ABSTRACT INTENTION IN ISLAMIC LAW

(Alniyat Almujaradat Fi Alshryet Al'iislamia)

A paper written by Dr. Abdul Karim Zaidan in the seventies of the last century and published in the Iraqi Islamic Education Journal (altarbiat alaslamiat) in its tenth issue issued in Jumada Al-Ula 1396 AH / April 1976 CE. This research was also printed in a separate booklet .

Introduction and Preface

1)  intent is the  intent or the  will, has said in its  definition idiomatic it : accidentally combined the  thing to  do . But extrapolating the legal texts and the scholars' use of the word intention, indicates that   this word has two meanings: (the first) the   desire to find a specific action or leave it   ( the second )  to want    a specific  goal or purpose of creating the act or leaving it . The intention in this second sense is called (the emitter ).

2)   The intention may be released and meant by the two meanings simultaneously, as it may be pronounced and the second meaning is meant by it, which is the motive . It may be launched and meant by the first meaning only, and this is little in its use, but it is not true except by way of permissibility and forgiveness, because the rational person does not intend to do anything except for a specific purpose, but because this purpose is not clear or because what he did of work was motivated by pure instinct. It was said that his action had no purpose and that his will was focused on creating the act only without noticing any purpose .

3)   It is established in Islamic law that worship in Islam is a pure right to God Almighty, and that it is not acceptable except with two conditions: (the first) that it be in the lawful manner and (the second) that it be exclusive to God Almighty, meaning that its owner intends to obey God And pleasing him, the Almighty said: (And they were not commanded except to worship God, sincere to Him ).

4)  Based on this, it is not sufficient to attain the reward and accept the deeds that these actions are according to the legal methods as they appear. Rather, they must also have hidden intentions and intentions directed towards getting closer to God Almighty with these deeds. Our Prophet said , الاعمال (Actions are by intentions, but every person has what he intended ...) The validity of the deeds and the amount of their value with God Almighty and the extent to which they deserve the reward or punishment are all dependent on intentions and are dependent on them. It will be rewarded, and if it is linked to something other than God Almighty, it is rejected and does not result in a reward, but rather punishment may be related to it even if Muslims benefit from these deeds.The Messenger of God was asked الرجلabout a man who fights bravery, fights fever, and fights hypocrisy. Is that for the sake of God? The Messenger of God said, “Whoever fights for the word of God to be supreme is for the sake of God.” It is well known that fighting for the sake of God is what is meant by the pleasure of God that comes from supporting the religion of God. As for fighting other than that, it does not come under the concept of “the path of God”. There is no reward in it, even if it leads to the death of the fighter and the Muslims to benefit from his fight. In fact, this is a frightening thing that makes the Muslim constantly examining his intentions and intentions so that they make them pure to God alone, and there is no point in detailing this issue .

5)   It is not sufficient for the motivation to work that there is something in it that is intended to please God. Rather, all the motivation must be to please God. If he shares his intention, a request other than God, whoever this third party is, the work is unacceptable, it came in the noble hadith that the Messenger of God ﷺHe said: (God Blessed and Almighty said: I am the richest partner about polytheism, whoever does something in which someone else shares with me I left him and his shirk) and the meaning - as Imam Al-Nawawi said in explaining this hadith - is that whoever does something for God and others will not be accepted by God Almighty And leaving it to that of others, then the act of hypocrisy, and he who intends his work other than God Almighty is invalid and has no reward and is sinful with it .

6) The    intention after this is to act in permissible matters, so it becomes a sacrifice as long as that intention is directed to God Almighty and seeks His pleasure, so whoever learns martial arts intends thereby preparing himself for jihad in the way of God is rewarded for his learning, and likewise he who learns equestrian or with knowledge, and so on. It is permissible to eat, drink, and sleep if he intends to keep himself to worship his Lord who is rewarded for his actions .

