The Stories We Tell
Umar ibn al-Khattab narrated that The Messenger of God ﷺ, said, “Verily, deeds are only with intentions and every person will have only what they intended. Whoever makes hijra (migrates) with an intention for God and His messenger, the migration will be for the sake of God and his Messenger. And whoever makes hijra (migrates) for worldly gain or to marry, then their hijra (migration) will be for the sake of whatever they migrated for.”
We all tell ourselves stories of how our lives should be, what we must accomplish, and what we have left to accomplish. It’s important for us to periodically pause in life, to re-assess and re-evaluate the path behind us, the resting stop we are currently at, and the unknown path before us. Allah asks us ‘Where then are you going?' (Surah At-Takwir/The Overthrowing, Verse 26).
In the life of a Muslim, the WHY of every chapter in his or her story, is INFINITELY more important than the WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHO or HOW of our being and doing. Often, it behoves us to be introspective about this because the elaborate stories that we tell about ourselves, our families and others in our lives, is in dire need of frequent edits, in the same manner that trees need to be pruned seasonally for optimal growth to occur. Growth and change is only possible with the courage to look within and the discomfort in facing our inner and outer challenges head on.
This is where this prophetic wisdom comes in - the reward and outcome of every action is by its original intention. The reason the narration mentions ‘worldly gain’ and ‘marriage’ is because these are the two predominant forms of engagement in the life of the Muslim adult - studying and working for worldly gain, or engaging in marriage and family, or a combination of both.
Therefore, this begs the fundamental question for the young men and women who are graduating from high school and going off to college, or are graduating from college and going off to work, or have found work and are seeking marriage, or have found marriage and are seeking to have children - ‘WHY’?
Is it for God and the Messenger?
Is it because of the social pressure and expectations of our parents, friends and community?
Is it to check off boxes, just because everyone is checking off those very same boxes?
Is it for the personal worldly gain of fame, fortune, comfort and security?
Why?
Know this: *Why* we do, what we do, defines *who* we are as Muslims. Do read that again.
Without sound intentions, our actions are meaningless and will be null and void on the day when intentions, words and deeds will be weighed on a very precise scale, accompanied by an explicitly accurate book of records.
Every beneficial act can become an act of worship by making God-conscious, mindful, meaningful, and purposeful intention. We are all on our individual journey. We have to stop and check our intention, periodically, before we proceed upon our journey. Each journey should begin with the basmala in our hearts, and then articulated by the tongue, and then manifested through our limbs. This is of vital importance because the heart of a Muslim lies under his or her tongue and the tongue is in control of the limbs. Abu Sa’id al-Khudri narrated that the The Messenger of God ﷺ said, “When the son of Adam wakes up in the morning, all of his limbs defer to the tongue and they say: Fear God regarding us, for we are only a part of you. If you are upright, we are upright. If you are crooked, we are crooked.”
~ Referenced from my notes taken from the halaqat of Shaykh Yasir Fahmy, Rahimahullah.
And Allah and the Messenger know Best
