The effects and blessings of a pure intention

Through a cursory glance at the verses of the Qur’an and the Prophetic traditions, we shall find out many effects and blessings of having a pure intention, some of which we shall mention concisely below:

1. Anyone who has a good intention shall have abundant provisions.[1] Perhaps this hadīth means that because of his good intention, his behavior and treatment of people is somehow pleasant and naturally, more people will be attracted to his business and thus he will earn more income.

2. A good intention increases man’s success and opportunity, makes his life pure and desirable, and wins him more friends.[2]

Divine favors for individuals depend on their having a good intention. The purer and more sincere their intention is, the more divine favors they will obtain.

3. It endows long life to man.

It is narrated in the traditions: If a person who just performed Ḥajj pilgrimage would intend and decide when he is returning home to go to Ḥajj again the following year, God will prolong his life on account of that good intention.[3]

4. A good intention compensates for one’s past (sins). ‘Alī (‘a) says: If a sinner having a good intention repents, God will return to him whatever is taken from him as a remuneration (for his sins), and set right whatever problem he might have in his work.[4]

5. God will give the reward of a good deed to a person for intending to do a good act even if he actually fails to do so. By having a sincere intention, the unfulfilled works of a person shall be counted, as it has been narrated in the traditions: If a faithful person would say, ‘If God had given amenities to me, I would have done this and that’, and if this wish is sincere, God will grant him the reward of those deeds.[5] Even if he sincerely wishes for martyrdom and prays to God for his martyrdom, God will grant him the station of a martyr though he departs from this world on his bed.[6] It is enough of a favor that God will give reward for a decision to do a good deed, but regarding an intention to commit a sin, He will not set a punishment for it unless it is actually done.[7]

6. A pure intention can make the most materialistic affairs of life a means for man’s nearness [qurb] to Allah. In the same manner, the most spiritual states such as prostration [sujūd] and weeping, if they are motivated by ostentation [riyā’], will turn into a means of drifting away from God.

We read in the traditions: Just as the body having a soul is firm, religion with a sincere intention is firm.[8] Having a pure heart and good intention are among the divine assets and treasures, and the better the intention the more the value this treasure will have.[9] Having a serious intention, decision and will power will multiply the physical ability of man.

Imām aṣ-Ṣādiq (‘a) says: “On the Day of Resurrection, God will group the people according to the intentions they have.”[10]

For one whose aim is the performance of a duty, it is not important for him the type of work and its outcome. As the Qur’an says,

﴾ وَ مَنْ يُقاتِلْ في سَبيلِ اللّهِ فَيُقْتَلْ أَوْ يَغْلِبْ فَسَوْفَ نُؤْتيهِ أَجْرًا عَظيمًا ﴿

“And whoever fights in the way of Allah, and then is slain or conquers, soon We shall give him a great reward.”[11]

What is important is to struggle in the way of God, but as to whether its outcome is defeat or victory has no effect on the divine reward. In another place, the Qur’an states:

وَ مَنْ يَخْرُجْ مِنْ بَيْتِهِ مُهاجِرًا إِلَى اللّهِ وَ رَسُولِهِ ثُمَّ يُدْرِكْهُ الْمَوْتُ ﴿

﴾ فَقَدْ وَقَعَ أَجْرُهُ عَلَى اللّهِ

“And whoever leaves his home migrating toward Allah and His Apostle, and is then overtaken by death, his reward shall certainly fall on Allah.”[12]

It can also be readily inferred from this verse that if a person leaves his home for the sake of God, even though he does not reach his destination, he would be rewarded. What is important is the intention behind the act and not the act itself. What is important is to take a step along the way and not reaching the destination.

The Messenger of Allah (ṣ) said to Abū Dharr: “Decide to do a good deed though you might not succeed in doing so; for, it is this decision that will take you out from the circle of the neglectful.”[13]

We read in another hadīth: “Any deed which is accompanied by a divine intention is great even if that work is simple and trivial.”[14] On the contrary, the most important deeds, if they are not based on correct intentions, have no value. The Prophet (ṣ) said: “Most of the martyrs of my ummah will depart from this world while lying on their beds while there are many who will be killed on the battlefield but God is aware of their intentions.”[15]

During the Tabūk expedition, the Holy Prophet of Islam (ṣ) said: “Indeed, those who are in Medina but wish to participate with us in the battlefield shall share in the spiritual reward on account of that intention.”[16]

Also, in another tradition we read: Anyone who goes to his bed with the intention of waking up to say the night supererogatory prayers, if he remains in his bed and is not able to wake up, God will treat his sleep as charity and his breathing as glorification (of God) [tasbīḥ] and give him the reward of saying the night supererogatory prayers.[17]

It is not without reason that we have been admonished to have sacred aims even in eating and sleeping.[18] And if you love a person for the sake of God and imagine him as a good person, even if he is actually a dweller of hell, you are excused.[19]