عَنْ أَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَبِي حَفْصٍ عُمَرَ بْنِ الْخَطَّابِ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ: ” إنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى، فَمَنْ كَانَتْ هِجْرَتُهُ إلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ فَهِجْرَتُهُ إلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ، وَمَنْ كَانَتْ هِجْرَتُهُ لِدُنْيَا يُصِيبُهَا أَوْ امْرَأَةٍ يَنْكِحُهَا فَهِجْرَتُهُ إلَى مَا هَاجَرَ إلَيْهِ”.
رَوَاهُ إِمَامَا الْمُحَدِّثِينَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللهِ مُحَمَّدُ بنُ إِسْمَاعِيل بن إِبْرَاهِيم بن الْمُغِيرَة بن بَرْدِزبَه الْبُخَارِيُّ الْجُعْفِيُّ، وَأَبُو الْحُسَيْنِ مُسْلِمٌ بنُ الْحَجَّاج بن مُسْلِم الْقُشَيْرِيُّ النَّيْسَابُورِيُّ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُمَا فِي “صَحِيحَيْهِمَا” اللذَينِ هُمَا أَصَحُّ الْكُتُبِ الْمُصَنَّفَةِ.
On the authority of the leader of the believers; Abu Ḥafs ‘Umar b. Al-Khaṭṭab, he said I heard the Prophetﷺsay, “Verily actions are according to intentions, and for every man is (the reward for) that which he intends. So whoever migrates for Allāh and His messenger, his migration will be for Allāh and His messenger. And whosoever migrates for a worldly matter, or for a woman to marry, their migration will be for that which they intended.”
This is narrated by the Imam of the muḥadītheen, Abū ‘Abdullāh Muḥammad b. Ismā’īl b. Ibrāhīm b. Mughīrah b. Bardizbah al-Bukhāri, as well as Abū al-Ḥusayn Muslim b. Al-Ḥajjaj b. Muslim al Qushayri al-Nīsāpūri in their collections of aḥadīth, both of which are the most authentic books.
Notes
This ḥadīth is one of the central tenets of Islam. Imām Shāfi and Imām Aḥmad say that this ḥadīth is a third of knowledge. Imām Bayḥaqi and others say that the reason for this is because the actions of a person are of three types; actions of the heart, tongue and body, and therefore niyyah is one of these three types. Imām Shāfi says that this ḥadīth relates to 70 chapters of fiqh. Other ulama have mentioned that this ḥadīth a third of Islam.
When authoring a work, the ‘ulamā` generally begin their writing with this ḥadīth, such as Imām Bukhāri. By beginning with this ḥadīth, and foregoing the khutbah, Imām Bukhāri indicates that every action which is done for other than the sake of Allāhﷻ is not accepted. There will be no reward for it in this world, nor in the hereafter. It is for this reason ‘Abdur Raḥmān b. Maḥdi says that it is necessary for anyone who authors a book to begin with this ḥadīth, so it can serve as a reminder to the student of knowledge to always purify their intentions.
This ḥadīth became famous in the latter generation because it was gharīb[1] at the beginning, but later became widespread[2]. This is because none narrate this ḥadīth from the Prophetﷺ except ‘Umar b. al-Khaṭṭāb , and none narrate from ‘Umar except ‘Alqama b. Abū Waqqās, and none narrate from ‘Alqama except for Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm al-Taymi, and none narrate from Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm, except for Yaḥya b. Saīd al-Anṣari. Thereafter this ḥadīth spread and became famous, with more than two hundred persons narrating this ḥadīth from Yaḥya b. Saīd.
إنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ
Verily actions are according to intentions
The word إنَّمَا is usually used with the meaning of confinement, such that one can translate the above as “Verily actions are only according to their intentions”. However, we know that although the word إنَّمَا is used to confine to something, it is also sometimes used in a wider sense, without the meaning of confinement. For example, it is mentioned in the Qur`ān[3]إِنَّمَا أَنتَ نَذِيرٌ , “You are only a warner”, but we know that the Prophetﷺ is not only a warner, but has many other qualities as well, such as being a giver of glad tidings[4]. Therefore the apparent meaning one can take here[5], and Allāhﷻ knows best, is that the confinement here is with respect to the outcome.
This ḥadīth tells us that actions will not be accounted for without niyyah. The actions referred to here are actions in sharī’ah. This encompasses all ibādāt in general such as wudhu, ghusl, ṣalāh, zakāh, ṣawm, ḥajj, i’tikāf and others.
There are some differences of opinion, amongst the different schools of thought, regarding whether an intention is required when it comes to certain acts of worship. For example, the Shawāfi’ say that intention is a necessary component of wudhu, whereas the Aḥnāf argue that niyyah is not necessary for wudhu to be complete. The Aḥnāf would therefore interpret this ḥadīth to mean; Verily (the rewards of) actions are according to intentions i.e. in order to get the complete reward for wudhu a niyyah is required, but if someone made wudhu without niyyah the wudhu will still be considered done. On the other hand, the Shawāfi’ would say that the action of wudhu would not be considered correct without a niyyah.
وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى
And for every man is that which he intends.
Imām Nawāwi further mentions that specifying the niyyah is also important. Such that if a man were to pray his farḍ ṣalāh, he cannot intend to pray a nafl ṣalāh, rather he must specify which ṣalāh it is.
فَمَنْ كَانَتْ هِجْرَتُهُ إلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ فَهِجْرَتُهُ إلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ
So whoever migrates for Allāh and His messenger, his migration will be for Allāh and His messenger.
The word hijrah means to leave, and specifically to leave and abandon one’s home. Therefore, the one who leaves their home for the sake of Allāhﷻ and His messengerﷺ will receive their reward in the hereafter.
وَمَنْ كَانَتْ هِجْرَتُهُ لِدُنْيَا يُصِيبُهَا أَوْ امْرَأَةٍ يَنْكِحُهَا فَهِجْرَتُهُ إلَى مَا هَاجَرَ إلَيْهِ
And whosoever migrates for a worldly matter, or for a woman to marry, their migration will be for that which they intended.
As for the one who does not do hijrah for Allāhﷻ and His messengerﷺ, but does so for a worldly gain, they will not have any reward in the hereafter. They will only attain their reward in this world ie. that which they set out for.
Imam Nawāwi relates that there may be two reasons[6] why migration to marry a woman is mentioned. The first possible reason is due to the narration about a man who migrated from Makkah to Madīnah with the intention to marry a woman, known as Umm Qays, and not for the virtue of hijrah. He was thus known as Muhājir Umm Qays, the emigrant for Umm Qays.
The second possible reason could be that traveling for a woman is an example of travelling for the dunyā, and is specifically mentioned[7] to caution others and warn them not to do so.
رَوَاهُ إِمَامَا الْمُحَدِّثِينَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللهِ مُحَمَّدُ بنُ إِسْمَاعِيل بن إِبْرَاهِيم بن الْمُغِيرَة بن بَرْدِزبَه الْبُخَارِيُّ الْجُعْفِيُّ، وَأَبُو الْحُسَيْنِ مُسْلِمٌ بنُ الْحَجَّاج بن مُسْلِم الْقُشَيْرِيُّ النَّيْسَابُورِيُّ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُمَا فِي “صَحِيحَيْهِمَا” اللذَينِ هُمَا أَصَحُّ الْكُتُبِ الْمُصَنَّفَةِ.
This is narrated by the Imam of the muḥadītheen, Abu Abdullah Muhammad b. Ismail b. Ibrahim b. Mughirah b. Bardizbah al-Bukhāri, as well as Abu al-Husayn Muslim b. al-Hajjaj b. Muslim al Qushayri al-Nisapuri in their collections of aḥadīth, both of which are the most authentic books written.
The authenticity of this ḥadīth is agreed upon. It is narrated by Imam Bukhāri on more than one occasion[8] in his Saḥīḥ. Imām Muslim mentions this ḥadīth at the end of the chapter of jihād[9]. This ḥadīth is also found in the other four main books of ḥadīth[10].
Action points
It is reported that ‘Abdullāh b. Mubārak said;
رُبَّ عَمَلٍ صَغِيْرٍ تُعَظِّمُهُ النيَّةُ وَ رُبَّ عَمَلٍ كَبِيْرٍ تُصَغِّرُهُ النيَّةُ
“May be a small action is magnified through niyyah, and may be a big action is made small through niyyah”.[11]
Try and have an intention for every action you do.
Such that even if you eating or drinking, your intention should be so that you have energy so you can worship Allāhﷻ, or so that you can look after you family.
When doing a good deed, purify your intention
Ask yourself what is your goal in doing this action, are you doing it for the pleasure of others or for the pleasure of Allāhﷻ ? After purifying your intention if you still have doubts, know that this is from Shayṭān, and is his way of preventing you from doing a good deed.
Continuously renew your intentions
It is important to always be reviewing our intention, as often we can start something off with sincere actions, but this can change overtime. Therefore it is important to always renew our intentions.
[1] Only one narrator of the ḥadīth
[2] مشهور
[3] Surah Hud: 12
[4] Surah Saba: 28
[5] Ibn Daqīq al-’Īd, “Sharh Arba’īn ḥadīth al-Nawawi”, 10.
[6] Nawawi, al-Minhāj fi al-Sharh al-Ṣahīh Muslim, commentary on ḥadīth 1907.
[7] Also known as ذكر التخصيص بعد العام
[8] Saḥīḥ al-Bukhāri 1, 54, 2529, 3898, 5070, 6689 and 6953
[9] Saḥīḥ Muslim 1907
[10] Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah and Nasā`ī
[11] See Ibn Rajab, “Jāmi’ al-’Ulūm wa al-Ḥikam”, 42.
