The invalidity of the claim that what matters is only what is in the heart, and an explanation of the hadith: “Actions are only by intentions”
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The Shaykh : On this occasion, I say that it is a common and grave error to say on some occasions that what matters is only what is in the heart. No, this is incomplete speech. What matters is what is in the heart and what is in the action. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned in the previous hadith: Sahih al-Bukhari 52 Therefore, just as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to reform hearts, he also came to reform actions. It is certain that actions include... (peace and blessings be upon him) came to reform hearts and actions as well, as evidenced by those texts. There is no doubt or ambiguity that speech is part of actions. Since this is the case, our speech should be good in itself, just as the action is. Just as it is not permissible for a Muslim to perform an action and then, when it appears that this action contradicts the Shari'ah, to patch it up on the pretext that his intention was good. This is a patch, because a good intention does not intercede for a bad action. That is, if the action contradicts the Shari'ah and the intention is good, this good intention does not turn the bad action that contradicts the Shari'ah into a good action. Likewise, on the exact opposite, if the action is good and the intention is corrupt, this good action does not turn the corrupt intention into a good one. For this reason, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sahih al-Bukhari 6689 The intended meaning of hijrah here is jihad in the path of Allah. He (peace and blessings be upon him) says: Meaning, his jihad in the path of Allah is the good action. And whoever’s hijrah, meaning his jihad, is for a material matter, such as a woman he desires or worldly gain, then his action becomes corrupt. Thus, the Shari'ah links the obligation of the goodness of the action with the goodness of the intention, and that the goodness of one does not rectify what is corrupt in the other, and vice versa.
Beware! There is a piece of flesh in the body if it becomes good (reformed) the whole body becomes good but if it gets spoilt the whole body gets spoilt and that is the heart.
ألا وإن في الجسد مضغة إذا صلحت صلح الجسد كله وإذا فسدت فسد الجسد كله ألا وهي القلبThe (reward of) deeds, depend upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended. So whoever emigrated for the sake of Allah and His Apostle, then his emigration will be considered to be for Allah and His Apostle, and whoever emigrated for the sake of worldly gain or for a woman to marry, then his emigration will be considered to be for what he emigrated for.
إنما الأعمال بالنيات وإنما لكل امرئ ما نوى , فمن كانت هجرته إلى الله ورسوله فهجرته إلى الله ورسوله , ومن كانت هجرته إلى دنيا يصيبها أو امرأة ينكحها فهجرته إلى ما هاجر إليهSo whoever’s hijrah
فمن كانت هجرته
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.