Explanation of al-Nawawi’s statement in *Riyad al-Salihin*: “The Chapter on Sincerity and Bringing Intention to All Actions, Words, and States, Whether Apparent or Hidden”

The Shaykh : Now he begins the book and says: “In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
The Chapter on Sincerity and Bringing Intention to All Actions, Words, and States, Whether Apparent or Hidden”
Then he mentions verses and some hadiths regarding this, but there is no harm in pointing to ... what he indicated by his statement: “Sincerity and bringing intention to all actions and words”
He did not limit sincerity and bringing intention to acts of obedience and worship only, but he made the chapter broader than that, saying: “All actions.” He is referring to what is known to many students of knowledge: that the ordinary, permissible matter whose ruling in Islam is that its doer is not rewarded and its leaver is not punished is a permissible matter; one may do it if he wishes or leave it if he wishes. This is the permissible in Islam by consensus. However, if the owner of some of these actions intends a good intention, this permissible action becomes a recommended matter for which its doer is rewarded because he intended good. This is derived from an authentic hadith narrated by Imam Muslim in his *Sahih*, in which the poor came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and complained to him of their poverty, mentioning their envy and admiration for the wealthy prophets who pray as the poor pray, perform Hajj as the poor perform Hajj, and do the good deeds that the poor do, yet they excel over them by giving charity while the poor do not give charity because they cannot afford to. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) directed them to many good deeds, noble traits, and good morals, encouraging them to increase in doing them so that they would compete with the wealthy in the abundance of their rewards. He said to them: Then he mentioned other traits, among which he said: He (peace and blessings be upon him) wanted to clarify and explain to them this matter they found strange in a scientific manner. This manner is obligatory for the people of knowledge to adhere to and to train their students in it, and their answer should not always be simply “forbidden,” “lawful,” “permissible,” “recommended,” and so on, but rather through the method of question and answer. He said to them (peace and blessings be upon him): Therefore, when a Muslim marries, when he contracts the marriage with his wife, he should intend at that moment not only to satisfy his desire, but also ... to protect himself from disobeying his Lord, and he intends by that to obey his Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) and follow his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he commanded marriage in many verses and hadiths. This is so that his intercourse with his wife becomes a continuous charity throughout the line. This means that there is an indirect share for the wife to fulfill the right of the wife in this sexual aspect, because at the time he satisfies his desire and his wife’s desire, he has a reward for that, and consequently, the wife also has a reward. But in my opinion, many wives are unaware of this point indicated by Imam al-Nawawi, which is sincerity and bringing intention to every what? Action, whether it is originally prescribed or permissible where doing and leaving it are equal. So every Muslim, male or female, should bring this intention to mind so that continuous rewards are recorded for him whenever he performs a permissible action in its original state.