Bilal Assad – Sincerity and Intentions
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AI: Transcript ©
So Insha'Allah,
I'm going to present to you from this
week onwards and for the rest of the
year,
new topics every year insha' every week insha'Allah,
a new topic.
But the way I'm going to deliver these
new topics to you, each one's a topic
insha'Allah.
We're going to I'm going to deliver it
based on
a very popular
and known book
that you probably have all heard of. It's
called Riyadh Us Salehain.
Riyadh Us
Salehain by the great Imam,
Al Imam and Nawawi.
And,
some of the work that's
done around this book is by a modern
scholar called doctor Khaled the Sept.
So I'm taking some of the work that
is done, of course, not entirely.
And the reason I told you that is
just to show you that,
insha'Allah,
we're going off that basis.
And,
of course as I told you once again,
each week will be under a topic. So
I'm not going like through the whole book
1 by 1. It'll be 10 years before
we finish it.
So I'm gonna select the topics from there,
but just so you know, for those of
you who would like to refer to it.
For those of you who speak Arabic, you
can also refer to doctor Khaled Ashab,
sheikh, scholar, masha'Allah,
amazing.
And you can look at his work in
Arabic because I'm going to present some examples
that benefit the young people or the people
especially who are growing up in the West.
So a lot of the examples I give
are a little bit different to the examples
that you will hear from sheiks,
that you hear online from overseas,
from Arab countries
or non western countries.
We obviously,
bring to you what benefits you and what
we think,
always what I think, insha Allah, young people
need here and even older people living,
in the west. So Bismillahrahmanarrahim.
Let's begin.
The first topic that we must begin, brothers
and sisters, is the most important foundation of
every Muslim before you can do anything.
Can anyone guess what is the most important
foundation
after
the
shahada
declaring that there is only one god worthy
of worship, Muhammad salallahu alaihi wa sallam is
his messenger.
What is
the the most important foundation for all these
acts? Salat.
Not salat.
Aniyah.
Aniyah. Who said that? Abu Bilad. I think
whoever wanted to say that, it's Aniyah.
Aniyah which means the intention.
The intention.
Now
there is 2 words that we use
and that is Ikhlas
and niya.
Ikhlas
which means sincerity, but it means more than
that. It means when your heart
has sincerity,
loyalty,
and honesty.
Sincerity, loyalty, and honesty to Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala.
And niya means the intention
of why you do what you do.
Brothers and sisters,
if these two
aspects are not
your foundation, they're not correct and proper
inside your heart,
no action
that you do
will mean anything anything to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
It may mean something to
someone you love, your family, yourself,
your business,
your children,
could be for fame, fortune, whatever you want,
but all those are temporary. They're for this
world.
However,
a Muslim can grab 2 worlds,
this world
and the next world
through a foundation
called
sincerity
and correct intentions.
My brothers and sisters, I cannot emphasize this.
You know, if somebody wants to
become a Muslim,
not Muslim, and wants to revert
to Islam
or some people use the word convert. The
point my point is they embrace Islam.
And they say the shahada,
while in their hearts, their intention is something
else.
They're not really intending to become Muslim.
But for example, the intention was just for
the purpose of marriage.
It's because they wanna marry someone and without
saying the shahada, they can't marry them.
Or a person who wants who is a
Muslim already
and wants to pray salat, like my brother
here said, salat is a foundation that says
an action.
But if you do your salah, your prayer
with
a false intention,
for example,
to please people
or to look
good for fame or some gain.
Or you do it, for example, because
you want to marry
some
man's daughter
or to look good in front
of a
some person's mother
by coming to the mosque because you see
them at the mosque and you're just doing
that
really just to try and look good and
that's your only intention.
All of these brothers and sisters renders your
actions
void,
destroys the action.
So let us insha'Allah
talk about it now the muslim's relationship
how do we deal with Allah subhanahu wa
ta'aal
Our relationship in dealing with Allah, a Muslim,
this is the Islamic belief.
Our relationship with Allah is dealt
upon intentions
and sincerity.
There is also a third thing and that
is to complete it and that is the
correctness of the action.
And if
I intend
have a good intention to do something with
good intentions,
but I do it in the way that
I think
is morally correct.
If that moral
perception, that moral opinion of mine
goes directly against
the moral
command
or guidance of Allah.
Whatever appears in the Quran goes against the
command of Allah, goes against the prohibition of
Allah
or his messenger salallahu alaihi wasallam.
It doesn't matter what your intention is. You
can have a the best intention in the
world.
It will not be accepted.
So the intention is to be right, you
have to be honest in the heart,
and the action has to also be right.
Example,
I have young people ask me sincerely, they
just don't know.
They've never been taught
that on Eid, for example, on celebrations,
they say, can I
hug? So
say a boy says, who is a teenager,
can I hug my family friend? Say he's
16. Hug my family friend who's also 16.
He's not Maharam, Youani. Allah has forbidden
physical contact between men and women who are
not directly related to each other, like a
brother, sister, father, mother and so on.
But they say my intention is good.
They're family, friends, we grew up together.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has forbidden that for
several wisdoms and reasons.
Now if you trust in Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala and you know that Allah doesn't tell
you
to not do something
for no good reason
then that's a problem you have to trust
in Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
You might have good intentions
but good intentions do not make haram halal.
I might have good intentions
in driving you down to the local vaping
shop
and the shisha joint
because I wanna be a good friend
but with the wrong action.
Does that make my action
to take you there correct?
No. Just because I've got good intentions.
I may have good intentions
to help you
go and steal
and justify in a way to say,
that's okay. That shop owner is rude to
the customers anyway. He deserves to be stolen
from.
The shaitaan comes to me and says, that's
a good intention so let's go and do
it together.
Or to go and
bash some
person
who had a fight with my cousin,
even though it was my cousin's fault, instead
of trying to fix the situation, I say,
I'm loyal to my cousin and friends, mate.
I've got to go and bash them.
