The importance of intending to good works every day

A person of faith orders his whole life according to the Qur'an, and strives to apply carefully from day to day what he has read and learned in its verses. In everything he does from the moment he gets up in the morning until the time he falls asleep at night, he is intent on thinking, speaking and acting according to the teachings of the Qur'an. Allah shows us in the Qur'an that this dedication dominates the whole life of a believer.

Say: "My prayer and my rites, my living and my dying, are for Allah alone, the Lord of all the worlds."

(Surat al-An'am: 162)

From the moment a Muslim has faith, he has already made the decision to spend every moment of his life to earn Allah’s good pleasure. From that moment  on, he displays a great spiritual zeal and effort in the material and spiritual  sense. However, as an inherent inclination, a Muslim never feels his faith to be at a sufficient level, for until his last breath he has the opportunity to deepen his faith at every moment of his life. For this reason every day, every hour, every moment, he must once again make the  intention in his heart to deepen his faith, refresh it and be committed to spending  every moment of his life in engaging in good deeds deserving Allah’s consent.

The Believer Must Renew His Intention Every Day

At this very moment,  as we are reading this article, we can accordingly renew our intention. From  this very moment, we can intend to spend our time, use our opportunities, and put our spiritual and physical power into use in a much more conscious, attentive and sincere manner. We can assess every opportunity of fulfilling any act of worship with great zeal. We can observe  every opportunity by which we can earn Allah’s good pleasure and race towards the good deeds. Without thinking, “I have already made auspicious deeds, this is sufficient for today,” or “Compared to others around me I make much greater effort, and in any event, I am better than them”, we can make progress in order to gain Allah’s good pleasure.

What is mentioned here is a very different and distinctive state of mind. No doubt a Muslim spends his every moment in compliance with the morality of the Qur’an. However the demeanor of a person who makes a conscious and decisive decision on this subject is very much different, for the conscience of a person with such an intent is very sensitive. He is keenly  interested in what is  happening around him. He is more vigilant towards arduous works  than anyone else. He is the one that speaks the best words. He is more kind, conciliatory and positive than everyone else. He is full of love and compassion. He notices the needs of people before anyone else and meets them. He always employs an appeasing and peaceful style. He has a very different, positive mood that everyone notices right away.

Believers Intend to Live by the Moral Values Revealed by Allah in the Qur’an in the Finest Manner, 24 Hours a Day

No matter what the conditions, believers will not compromise in showing superior behavior. Their values do not change; they always conform to Allah's commands and recommendations. They take Allah's Messenger Prophet Muhammad , may Allah bless him and grant him peace, (saas) as their example whom Allah praises in the Qur'an in these words:

Indeed you are truly vast in character (Surat al-Qalam: 4)

There is only one way to escape being lost in the endless punishment of the Fire: living according to the Qur'an and the Sunnah, for by means of these Allah grants to human beings "their glory". It saves people from the ignorance in which they are sunk, their primitive way of thinking, stressful environments, negative character traits, baseless fears, perverse beliefs, and the torments of the Fire for which all these things are the causes. In place of these they gain understanding and wisdom, higher values, a sane environment filled with peace of mind and, most importantly, life in the Garden filled with endless blessings.

There is only one way to remove all the anxiety, battles, wars, hostility, poverty, destitution and anger that fills the world: living according to the teachings of the Qur'an and the Sunnah of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace (saas). There is no other way for a person to obtain the happiness, well-being, justice, love and peace that he desires.

Living according to the Qur'an and the Sunnah as a defense against injustice, conflict, inequality, envy, war, unfairness, waste, fear, bigotry, cruelty, violence, immorality and other such things is the most basic solution for human beings in order for them to live at ease, in peace, in happiness and justice.

Despite this, and because they have turned their backs on the morality of true religion for the sake of small gains, worldly profit and human weakness, some people inflict great harm on themselves. For a human being to turn his back on the morality of the Qur'an and Sunnah means that he will remain unaware of truths that are vital for him to know. However, the resources that he and transitory human beings like him have collected will not be enough to survive in the situations and problems that they encounter in the world. People like him will spend their whole lives in anxiety, worry, stress, fear and adversity, with no solution to their problems. And later, they will come to accept this situationas normal and will spend the rest of their lives deceived, thinking that their suffering is a "fact of life" when it is actually a punishment for not living by the tenets of religious morality.

Believers who follow the values set by Allah in the Qur'an and make them prevail over every moment of their lives will live in the best way. Allah announces good tidings to these believers in the following words:

It is not your wealth or your children that will bring you near to Us, only in the case of people who believe and act rightly; such people will have a double recompense for what they did. They will be safe from all harm in the High Halls of Paradise. (Surah Saba': 37)

The believer experiences the positive effects of “once again renewing his intention” every day. The goal of a believer who assumes this morality is to be among the “the most beloved servants of Allah.” For this reason, once he fully adopts this morality, he once again intends to be more sincere, more sensitive towards Allah’s good pleasure, and more scrupulous;  this deepens his morality even more. This continues  until the end of his life; he never finds his efforts and auspicious deeds to be sufficient. Consequently his faith, morality, personality and attitudes progress continuously and ultimately attains perfection.

In the Qur’an Allah informs us about the character of Muslims with such traits as follows:

Such people are truly racing towards good things, and they are the first to reach them. (Surat al-Muminun, 61)

By Allah's will, living according to the teaching of the Qur'an and the Sunnah will enable people to develop a broad means of understanding, superior intelligence, the ability to distinguish right from wrong and the ability to consider a matter in depth. These characteristics will ensure that the person who possesses them will live every moment of his life in the ease that comes from these advantages. A person who lives his life in submission to Allah and according to the religious teachings will be totally different from other people in how he behaves, sits and walks, in his point of view and how he explains and interprets things, and in the solutions he finds for the problems that confront him.