Intention and Deed: What Allah Looks At in the Believer

Occasion: Transcription of a khatira delivered on 20 April 2015 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

In the name of Allah, and blessings and peace upon the servant of Allah, His Prophet and Messenger, our master and our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and upon his family and Companions, and abundant peace. To proceed:

In a ḥadīth of Abū Hurayra, may Allah the Exalted be pleased with him, from the Prophet ﷺ, he said: «إن الله تعالى لا ينظر إلى أجسامكم ولا إلى صوركم، ولكن ينظر إلى قلوبكم وأعمالكم» (“Indeed, Allah the Exalted does not look at your bodies nor at your forms, but He looks at your hearts and your deeds”).^[1]

And in this noble ḥadīth is an affirmation from the Prophet ﷺ that the Muslim must have two matters together in his life, neither of which can do without the other. The first matter: the intention he carries in his heart, by which he aims at doing these deeds. The second matter: the deed that results from it, and the accomplishments that come out into the society of life, which he offers to the humanity among whom he lives. For the believer is nothing but a deed that bears fruit, the believer is nothing but a production that comes forth, the believer is nothing but an instrument for doing good things and accomplishing righteous deeds.

That is the believer whom the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, approved as a servant and a successor, when He said to His angels: ﴿إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً﴾ (“Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successor”).^[2] That is the believer through whom life is set right and through whom the universe is set right, through whom the earth is built up and by whom humanity is made happy.

O Allah, gather for us in our hearts the intentions with which You are pleased with us, and grant us of deeds what brings us near to You and conveys us to Your Paradise. And O Allah, send blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and Companions, and abundant peace. And peace be upon you.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The speaker related it from the narration of Abū Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with him, and it is in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim in similar wording; the wording should be checked before publication. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Baqarah, verse 30.