The intention is good that you wanna be
loyal to your friend but the action is
wrong.
And there are and you can understand. Fill
in the gap. So many examples.
Having said this, let's first of all start
with a verse of Quran. Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala, for example, says about intentions and sincerity.
Allah says
in chapter 98 verse 5, and they were
commanded not, but that they should worship Allah
and worship none but him alone, abstaining from
ascribing partners to him.
And to perform as salah and give zakah,
and that is the right religion. The word
used here is mukhlesin alahuddin,
which means worshiping him with full sincerity, loyalty,
and honesty.
Not associating partners with him. Because if I
intend to pray to Allah but I'm worshiping
Allah,
and what I'm really doing is that I'm
doing it for some worldly gain only and
I'm not really worshiping Allah because I want
to worship Allah, believing in Allah,
worshiping Allah because I want to worship Allah.
Believing in Allah, Allah says you've made partners
with me. In another verse of the Quran,
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala talks about Iblis, the
shaitan.
When shaitan
the the original Iblis, not just any satan
or jinn, the Iblis that's talking about in
the Quran,
when he was with the ranks of the
angels and he was a jinn. And when
Allah created Adam alayhis salam and he became
jealous and envious of this creation and he
was boasted with arrogance
and he would not accept Allah's
decree and his
judgment and his creation and his choice and
his decision.
He rebelled against Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala telling
him, you're not fair, I'm fair. How could
you make him better than me? That's not
fair. And he disbelieved in Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala's
oneness
of his,
what, of his justice. So he disbelieved in
Allah
He made a promise.
He said to Allah, he said,
He said, by your honor
and majesty,
I will lead his children. I will lead
them all astray.
I'm gonna lead all these humans astray.
And then he said, Iblis,
except
your servants
among them
so not all not all the servants are
like this, among them who are true and
sincere to you.
So who does shaitan have the greatest power
over or influence?
The people who give him the power.
Who are they? They are the ones who
are not honest to Allah. They're not sincere.
Their intentions
are hazy daisy.
Wobble wobble,
up and down,
hanky panky, not right.
They are twisted, crooked.
And now who is the one that knows
the intentions?
2 peep 2
2 know the intentions. Who are they?
Yourself and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That is
correct.
Nobody can see anyone's intention.
Only you know and Allah
knows.
So let us get something straight.
It is forbidden
for any person,
any Muslim,
to judge the intention of a person.
Why?
Because it is impossible for anyone
to see
the hearts of people.
Otherwise,
it is a type of claiming that you
know the unseen.
The only one who knows the unseen is
who?
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So
anyone who claims to know the intention of
someone
is a type of minor shirk. And if
you say
I know the unseen, then it's a major
shirk.
Yeah. And the minor shirk is when a
person says, look, man, just from his look,
I know his intention.
If you mean it in a way that
you know the unseen,
you have some godly powers of some sort,
it is shirk.
But if you're saying, look, I've got experience
with people,
I doubt that person's intention. That's not shirk.
That's just
experience. But you cannot for sure say what
a person's intention is. You can never say
absolutely.
Leave that to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
What we do know
is actions on the outside.
You and I, as humans, we normally judge.
Everybody judges. It's a normal natural thing.
But there is a difference between judging a
person's action to say,
you are destined to the punishment of Allah.
Allah is therefore angry with you to make
a judgment upon their,
intentions
when something is not clear
is wrong in Islam.
But we can judge an an action of
a person. Yeah. And the action itself only
to separate it from the heart.
We have to say this action is an
action
which Allah called the shirk. This action is
an action which the prophet, peace be upon
him, told us is a major sin.
That's why don't be upset, brothers and sisters,
or take it to heart if somebody
points out to you
a wrong thing that you're doing.
Now I know people have a bad approach,
Some people have a harsh approach, a judgmental
approach.
That's wrong on their part to come in
a harsh manner. This is not in accordance
with the sunnah of the prophet salallahu alaihi
wa sallam. But if you can avoid that
and just look into yourself and take
from it what benefits you.
Maybe Allah has sent you someone to give
you a little reminder. We all go through
it. I've gone through it all my life
where people tell me or advise me. Some
of them were harsh, some of them were
judgmental, some of them really wanted the best
for me. I'll leave that between them and
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And you can train
yourself
to rise above it,
don't respond to their harshness,
and just look into yourself if you believe
what they say,
then look into yourself. If you truly are
doing something wrong,
try your best to fix it. If you're
not doing anything wrong, dismiss them. They're just
shaitan is using them to come to you.
That requires a lot of strength
and a lot of practice.
At the end of the day, Allah will
ask you about your action. He will not
ask you about other people's
actions.
We can only control our behavior. We cannot
control other people's behavior. We can advise them.
We can say your approach is bad. And
people usually have a bad approach, normally are
not successful. And we're gonna talk about those
people today as well.
Receiving the advice and those who give it,
those who judge, we're gonna talk about intentions.
This is where it comes down to. Very
crucial.
One verse in the Quran which always strikes
me
and scares me and should scare you as
well. And when we say scare, it means
only to keep us away. So when we
say we're afraid or we're scared, it's not
in order to make us mentally distressed.
But we take it in the meaning of
we need to fix ourselves and keep going
and be aware, like anything else. So fear
can be bad and fear can be good
for your mental
health. Fear can be bad for your mental
health and fear can be good for your
mental health. If you take it as a
constructive way, a way to keep you aware,
then inshallah, it's good for you. But if
you take it as a compulsive fear, where
you do nothing about it and you're just
obsessed with it
and filled with anxiety without any
real fear happening there and just say I'm
it's over for me, then that's not good.
That's bad health. And Allah doesn't want you
to be like that. He reminds you in
order for you to live a life between
hope and fear, not just fear and not
just hope.
So hope on its in itself will make
us neglect
our duties and fear on its own will
make us give up and not do anything.
So somewhere in between. My brothers and sisters,
let's move now to the first hadith, which
is very important in this book, Riyadu Salihin.
