Hadith of the Day: Actions are dependent upon Intentions

The entire life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is an excellent specimen of how a true Muslim and believer should live his life.  Thus the numerous sayings or Hadiths as these are called of the Prophet of Allah must be correctly understood in reference to the context for their better understanding and implementation in our daily chores and undertakings. 

One of the very famous Hadith attributed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is:

"Innamal a’malu binniyat" ~ “Actions are dependent upon their Intentions”

We must understand that Allah will bless us or otherwise of our actions based on our intentions, for He alone knows what resides inside our thoughts. 

This [articular saying of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is attributed to an event that took place during the migration of Muslims from Makkah to Medina. While most of the Muslims migrated in the name of Allah to preserve His religion from being polluted by the pagans of Makkah, it so happened that one man who when found that the woman he loved was migrating to Medina, he followed suit to be near her and marry her. Thus his intention was not to migrate in the name of Allah but to follow his worldly desires.

This incident has been narrated on the authority of Omar bin Al-Khattab, who said : I heard the messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam say : “Actions are but by intention and every man shall have but that which he intended. Thus he whose migration was for Allah and His messenger, his migration was for Allah and His messenger, and he whose migration was to achieve some worldly benefit or to take some woman in marriage, his migration was for that for which he migrated.” [Bukhari and Muslim]

It has also been related to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as narrated by Imam Muslim,that:

The first people to be judged on the Day of Judgement was a martyred. Allah asked him, “What have you done in the world?” The martyred replied, “I fought for your religion.” Allah said, “You lie. You fought so that people will call you the dare one.” And you will be judged for your intention accordingly.

A seeker of knowledge that knowledge and diligent practice read the Qur’an comes before God. Allah asked, “What have you done in the world?” He replied, “I seek knowledge, act upon it, and I read the Qur’an because of Allah.”  Allah said, “You lie. You seek knowledge and you read Qur’an so that others call you religious people.”  

one with a wealth of rich and famous because his charity come before God.  Allah asked, “What have you done in the world?” He replied, “I spent all the wealth that I have because of You.” God said, “You lie. You do it all so that people call you generous.” 

Then the Prophet of Allah remarked: “They are the first people to feel the heat of hell fire on the Day of Resurrection.”

There are many Hadiths that can be quoted on this account, but the purpose here is to highlight the importance of our hidden desires and to reign these as per the dictates of the commandments of the Holy Qur'an and sayings of the Prophet of Allah so that our actions do not go waste and instead of being blessed with for our apparent good and noble actions, we may not displease Allah and suffer His wrath. 

Watch this beautiful video below on intentions and actions:

So before embarking upon anything, first set your intentions right and be mindful of the fact that any polluted intention and its consequent action may harm you rather than benefiting from it. Having set your course right, then put in your best effort not to implement your plan but also keep in mind that you may not select a discourse that is illegal or Haram for any such act may ruin your intentions, no matter how good and noble these may be. Then leave it to Allah to make it happen, and whatever is the outcome,rest assured that Allah never wrongs His true believers.

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Prophet Muhammad (PBUH): Migration to Medina (Hijrah) and Miracle of Allah

A major milestone in the history of Islam is the decision by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him - ﷺ) to migrate from Makkah to Media, then called Yathrib. The decision was not easy or entirely by the prophet himself, but it was rather forced upon him due to the ever increasing treacheries of the non believers of Makkah since the open proclamation of Islam by the prophet. The poor newly converted Muslims were the main target of the non believers who where and when found were subjected to extreme torture and their house ransacked.

In the meantime, there was a parallel development taking place in the city of Yathrib in the form of power politics. The state of unrest was mainly due to a long ongoing dispute between the local Arabs and the Jews, which had resulted into many bloody clashes costing precious lives. Thus a delegation from Yathrib elders visited Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)  in Makkah and requested him to be their arbitrator to bring peace to the community.

Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)  thus decided to migrate to Yathrib to find him a breathing space away from the hostile non believers of Makkah and thus asked his followers to slowly and gradually to head for Yathrib.

The non believers came to know of plan of migration of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and decided to assassinate him before he too left. They thus planned the raid on the night before move of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). Sensing the danger, Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) had already left his cousin Ali ibn Talib and surreptitiously left Makkah along with his trusted friend and companion Abu Bakr. The presence of Ali in the house of the prophet frustrated the non believers and they sent out armed horsemen to follow Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)  and his companion on the route to Yathrib.

By dawn Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and Abu Bakr had reached a cave called Thawr and decided to take shelter in there to avoid detection. They stayed there for three days. One day one of the armed teams reached the mouth of the cave and both Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)  and his companions could hear their voices outside. This rather scared Abu Bakr, but at that time Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)  assured him of Allah's protection and said: “How can you be apprehensive about two with whom is a third, especially when the third one is Allah (ﷻ)?” And true to assurance of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) the team after some time retracted and went back.

Unknown to both, Allah (ﷻ) had sent a spider that built its web on the mouth of the cave and a pair of doves came and made a nest near the cave mouth and laid eggs. The armed team when saw these two signs thought no one could have entered the cave from the intact web and disturbing the doves. The miracle of Allah thus saved the two.

The episode of Thawr is mentioned in Qur'an as under:

If ye help not (your leader), (it is no matter): for Allah did indeed help him, when the Unbelievers drove him out: he had no more than one companion; they two were in the cave, and he said to his companion, “Have no fear, for Allah is with us”: then Allah sent down His peace upon him, and strengthened him with forces which ye saw not, and humbled to the depths the word of the Unbelievers. But the word of Allah is exalted to the heights: for Allah is Exalted in might, Wise.“ [Surah Al Taubah 9:40]

Once reassured of their safety, the prophet and his companion left of Yathrib on the fourth day. Back in Yathrib, the Muslims who had earlier migrated from Makkah along with locals eagerly waited for the prophet. They would queue up at the mouth of Makkah - Yathrib route awaiting for their revered guests. 

Upon their arrival, they were greeted by the locals and everyone wanted the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) to stay with them. The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)  who was riding his white camel "Qiswa" said that whereever her camel stops, he would stay with that household. The camel kept wandering in the streets followed by the crowd wanting to know who the blessed host of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) would be. Finally the camel sat in front of the house one Abu Ayub Ansaari. Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) stayed with his host till his abode was ready and shifted there.The house of Abu Ayub Ansaari is part of Masjid e Quba. 

The life at Yathrib and the later part of life of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) will be covered in the next post.

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