7) The   attribute of a single verb changes and becomes permissible or forbidden ,   depending on the characteristic of its intention and its direction. Like slaughter, it is with the intention to benefit from its meat, so it becomes permissible, and it is with the intention of approaching God Almighty by shedding blood, so it is a sacrifice as in the sacrifice, and it is with the intention of giving charity to the meat of the sacrifice so it is charity, and it is with the intention of venerating an idol or something other than God Almighty, so slaughtering is forbidden, and looking at the woman A non-mahram woman with the intention of marrying her is permissible, and looking at her with the intention of enjoying her good deeds is forbidden. Holding a wife with the intention of preserving the marital bond is desirable from the Sharia, and holding her to harm her is forbidden in Sharia. The Almighty said :

8)   From all the foregoing, it becomes clear to us the great position of intention in Islamic law and its great impact in accepting and rejecting deeds and in the collection of reward and punishment. God willing .

Research topic

9) The    topic of our discussion is not the intention associated with the action as indicated in the introduction and the introduction, but rather the abstract intention of the action (meaning the desire to perform a specific action for a specific purpose without this action being associated with this will. In other words what is meant by the abstract intention is that a person intends to do an action. He is determined in his heart, whether this act is good or evil, acts of obedience or sin, and he does not implement his command, i.e. he does not create the work that he intended, so will this person be rewarded for his good intention that is directed towards doing good and resolving to find it And this person is punished for his corrupt and malicious intent that tends to do evil and intends to find him, even if the work is not achieved abroad? This is the subject of our research .

Research methodology and plan

10) In order to    facilitate research, simplify it, and approximate its meanings and parts, we make it two parts: (the first) regarding reward relates to the intent without action if that intention is good and valid, and (second) regarding punishment relates to the intent abstract from action if that intention is corrupt and malicious Tend to work evil .

11)   Our approach to dealing with the two sections is to refer to the Book of God Almighty and the Sunnah of His Prophet   +++++++ The   rules governing the two sections as it seems to us, and God is the conciliator .

First: The extent to which the reward is related to the abstract intention

12)  From the Holy Quran

Almighty (not equal spectators of believers is an initial damage and the Mujahideen in the way of Allah with their wealth and themselves Fadlallah said the Mujahideen with their money and themselves on the laggards and the degree of both the promise of God and the Most Beautiful Fadlallah mujahideen on the laggards a great reward ).

It came in the interpretation of Al-Qurtubi regarding this noble verse (that the people of harm are the people of excuses that prevent jihad). Then Al-Qurtubi, may God Almighty have mercy on him, said: “This implies that the one who excuses is given the reward of the invader.” Al-Razi said in his interpretation regarding this verse (the conclusion of the verse) The seated believers are not equal to the healthy believers and the Mujahideen for the sake of God, and they differed in the fact that the Almighty’s saying (He who did not do harm) indicates that the believers who do not have harm are equal to the Mujahideen? This equality is not excluded, and it is indicated by transmission and reason, either transport ... etc .).

And the Sheikh of Islam, Imam Ibn Taymiyyah, may God Almighty have mercy on him, said regarding this noble verse, indicating the reason why the one who is unable to fight is actually equated with the jihadist (because this rule has a firm will to jihad, but he is prevented from being unable to do it .

13)  And our Lord, Blessed and Exalted be He, said   :   “ Whoever goes out of his house, migrating to God and His Messenger, then death overthrows him, and his reward will fall on you .

It was mentioned in the interpretation of Al-Qurtubi regarding this noble verse that it was revealed by a Muslim man who wanted to emigrate from Mecca to the Messenger of God in Medina, and death on the road caught him, so some of the Prophet’s companions said: If he reached us, he would have been rewarded, then the man came to the Prophet ﷺand told him The story was revealed this verse . It is understood from al-Qurtubi’s saying and the reason for the revelation of the noble verse that the reward of emigration happened to that man, even if he did not emigrate because his intention was sincere to God, and his intention to emigrate was complete and what he was able to do came from the deeds of emigration, so the full reward of the immigrant was rewarded .

This is what Imam Al-Razi stated in his interpretation, where he said regarding this noble verse (He said in their preaching: What is meant is one who intended to obey God and then was unable to complete it, God wrote to him the reward of complete obedience like a patient who is unable to do what he used to do if he was healthy, so he writes He has the reward for that work. This is how it was narrated on the authority of God’s Messenger. Others said that the reward for his purpose and the amount that he brought from that work is proven to him, but the wage for the completion of the work is impossible. Then Al-Razi said: Know that the first saying is first .. Then he gave evidence for This priority and among these evidences is the reason for the revelation of the verse that we mentioned on the authority of al-Qurtubi .