This hadith is in Bukhari
and,
in Muslim.
And, the narrator is Abihafs Umar Mal Khattab
He says the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
said,
This is a hadith everybody should memorize and
learn and teach your children.
The hadith is as follows.
The deeds are considered by their intentions.
Deeds
are considered by their
intentions.
And a person will get the reward
according to
his intention.
So whoever emigrated for Allah and his messenger,
for example, his emigration will be for Allah
and his messenger. And whoever
emigrated for worldly benefits or for a woman
to marry, for example,
his emigration would be for that
for what he emigrated for. Now, of course,
these are just two examples that Rasool alaihi
wasalam is giving, but they're just examples. You
can add more. Anything we do in our
life, there are 2 things about it. The
first part he says, the deeds are considered
by their intention. Then he says, and a
person will get the reward according to his
intention. Now people might think they're the same
wordings, they're the same meaning, but they are
not. They're actually 2 different meanings.
1 is talking about
the
action itself
and the other one is talking about
what you will gain from that action,
the value of that action. 1 is talking
about
the action itself,
what what is its meaning,
what does it mean?
And the second line is what is this
action's value? What do you get out of
it?
So
for the action to mean something,
you have to see what your intention is.
Then we can tell what is this action
really,
nature of the action. The second line,
what do you gain out of this action?
Again,
it also depends on your intention, both The
nature of the
action and what do you gain out of
this action,
both of them rely on your intention.
Everybody understand that part?
Who can repeat to me? These two lines,
they mean 2 different things.
Actions are by intentions
and the reward of the intention is and
the reward of the action is based on
the intention. So the first one is talking
about what? The second one is talking about
what?
First one is talking about?
Nature of the action. The act the nature
of the action.
And the second one?
What you get out of the action. What
you get out of the action. Both of
them
are determined by one thing. What is it?
The intention. So the intention is the common
factor between the 2.
Correct?
Alright.
Now that you understood that part, let's move
to the first line.
Actions
are by intentions.
What is the nature of the action? What
is the purpose? Well, by your intention.
My brothers and sisters,
these actions
are based
on 3 cases.
Number 1,
to know the nature
of this action,
our intention will determine
the validity
of an action
of worship.
So the first thing about the nature of
an action,
our intentions
will tell us about whether an action is
valid or not valid.
Example,
If I'm going to make wudu,
do I need an intention?
Yes, I do. So certain actions of worship
need an intention
in order for the action to be valid.
If I want to pray my salatulthuhr,
do I need an intention?
Yes. If I wanna fast Ramadan, do I
need an intention? If I'm going to Hajj,
do I need an intention?
Uh-huh.
All these acts of worship are stated in
the Quran and sunnah. You need to have
the right intention.
And the and the whole idea of the
intention is when you come to make wudu,
you say bismillah. Your intention is already in
your heart that you're making wudu. So there's
no problem. The only time your wudu will
no longer be valid is when you make
a different
intention. And for example, if I come to
make
wash
my hand, my face, my legs, my arms,
my head, just like, you know, wudu.
But my intention is not for wudu. My
intention is just to rub off the dirt
that's on my face, hands and legs. I
have no intention of wudu.
Does it become wudu?
No. It doesn't.
If I come to pray,
but my intention is not to pray, my
intention is just
to have a bit of exercise movement.
Is the intention
is the prayer valid?
No. So it needs the right intention. I'm
coming to pray. I'm coming to make wudu.
So that's the first thing.
It it intention tells us the validity of
the action. Number 2,
to determine the type of worship that I'm
doing, I need the right intention. For example,
if I'm praying the fard prayer
and I'm praying the sunnah prayer, do I
need a different intention for both of them?
Yeah. I do. If I'm come to pray
the Farooq prayer, my intention is to pray
the Farooq. But now I'm praying the sunnah,
my intention is
sunnah. Correct?
If I'm going to give zakah, my intention
has to be zakah. If I'm giving normal
charity, my intention is
normal charity.
So this is the second case of what
intentions does. Number 3,
to determine whether it's worship or everyday habits.
My intention determines whether it's everyday habits or
worship. Example,
if I
am doing rusul,
bathing
for
jumuha for Friday
Because
I'm doing it because
it is a sunnah. It is a recommended
act in Islam to bathe
for Friday prayer
because I wanna meet Allah while I'm bathed
and clean. Now bathing can be an everyday
act
or you can turn it into
an act of worship.
Isn't that correct?
So if my intention to bathe on Thursday
night or Friday morning
is for the purpose of the blessing of
Friday,
suddenly that bathing becomes an act of
worship.
But if I have no intention
about the blessed day of Jamar
and I just bathe because
for the sake of it,
is it an act of worship anymore? No.
It becomes a halal act of cleaning yourself.
Correct?
Alright.
If I have an intention to bathe because
in Islam, it is fitra and good for
a Muslim to be clean so that when
they pray,
does it become an act of worship?
Yes, it does. So the intention determines the
action if it's worship
or it's just a normal day to day
action. We have a question. Do you make
the intention out loud?
No. So that's a good question. Do you
make the intention out loud? There is nothing
in the Quran or sunnah which determines and
says to you that you must say with
your mouth the intention.
The only two places that you say your
intention is in umrah and hajj. You say
it out loud. Labbaykallahumaumratan
or labbaykallahuma
hajan.
Allah, I intend to you
visit your house
with the intention of Hajj or with the
intention of Umrah. You say it loud and
you can say the word tamatdur or the
type of Hajj.
But
every other action,
it is by the heart. Now there's some
difference of opinion among the scholars.
Some say, no, you have to say it
with your mouth, some schools of thought, but
the majority of the scholars and even those
who say you say it with the mouth,
they tell you, at the end of the
day,
what determines it is what you do in
your heart. And I'll give you an example
why it should be in the heart.
