The Heart part 2: Niyyah

Thursday Halaqa Notes

11/14/13

Sr. Fatenah Tailakh

MCA Santa Clara, CA

The Heart (Al Qalb) part 2: Niyyah

Last time we talked about how the heart controls the actions of the body and that it holds the intention - the Niyyah. As we are doing good deeds: Ibadah and taking care of our family and other obligations - how can we ensure that they will be accepted by Allah?

Will this good deed be accepted by Allah?

• A good deed is like a bird. For the bird to fly, it needs to have two wings. So for a good deed to be accepted it has to meet two conditions.
• 1. It is from the shari’ah - a deed that is recommended by the Qur’an or Sunnah.
• For example, when someone dies, some people gather to read Qur’an. Reading Qur’an is a good deed, and the intention is good, but gathering to read it is not something from the Shari’a. This is just a custom. 
• But it is from the sunnah to give food. But now it depends on the intention - did you bring the food so that people would say you brought food, or as a charity (sadaqa) to remove the sins of the dead person.
• When someone dies, we should not be asking for food and tea when we visit them to offer condolences. We should be trying to help. 
• You, individually, can make du’a, read Qur’an and give sadaqa on behalf of the dead person. 
• 2. It is done with sincerity (Al-Ikhlas) - to be doing it for Allah. Surat Bayyinah: ‘wa ma umiru illa liya3bud Allah mukhliseena lahudeena. 
• When you go to pray but you are only doing it because there are people around, then this is not for Allah. Your intention needs to be for Allah. 

How can we make our Niyyah (intention) to be for Allah?

• First I put it in my mind that I am going to do something. You intend to do something.
• Second you put a plan (asbaab), to please Allah. This is like a light (manara) that is guiding you to Allah. 
• Then, when the shaytan comes and moves it a little, we have to push it back. He is the enemy. Every time he comes and laughs at you - and tells you ‘O you are doing it for someone not for Allah, so it won’t be accepted.’ - don’t listen to him!
• Lastly, make du’a for Allah to accept it from you. 
• The hearts flip - that’s why we say the dua ‘thabbit qalbi 3la deenak- O Turner of hearts, make my heart steadfast on Your religion.’ Sometimes you feel like an angel and sometimes not. This is a jihad - a Jihad against yourself and against the shaytan. 

Get rewards for everything you do by making a Niyyah

• The Niyyah is not only for religious deeds. Let your Niyyah be like a guiding light for everything you do.
• Everything you do in your day can become a good deed for Allah if you make the intention to do it ultimately for Allah. 
• If Allah gave you a child, you are responsible to take care of them - to feed them and have clean clothes for them and a clean house for them. All this can be rewarded when you intend in your heart that it is to fulfill your obligations to your children in order to please Allah. 

How to remember to make a Niyyah

• How do you keep remembering to make an intention? At first it’s hard, but keep trying. You can start by taking a minute in the morning to make an intention for the things you will do that day. 
• Or if you forgot to do it in the morning, then at night before you sleep, make the intention for all the things you did. 
• An intention is a feeling in your heart. With time you will feel the sweetness of it. 
• Try saying the intention out loud so that your mind absorbs it, and with time it will become automatic. 
• Remember that when you make an intention to do something and for some reason you weren’t able to do it, you still get the reward for it! 

Inspirational stories on Niyyah:

• There was a sahabi that put sadaqa in the masjid. His son went to the masjid and Umar (RA) knew he was someone in need so he gave it to him. The sahabi got the ajr for sadaqa, even though the money ended up coming back to him, through his son.
• The man who killed 99 people. Then went to a scholar who told him to leave the city. He was making the hijrah - then he died. The angels didn’t know where to put him. They measured the area. Allah folded the floor to make it shorter to the next city. He got in Jannah just for his intention and tawba and taking a step toward it, even though he didn’t do it yet. 
• In the Battle of Tabuk, there were some people that weren’t able to join in the fight so they stayed in Madinah. Prophet (Salla Allahu ‘alaihi wassalam) said it is as if they are with us. They have an excuse, so they are rewarded for their niyyeh to go fight. 
• A man went to give sadaqa. It got into the hands of a thief. The next day it got into the hands of a zaniyah (fornicator). The third day it got into the hands of rich man. The man was upset that his sadaqa wasn’t going to the right people. The Prophet (Salla Allahu ‘alaihi wassalam) told him- the theif made tawba, the zaniya stopped, the rich man stopped being greedy.
• The people of the cave were saved by their intention.
• Sayyidina Yusuf (‘alaihissalam) - his niyyah saved him. He was from the mukhlaseen. A mukhlis is someone who is working on himself, struggling. 

Be careful that your Niyyah is for Allah

• There was a man who asked Umm Qays to marry him. She told him that if he makes hijrah to Madinah she would marry him.  So he made hijrah and she married him. Then the sahaba asked the Prophet (salla Allahu ‘alaihi wassalam) - did this man get the reward for making hijrah? He said the hadith: innamal a’malu bil niyyat. Wa innama likully mriin ma nawa. “Umar b. al-Khattâb, relates that he heard Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) say: "Actions are but by intentions and every man will have only what he intended. So whoever emigrated for Allah and His Messenger, then his emigration was for Allah and His Messenger. And whoever emigrated to attain something of this world or to marry a woman, then his emigration was for whatever reason he emigrated." [Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahîh Muslim] His niyyah was for the dunya, so he does not get the reward. He did the greatest deed you can do, Hijrah - to leave your home, family, and work. He made a big effort, but it was for marriage.
• On the day of judgement, Allah will call the scholars. “A man will be brought forward who had acquired knowledge and taught to others and recited Quran, Allah(SWT) make him recount his blessings and he will recount them, then Allah will ask what did you do to be grateful for these blessings. He will say I acquired knowledge and disseminated it and I recited the Quran seeking your pleasure. Allah(SWT) will say, you have told a lie. You acquired the knowledge so you might be called a scholar and you recited the Quran so that it might be said he is the Qaree and such has been said.” (Sahih Muslim) Their niyyah was not for Allah so they will be the first people to enter the fire.
• Abu Kabsha al-Anmari (r.a.) narrated that Allah’s  Messenger (s.a.w.s.) said, “The world has only four types of people: 1) A man whom Allah provides with property and knowledge, in which he fears his Rabb and joins ties of relationship, acting in it towards Allah as is due to Him, this man being in the most excellent station. 2) A man whom Allah provides with knowledge but not with property, who says with a sincere intention that if he had property he would act as so and so does, their reward being equal. 3) A man whom Allah provides with property but not with knowledge, in which he acts in a random manner ignorantly, not fearing his Rabb respecting it, or using it to join ties of relationship, or dealing with it in a right way, this man being in the worst station. 4) A man whom Allah provides with neither property nor knowledge, who says that if he had property he would deal with it as so and so does and has this intention, the load they have to bear being equal.”  (Tirmidhi)
• The first station is the best - having both deen and dunya.
• The second station is good - he has deen and he has a good intention ‘if’ he had dunya. This person gets the same amount of reward as the person in the first station.
• The third station is the worst - he has dunya but uses it for bad, and has no deen. 
• The fourth station is not having deen or dunya - but has the intention to do bad ‘if’ he did have dunya - so he has the same amount of sin as the person in the third station.