Intention

Allah awards us with so many things. If we were to count all the nikmah that Allah has given, we will not be able to count them. We are here in this world because of him. We come from him and once we die, we will get back to him. Everything that exists in this world belongs to Allah. Thus, we should not be arrogant with all things that we have. All the properties are temporary and Allah can take them back anytime.

Some people tend to show off expensive things including me. Of course, if we have something expensive, there will be at least a bit of ‘menunjuk’ habit among us. This is quite bad and should be avoided. Islam encourages donation when we have something that exceeds our necessity. With regard to this, sincerity is very crucial. Not only in donating something, but also in everything that we do in our life.
There’s one hadith saying, innamal a’maalu bin niat ( every act begins with intention). This hadith shows that intention plays a big role in our life. If someone has a bad intention, he or she tends to do something bad. Every action goes back to the intention itself. Thus, if our intention in doing everything is just for Allah, i am sure that every single action that we do will be blessed.

There are some misconceptions among muslim where they think that doing something in the name of Allah is only for ibadah, performing prayers, fasting, etc. If they think as such, they have misunderstood the concept of ibadah. Ibadah itself covers many things. Ibadah is not only limited to solat, fasting etc. One who does something in the name of Allah can be said to have done an ibadah. Reading itself is an ibadah if you read with the intention of complying the quran verse which encourages people to read. When we take bath for the purpose of cleaning ourselves, we can be said to have complied a hadith.

We should realize that Islamic values are universal values. Islam teaches us the way of living. Living with sincerity means living in the name of Allah. Living in the name of Allah will always make us feel calm and we will accept whatever test that is given to us. InsyaAllah.