Let's say I've come with the intention to
pray dhuur,
but
I come to pray with the intention
of Dhuhr,
but I accidentally said with my mouth, I
intend to pray Asr.
Would it count as duhr aasr?
Duhr. Why?
Because the intention of that is what matters.
And then they'll say to you, well, of
course, you know, that that cancels it out,
you know, because your intention in the heart
was to pray the Lord.
So, at the end of the day, it
all comes down to the heart.
My brothers and sisters,
there are exceptions
to your actions. Let's have a look.
There are some actions which do not necessarily
need an intention.
You don't need to have a correct intention
for these actions. They are rewarded to you.
Allah rewards you for them without needing to
have an intention.
What are they?
Number 1,
any selfless act that you do for someone,
rights of any creatures that you do,
avoiding what is wrong.
All this does not really need an intention,
you are rewarded for it.
On three conditions.
Number 1,
you're not doing it to show off
or fame.
Number 2, you're not doing it for an
ill intention. You wanna
like, you're using someone.
And number
3, you are not doing it
for a sinful
gain.
So if
I help someone
to go to buy
drugs,
it's a good act of giving a person
a ride, but I'm doing it for a
sin.
If I help someone,
get out of the rain or to make
their way to car if they can't make
it there because I want money from them.
Well, the intention now is for a gain,
isn't it? Or if I'm doing it to
put myself on social media and show people
how much of a great person I am,
now
that action is no longer rewarded.
Or if I,
bring a smile to someone but all I'm
really doing is for the intention of people
thinking me thinking of me of a reputation.
So I'm no longer gonna get rewarded from
Allah. But if I help someone for the
sake of helping, for the sake of goodness,
and you are a a Muslim believer, Allah
will reward you
in this world and in the hereafter.
If you're a non Muslim and you say,
I just wanna do it for the sake
of goodness,
you don't
obviously for a non Muslim in Islam, they
don't have a reward in the hereafter
because you don't believe in it and you've
rejected it or
this is another case now, but let's say
person is disbeliever.
Allah may reward that person in this life,
give you some reward or ward off harm
from you in this life.
Anyway, that needs explanation.
Let's look at some of the actions which
you don't need an intention for and Allah
rewards you for them anyway. And these are
what the scholars agree upon. For example,
giving a thirsty person water,
giving a lift for someone to a good
place
or halal place, smiling and bringing a smile
to your brethrens,
paying a debt of someone,
reconciling
between 2
people, returning a favor,
returning a right to someone, paying for someone,
paying on behalf of someone, for example, a
meal or a food or something,
feeding someone,
saying a nice word that brings goodness to
someone's heart, moving an obstacle off the road.
All of these, you don't need to wait
and wait there until you get your intention
right and then you do that. The day
to day good actions that you just do
normally, the fact that you have already wanted
Allah to reward you, the fact that you
are a believer and a Muslim and you
look forward to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala rewarding
you, Allah just rewards you. Even the hadith
about the woman who fed a dog.
Remember the prostitute woman in from Badi Israel,
children of Israel which is in Bukhary, the
woman that wanted Allah to forgive her. She
found a dog and fed the and gave
the dog a drink. The hadith doesn't say
that she had any kind of intention.
But the fact that she did that good
deed, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala forgave her.
And so, Allah is
Allah is full of favor upon people. He
rewards you
without accountability.
And Allah gives you without
holding you accountable.
Min ghayirihisaab.
Allah says in the Quran, he is the
one who gives you and rewards you with
no accountability. You do good, Allah will reward
you. So brothers and sisters, there are some
acts you don't really need an intention every
time. Now I intend to help this person.
Now I intend to you don't you don't
do that.
My brothers and sisters, therefore
which everyday acts
therefore are dependent on intention then?
Everyday acts like this, that depend on intention
are the are the things that you're gonna
make a gain out of.
So if I helped
someone
in order to gain something,
right, then that's where my intention really matters.
I might help somebody
in which I get a present or a
gift out of, but I help them for
the sake of Allah or for the sake
of goodness.
And I'm a Muslim and Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala rewards me for but I got a
gain out of that. That's okay. So long
as your intention
was not for the gain.
But sometimes I may do something for a
bit of a gain and also for the
sake of Allah and we're gonna talk about
that soon. Then that way you hit 2
birds with 1 stone, you get a bit
of rewards from Allah and a bit of
rewards from the gain. Insha'Allah. But we're gonna
get to that.
Brothers and sisters,
the next part,
the gain is what you intended for.
Okay. What is the reward?
It's what you wanted
out of what you did. Why did you
do it?
Whatever you did it for, this is what
your reward is from Allah.
You get
what you get depending on your intention.
Don't be upset. Is that what they say?
You get what you get, don't be upset.
For example,
you bought a car
to get to work
and drive around
every day only. That's why you bought a
car. That is called a worldly gain. What
do you get out of
that? Do you get rewards from Allah for
buying a car because you wanna get to
work and back and just for everyday driving
and that's it? No. You're not gonna get
hasanat from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala nor you're
gonna get sins. It's just a worldly gain.
It's halal. You got your car. Taib. Second
example.
You worked
in order to save up for Hajj.
Will Allah swanqa reward you for that work?
Yes. Because the intention to work was for
for Hajj. Remember the hadith we mentioned last
time when the sahabas, the companions of the
prophet
saw a man, young man, who was strong,
fit,
and he was walking
and struggling and going to work. And they
said, if only he used that body for
the sake of Allah. And prophet
said to them, if he is working
in order to provide for elderly parents that
he's looking after, then it is for the
sake of Allah. If he's working in order
to provide for children who are dependent on
him, then it is for the sake of
Allah. If he is working in order to
get married
so that he doesn't resort to
haram means, then it is for the sake
of Allah.
So again, you get what you intended for.
The last example,
you went to Hajj
to be called
a righteous person when you return.
Do you get rewarded
from Allah? No.
Do you get sinned?
Yes. It's a sin.
