Forerunners Course 🎯Session4

 The Midas Touch Of The Believer

Assalamualaikum Lovelies 😍,

 Through the last journal activity, we got clarity about our goals. We also addressed the 'WHY' behind each goal. Today, let's further dig into the reason why getting clarity on the 'WHYs' is important.  

WHY you do something is more important than HOW you do it, especially if your goal is to have the highest success in the next world. 

 So if you want to become a better mom or a better student of the Quran or whatever other goals you hope to achieve, the question is why do you want to achieve that goal?

 In other words, what’s your true intention (niyyah) behind achieving that goal? 

 Are you doing it so that others will praise you for being a better mom or student of the Qur'an. Or are you looking to strive to become among the forerunners and seek the Pleasure of Allah (SWT) in the process?

 So your intention behind every act matters a LOT! 

 Also, maintaining the right intention isn’t an easy task, as Shaytan will continuously try to dissuade us. However, our true success lies in resetting our intentions again and again, no matter how often Shaytan tries to mess with it.  

 Our Salaf as-Sāliheen knew this. One of the Salaf said, “If I’m certain that I’ve taken at least one step for the sake of Allah, then I can rejoice”. 

 Another one said, "Tuba (the tree in Paradise) is for the one who took a single step desiring nothing but the face of Allah by it."

 The Midas Touch Of The Believer 

I like to call intention (Niyyah) as the Midas touch of the believer. You must all know the story of King Midas in Greek mythology who could turn everything he touches into gold. The right niyyah for a believer is that. It turns everything the believer does into eternal assets. 

Here are at least five reasons to believe that sincere intention can be a powerful tool while working towards being a Forerunner: 

 #1. Allah's acceptance or rejection of your deeds depends on your intention. So remind yourself often of why you are in this journey. 

“Actions are (rewarded) according to intentions, and everyone will get what was intended. Whoever migrates with an intention for Allah and His messenger, the migration will be for the sake of Allah and His Messenger. And whoever migrates for worldly gain or to marry a woman, then his migration will be for the sake of whatever he migrated for.” (Related by Bukhari & Muslim)

 #2. You can earn as many rewards from a worldly activity as you would receive for an act of worship just by maintaining a good intention.  

“When Muad ibn Jabal radiyallahu anhu was asked to describe his tahajjud prayer, he said, “I expect Allah to reward me for my sleep, just as much He rewards me for my tahajjud." When he would go to sleep, he would basically intend, "Oh Allah, in order to worship you perfectly, I've to rest my body, so thank you for this blessing of sleep, and I'll wake up to pray thahajjud for you."

 #3. Allah subuhanawuta’la rewards for having a good intention even if the deed is not performed. 

“....Whoever intends to perform a good deed but does not do it, Allah will record it as a complete good deed. If he intends to do it and does so, Allah Almighty will record it as ten good deeds, up to seven hundred times as much or even more...”  (Reported in Muslim)

 #4. There is a limit to your actions, but no limit to your intentions.

You may have just 100$ to give to a person in need while having a sincere intention to help a million people if you had the means. 

So if your intention is true, there is no limit to how much reward you can earn.

#5. Niyyah is the worship of the heart, which is greater than the worship and submission of the limbs.

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzîyah said: "The actions of the heart are the foundation (of belief), and the actions of the limbs follow and complete them.

Intention is like the soul, and actions like the body: if the soul leaves the body, the body dies. Therefore, knowledge of the affairs of the heart is more important than knowledge of the affairs of the limbs... 

 How else is a hypocrite distinguished from a believer except by the deeds of the heart? 

 The worship and submission of the heart is greater than the worship and submission of the limbs, they are more in number, and more continuous, since it (i.e. worship by the heart) is obligatory at every instance.”

 Let’s reset our niyyah and get rewarded abundantly throughout this journey.