عنْ اَبيِ الْعَبّاَسِ عَبْدِللهِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسِ بْنِ عَبْدِالْمُطَّلِبِ رَضِيَ اللَّه عَنْهممَا عَنْ رَسوُلِ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِيمَا يَرْوِي عَنْ رَبِّهِ تَباَرَكَ وَتَعاَليَ قَالَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَتَبَ الْحَسَنَاتِ وَالسَّيِّئَاتِ ثُمَّ بَيَّنَ ذَلِكَ فَمَنْ هَمَّ بِحَسَنَةٍ فَلَمْ يَعْمَلْهَا كَتَبَهَا اللَّهُ تَياَرَكَ وَتَعاَليَ عِنْدَهُ حَسَنَةً كَامِلَةً وَإِنْ هَمَّ بِهَا فَعَمِلَهَا كَتَبَهَا اللَّهُ عَشْرَ حَسَنَاتٍ إِلَى سَبْعِ مِائَةِ ضِعْفٍ إِلَى أَضْعَافٍ كَثِيرَةٍ وإِنْ هَمَّ بِسَيِّئَةٍ فَلَمْ يَعْمَلْهَا كَتَبَهَا اللَّهُ تعالي عِنْدَهُ حَسَنَةً كَامِلَةً وَإِنْ هَمَّ بِهَا فَعَمِلَهَا كَتَبَهَا اللَّهُ سَيِّئَةً وَاحِدَةً . وَاِنْ هَمَّ بِهَا فَعَمِلَهَا كَتَبَهَا رَبَّهُ سَيِّئَةً وَاحِدَةً .

‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (May the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said that Allah, the Glorious, said: “Verily, Allah has ordered that the good and the bad deeds be written down. Then He explained it clearly how (to write): he who intends to do a good deed but he does not do it, then Allah records it for him as a full good deed, but if he carries out his intention, then Allah the Exalted, writes it down for him as from ten to seven hundred folds, and even more. But if he intends to do an evil act and has not done it, then Allah writes it down for him as a full good deed, but if he intends it and has done it, Allah writes it down as one bad deed”.

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INTENTIONS AND AIMS

No doubt, every creature in the universe has an end. At every place and at every time we can observe a living creature passing away. Similarly, a human being will die when their limited time has finished. Then they will be raised up for judgment on the day of Resurrection. And Allah, the Exalted, the Creator of the universe, will bring them to account about what they have done in this world. For every single deed, they will take either reward or punishment, as it is clearly stated in the Holy Quran:

“Whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom (in this world), shall see it (on the day of Resurrection). And whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom (in this world) shall see it (on the day of Resurrection)”.

Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most kind, informed us by the tongue of His Messenger Mohammad (May the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him) based on which criteria he will take His slaves to account in the above Sacred Tradition: We learn from this Sacred Hadith the following lessons:

Lesson one: The great consequence of intentions. The place of intentions is in the heart, which means one's inner world. Intentions and aims direct the actions of human beings. Actions, before taking place, are decided in the heart. Perhaps, that is why the Messenger of Allah said, in another Hadith: “Deeds are considered by intentions, and a person will get rewards (or punishments) according to his intentions” So, we should attach great importance to our intentions and the following questions: What kind of intentions do we have in our hearts? Are they noble or base? When we do something, for which reason do we do it? What are our aims and plans in our inner world? Every action has an intention, what is the intention of our actions? What is the reason behind our deeds? Is Allah pleased with it or not? For, the Prophet Mohammad (Saw.) says in a Hadith: “Allah neither looks at your figures, nor at your attires, but He looks at your hearts (intentions, aims, inner world) and your deeds (whether they are good or not, approved by the divine law or not)”.

The following Hadith shows us how important intentions are: Abu Hurairah (R) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saying: “The first to be judged on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who had died as a martyr. He will be brought forward. Allah will remind him of the blessings He had bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. Then He will ask him ‘What did you do to express gratitude for it?’. The man will reply: ‘I fought for Your Cause till I was killed’. Allah will say: ‘You have lied. You fought so that people might call you courageous; and they have done so’. Command will then be issued about him and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Jahannam(Hell).