It's a sin
because
that person used an act of worship that's
meant to be for Allah
in order to gain fame,
popularity, and a good name.
Any act of worship that is meant to
be for Allah like Hajj, Umrah,
reciting the Quran,
praying,
fasting.
If I do it in order that I
get fame
or some kind of worldly gain out of
it only,
then
it becomes
an act of shirk.
Some people, they go to Hajj with the
intention of when they return,
they can earn the title Hajji.
What do you think?
Good or bad?
Everybody know it's bad. But you see people
do that anyway with their intention. We can't
judge their intentions.
Isn't that right?
Some people go to the masjid, to the
mosque,
in order to get the title
religious guy.
My students back at school, back in the
days, they used to use a word called
f r g.
Fake religious guy or fake religious girl.
That's what it means.
Alright?
But, of course, we cannot judge a person
to be an f r g. That's judging
their intention. But you know yourself.
So the reward
or the sin
or the value of what you're doing depends
on what your intention was.
So these are 3 types, brothers and sisters.
I repeat them.
To intend for something worldly to help you
out,
it's not a sin nor is it a
reward from Allah. Number 2, to do something
that you intend out of it to do
some good deed for the sake of Allah,
you get rewarded. And number 3, you do
something in or you do an act of
worship in order to please people or to
show it off or to gain some reputation.
That is sinful.
And sometimes it could be also shirk.
Brothers and sisters,
there are 7 ranks
of intentions.
How many ranks?
7. I'm going to quickly enumerate them to
you.
We start with the highest rank,
the best intention ever,
The greatest reward for it ever. The best
action, the best reward. What is it?
It is an act of worship
that is solely and completely
for the sake of Allah.
You're not after anything else but that.
No worldly gain whether it's halal gain or
haram gain. Nothing. And I'll give you an
example.
You go to Hajj
but you also
go to Hajj.
You go to Hajj for the sake of
Allah.
But
on the way, you also use that time
to make some business.
You buy some things in order to come
back and sell them and make some profit.
Is that halal or haram?
Halal. That is halal because Allah says in
the Quran,
there is no harm upon you for whoever
goes to Hajj and seeks benefit from worldly
gains.
But
the highest rank would be to go to
Hajj
without any intention of gaining any business or
profit purely just for the sake of Allah
and you come back. That's the highest rank.
Going to Hajj
with the intention of also making business now
comes to the 2nd rank, the 2nd rank.
An act of worship for the sake of
Allah,
but you also get other halal benefits out
of it.
For example,
a person fasts
for the sake of Allah
but also
for the health benefits that fasting gives you.
Is that halal or haram?
That is halal.
So you're fasting for the sake of Allah,
but you also would like to have the
intention of gaining benefit from its health benefits.
Now, insha'Allah, your fasting is still all well
and good and you get top rewards but
it's not the highest rank.
Another example,
you walk to the mosque
wanting Allah's pleasure
but you also
want to do exercise. Might as well walk
also
bit of exercise for me. 2 birds with
1 stone.
Very rewarding
but not the highest rank.
3rd example,
you give in charity
but you also
want
your wealth to be blessed from charity. Because,
you know, you heard Rasool, sallallahu alaihi salam.
He said
Charity
never has caused diminishing of wealth. So you
say, wow, that gives badaqa to my wealth.
I'll give badaqa for the sake of badaqa,
but also for my other wealth to be
blessed as a result of the sadaka. So
you got 2 intentions. They're great intentions,
but that's not the highest rank.
It's a high rank, but not the highest.
And I'll throw in another intention. You heard
about the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam saying
whoever connects his family ties,
whoever wants their health to be better and
their wealth to be greater and their life
to be longer, connect your family ties and
be good to your relatives and direct, you
know, relatives such as your parents, siblings and
direct relatives.
So you say, you know what, I'm gonna
connect the family ties for the sake of
Allah. There's a great reward. But also so
I can gain what the prophet told me
about and that is extra life, extra health,
and extra wealth.
Great intentions,
but not the highest
rank.
Of course, most of us are in that
position.
Number 3, there's the 3rd rank. Let's say
you had the intention for something that is
worldly halal,
a worldly halal
act.
That's the 3rd rank. I do an intention
in order as I gave you example before,
I work and I apply for that job
so that I can look after my family
and livelihood.
That is a good intention, but it's the
the 3rd rank in the ranks. Number 4th.
4th rank, an act of worship that is
mixed with ups and downs of showing off.
So, you know, when
you stand up on stage, let's say you
wanna give a public speech in front of
people or you're going to recite Quran as
an introduction to an event that's happening
or you joined a charity organization,
or an activity, an event at the mosque,
or in the community
that is helping people
in the community in some way. You go
for the sake of Allah but as you're
in there, you start getting praises, you get
compliments,
you go back home and you think, wow,
you know, I look good in front of
that
sister over there and I look good in
front of that marriage material brother over there
and so on. So you go there and
then you start your intentions start getting wibbly
wobbly, a little bit of ups and downs.
And so the next time you go, you
think I'm gonna go because,
you know, of more praise. It made me
feel good of what people are saying about
me. So this is a mix of
wanting something for the sake of Allah and
getting stuck
and mixed up with praises of people. It's
always nice to receive praise and it's good
to be happy about praise.
But now, if my intention
is a mix of pleasing Allah and pleasing
people at the same time,
now my rewards are mixed.
And the scholars differed about that. Some said,
listen. If you go back home and you
say, oh Allah,
forgive me
for their overpraising don't hold me accountable for
their overpraising of me forgive me for the
sins they don't know about me and make
me better than what they have praised me
then insha'Allah
your intention is fixed so you gotta always
try to fix your intention to make sure
the entire work is fully
rewarded inshaaAllah
so that's the 4th rank the 5th rank
They are acts of worship and worldly
but solely and all and only for worldly
gain.
You do an act of worship
and it's also an act of worldly gain.
