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]

This hadith was said by the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, at the time when a man emigrated from Makkah to Madinah during the Hijrah for the sake of marrying someone and not for the sake of Islam. 

The issue isn’t about marrying rather for what purpose are you getting married, is it for the sake of Allah to protect your Deen or just for pleasure, worldly gain, beauty and attraction. So if this migration is for the sake of worldly gain it’s fruitless, if it’s to seek Allah’s pleasure and to worship him through obeying him and by safeguarding your Deen then this is a good act.

This hadith emphasises ikhlas (sincerity – to be truthful and honest to Allah alone, performing an act solely for Allah’s sake whereby no other witness except Allah is sought). Ikhlas is one of the conditions of accepting good deeds. The other condition is that the actions must be done in accordance with the Shariah. So those who use the matter of intention to justify their wrong acts, they should know that if it’s not in accordance to shariah the intention wouldn’t matter there.

For example, a person says I was on a date with a girl, and then someone gives him an advice to stop such a sin and he replies by saying, (akhi you don’t know my intention, maybe I was giving her dawah, and if you saw me laughing and giggling with her, this was to show manners and respect and prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam told us to be good to women, so I was giving her dawah in mannered and respectful way at the same time while being on a date, also we shouldn’t forget, smiling is sunnah.

What is all this ? This is all nonsense, such a deed doesn’t follow the shariah, the people who use the knowledge of Islam in the wrong way to justify their wrong acts are committing a big sin. How can someone use the sayings of prophet to justify a haraam act not in accordance with Quran and sunnah. Nowhere in Islam did the companions give dawah in this manner nor did the salaf.

One should avoid such haraam acts and shouldn’t make false excuses and shouldn’t use the knowledge of islam in the wrong manner to justify their acts.

The intention should be right and so should be the act in accordance with Quran and sunnah. This can be seen in the shahadah :

“I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah” is the ikhlas – ensuring that we do things for the sake of Allah and Allah alone.

“I bear witness that Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah” – the Sunnah is the manifestation of the Quran – the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, is our example, our best model to follow. Following his Sunnah in our ibadah, Akhlaq (ethics), and Muamalat (dealings) ensures that we are acting in accordance with the Shariah.

Thus, the shahadah shows us the conditions for accepting a deed or performing an action:

(a) it should be for the sake of Allah because He is the only One we worship, 

(b) it should be in accordance with the Shariah.

Ways to obtain ikhlas:

•Do righteous deeds – the more good deeds we do and hence get closer to Allah, the more sincere we will be.

•Before we do any deed we should firstly seek knowledge (ilm) – our actions/deeds should be guided by knowledge so that we do them in accordance to the Shariah.

•Do not give false impressions – do not make others believe that an action we did was good when it was not.

•Al-Imam Ahmad said: Before you do anything, check your intention (niyyah) – ask yourself before performing an action: “Is it for the sake of Allah?”

Ibn al-Qayyim says: Any action we do is subject to three defects:

•Being conscious that others are observing our actions

•Seeking a return (benefit/reward) for the action

•Being satisfied with the action

Examples:

1. If we go to the masjid for the salah and we are early, arriving before the Imam and finding a place in the first saff, we should not be proud of ourselves and think of ourselves being better than others. We should praise Allah for enabling us to go to the masjid and for being able to perform the salah without any difficulties.

2. After every salah, we should tell ourselves that we could have performed it better and try to improve in our next salah.

So one should rectify their intentions and also look into the deed whether it’s un accordance with Quran and sunnah or not. One should have taqwa and their hearts shouldn’t have attraction for deeds in order to please or impress people, or be known or to get their love, attention, rather it should be only for the sake of Allah. Self desires shouldn’t be the motive or reason rather pleasing Allah should be the motive and reason.

•Al-Imam al-Harawi said the root cause for insincerity (or shirk) is self-desire (al-hawa). Therefore no action should be done because of self-desire.

Imam al-Harawi states that there are 7 types of self-desires:-

i. To make oneself appear good in the hearts of others

ii. To seek the praises of others

iii. To avoid being blamed by others ( doing a good deed fearing people’s criticism or their blames or what would they think about you etc)

iv. To seek the glorification of others

v. To seek the wealth/money of others

vi. To seek the services or love of others 

vii. To seek the help of others for oneself ( this doesn’t mean asking for medical help or similar etc, this is in relation with benefitting yourself while having wrong intentions and being proud and ungrateful to Allah and showing off, and it also means someone who doesn’t rely on Allah and believes people can help him more than Allah)

And Allah knows best