Nawawī’s Arbaýīn

A Collection of Forty Traditions of the Prophet ﷺ

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Actions Are According To Intentions - Hadith 1

عَنْ أَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَبِي حَفْصٍ عُمَرَ بْنِ الْخَطَّابِ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ 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، وَأَبُو الْحُسَيْنِ مُسْلِمٌ بنُ الْحَجَّاج بن مُسْلِم الْقُشَيْرِيُّ النَّيْسَابُورِيُّ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُمَا فِي صَحِيحَيْهِمَا اللذَينِ هُمَا أَصَحُّ الْكُتُبِ الْمُصَنَّفَةِ.

Narrated by the Commander of Believers, Abū Hafş Úmar ibn al-Khaţţāb رضى الله تعالى عنه who said: I have heard RasūlAllāh ﷺ say:

Actions are [judged] according to intentions and every man will get [only] what he intends for; whosoever emigrates for the sake of Allāh and His Messenger, [then] his emigration is [truly] toward Allāh and His Messenger. And he, whose emigration is for attaining [better prospects] in this world, or for [the sake of] a woman he seeks to marry, he will attain only that for which he has emigrated.

This ĥadīth is reported by the two scholars, both being imāms of ĥadīth scholars: Abū Ábdullāh Muĥammad ibn Ismāýīl ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Mughayrah ibn Bardizbah al-Bukhārī and Abū al-Ĥusayn Muslim ibn alĤajjāj ibn Muslim al-Qushayrī al-Nisābūrī, in their respective collections of şaĥīĥ ĥadīth [1], which are the most authentic books ever composed [2].

References:

1. Bukhārī 1; Muslim 1907.

2. Because they contain authentic traditions of the Prophet ﷺ.

[ English Translation ]

Mawlana Abu Hasan Ridawi,

Ridawi Press.