So
whether it's praying and fasting,
wearing the hijab,
covering yourself,
which is all acts of worship,
And at the same time, you also do
things for your worldly gain. But you do
nothing
for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. None of it
is really for Allah. It's all for a
worldly gain.
Some people, they do that.
All their actions are really for a worldly
gain. So for example, the only reason I
would go to a mosque and attend the
prayers
is because they promised me to pay me
a fee.
The only reason I'll go and pray imam
is only because
I'm earning money. That's my sole intention.
Or the only reason I went to Hajj
is so that people can pay me to
do Hajj on behalf of their dead relatives.
And I turned it into a business.
My sole intention is business. And everything else
in my life is business. So my my
whole soul
intentions for everything I do, whether worship or
worldly,
it's all business, all a benefit. I won't
do it if there's no benefit for me,
worldly.
Everything about it is if there's no worldly
gain, I ain't doing it.
Why should I? They don't deserve it. Okay.
What about the sake of Allah? Lads, don't
worry about that. Don't worry about that.
Obviously, these are the people in Allah says,
Whoever wants this
fast life,
then we will give them this fast life.
Then don't be fooled by people who you
see getting so much out of this world
that you think God must love them. They
must be blessed. They must be doing the
right thing. Oh, no.
Gaining and losing are both tests. And some
of them, they can sometimes they can be
a test which destines you to a punishment
because you're failing in it. So be careful
about the intention.
We'll give some people as much of it
forever. We will
But then at the end of the day,
he only gets hellfire which he will be
entering it with as a loser with no
gain because that was his intention.
The 7th,
the 6th rank, acts of worship and non
worship solely for fame and showing off. So
some people, they do it to gain and
some people they do it for something aesthetic
or feeling. So I just want to
show off.
I want my
likes and views to go up.
I want people to comment
and more comments, and that's all really I'm
after.
So there's no actual money, it can be
later, but it's for fame and reputation.
And some of the signs of these types
of people are the ones who when, let's
say, they go on social media and they
say I want to do dawah.
I want to say a hadith.
I want to write a comment to help
muslims and people and guide them to the
deen.
But really,
Allah knows that my intention
is really just to look good. I just
want praise. One sign of that,
you find that I'm constantly constantly going back
to the comments to see what people
are praising me with. And the only thing
that makes me happy is praise. And the
only thing that makes me upset
is when somebody says something
bad. And because my whole intention is really
never for worship or dawah, it's really about
people and me.
It's been about me, myself and I. So
these types of people have also lost their
rewards, brothers and sisters. There is a 7th
rank. The 7th rank is where it's the
worst. Actions of worship and non worship solely
for showing
off, for worldly gain, and for sinful gain
altogether. Everything.
These are the worst types. All I'm doing
is money,
fame,
and harang.
Everything.
Money, fame, and harang.
And that's
be careful.
I believe the majority of the world is
like that.
Money, fame,
and haram all at the same time.
My brothers and sisters, something positive.
Intentions
are like this. The proper, peace be upon
him, said,
if a person
intends to do something good
and then
does not do it,
will get one
hasana,
one reward still.
And if a person intended to do something
good,
then ended up doing it,
we'll get a reward from 10 folds to
700
folds.
Allah looks at what you deserve.
Then he said,
however, whoever intends
to do something bad,
sinful,
and then they do it,
it'll only be written as one
bad date.
It won't be folds of 10 to 700.
But if they intended to do a sin
and change their mind for the sake of
Allah,
it will be written as a good deed
for that person.
Do you understand these 4 areas? I intended
and determined
to do something good, but then I change
my mind,
I'll still get one good deed from Allah
for the fact that I was determined to
do it, but I just
didn't.
Number 2, if I do it, a good
deed, I get from 10 up to 700
rewards. Only Allah knows. Then if I intend
to do a bad deed and I was
determined, but then I did it,
I'll get one has one sayyah, one bad
deed. And then if I change my mind
for the sake of Allah,
I get one good deed for changing my
mind for doing that bad deed. Okay. Question.
What if I intended to do a good
deed
and then something out of my control stopped
me and I didn't didn't get to do
it?
How what's the reward for that?
The
Hasana.
One
hasana or
The attendant. Hands up if you think it's
just one hasana. I intended to do a
good deed and then something outside of my
control stopped me. I couldn't do it.
Hands up for 1 hassana.
Hands up from 10 to 700 folds.
Hands up for nothing.
Oh, they're correct. Good. The hand lay you're
listening. I'm I'm so worried about you because
it can get draining. So, yes,
actions are by their intentions.
The action the nature of the action is
good. The intention is great. You'll still get
rewarded 10 to 700 because something stopped. I'll
give you an example. It happened to me
so I'll use my example. The other day,
I was with my friend. We had some
breakfast.
He said, wallahi, I'm paying.
Happens to you? Happens to everybody.
Wallahi, I'm paying.
I said, no no no no. He said
wallahi, I'm paying. I go, okay. Okay. You're
paying. Comes up, gets his card out.
Card didn't work. Puts his hand in his
pocket, no cash.
No no, he's a sincere brother. I know.
Some people, they act like that. No cash.
Oh, the card blocked.
This brother is very sincere, alhamdulillah.
Allah,
he got very embarrassed, so
I paid.
Does he still get the reward?
10 to 700 folds? Yes, he does.
Do I get rewarded insha'Allah?
Depending on my
intention.
I may have paid because I thought,
I've been asking this guy to lend me
money for a long time. This is an
opportunity. I'll pay, and then later I say,
the money that I asked you for, remember
the time I paid you?
If I do that, my intention is wrong.
Do I get rewarded if that if I
have a if I'm just using him?
There's a joke about zehi. Have you ever
heard of zehi? Or in Turkish, they call
him,
hodja?
Yeah? Is that hodja
not something?
Anyways, he does jokes. Right?
It's a it's a traditional thing. So he
had a neighbor and this neighbor will not
do any good deed if there's no worldly
gain for him. If he doesn't get anything
out of it, he's not gonna do it.
