Converting all Actions into either Wajib (compulsory) or Mandoob (superogatory)
In a well known Hadeeth-e-Qudsi Allah, the Most Exalted, says, “Whoever shows enmity to My Wali (Allah’s close one, i.e. person of Emaan and Taqwa), I declare upon him war! And My slave will never seek nearness to Me with anything more beloved to Me than that which I have made compulsory fard. And My slave continues to seek nearness to Me through Nawaafil (superogatory acts, desirable, rewarded, but not compulsory) until I love him. And when I have loved him I become his hearing which he hears with, and his seeing which he sees with, and his hand which he grasps with, and his leg that he walks with, and if he asks of Me I will certainly give him, and if he seeks refuge in Me I will certainly grant him refuge.” (Bukhari)
In “I become his hearing, seeing, hand, leg…” the literal meaning is not intended, but, what is meant is that all of His slave’s actions are in accordance with His order and desire, and for Allah and Allah alone! His speech is for Allah, his silence is for Allah, his seeing, hearing, understanding and every move that he makes or if he remains at rest is for Allah. And Allah knows best!
To quote from Abu Muhammad Sahl: “Whoever moves from breath to breath without the remembrance of Allah has verily ruined the state of his condition, and the least that has befallen the one who ruins his condition is his entering into that which does not concern him and the negligence of that which concerns him.
To illustrate, it is reported that once Hassan Ibn Abi Sinaan asked, “To whom does this house belong to?” He then thought to himself, “What is the use of this question that I have asked? And is it not but that which doesn’t concern me? He then vowed to fast for a complete year to atone! The underlying cause was his constant awareness, and taking account of his Niyyah!
I’m sure some of you are going to say that this is fanatical! However, those who know the reality of Allah’s Pleasure and Paradise, they are thoroughly engaged in its pursuit, while those like you and me who are utterly impressed with this transient life and its fleeting deceptions, they are overwhelmingly engaged in its pursuit only.
Coming back to the theme, from the Hadeeth, it is apparent that the best Amal most loved by Allah SWT is Fard (obligatory), therefore, if an action can be done in such a way as to be reckoned fard, then it will be preferred over all other actions and more highly rewarded by Allah.
Actions can be divided into five categories: Haraam (forbidden), Makrooh (undesirable), Mubaah (permissible without reward or punishment), Mandoob (desirable) and Fard (obligatory). As for Haram and Makrooh, neither of them fit into the equation, as Haram is Haram, and Makrooh will be treated similarly by a Mumin, as doing something Makrooh is basically blameworthy, and abstaining from it intentionally for Allah will be rewarded. The Momin has an insatiable hunger for his Deen. It is said: “The day and night are snatching away at you so snatch away from them.” I.e. fill them with righteous, rewarding A’amaal.
This would leave us, therefore, with only three options – Fard, Mandoob and Mubaah. Since Mubaah in its original form carries no gain, and we obviously would want to spend time where there is gain, we try to find out whether we can convert Mubaah into Mandoob, and we come to find that, Alhamdulillah, we can! (As it is going to be demonstrated below, Insha’Allah)
Further, since Fard is more rewarding than Mandoob we again try to find out whether or not we can convert Mandoob into Fard and again, Alhamdulillah, in most cases we can.
Examples of Conversion of a Mubaah into Fard and Mandoob
When putting on one’s clothes, which is basically a Mubaah action, one makes the Niyyah of covering himself including the portion of the body which is compulsory to cover () and that is Fard. Thereafter, the clothes one wears are either for adornment or not for adornment. If it happens to be the clothing that one adorns oneself with then one should make the Niyyah of displaying Allah’s blessing upon himself as per the Sunnah, for Nabi (SAW) has said:
“Verily Allah loves to see the sign of His blessing upon His slave” (Tirmidhi)
If the clothing is not one of adornment then one should make the Niyyah of humility, neediness and empty-handedness in front of Allah SWT, like referred in the Hadeeth:
“Whosoever leaves wearing a particular clothing in humbleness towards Allah, while he is able to wear the same, Allah will call him in the presence of the entire creation and grant him the choice to choose any of the ‘Suits of Emaan’ (clothing of Paradise) that he chooses to wear.” (Tirmidhi)
That, of course, is if one has a choice in clothing and is able to wear as he chooses. If not, then he should make the Fard Niyyah of covering himself along with the Niyyah of contentment with what Allah SWT has given him and with the lot that Allah has decreed for him. That itself is the most auspicious of Niyyahs!
If one needs various types of clothing to repel the heat, cold, etc. one should intend accordingly, (i.e. to repel the heat or cold), and displaying one’s need before Allah SWT, the Creator and the One with the Master Plan. That along with the yaqeen (faith) that heat or cold will not be repelled except with Allah’s permission.
With this concept explained, we can similarly apply the right Niyyah to all Mubaah actions converting them into Fard or Mandoob and thereby aligning them with:
“I have not created the Jinn and Man except for My Ibadah”
Now lastly, let’s look at one particularly critical, basically Mubaah activity which, for most of us, takes up a large if not the major portion of our lives: our livelihood. It is here that we generally suffer heavy, perhaps the greatest, losses whereas actually it is here that we should be earning the greatest returns!
One religious young man came to visit me and I asked him what are his activities.
He replied, “Well, my Deeni activities are so and so.” And then with a kind of guilt or shame he continued explaining, “And my Dunyawi (worldly) activities are so and so.”
I asked him “Why do you have any Dunyawi activities at all?!”
He looked at me, quite bewildered, perhaps thinking I was going to tell him to forget about his work, business etc. I then explained, asking, “Why have you made your work and business Dunya? Why not make it and all your actions Deen? All you need is to change your perspective and Niyyah!”
If you intend Dunya then Dunya it is! And if you intend Deen, then Deen it is; with the condition of course that your intention is truthful and your action is correct in Islamic terms. Allah has made it Fard to take care of ourselves, and look after our families, so start with the Niyyah to fulfil that commandment.
Thereafter, while choosing a profession we should choose one that which pleases Allah SWT, and further we should intend to be of service to Allah’s creatures in that. In business, Niyyah could be of providing useful things of quality at reasonable prices, intending to help Allah’s servants in fulfilling their needs and requirements.
We can make a Niyyah to serve and care for our employees, staff, colleagues, suppliers, customers, all those connected to our business in their spiritual, and material needs of this life and the Hereafter. We can intend to save ourselves from the humiliation of disclosing our needs to others, to help those who are not as fortunate as us, etc. If we turn our attention to our intentions, hundreds of righteous deeds would be going into our account daily at the work place alone!
With these few examples it should now be clear that our every moment can and should be:
“You alone do we worship and You alone do we ask for help.”
“Verily actions will be considered according to intentions, and for every man is but that which he intended.”
May Allah Ta’ala grant me, my readers, and the entire Ummah the Taufeeq to fear and obey. Aameen.
To be continued, Insha’Allah…