Next a man who had acquired and imparted knowledge and read the Quran will be brought forward. Allah will remind him of the blessings He had bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. Then He will ask him ‘What did you do to express gratitude for it?’ The man will reply: ‘I acquired knowledge and taught it, and read the Qur’an for Your sake’. Allah will say to him: ‘You have lied. You acquired knowledge so that people might call you a learned (man), and you read the Qur’an so that they might call you a good reciter, and they have done so’. Command will then be issued about him, and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Jahannam.

Next a man whom Allah had made affluent and to whom Allah had given plenty of wealth, will be brought forward. Allah will remind him of the blessings He had bestowed upon him, and the man will acknowledge them. He will ask him: ‘What did you do to express gratitude for it? ‘The man will reply: ‘I did not neglect any of the ways You liked wealth to be spent liberally for Your sake’. Allah will say to him: ‘You have lied. You did it so that people might call you generous, and they have done so’. Command will then be issued about him and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell.

It is the highest model of life which Allah, the Exalted, wants us to be: Noble, lofty and grand in both intentions and deeds, in heart and actions, in our inner world and outer world.

Lesson two: Nobody in this world has the ability to control the hearts of people, except Allah, the Supreme. Neither the police nor the army, nor any constitution, nor any legislation can change bad intentions in the hearts and stop people from doing wrong, whatever the power police have or whatever good system or legislations there are, except the religion of Islam!. In fact, if the police, soldiers, legislators or those who have power, have bad intentions in their hearts, then who can control them? Which power can stop them from doing wrong? The only and correct answer is "Allah", the Almighty who knows everything hidden in the hearts, "He knows what they conceal and what they reveal. Verily, He is the All-Knower of the (innermost secrets) of the breasts". He induces people to have good intentions in their hearts and to do noble deeds as it is mentioned in the above Hadith.

Let us take a particular example of the first and second world wars, in which leaders and generals caused millions and millions of people (including innocents) to be killed! For which reasons? What were their intentions? Could they reach their aims? What did they leave behind except blood shed, dead bodies, crying mothers and children, destroyed villages and cities? If we think about these questions, then we can understand how important the above Hadith is!

Lesson three: When you intend to do a good deed, if you cannot practice it, while you sincerely wanted to do it, then Allah records it for you a reward as if you have carried it out even though you did not. But if you carry out your good intention, then Allah the Exalted multiplies the reward for you as from ten to seven hundred folds and even more, because of His great Kindness to His slaves! We glorify Him as many times as the number of all good intentions! So, we should always intend to do good deeds in our hearts, be it big or small, less or more and try to carry it out as thoroughly as possible, in order to increase our Hasanat and obtain prosperity both in this world and in the next.

Lesson four: The Prophet Mohammad called our attention in the above Hadith to a very important point: If one intends to do an evil act but gives up that intention and does not practice the evil, then Allah (SWT) writes it down for him as a full good deed! What a nice point this is, in which we are encouraged to give up bad intentions!

Lesson five: Allah, the Almighty, gives reward to one who only intends to do a good deed, but then one who carries out his intention will receive rewards from ten to seven hundred fold and possibly even more. The minimum limit for a reward, in this case, is defined as ten fold, but the maximum is not specified. It may be seven hundred fold, or seven million fold or even more. Allah (SWT) may give him – according to his sincerity- ten thousand or ten million fold even more. It shows us that Allah has unlimited mercy towards His slaves!.. His pity for us has no limit, and is as large as the heavens and earth. We glorify Him as many times as the large of His Mercy!…

Al-Bukhari, Riqaaq 31, Tawhid 35. Muslim, Iman 207, 259

Zalzalah: 7-8

Al-Bukhari, Bad’ul-Wahy 1, Iman 41, Nikah 5, ‘Itk 6, Aymaan 23, Hiyal 1. Muslim, Imarah 155. Abu Dawud, Talaq 11. Tirmidhi, Fazail’ul-Jihad 16. Nasai, Taharat 60, Ibni Majah, Zuhd 26

Muslim, Birr 33. Ibni Majah, Zuhd 9

Muslim, Imarah 152

Hud: 5