Friday, November 9, 2012

Hadith 1: Deeds are only rewarded according to their intentions

Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh (السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته)

So many things to talk about and so many things to tell, but as always, things proceed in small steps.

I have added into my archive of knowledge many new information that I have learned since the post about surah Al-Fatihah... but as always, I procrastinate when it comes to actually writing it... yes, yes, I'm lazy at many things and I'm a pro at procrastination. hehehe... what can I say? :P

Aheem... aheem... testing 1, 2, 3...


A'udhu billahi minash shaitanir rajim (أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم)
Bismillahir rahmanir rahim (بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم)






Before I start, let me explain those two sentences. The first: A'udhu billahi minash shaitanir rajim means 'I seek shelter in Allah from the rejected Satan'. Muslims especially say this before the Bismillah when reading the Quran or before doing something, to be protected from the disturbances of Satan.

The second: Bismillahir rahmanir rahim means 'In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful'. Muslims say this before we do anything as we SHOULD do everything good in the name of Allah.

OK!!!! Lets start!!

Today I will be writing about a hadith I just learned today. I've learned quite a few hadith but I never actually remember which, just the content.

Let's start with a definition and of course an introduction.

What is the hadith? What role does it play in the lives of Muslims?

In Islam we have 3 things to guide us: first and foremost is of course the Al-Quran; then it is the hadith and the sunnah.

The Al-Quran is the words of Allah brought to us through Prophet Muhammad and later compiled into a book. Here, bare in mind that the whole Quran did not fall from the sky, instead it was given in bits and pieces. The first verse or ayath in the Quran is NOT the first ayath that Allah gave Prophet Muhammad saw. The first revelation from Allah to the Prophet is actually 5 ayath and can be found in surah Al-Alaq which for those who do not own a Quran, it is the 96th surah. To say that the Quran is compiled from the longest to the shortest surah like most will claim, is also not accurate. If you actually open the Quran and pay attention to the number of ayath in each surah, you can see that it varies. The first surah, Al-Fatihah has only 7 ayath, the next Al-Baqarah is 286, the following surahs has less and less ayath but when it comes to the 6th surah, Al-An'am, the ayath went from 120 in the 5th surah (Al-Mai'dah) to 165. So, this claim is not concrete.

The Hadith is the teachings of Prophet Muhammad saw. It is in his own words memorised by those who heard him and later on, recorded on ink and papyrus. Now, here most will say, but how do we know if they are true? Well, like the Al-Quran, the hadith was not recorded in black and white till much later and like the Quran, it was memorised. People who memorise the Quran and Hadith are not just any ordinary people and not just 1 or 2 but a number of them and these are people strong in faith and pure in actions. If one who has memorised makes a sin, he is disqualified. So that ensures the authenticity of what is memorised. And of course, they have to check with each other... not all 10 people can be wrong at the same time and at the same place. For the Hadith, you can check the authenticity as at the beginning of the hadith, it is stated who memorised the hadith and those before him, and those before him.

Eg: It is narrated on the authority of Amer, Mohammad, Issa, and Hassan, that the Messenger of Allah ( peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ................
So the one to hear the Prophet utter the words was Hassan, who memorised it and passed it to Issa, who then passed it to Mohammad, and then to Amer who was the last to memorise those words of the Prophet before it was documented on paper. 

The sunnah is everything that the Prophet Muhammad did. To eat using the right hand, to wash the ears when taking Wudu (Ablution), etc... It is something that when performed, you receive hasanah from Allah, but if neglected, no harm will happen. In short, it is not something compulsory but something encouraged.

Now back to the Hadith....

Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi was a Sunni scholar who collected and compiled the hadtih into one book. Here, bear in mind that there are many many hadiths, some not fully authenticated and some fully authenticated. So he sifted through all these hadiths, did his research for authentication and then selected those he found most important for everyday Muslims to learn. So, he compiled 40 hadiths as the basics for all Muslims.

I will explain the first... since that's the one I learned so far... hehehe

عَنْ أَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَبِي حَفْصٍ عُمَرَ بْنِ الْخَطَّابِ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: سَمِعْت 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 [رقم:1]، وَأَبُو الْحُسَيْنِ مُسْلِمٌ بنُ الْحَجَّاج بن مُسْلِم الْقُشَيْرِيُّ النَّيْسَابُورِيُّ [رقم:1907] رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُمَا فِي "صَحِيحَيْهِمَا" اللذِينِ هُمَا أَصَحُّ الْكُتُبِ الْمُصَنَّفَةِ


An ameer almomineen radi Allah anoh qal : same’t rasool allah salla Allah aleeh w sallam yqool:

“ innama al-a'mal bi-l-niyyat, w innma lkol imre’n ma nawa , fman kanat hejratoh ela Allah w rasoleh fhejratoh ela Allah w rasooleh, w man kanat hejratoh ledonya yoseeboha aw imra’tn  ynkehoha fhejratoh ela ma hajar eleeh”
  
Rawah Imama almohaditheen Abu Abdullah Mohammad Bin Ismail Bin Ibrahim Bin Almoghirah Albokhari, w Abu Alhusain Muslim Bin Al-hajaj Bin Muslim Al-qorashi Al-nesabory {no:1907} radi Allah a’nhoma fi “sahihema” Aldheen homa asah alkotob almosannafah.




Which translates to:
It is narrated on the authority of Amirul Mu'minin, Abu Hafs 'Umar bin al-Khattab, radiyallahu 'anhu, who said: 

I heard the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, say: "Actions are (judged) by motives (niyyah), so each man will have what he intended. Thus, he whose migration (hijrah) was to Allah and His Messenger, his migration is to Allah and His Messenger; but he whose migration was for some worldly thing he might gain, or for a wife he might marry, his migration is to that for which he migrated." [Al-Bukhari & Muslim]

What's the explanation? It is as it is written in the hadith. All our actions shall be judged according to our motives. A big action which will be rewarded many hasanah may be lessened due to misplaced motives and vice versa. 

Eg:
A man donates 1 million USD to a good will charity. That is something Allah will reward with many hasanah. But unfortunately, this man only did it for press attention or a title. Due to his misplaced motives, his many hasanah for examply 100 may be reduced to 1. Since his motives were not to glorify Allah but himself, then the reward is small or it can even be nothing at all. 

A poor man with only RM10 to live on, and donates RM3 to charity, and a rich man donating RM1000. Both having good intentions, but who will receive more grace from Allah? The poor man. With great wealth and power, come greater duty and responsibility. If you donate very little of what you have be it time, money, etc, then your hasanah is less, or when standing trial in front of Allah, those hasanah may be nullified. Why? Because in term of money, by donating or giving back so little to the community, you are hording your wealth. Why? Most likely, you are chasing worldly goods. 

If you chase the riches of the world, or a man, or a woman, then by Allah's grace you will achieve them, but all that will not help you on Judgement day. So, as the hadith adviced, as you chase your worldly riches, chase it with sincere and good intentions, with motives directed to Allah. In THIS way you attain BOTH your worldly riches (InshaAllah) and you have paved your way to Jannah (Heaven). Now, isn't that a better deal? 2 for the price of 1.

This is the first hadith as it is the essential core of our actions as Muslims. If every Muslim practices this hadith, then inshaAllah, it'll be a better place in this world.



That is all for today... Signing off...

Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh (السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته)

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