with which the author began,

just as Ishaq bin Rahwayh suggested to his student Muhammad bin Ismail al-Bukhari to begin his book with this Hadith.

This Hadith is one of the foundations of the religion.

Al-Shafi'i (RH) said half of the religion's rulings refer back to this Hadith,

and it was said a third of it refers back to this Hadith.

Intention generally involves two rulings: what relates to the actions of the heart,

and what relates to the actions of the limbs.

As for the actions of the heart, three things relate to intention: faith,

sincerity, and purpose.

So, what relates to the actions of the heart are three: faith,

sincerity, and purpose, and they overlap.

As for faith, whoever lacks the intention

that is in the sense of faith, no deed will be accepted from him,

nor will any deed—obligatory or voluntary—be accepted from him,

because Islam is a condition for the validity of deeds.

No matter what deeds are done, and whatever a servant performs, as long as he is not a Muslim, it will never be accepted from him.

This is the first type of the actions of the heart: faith.

The second type is sincerity.

And two things oppose sincerity.

Minor shirk, which is showing off or seeking reputation.

And the second type is association (Tashreek), which is to perform the deed for Allah ﷻ,

while intending some worldly gain, such as a wage or the like.

As for the first type, which is related to minor shirk—namely, showing off—

it invalidates the deed in terms of reward,

because shirk erases the deed,

but it does not invalidate the deed in terms of validity.

Accordingly, whoever prays to show off,

or gives Zakat to show off, or fasts to show off,

has no reward, and we do not command him to repeat it.

Rather, he should increase in charity and voluntary deeds.

He is not commanded to repeat it, because what matters is the outward.

and obligatory deeds are judged by their outward performance; as long as he is a Muslim, they are valid.

As for if the deficiency in the intention is from the aspect of tashreek,

then whoever combines intentions, his reward is reduced but not entirely invalidated.

And this is the verified view.

because some scholars equated tashreek with

riyaa, making them one, like Al-Ghazali, but verifying scholars refuted this, such as Shaykh Taqi al-Din.

The evidence for tashreek specifically is the hadith narrated from the Prophet ﷺ

"No raiding party goes out and takes spoils but they receive two-thirds of their reward in advance."

This shows us that whoever intends Allah, Mighty and Majestic, in an act of worship, but also intends some worldly gain, his reward is reduced,

and his reward is not like the one whose intention was purely for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, with no tashreek in it.

So we differentiate between ishrak in intention and tashreek in intention,

The first invalidates the deed, because shirk nullifies deeds.

As for the second, it diminishes the reward — this is the verified view among the scholars.

The third type related to the actions of the heart is intention (al-qasd),

and this intention is what the jurists discuss in books of fiqh. What is intention?

They require intention to distinguish between similar acts of worship, and to distinguish between obligatory and voluntary prayers,

and to distinguish between similar prayers like Asr and Dhuhr,

so one must intend the specific one; specification is necessary.

However, they do not require specifying ada' (on time) or qada' (makeup).

So if someone prays a makeup prayer with the intention of ada',

or vice versa, it is still valid.

Rather, what is required is only specifying whether it is obligatory or voluntary,

and its type if it has more than one type, like the types of prayers.

The same applies to fasting and to Hajj —

if it is a Hajj of a vow or an obligatory Hajj, and so on.

These three matters relate to the actions of the heart.

As for what relates to the actions of the limbs,

they are divided into two categories, and this is what Al-Shafi'i meant.

For among the actions of the limbs are those whose effects are produced,

whether the intention is present or not.

And among the actions of the limbs are those whose effects are not produced

...except with an intention.

Therefore, Al-Shafi'i said that intention is half of knowledge,

meaning half of the issues refer back to it.

The default rule is that every action must have an intention,

due to the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: "Actions are but by intentions."

This indicates restriction, because the restrictive particle "ma"

enters "inna", it stops its action and denotes restriction in its meaning,

However, certain cases are excepted from this.

Among these cases, scholars said: everything under acts of omission

all omissions are valid even if there is no intention.

A famous example of omission is the removal of impurities.

For if an impurity falls on a garment,

and then it is removed by your action, even without intention, it is removed.

This is the first. The second: everything that falls under damages and their consequences.

So whoever damages another's property

or the like, must compensate for it; or if they kill someone

without intention, they must pay the diyah, which is the compensation.

The third matter: they said, everything that falls under causes,

that is made a cause for something, whatever is a cause for something.

except expiations, which, according to the scholars, are akin to punishments,

and punishment requires an action with intention,

so there is no expiation for an action done without intention,

unless it is among the things linked to destruction, like intercourse,

according to some scholars who say intention is not required for it,

and similarly for some destructions. This is detailed in books of fiqh. Yes.