14)  From the hadith of the Prophet

1. Imam Al-Bukhari, may God Almighty have mercy on him, narrated in his Sahih on the authority of Anas, may God be pleased with him, that the Prophet ﷺwas in the raiders - it is the Battle of Tabuk - so he said ﷺ (That people in Madinah behind us did not walk us as a people or a valley but they are with us in it - that is in its reward - then He said: And in it - meaning this hadith - that the believer attains his intention to the worker’s wages if the excuse prevents him from working, as if he fails to sleep over the night prayer, then the reward for his prayer is written for him and his sleep will be charity from his Lord .

And Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said regarding this noble hadith (and it is known that the one who was with the Prophet in the battle - that is, the Battle of Tabuk - each one of them will be rewarded with a gas reward according to his intention and his will, so the same applies to those who stayed in Madinah who did not imprison them except for an excuse ).

15)   2. Imam al-Muhadithin Imam al-Bukhari, may God have mercy on him, narrated in his Sahih on the authority of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, may God be pleased with him, that he said: The Messenger of God said: (If a slave becomes sick or travels, he wrote what he used to do as a valid resident) and the Imam al-Qastalani says in his explanation For this hadith (If the believer slave became ill and was doing work before his illness and prevented him from sickness and his intention had it not been for the objection to continue with him or traveled obedience travel and prevented him to travel from what he was doing as obedience and his intention to continue, he wrote to him like what he used to do when he was a resident and when he was valid ).

And Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may God have mercy on him, said regarding this noble hadith: (Because what he left in his illness and travels he left because of his disability or hardship, not because of his weak intention and lack of his will, so he had a reward for what he did, which is true and resident ).

16)  3. Imam al-Tirmidhi narrated in his mosque on the authority of Abu Kabsheh al-Anmari that he heard the Prophet (say: “The world is for four people: a servant whom God has blessed with money and knowledge, in whom he fears his Lord, prays in him and prays in him, and teaches God in truth. He provides him with money, so he is sincere in intent. This is the most evil of houses, and a servant did not provide him with money or knowledge, then he says if I have money to work with it by so-and-so, then it is his intention, so I will pay them the same) and the owner of Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi, Imam al-Hafiz al-Mubarakfouri, says in his explanation of this noble hadith:(And the servant of Allah's Rizkah, knowledge, meaning a beneficial Shariah, and he did not provide him with money that is spent on the faces of closeness, he says, between him and God, I worked in it with the work of so-and-so, that is, the one who has money from which he spends on land, so he is his intention, i.e. he will be rewarded according to it, so he wages them, whether that is, the reward of the one who made his intention That if he had money to be spent on good, and the reward for one who has money spent from it is the same, and the reward for knowledge will be extra for him .)

17)   4. The two Imams al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated in their Sahih on the authority of Ibn Abbas, may God be pleased with them, on the authority of the Messenger of God In what he narrated on the authority of his Lord, the Blessed and Exalted, he said: (Indeed, God has written good deeds and bad deeds, then he explained that. And if he is interested in it, then his work God has written with him ten good deeds to seven hundred times, to many times, and if he cares about a bad thing and he does not do it, God will write it with him as a complete good, and if he is interested in it then his work is written by God as one bad .)

18)   What is meant by concern in the noble hadith is the   willingness of action and its preference  . It came in the guide of the conquerors regarding this hadith and its explanation: (Whoever   cares about goodness  , that is, he   wants   it and is more likely to do it with him, then he knows from him the first determination, which is the assertion of its action and determination to it, and he did not do it. Because being concerned with good deeds is a reason to act, and goodness is good.) And Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may God have mercy on him, said: (If he is concerned with a good deed and has not done it, then he has done a good deed, and she is concerned with the good, so a complete good deed is written to him .)