So one day, it was raining,
and jihi or Khoja
was
running in the rain. He had no umbrella.
And he hated the rain.
So his neighbor sees him and he's got
an umbrella
and his neighbor is saying, Hojo, I hate
the rain. Why does it have to rain?
So he comes up, puts the umbrella over
his head.
When he got home, he says, thank you.
Thank you. He said, SubhanAllah. Imagine how soaked
you would be if I wasn't there with
the umbrella. He goes, true. True.
Next day, he sees his neighbor and says,
hey, neighbor. Hojo, what do you reckon? Remember
yesterday?
Umbrella? Imagine what would have happened to you,
man, if I wasn't there.
3rd day comes along, he invites him. There's
some people eating together in front of everybody.
Their neighbor,
Hojo Hojo. Tell him. Tell him about that
last time. If I wasn't there, imagine what
would have happened.
Now, the guy's getting annoyed. He says, alright.
What do you want, man? This he he
he was an umbrella.
So anyway, he kept on reminding him,
one day, Hajar takes him
to a river. He goes, where are you
taking me? He goes, just come with me,
come with me. Goes to the river and
he goes, wait right there. He looks at
him and he goes, and he jumps into
the river and comes out the other side
all soaked. He goes, remember the other day
when I was was raining and you had
the umbrella and you keep asking me, imagine
what would have happened to me? Not more
than this. There. Now stop mentioning it. I'm
all soaked already. That's all that would have
happened to me. You might call it a
dad joke. Fine. Go for it. But the
point of the matter is that
some people, they just do it for a
gain, reputation or fame.
Tell you, what if a person
was going to do a bad deed?
They intended
and they planned to do it.
And then
something happened outside of their control
and they couldn't
execute the bad beat.
Do they get a sin?
Or do they get nothing?
Or do they get one good deed because
they didn't end up doing it?
Hands up for those who say they get
a good deed because they didn't end up
doing it.
You like the way I say it, Yeah.
They didn't end up doing it. Yeah. Next
one, what if they get a sin?
Anyone? They'll still get the sin?
Number 3,
Carlos. He was saved, neutral, won't get a
good deed or a sin. God saved him.
See how I trick you? He didn't decide
not to go out or something.
Correct. He didn't decide not to do it.
Something stopped him. He still wanted to do
it.
Alright. The correct answer is he still gets
the sin.
Why? Because what brother said, he didn't stop.
He still has the intention.
He's probably swearing that he couldn't do it.
Right? Still gets the sin.
But what if that person later on looks
and thinks, subhanAllah, you know what? This is
a wake up call for me. Allah brought
this around. I couldn't do it. And, alhamdulillah,
it stopped. Stuff for all of them, man.
I shouldn't have had that intention. Would they
get a good deed?
Yes. Now with the because the intention has
changed.
You understand?
I got another example for you.
Let's say you saw someone
who is rich and famous
and they get to go to casinos,
and they get to go to great
parties in the most expensive places
and so on
in all the haram
environments because they got money
and fame.
And you don't have
the ability to do that. And then you
say to yourself, men,
I wish I had fame and fortune like
that guy so that I can go and
have fun the same way he has fun,
but I don't have it.
Does he get sent
for that
or no sin or nothing?
Sinned.
Guess what?
Gets sinned.
And this is actually in the hadith of
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam. He said,
a person who says,
if only I had what that person had,
I would do the haram that that person
does
even if they're poor.
Rasool alaihi wasallam said, faqila, whom as salah.
Hadid
is also in Sahih Muslim and Bukhari says,
kila, whom as salah,
they are equal.
They have another one.
A person wanted to kill
another
innocent life.
But that innocent life
also intended to kill
that other person. Let's not use the word
innocent.
2 people,
one wanted to kill this person, this person
wanted to kill that person. Both of them
had the intention.
And then one of them got killed, the
other one survived.
Who's the sin on?
Both. Both. Mister Hadith the prophet
he says, alqatulawalbaqtulu
finar.
The one who killed the one that got
killed zenafai. Why?
If the other one had the chance, he
was gonna kill him too.
So it comes down to the intention.
Alright. I've got another question for you.
Let's say my intention
is to one day
let's say I don't pray.
God forbid.
And I say, man, I really want to
pray.
I really want to get better. And, insha'Allah,
I will. And I really have the intention
and I really have the determination,
but I still haven't.
And let's say something compulsory.
I've gotta pray my 5 daily prayers. I've
got to start being honest in my trade.
I've got to stop doing a certain major
sin. And I say,
I I I have the intention. I want
to.
According to this hadith, rasul sallahu alaihi wa
sallam says whoever intends and determines and then
doesn't do it will still get one good
deed.
What about this case? What if it's something
that's compulsory
that Allah commanded me to do and I
have the intention
but I still don't do it, will I
still get that one good deed because I
had the intention?
Yes. Hands up, yes.
Hands up, no.
The answer is no.
No.
The hadith is talking about any voluntary good
deed,
not the commanded good deeds,
not the compulsory ones.
But if I do the compulsory ones, it's
more reward than all the voluntary deeds. Because
nothing more beloved to Allah than the things
you make compulsory.
If I say
if I'm a woman and I say I
know I have to be dressing better and
properly, I know that hijab is a must,
I know Allah said so, And I really
have the intention. I love Allah. I love
his messenger.
But I'm not doing it.
Am I gonna get rewarded for that?
No. No. Because Allah commanded it.
Ta'yib, I don't pray. I'm not fasting, but
I want to fast. I'm not wearing hijab,
but I want to wear the hijab. I
want to deal in halal, but I'm still
dealing in haram, and so on and so
on and so on.
Am I sinned?
I'm still sinned even though I have the
intention.
Why? Because the nature of my action is
wrong.
It's a compulsory act and that one's a
major sin.
So it's talking about
voluntary everyday good deeds
and everyday
sins
that I'm not doing yet. But if I'm
doing them and my intention is to stop
them, I'm still gonna get sinned.
