How Allah Records Good and Evil Deeds: Explanation of Hadith 37

He (RH) said:

The thirty-seventh Hadith:

On the authority of Ibn Abbas (RA),

from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ,

among what he narrated from his Lord, Blessed and Exalted, that He said:

"Verily, Allah has written the good deeds and the evil deeds, then He clarified that.

Whosoever intended a good deed but did not do it, Allah writes it down as a full good deed;

and if he intended it and did it, Allah writes it down as ten good deeds

up to seven hundred times, or even many times more;

and if he intended an evil deed and did not do it, Allah writes it down with Him as a full good deed;

and if he intended it and did it, Allah writes it down as a single evil deed.”

It was narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim in their two Sahihs in these words.

So look, my brother—may Allah grant us and you success—

at the great kindness of Allah the Almighty, and ponder these words.

His saying 'with Him' is an indication of His care for it,

and His saying 'full' is for emphasis and intense care for it.

And he said regarding the bad deeds that one intended but then left: "Allah wrote it down with Him as a full good deed," emphasizing it with "full"

"And if he commits it, Allah writes it as one bad deed," emphasizing its minimization with "one," and did not emphasize it with "full."

So to Allah ﷻ belongs all praise and favor. Glory be to Him, we cannot enumerate His praise, and with Allah lies all success.

This is the thirty-seventh Hadith, from Ibn Abbas (RA), that Allah has written the good and bad deeds.

His saying "wrote" means that He wrote their multiplication.

And the angels knew that from the writing,

so they did not need to ask again.

This is how some commentators mentioned it, including Ibn Hubayrah in al-Ifsah.

This Hadith contains several matters. The first is the mercy of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, towards His servants,

in that He multiplies good deeds and not bad deeds, as al-Nawawi (RH) just mentioned.

The second matter is that, out of the mercy of Allah ﷻ to this Ummah, He multiplied its good deeds.

Therefore, they perform few deeds that are multiplied for them due to seasons, or due to...

...characteristics, or due to many other factors, or due to intention, and so on.

The third matter is that this Hadith guides us to an important rule:

which is that the believer's intention is greater than his action.

A report was narrated by al-Daylami, but it is not authentic, though its meaning is correct.

Therefore, some scholars said that the believer's intention

is more than the acts of obedience he is capable of,

and the wicked person's intention regarding acts of wickedness and sin

is more than what he is capable of, and more than what he actually does.

However, Allah ﷻ rewarded the intention of the former and pardoned the intention of the latter.

Thirdly, since this is the case,

a person should always be keen to have a good intention. Intend good.

And "good intention" does not mean the exaggeration cited by some later scholars,

when some of them said, "If you leave your house..." and wrote a treatise on it.

He said, "If you leave your house, make forty intentions,"

mentioning among them intending to remove harmful things from the road,

and intending this, and intending that. No, it is not like that.

Rather, intending good means that you intend to perform an act of obedience,

such as intending to perform worship like prayer; if you do it, your reward is multiplied,

and if you do not, then it is not so.

Waiting for one prayer after another is Ribat, is Ribat. This is intending good.

He intended to wait for the prayer to perform it on time.

And it is even more so if he is in the place of prayer, which is the masjid.

Among the good intentions is that you see someone else who has preceded you in doing good,

and you wish to be like them in their charity, fasting, good character, and seeking of knowledge,

in honoring parents, in kindness, and in good character towards neighbors,

hoping to be like them. This is a good intention.

The final matter is to know that a bad deed is not multiplied,

but rather it becomes graver. For indeed, a bad deed in the Haram becomes graver but is not multiplied,

and likewise, a bad deed during the sacred months becomes graver but is not multiplied.

The scholars said that its becoming graver means

that it cannot be expiated by just any expiating deed,

for indeed, minor sins and sins in general have many expiations, as we have discussed,

But if they are grave, being major sins, or due to their gravity in place or time,

then they are not expiated except by something greater than the expiations for sins.

Yes.