The first hadith — the inner measure of every deed.
Narrated by ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (عمر بن الخطاب)
إِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى
"Actions are only by intentions, and every person shall have only what they intended."
The scholars of hadith agreed that this is the first hadith a seeker should learn. Imam al-Shāfiʿī said it enters into a third of all knowledge, because every outward act is weighed by the intention behind it. Al-Bukhārī placed it first in his Ṣaḥīḥ as a message to every reader: whatever follows in these pages, remember this.
Passages that draw on this hadith
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"Clarification of the Reality of Intention Actions depend on intentions. For an action to be considered good, it requires intention. Even if an action is impeded, the intention itself remains good. Know that intention, desire, and purpose all convey the same meaning."
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"yet the generality suggests that the intention is better than the action. The idea that intention is better than action alone is sometimes misunderstood. It's not that intention by itself is inherently better than action without intention."
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"in the matter of intention and desire. Whenever one is void of this understanding and this intention, his knowledge is corrupted and his works with it. Faith and certainty bequeath soundness of understanding and soundness of intention, and soundness of understanding and soundness of intention together bequeath faith and give it strength."
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"As for submitting the intention to unveiling, it does not mean abandoning the intention from witnessing. When one abandons intention, they remove the bond of servitude from their neck. However, one should make their intention a continuous seeker of revelation, aiming for it."
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"The original intention remains the motivator for the action and its completion. Narrations regarding ostentation apply when one has no intention except for showing off. When the intention for ostentation equals or outweighs the intention for reward, it affects the action."
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"The second is that he also intends reward but with a weak intention such that if in solitude, he would not perform it, nor would that intention alone drive him to act. Without the intention for reward, ostentation propels him to work; this is close to the previous level."
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"then this action ceases to be for the Hereafter, as the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Actions are but by intentions." The statement "Actions are by intentions" applies to obligations, recommendations, and permissible actions, excluding prohibitions, as intention does not change their status from being prohibited."
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"The second is what opposes one's intention with other intentions, and what opposes God's will with other wills. This is more complete and higher than the first. The cessation of exchanges involves purifying one's dealings from the intention of exchange, making them purely for اللّٰه's sake."
More on foundations
- The religion in three words: Islam, Īmān, Iḥsān."Islam is that you bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, establish the prayer, give zakāt, fast Ramadan, and make pilgrimage to the House if you are able. Īmān is that you believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and in divine decree — its good and its bitter. Iḥsān is that you worship Allah as though you see Him; and if you do not see Him, He sees you."
- The five pillars."Islam is built on five: the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah; the establishment of prayer; the paying of zakāt; the pilgrimage to the House; and fasting Ramadan."
- The soul and the decree written in the womb."The creation of each of you is gathered in the womb of their mother for forty days as a drop, then a clinging thing for the same period, then a lump of flesh for the same period. Then the angel is sent, who breathes the soul into it, and is commanded to write four things: its provision, its term of life, its deeds, and whether it will be wretched or blessed."
- Innovation in the religion is returned to its introducer."Whoever introduces into this matter of ours something that is not from it — it is rejected."