Allah knows what's in my heart

Rajab 3rd, 1444A.H.

Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatuLlah wa barakaatuh,

Trust that you are doing great, striving and thriving.

Have you ever tried correcting someone or reminded them to do a certain act of worship and you get an “Allah knows what’s in my heart” response? We have heard many say it.

The power of intention is undeniable and it is a beautiful concept to know that even when we make plans to do something pleasing to Allah but are unable to complete the action, the intent to do so still holds value. However, it is important not to become complacent and rely solely on our intentions without taking action. As Muslims, we must remember that Allah knows our thoughts and feelings, but we should not use that as an excuse for not taking action.

To say Allah knows what's in my heart, He knows I want to really learn the Qur'an but my schedule is too tight, or Allah knows I really want to observe Tahajjud but I can't get up from the bed before 5:30am or Allah knows that I love Him immensely but I can't give out in sadaqah, what I have isn't even enough for me, and so many other excuses all in the name of Allah knowing what our hearts conceal are sadly not valid excuses.

As Muslims, we know that Allah knows what we think and feel but we must also be careful not to be complacent about these feelings or thoughts, about our intention to do good so much that we start to disregard the action.

Ibn Abbas, RadhiAllahu Anhu, reported: The Messenger of Allah, SallAllahu Alayhi Wa Sallam, said:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَتَبَ الْحَسَنَاتِ وَالسَّيِّئَاتِ ثُمَّ بَيَّنَ ذَلِكَ فَمَنْ هَمَّ بِحَسَنَةٍ فَلَمْ يَعْمَلْهَا كَتَبَهَا اللَّهُ عِنْدَهُ حَسَنَةً كَامِلَةً وَإِنْ هَمَّ بِهَا فَعَمِلَهَا كَتَبَهَا اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ عِنْدَهُ عَشْرَ حَسَنَاتٍ إِلَى سَبْعِ مِائَةِ ضِعْفٍ إِلَى أَضْعَافٍ كَثِيرَةٍ وَإِنْ هَمَّ بِسَيِّئَةٍ فَلَمْ يَعْمَلْهَا كَتَبَهَا اللَّهُ عِنْدَهُ حَسَنَةً كَامِلَةً وَإِنْ هَمَّ بِهَا فَعَمِلَهَا كَتَبَهَا اللَّهُ سَيِّئَةً وَاحِدَةً

Verily, Allah has recorded good and bad deeds and He made them clear. Whoever intends to perform a good deed but does not do it, then Allah will record it as a complete good deed. If he intends to do it and does so, then Allah the Exalted will record it as ten good deeds up to seven hundred times as much or even more. If he intends to do a bad deed and does not do it, then Allah will record for him one complete good deed. If he does it then Allah will record for him a single bad deed.

Source: Sahih Bukhari 6126, Grade: Muttafaqun Alayhi

This is not trying to discourage us having the best of intention. In fact, the aim is to encourage us to make even better intentions but to take it a level higher by actually doing the deed for that is loftier and more rewarding.

This week's resources are focused on getting you to work from the inside out, that is, on your intention, thoughts and consequently, your actions.

First up is this beautiful reminder by Shaykh Yahya Ibrahim on God Knows my Intention. This week's newsletter was actually inspired by it.

Next, we have the paper by Dr. Hassan Elwan and Dr. Osman Umarji: The Alchemy of Divine Love: How Our View of God Affects Our Faith and Happiness. It's a great reminder for us to reframe our perception about Allah because by extension, it affects how we feel about ourselves.

And you know we'd not wrap up without touching on the Seeker's Circle session, right? Lol. It was everything and more, AlhamduliLlah. Filled with lessons most of us just learnt for the first time. If you missed it, you can definitely catch up with the Replay.

We leave you in Allah's care,

One of us at IbadahPlug.