The important thing here is an unconstrained will to do good or bad of one who is able to do according to the context and what was mentioned in the noble hadith of the word (so he did it) (but he did not do it). It may also be inferred that this concern is for those who are able to do what the Imam said. Al-Khattabi is based on what Al-Kirmani mentioned about him, as Al-Khattabi said that those who are bad and did not do it, but a good deed is written for him if he leaves it with the ability to do it, since the person does not touch something that he cannot do. Based on this, whoever intends to do obedience or do good, but his intention was not complete and was able to do and did not do so, God Almighty rewarded him for this intention and wrote for him a good deed, because the will of good is good and obedience and a reason that leads to the act of obedience. If he did what he intended, God Almighty doubled the reward for him and made the good deed ten times as much to many .

19)   As for if   he is   concerned with the   bad and does not do it and he is able to do it    , then God Almighty does not write it on him or take him with it because his will is not definitive as evidence that he did not do what he cared about and this is in accordance with what was mentioned in the noble hadith narrated by Imam Muslim in his Sahih on the authority of Abu Huraira May God be pleased with him, he said: The Messenger of God said (God has passed over to my nation from what happened to itself unless you do or say it). So the hadith of the soul is like a worry in terms of lack of assertion and instability in the soul, so the Muslim is not taken for granted .

20)  If he is   concerned with the   bad and does not do it, he    either leaves it out of fear of God Almighty or shy of him, and as for leaving it for something else, and if he forsakes it to God Almighty, God rewarded him for this abandonment and wrote for him a complete good deed as stated in the noble hadith that came with another narration. And if he left it - meaning the bad - then write it to him as a good deed, but he left it from Gray, that is, for my sake, but if he left the bad for someone other than God Almighty, no bad was written on it and no good has been written for him, indicating that the hadith narrated by Imam Muslim on the authority of Abu Hurairah, pleased God on him on the authority of the Prophet and in it (and if they are bad and did not do them, I did not write them )

21)   It is noticed here that concern for good or bad is one of the works of the hearts to which punishment relates, but the noble hadith showed that the concern for good is related to the reward, while the concern for the bad is not related to sin and punishment . The point of difference is the pure bounty of God, as he forgave his servants if they were concerned with the bad, if he left it to God, he wrote to him with this forsaking a good deed, because cessation of evil is good and it is later than that of the previous concern, so he will be a copyer of it (because good deeds cast away bad ).

General rules regarding reward with abstract intention

22)   From what we mentioned from the texts of the Holy Qur’an and the purified Sunnah of the Prophet, and the sayings of the scholars, may God Almighty have mercy on them, we can extract general rules on the issue of the reward being attached to the righteous intention that is devoid of good deeds . These rules are :

first rule

23) The    reward is related to the righteous intention when it is assertive and the owner of it brings some of what is required by his good intention, as far as he is able, and his reward for it is the reward of the complete perpetrator . The evidence for this rule is what we mentioned in paragraph (13) in which the Almighty said: “And whoever goes out of his house, migrating to God and His Messenger ... to the end of the noble verse .

The second base

24) The    reward is related to the righteous intention if it is assertive and the inability of its owner to do the good deed required by this intention, and his reward for it is the reward of the complete perpetrator .

The evidence for this rule is what we have mentioned in paragraphs (12, 14, 15, 16) and in these passages, the Almighty’s saying (The rest of the believers are not equal ... to the end of the noble verse, and the hadith that they are standing in Medina .... etc., and a hadith if he is sick. The slave ... etc., and a hadith: The world is of four people .... etc .

The third base

25) The    reward is related to the abstract good intention if it is not assertive, and a complete good deed is written for it even if it is not associated with a righteous deed .

The evidence for this rule is the noble hadith in which it is: Whoever cares about a good deed but does not do it ... etc. mentioned in Paragraph (17 ).

Fourth base

26) The    reward relates to the intention to stop worrying about the bad, and for the one who has this intention writes a complete good deed . The evidence for this rule is what we mentioned in paragraph (17) of the hadithof the Messenger of God and in it: And if he cares about a bad thing, then he did not do it .... etc. And what scholars have mentioned about this noble hadith and what is understood from it .

