ICSFP Staff
From Riyad as-Salihin, "Gardens of the Righteous"
Chapter on Sincerity and having an intention for
all actions, words and states, outward and inward
Allah Almighty says, "They were only ordered to
worship Allah, making their deen sincerely His as
people of pure natural belief, and to establish the
prayer and pay zakat - that is the correct deen,"
(98:5) and the Almighty says, "Their flesh and blood
does not reach Allah but your fear of Him does reach
Him." (W22:35; H322:37) and the Almighty says, "Say,
'Whether you conceal what is in your breasts or make
it known, Allah knows it.'" (3:29)
1. The Amir al-Mu'minin, Abu Hafs 'Umar ibn al-Khattab
said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, say, 'Actions only go by
intentions. Everyone gets what they intend. Anyone,
therefore, who emigrates to Allah and His Messenger,
his emigration is indeed to Allah and His Messenger.
But anyone who emigrates to gain something of this
world or to marry a woman, his emigration is to that
to which he emigrated.'" [Agreed to be sound]
2. 'A'isha, Umm al-Mu'minin, Umm 'Abdullah said, "The
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, said, 'An army will invade the Ka'ba. When they
are at Bayda', the earth will swallow them up from the
first to the last of them.'" She said, "I said,
'Messenger of Allah, how will it swallow them up from
the first to the last of them when their traders are
among them as well as others who are not really part
of them?' He said, 'It will swallow them up from the
first to the last of them and then they will
resurrected according to their intentions.'" [Agreed
upon. This is the version in al-Bukhari.]
3. 'A'isha, may Allah be pleased with her said, "The
Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
said, 'There is no more hijra after the Conquest [of
Makka], but there is jihad and intention. When you are
called to it then go." [Agreed upon]
4. Abu 'Abdullah Jabir ibn 'Abdullah al-Ansari said,
"Once we were with the Prophet, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, on an expedition and he said,
'There are certain men still in Madina who have
accompanied you on every stretch you have travelled
and every valley you have crossed. It was only illness
that prevented them from coming.'"
One variant has, "from their sharing the reward with
us." [Muslim]
Al-Bukhari related it from Anas who said, "We returned
from the expedition to Tabuk with the Prophet, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he said,
'Some people have stayed behind in Madina and we did
not travel through a ravine or a valley without their accompanying us. A
valid excuse prevented them from coming.'"
5. Abu Yazid Ma'n ibn Yazid ibn al-Akhnas - and he,
his father and grandfather were Companions - said, "My
father, Yazid, had put aside some dinars to give as
sadaqa and placed them in the care of a man in the
mosque and then I came and took them and brought them
to him. He said, 'By Allah, I did not mean you!' I
took the case to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, and he said, 'Yazid,
for you what you intended, and for you, Ma'n, what you
took.'" [al-Bukhari]
6. Abu Ishaq Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas Malik ibn Uhayb ibn
'Abdu Manaf ibn Zuhra ibn Kilab ibn Murra ibn Ka'b ibn
Lu'ayy al-Qurashi az-Zuhri, one of the ten testified
who would have the Garden, may Allah be pleased with
them, said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, visited me in the year of the
Hajj of Farewell on account of a serious illness I
had. I said, 'Messenger of Allah, this illness has
affected me as you see and I have property but no
heirs other than my daughter. Shall I give two-thirds
of my property away as sadaqa?' He replied, 'No.' I
asked, 'A half?' He replied, 'No.' He said, 'A third,
and a third is great (or a lot). It is better to leave
rich heirs than to leave them poor, begging from other
people. There is nothing you spend, desiring by it the
face of Allah, but that you will be rewarded, even for
a morsel you put in your wife's mouth.' I said,
'Messenger of Allah, will I be left behind [in Makka]
after my companions leave?' He said, 'You will not be
left behind, for any virtuous actions you do will
raise you in degree and elevation. And then perhaps
you might be left behind so that some people will
benefit from you and others be harmed by you. O Allah,
let My Companions complete their emigration and do not
let them turn back on their heels,' but poor Sa'd ibn
Khawla had the Messenger of Allah grieve over his
death in Makka." [Agreed upon] [Muslim]
7. Abu Hurayra 'Abdu'r-Rahman ibn Sakhr said that the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, said, "Allah does not look at your bodies nor
your forms but He looks at your hearts and your
actions."
