Deeds are only by Intentions

Assalamu alaikum,

Just a reminder that the regular dars of Saheeh al-Bukhari by Shaykh Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq continue each Friday at 8.30 PM GMT at the Al Kawthar Academy, Leicester (UK). The lessons are also streamed live on the net - details are on the Al Kawthar Academy website (www.akacademy.eu).

Although I haven't been posting regularly for a while now, all that is about to change insha'Allah - brother Abu Talha has kindly provided notes from the very first lessons, the Book of Revelation. I will be posting from these hadeeth by hadeeth insha'Allah. Please pray for all those that assist this blog.

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The actual audio lesson corresponding to these notes can be purchased for £2 from Al Kawthar Productions.

Book 1: The Book of Revelation

Most authors start their collection of ahadeeth with books on ritual purity, faith and prayer. However, Imam Bukhari (رحمة الله عليه) begins his Saheeh with the book of revelation. The Imam (رحمة الله عليه) subtly points out that Divine Revelation is the foundation to all actions; it is the source of all actions in Islam, thus, Imam Bukari (رحمة الله عليه) starts his work with this particular hadeeth.

Hadeeth No. 1

Shaykh Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq said

"Shaykh Islam ul Haq (rahimullah) narrated to us

from Mufti Kifayatullah

from Shaykh ul Hind Mufti Mahmood ul Hassan

from Maulana Qasim An Nanotwi

from Shah Abdul Ghani ad Dehlawi

from Shah Muhammad Ishaq ad Dehlawi

from Shah Abdul Aziz ad Dehlawi

from Shah Waliyullah ad Dehlawi

from Shaykh Abu Tahir al Madani

from his father Ibrahim al Madani

from Shaykh Ahmad al Qashashi

from Ahmad bin Quoddous an Shanawi

from Shaykh Shams ad Din al Rumli

from Al Shaykh Al Hafidh Zainu’d-Din Zakariyya al Ansari

from Hafidh ibn Hajr Al Asqalani

from Ibrahim bin Ahmad At Tanuqi

from Abul Abbas Ahmadun Abi Talib al Hajjar

from Siraj ibn Hussain ibn Mubarak az Zibidi

from Shaykh Abul Waqf Abdul Awal ibne Isa Al Harawi

from Shaykh Abdur Rahman ibne Magafara Dawoodi

from Abu Muhammad Abdulullah Sarafsi

from Abu Abdillah Muhammad ibn Yusuf al Farabari

from Abu Abdillah Muhammad ibn Isma’il bin Ibrahim bin Mughira bin Bardisba Al Bukhari Al Juhthi (rahimullah) who says hadathana Humaydi Abu Abdillah az-Zubair Qala Hadathana Sufyan, Abu Abdillah az-Zubair al Humadi related to us from Sufyan who said Yahya bin Sa’eed al Ansari related to us that Muhammad bin Ibrahim at Tamie related to us that Alqama bin Waqqas al Laythi related to us, he says

I heard Ameerul Mum’mineen Umar ibn Khattab (radi'Allah ta’ala anho) upon the mimbar say “I heard the Messenger (salallahu alayhi wasalaam) say "inaamal a’maalu bin niyaat wa inaamah li quli ma nawah fa man qanat hijrahtuhu ilah dunya yu seebuha aw imra’ahtun yun kifuha fa hijratuhu elah ma haajara iley”

۱. عَنْ عُمَرَ بْنِ الْخَطّابِ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ: (إِنّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنّيّاتِ, وَإِنّمَا لِكُلّ امْرِىٍ مَا نَوَى, فَمنْ كَانَتْ هِجْرَتُهُ إِلَى دُنْيا يُصِيبُهَا, أَوْ إِلَى امْرَأَةٍ يَنْكِحُهَا, فَهِجْرتُهُ إِلَى مَا هَاجَرَ إِلَيْهِ). رواه البخاري: ۱

Shaykh Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq then said “So this is the first hadeeth of Saheeh al-Bukhari with the complete chain from myself to Imam Bukhari (rahmatullah alaihi)…………………..Deeds are by intentions, (therefore) and a man will only receive what he has intended, so whoever’s hijrah is to the dunya that he wishes to acquire or a woman that he seeks to marry then his hijrah is to that which he has intended."