Second: The extent to which punishment relates to mere intention

27) It    was mentioned in the authentic hadith agreed to be authentic that the Prophet said: (If the two Muslims met with their sword, then the murderer and the murdered are in the fire. It was said: O Messenger of God, this is the murderer, so what about the one who was killed ?! He said: He was keen to kill his owner ).

In his explanation of this noble hadith and his interpretation of the phrase (he was keen to kill its owner), Imam Al-Qasttalani said, may God have mercy on him: his understanding that whoever intends to disobey with his heart and settles himself for it is sinful in his belief and determination. It is not contradictory between this and his saying in the other hadith: If my servant cares about a bad thing and did not do it, then do not write it on him, because what is meant is that he did not settle himself on it, but passed through his thought without stability, and this means that the murdered had a firm will destined to kill his owner and came As much as he was able to fight, but he was unable to fulfill his will, which is the killing of his companion, and this is what Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may God Almighty have mercy on him, stated regarding this hadith, and he said: (This will is the caution and it is the firm will, and he found with it the deceased, which is fighting, but it is powerless For murder) and this punishes the perpetrator. What makes this meaning more clear is the presence of the decisive will of the murdered to kill his owner and bring him to what he is able to do,This honorable hadith was narrated in another wording, which is (If you confront the two Muslims with their swords, then both of them are among the people of the fire, it was said, then this is the killer, so why did the murderer say that he wanted to kill his owner) and the meaning of (confrontation), which means that each of them strikes the face of the other, meaning himself. The murdered man was willing to kill his companion with a firm will, and he came with what he was able to do, which hit the face of his owner, but he did not achieve what was wanted because he was unable to do so. Moreover, the noble hadith relates to combatants without a valid interpretation or acceptable jurisprudence .

28) The    hadith of Abu Kabsheh Al-Anmari, which was narrated by Imam Al-Tirmidhi in his mosque and we mentioned it in the previous paragraph 16, and it was mentioned in it: Indeed, this is in the most evil of houses, and a servant did not provide him with money or knowledge, so he says if I have money to do it with the work of so-and-so, then it is his intention, so he will pay them the same). As he wished to have money like so-and-so's money to do his work in it, and his will was assertive, because he who spends in falsehood in sin is equal, meaning that their punishment is the same .

Al Qaeda attaches punishment to mere intent

29)   Based on what was previously mentioned in the two previous paragraphs (27, 28), we can conclude the following rule regarding the question of the extent to which punishment relates to mere intention, and I say :

Punishment is related to the mere malicious intent if it is complete and assertive, and its owner does not do what is attached to it because he is unable to do it, or he does what he is able to do and is unable to do the rest, and the punishment is the same as the full punishment of the perpetrator .

Suspension of the penalty attached to mere intention

30)   Intention is one of the actions of the hearts, and the actions of the hearts are related to reward and punishment. Love, love for God and His Messenger, loyalty to him, trust in him and trust in him and other similar acts of heart are among the most important duties of religion. Indeed, the love of God and His Messenger and the devotion of work to God is the greatest of faith. What was faith and the duties of religion to which the reward was inevitably attached .

As for the bad and reprehensible deeds of the hearts that the Shariah forbids them, punishment is related to them, such as envy, hypocrisy, the will of evil, and the like. A painful punishment (and the Almighty’s saying) “Avoid a lot of thinking that some speculation is sin.” The verses in these are many .

Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may God have mercy on him, elaborated in explaining the importance of heart actions, including intentions, and attaching reward and punishment to these actions, and he devoted a special message to it, which is called (The Iraqi Masterpiece in Cardiac Actions), which is a precious message that a Muslim should read .

Conclusion

31)    After this, God Almighty is pleased to discuss the abstract intention and the extent to which reward and punishment are attached, and what is required of every Muslim is to turn to himself and examine his intentions, wills and intentions in everything he takes, leaves, gives and prevents until his intention is purely for God, Lord of the worlds, and thus he will be rewarded for all his thoughts And leave him, God Almighty willing, and God is the conciliator, praise be to God, Lord of the worlds .

Dr. Abdul Karim   Zidan