Imam Nawawi’s 40 Hadiths:

The 1st Hadith

All Actions are judged by Intention (Ikhlas)

On the aouthority of Amirul Mu’minin Abu Hafs Umar bin Al-Khattab radiyallahu anhu, who said, I heard Rasulullah sallahu alaihi wasallam said:

Verily, all actions are judged by its intentions, and every man gets what he intends. Those who intend to migrate (hijrah) due to Allah and His messenger, will get reward of migration towards Allah and His messenger, and he whose migrate is due to worldly intention or women whom he

wants to marry, will only get what he wants (to which his intention be).

(Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Note:

This hadith is one of the hadiths that become the core teachings of Islam. Imam Ahmad & Imam Shafi’i said: In this hadith contains one-third of knowledge. The reason is because an action of a servant consists of the actions of heart, verbal, and limbs, while the intention is one of those three. Numbers of scholars have said that this hadith is one-third of Islam.

The background of this hadith: there was someone who emigrated from Mecca to Medina with the intention to marry a woman named “Ummu Qais”, not to obtain the virtue of hijrah. So then that man came to be known as “Ummu Qais Muhajir” (people who move because of Ummu Qais).

Lessons from this hadith:

Intention is a requirement of an action (deed) to be accepted or not. And the deeds will not be rewarding unless with the intention due to Allah subhaanahu wa ta’ala.

Intention is located inside the heart at every beginning of our actions/deeds/worships.

Sincere and liberating the intention solely because of Allah subhaanahu wa ta’ala is required on all actions/deeds/worships.

A believer (mu’minin) will be rewarded based on the quality of his intention. All permissible and useful actions would be worth of worship if the actions are

accompanied by the intention to seek the pleasure of Allah. The only different between habits (routines) and worship is intention. This hadith shows that the intention is the part of Iman (faith). And according to the

scholars of Ahl Sunnah wal Jama’ah, Iman (faith) is justified in the heart, pronounced verbally, and practiced with actions.