Hadeeth No. 1

An important fact about this Hadeeth is that no other companion narrates it except Umar ((رضى الله عنه)). The sanad of the Hadeeth is as follows:

Humadhee narrates from Yaha Saeed al Ansaree from Muhammad ibrahim Taymee from Alqamah from Umar (ra).

Chapter 1: How the Divine Inspiration started to be revealed to Allâh's Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم . And the Statement of Allâh تعالى : "Verily, We have inspired you (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم ( as We inspired Nuh (Noah) and the Prophets after him. (V.4:163)).

. باب: كَيْفَ كَانَ بَدْءُ الْوَحْيِ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم

Imam Bukhari (رحمة الله عليه) uses a verse from Surah An-Nisa (4:163) for the first Chapter Heading - this is one of the most comprehensive verses in the Qur’an regarding revelation and this is one of the principle reasons the verse was chosen. In his book, Imam Bukhari (رحمة الله عليه) was very meticulous about his chapter headings and he preferred to use verses of the Qur’an or sentences of Hadeeth rather than his own words. It is well worth nothing that the Imam does not go on to explain the verse or quote it completely - the reason behind this is that the Imam wants the reader to refer- to look up the full verse for themselves.

This first Hadeeth is regarding intention. Note that there is no apparent obvious connection to the book itself but he wants to draw the readers attention to the importance of the intention and the centrality of it to Islam, as nothing is accepted by Allah in the way of deeds unless there is purity of intention i.e. Ikhlas and the second condition is that the act must be in accordance to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم).

The Hadeeth is not entirely unconnected to Wahy as we are only to know the rewards and punishments and thus correct our intentions before doing our deeds by knowledge received and conveyed to us by revelation.

Imam Bukhari (رحمة الله عليه) does not mention the Hadeeth in its entirety, although he has mentioned the Hadeeth in its full form seven times in his Jami. The Imam mentions the blameworthy part of the Hadeeth, indicating that he feels that his own intention in compiling this work was not pure and that he feels he has been insincere - this indicates the humility and fear that Imam Bukhari (رحمة الله عليه) had in compiling his work.

There is a link between this Hadeeth and Umm Qais (رضى الله عنها) - a companion migrated to Madinah and married Umm Qais (رضى الله عنها). There is nothing to suggest that the migration of the companion was a cause of Rasullah saying the words of the Hadeeth.

Ibn Masood (رضى الله عنه) narrates that the companion Muhajir migrated first with a pure intention of hijrah and it was only later that he married Umm Qais (رضى الله عنها).

Imam Shafi ((رحمة الله عليه)) used to say that this Hadeeth is a third of all Ilm and Imam Ahmad ((رحمة الله عليه)) was of the opinion that the entire deen is based on three ahadeeth.

• This Hadeeth of intention of Umar (رضى الله عنه)
• The Hadeeth of Aisha (رضى الله عنها): “ whosoever introduces into the religion that not of it will have it rejected”
• The Hadeeth of Numaan Basheer (رضى الله عنه) where he reports that Rasullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said “Halal is clear and haraam is clear and in-between there are many doubtful matters so keep your distance from them”.

If one looks closely at these three particular Hadeeth then one realises that they are the foundational pillars of our deen. The Hadeeth of Numaan (رضى الله عنه) mentions the limits of Allah:

“These are the limits (hudood) of Allah do not even come close to them” (Holy Quran).

The Hadeeth of Aisha (رضى الله عنها) mention the methodology of a Muslim- the manhaj, that we are a people that follow the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and his companions and the earliest generations and we do not introduce into the religion new concepts. Finally, the Hadeeth of Umar (رضى الله عنه) indicates the importance of intention, that nothing is accepted by Allah unless the intention is sincere.

Imam Abu Dawood (رحمة الله عليه) said “I have collated 500,000 Hadeeth and for my book (the Sunan) I have selected 5000, but there are only 4 Hadeeth sufficient for a man’s religion and these are:

1. The Hadeeth of intention.
2. The Hadeeth that “part of a man’s religion is that he leaves that which does not concern him.
3. A believer will not be a believer until he desires for his brother what he desires for himself
4. The Hadeeth of Numaan ibn Bashir (رضى الله عنه).

The Hadeeth mentions the word Hijrah which means to leave a land for the sake of Allah’s Deen however a more comprehensive meaning is that an individual leaves and abandons all that Allah has forbidden.