Faith is a matter of the heart, and intention is likewise; faith is confirmed by deeds, and intention is likewise. Is there a difference between them, and do we consider faith to be intention, and vice versa?
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The questioner : This question contains benefit. Faith is a matter of the heart, and intention is likewise; faith is confirmed by deeds, and intention is likewise. Is there a difference between faith and intention, and do we consider that faith is intention, and vice versa? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Do we consider that faith is intention, such that we say faith is a work of the heart and intention is a part of this work of the heart? If the student means only this much, then this is his answer: Faith is a work of the heart in the movement of the heart, and the faith that is obligatory is that which came from Allah and His Messenger. Intention includes proceeding to perform one of His righteous deeds; it is a part of the works of the heart, without doubt. Therefore, deeds are not valid unless accompanied by this intention, just as all deeds are not valid unless accompanied by ... the work of the heart. If this is the amount the student wants, then this is the answer.
But perhaps he means: does the verbalization of intention proceed with the intention of the heart in the same way that righteous deeds proceed with the faith of the heart? Perhaps the student means this. So we say the answer is: verbalizing the intention is not a righteous deed. If it were a righteous deed, it would enter into the righteous deeds, and we would say that this deed is part of the completion of perfect faith. But verbalizing the intention is a religious innovation (bid'ah) that no one of the imams who exercise independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) has said. Look now at how we arrive at the landmarks of what the Muslims are doing today. Today, the people of jurisprudence in the general sense and the people of knowledge in the figurative sense verbalize the intention, and no one of the imams said that. Who legislated this verbalization for them? They say, "We are followers of a scholar (muqallid)." So they are followers of a scholar, they are those who exercise independent legal reasoning, combining contradictions. They are followers of a scholar in one aspect and those who exercise independent legal reasoning in another aspect, because they bring ideas and issues that no imam of the four imams—who the Muslim masses are obligated to restrict themselves to one of them—has said. This verbalization of the intention is a religious innovation (bid'ah), so it is not a righteous deed. It is disliked (makruh), and ... the previous question absolutely.
The Shaykh : Do we consider that faith is intention, such that we say faith is a work of the heart and intention is a part of this work of the heart? If the student means only this much, then this is his answer: Faith is a work of the heart in the movement of the heart, and the faith that is obligatory is that which came from Allah and His Messenger. Intention includes proceeding to perform one of His righteous deeds; it is a part of the works of the heart, without doubt. Therefore, deeds are not valid unless accompanied by this intention, just as all deeds are not valid unless accompanied by ... the work of the heart. If this is the amount the student wants, then this is the answer.
But perhaps he means: does the verbalization of intention proceed with the intention of the heart in the same way that righteous deeds proceed with the faith of the heart? Perhaps the student means this. So we say the answer is: verbalizing the intention is not a righteous deed. If it were a righteous deed, it would enter into the righteous deeds, and we would say that this deed is part of the completion of perfect faith. But verbalizing the intention is a religious innovation (bid'ah) that no one of the imams who exercise independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) has said. Look now at how we arrive at the landmarks of what the Muslims are doing today. Today, the people of jurisprudence in the general sense and the people of knowledge in the figurative sense verbalize the intention, and no one of the imams said that. Who legislated this verbalization for them? They say, "We are followers of a scholar (muqallid)." So they are followers of a scholar, they are those who exercise independent legal reasoning, combining contradictions. They are followers of a scholar in one aspect and those who exercise independent legal reasoning in another aspect, because they bring ideas and issues that no imam of the four imams—who the Muslim masses are obligated to restrict themselves to one of them—has said. This verbalization of the intention is a religious innovation (bid'ah), so it is not a righteous deed. It is disliked (makruh), and ... the previous question absolutely.