بسم اللّٰه الرحمٰن الرحيم
The Prophet Mohammad peace be upon him said:
Actions are only according to intentions and a person receives only what he has intended. Therefore, whoever's emigration is for Allah and His Messenger, his emigration is [truly] for Allah and His Messenger. And whoever's emigration is for any worldly gain or a woman he is to wed, then his emigration is for what he emigrated. (Bukhari, Muslim)
Background
This is during the period when Prophet Mohammad peace be upon him ordered his companions to emigrate from Makkah to Madinah. There was one companion who also emigrated but his intention was to marry a woman in Madinah. Prophet Mohammad peace be upon him came to know about it later and he said this hadith.
There are two narrations found about this hadith:
1. One is in Mawahib-ul-Ladunniyyah (مَوَاهِبُ اللَّدُنِّيَّة) with reference to Muntaha al-Amali lil-Suyuti (منتهى الامالى للسيوطى). According to this narration, a person emigrated and married a woman.
2. Second is in Tabarani (طبرانى). In this narration, the name of woman is mentioned as Umm Qays. Religious scholars has also mentioned her name as Qeelah but stated her kunya (nick) as Umm Qays.
Virtue of Hadith
- Imam Shafi'i and Imam Ahmad may Allah have mercy on them gave this hadith the title of ثُلْثِ علم (One-third of knowledge). The reason they described, actions (اعمال) of person is of three types:
1. Action related to heart.
2. Action related to tongue.
3. and action related to body parts.
and this hadith is related to all these three types.
- Ibn Daqiq al-'Id may Allah have mercy on him (one of the great scholar of 13th century) has said, "religious scholars gave it a title of 'ثُلْثِ الاسلام' (one-third of Islam)".
- Imam Abu Dawood may Allah may Allah have mercy on him gave it a title of نصف فقه (half of Jurisprudence).
- Religious scholars recommended authors to start their book with this hadith so the intention of a student/writer and teacher/reader can be corrected in the beginning.
- Some scholars said, "action (عمل) and verb (فعل) booth are synonym". But Imam Raghib Isfahani may Allah have mercy on him (an 11th century muslim scholar) said, "there is a difference. Verb is common; means whether something is under control of a person or not, its a verb. Whereas in action, something is definitely under his control." Molana Anwar Shah Kashmiri may Allah have mercy on him (late 19th century scholar) says, "action is in which a person have to do hardship, whereas in verb a person doesn't need to perform any hardship."
- Scholars have described intention (نيت) to be of three types:
1. Differentiating worship with habit: To differentiate a worship with habit using intention. For eg. a person standing in a prayer. If he has intended for a prayer then it will be considered his prayer, otherwise he is just standing.
2. Differentiating worship with worship: To differentiate one worship from another with intention. For eg. with intention differentiating between Zuhr and Asr prayer.
3. Differentiating God with God: To differentiate worshipping of one God from another with intention. For eg. someone is offering prayer, then it will be known from his intention whether he is praying for Allah or some other God.
- Renowned exegete of the early fourth century A.H, Ibn Jarir al-Tabari may Allah have mercy on him says, "action can be 'compulsory' and 'non-compulsory'".
1. Compulsory actions are those which requires further knowledge and initial intention, such as salat (prayer), fasting or pilgrimage. If its pre-requisites and integrals are met, then the action is considered complete.
2. Non-compulsory actions are those which are simple to perform and does not require pre-requisites and integrals such as recitation of the Quran, remembrance of Allah or teaching. Action of this type have to remain pure and free from ostentation throughout the action in order to be valid. Thus, the intention may needs to be renewal in order to yield a reward.