8. Abu Musa 'Abdullah ibn Qays al-Ash'ari said, "The
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, was asked about the man who fights in anger, a
man who fights to defend himself and a man who fights
to show off, and whether any of these were fighting in
the way of Allah The Messenger of Allah, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, said, 'The one fights
so that the word of Allah will be uppermost is in the
way of Allah.'" [Agreed upon]
9. Abu Bakra Nufay' ibn al-Harith ath-Thaqafi said,
"The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
said, 'When two Muslims clash with their swords, then
both the killer and killed are in the Fire.' I asked, "Messenger of
Allah, I can understand this with regard to the killer, butwhat about
the murdered man?' He replied, 'He also was eager to kill his
companion.'" [Agreed upon]
10. Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The
group prayer of a man is some twenty degrees higher
than his prayer in his business or his house. That is
because when one of you does wudu' thoroughly and then
goes to the mosque with no other object than that of
doing the prayer, without being impelled by anything
other than the prayer, Allah will raise him up a
degree with every step he takes, and a wrong action
will also fall away from him, until he enters the
mosque. When he enters the mosque, he is in prayer the
whole time he is waiting for it and the angels pray
for him all the time he is sitting there, saying, 'O
Allah! Show mercy to him! O Allah! Forgive him! O
Allah! Turn towards him!' as long as he has not caused
anyone injury and has not broken wudu'." [Agreed upon.
This is the version in Muslim]
11. Abu'l-'Abbas 'Abdullah ibn 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas
ibn 'Abdu'l-Muttalib said that the Messenger of Allah,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said in what
he reported from his Lord, the Mighty and Majestic,
"Allah wrote good actions and bad actions and then
made that clear. Whoever intends to do a good action
and then does not do it, Allah, the Blessed and
Exalted, will write a full good action for him. If he
intends to do it and then does it, Allah will write
ten to seven hundred good actions multiplied many
times over. If he intends an evil action and then does
not do it, Allah will write a full good action for
him. If he intends it and then does it, Allah will
write one bad action for him." [Agreed upon]
12. Abu 'Abdu'r-Rahman 'Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "I
heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace, say, "Three men of the past were
travelling and took refuge for the night in a cave.
They entered it and a rock fell down the mountain and
blocked the entrance. They said, 'The only thing that
will rescue us from this rock is to call on Allah
invoking good actions we have done!' One of them said,
"O Allah, my parents are both old and it is my habit
never to give milk in the evening either to my family
or friends before giving it to them first. One day I
went a long way in search of something and did not
reach them until they had already gone to bed. I
milked their evening drink but found them asleep. I
did not want to wake them nor to give my family or
friends their evening drink before they had had
theirs, so I remained with the cup in my hand waiting
for them to wake up until dawn came. The children were
at my feet, crying because of hunger. Then they woke
up and drank their drink. O Allah, if I did that out
of the desire for Your Face, then rescue us from the
situation we are in regarding this rock." It opened up
a little but they still could not get out. The second
said, "O Allah! A cousin of mine was the person I
loved more than any other. (Another variant has, "I
used to love one of my uncle's daughters with the most
intense love it is possible for a man to have for a
woman.") I tried to seduce her and she refused me
until, one year when she was in dire need, she came to
me and I gave her a hundred and twenty dinars provided
that she would let me do what I wanted with her. She
did that but when I was about to have my way with her,
(One variant has, "when I was between her legs.") she
said, 'Fear Allah and do not break the seal without
having the right to do so.' Then I left her alone in
spite of the fact that she was, of all people, the one
I loved the most and also left her with the gold I had
given her. O Allah, if I did that out of the desire
for Your Face, then rescue us from our situation!" The
rock moved a little further but they still could not
get out. The third said, "O Allah, I employed some
workers and gave all of them their wages except for
one man who went off without taking what he was owed.
I invested his wage until it multiplied in value.
After a time he came to me and said, ''Abdullah, pay
me my wage!' I said, 'All the camels, cattle, sheep
and slaves that you see here have come from your
wage.' He said, ''Abdullah, do not make fun of me?' I
said, 'I am not making fun of you.' He took them all
and drove them off, not leaving anything. O Allah, if
I did that out of the desire for Your Face, then
rescue us from the situation we are in!" The rock
moved away and they walked out.'" [Agreed upon]