Now, of course, someone with the intention
is better off than someone who doesn't have
the intention at all,
so it's not all
gloom and doom.
Having the intention
and really wanting to
is a good thing,
but
you're still stuck in the sin.
You're not getting rewarded yet.
But it is less
it is a less
bad situation, less sinful than someone who never
intends.
That's a big thing. Someone who never intends,
never says I am never gonna get better.
And then there are those who intend and
then they can't do it straight away, so
they take it step by step. They say,
look, you know what? I can't do the
whole 5 daily prayers. I'll do 2. I'll
do 3. Okay. That's better than the person
who does only 1, but still,
you're going to be accountable for the other
2 and so on.
Do you understand, brothers and sisters? It's the
matter is, subhanallah, to a large jobs, our
intentions, our actions, our abilities.
My brothers and sisters, the last thing I
want to talk about today before we finish
and go to your questions
is something really good about this whole intention
thing.
Some people have asked me,
if I wanna do an act
that is pleasing to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
but
I would also
like to earn money
by doing it.
Does that make me sinful or make my
action
of worship void?
Before you answer it, let me just get
one thing out of the way.
Any act of worship that is commanded
upon everybody
to do,
every Muslim, such as the 5 daily prayers,
the fasting, the Hajj,
the hijab,
the,
zakat, all of that,
no one is permitted
to do it for any gain whatsoever
except solely for the sake of Allah let's
get that out of the way anybody who
mixes is shirk
The rest of the good deeds that are
pleasing to Allah, but only some people can
do them and others can't,
can I get
money for it? For example,
if I want to be an imam of
a mosque,
to pray imams and lead the 5 daily
prayers or some prayers
and
to lead the khutba and other work that
the imam does.
Is this for everybody?
No. Only certain people. Okay. That's one example.
Another example,
if I want to teach the Quran
to people,
students,
and
I want to get paid for it,
can everybody do it?
Not everybody. No. No. It's not compulsory upon
everybody to teach the Quran. Not everybody can
do it, some people can do it. But
they say I would like to be paid
to teach the Quran.
Or I would like to be paid in
order to teach Islamic studies.
Or I want to be paid in order
to give
a lecture
on stage or I would like to be
paid
in order to,
give a ruku.
In a ruku, spiritual healing, you recite quran
for someone who is sick or ill.
Or
I get paid
to do Hajj
or I do Hajj, I get paid to
do Hajj.
All these actions,
actually, the Hajj 1, I'll I'll I'll fix
it up.
I
I've already done my Hajj, but I wanna
do Hajj for someone else, but, you know,
pay me for my efforts of going to
Hajj.
All these actions that I just mentioned,
do you think they void
the act of worship there?
Or is it permissible
to earn money for it?
Hands up if you think it's not permissible.
Hands up if you think it is permissible.
Hands up if you don't know.
Okay. Good. Whoever says I don't know has
given a fatwa.
So obviously,
there is a slight difference of opinion on
some of them among the scholars but the
majority and the correct
view is that you can. It's permissible.
However, they made a formula. This is the
formula.
They said and learn this principle, brothers and
sisters.
And
And for those of you who know Arabic,
Whoever
goes to Hajj in order
to get paid is not allowed. But whoever
gets paid in order to go to Hajj,
it is allowed. So it comes down to
the intention.
So, if I'm teaching Quran
and I need to be paid for my
time in order to teach the Quran,
then it's halal.
If I wanna be the imam of a
mosque and I get paid in order to
make myself available and come and pray at
the mosque imam and so on, then it's
allowed.
If I want to get paid in order
to give ruku, I'm allowed. And here is
some evidence. The hadith is in Sahih al
Bukhari 5737.
There was a group of companions who went,
along the way and they arrived at a
tribe and they were bad to them and
they said to them, give us some food
or whatever. And they said
no. And then their chief became he got
stung by a scorpion or a snake.
And they said to them, do you have
any kind of spiritual medication? So they gave
him medication, of course, and they also,
believed in a spiritual healing. And we know
that in Islam, there is ruku. You give
medication, you say, bismillah,
Allahumma tashafi lashifa illashifa'uqshifa'anayuwadirussakama
or you recite al fatiha.
So they said to these companions,
do you have
any among you who knows any ruku spiritual
healing prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam taught you?
And then the companion, his name was Sayedim,
Abba Sayedim Khudri radiAllahu anhu. He said, you
guys treated us bad. So we're not gonna
give you a ruku unless you pay us
for it.
So they said, alright. So he recited al
fatiha
along with the medication for that chief and
the chief became better
after a few days. And what they did
was they gave him a flock of sheep.
So they said, okay. We'll take it with
us but we're not going to accept it.
We might return it until we ask the
messenger sallallahu alaihi wa sallam this is allowed.
So they went back and some of the
companions said to him, You have a sahil
Khudri, you took this reward for Quran. It's
haram, you know, taking money for Quran.
So they went to the prophet salaam and
they said to them what happened. And he
said to them,
subhanallah,
how did you know that Surat An Fatiha
is a ruckyah?
Take the flock of sheep
and I'll also take some of it from
you. What does it mean to take some
of it? In order to prove to them
that even if the Rasool salahu alaihi wa
sallam took from it, then it is halal.
In another version, he said, you are most
entitled to take wages from doing a ruku
with Allah's book
And the best type of so some people,
they can do any other job. But they
choose to do a job that is beneficial
and rewarding
religiously
for people
then
Allah rewards these people for choosing that job.
Not the other way around.
I've heard some people say oh it's haram,
it's impermissible' no it's not, no it's not,
so long as the intention is right.
To benefit people with the Quran and earn
money in order to continue it.
May Allah reward
you my brothers and sisters and I apologize
for taking too long.
Insha'Allah, next week, we're gonna move on to
the next,
hadith. Of course, we'll share with you the
topic. Insha'Allah, it will be the topic
of
repentance.