Ramadan Reflection Day 11 Intention

Day Eleven of Ramadan. A reading from the book "The Call of Allah" by Rosina-Fawzia Al-Rawi. Today we talk about Intention and how it is crucial in our walking to Allah. Intention directs our actions and infuses them with our real meaning and direction.

Transcript

Welcome to the University of Sufism's Ramadan reading of Rosina Fawzia Al-Rawi's book,

The Call of Allah,

A companion to the holy month of Ramadan.

Today I will be sharing day 11 about intention,

Also known as Naya.

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim The Messenger of Allah,

Peace be upon him,

Said,

None of you will be saved by their deeds.

The people asked,

Not even you,

O Messenger of Allah?

He,

Peace be upon him,

Replied,

Even I will not be saved unless Allah bestows His mercy on me.

Therefore,

Try to do what is right,

Sincerely and moderately,

And seek Allah's pleasure at the beginning and at the end of the day and during part of the night.

Decisive is your intention,

Naya,

According to which you can expect your deeds to be evaluated.

Naya,

Intention,

Is crucial on our path to Allah.

Naya means intention,

Plan,

Decision,

But also will,

Way of thinking,

Direction of will,

Inclination,

Goal,

And destination.

And that not shall be accounted unto man but what he is striving for,

Quran 53,

39,

Which means that which we consciously intend and express through our words and deeds.

Intention is the spirit of our actions,

And it lends them their real meaning and direction.

Our ego,

Nafs,

Often confronts us with a clamor of wishes,

Ideas,

And temptations.

If we look at ourselves and at the world from the perspective of our nafs,

We go through life with the single aim to fulfill those wishes.

Behind this attitude lies a great longing to be happy,

And that is at once justified and understandable.

The only problem is that our ego is never satisfied.

The moment one wish comes true,

The next one already materializes.

This is how,

In a world that it perceives as a threat,

Our ego tries to secure safety,

Stability,

And happiness for itself,

Together with a better future,

Of course.

This attitude makes us isolated and egocentric beings,

For the ego invariably tends to arrogance and control.

But Allah has placed in our being our essential human nature,

Fitra,

A deep longing which is always present.

In this sense,

It is like our heartbeat.

The moment we pay attention to it,

We can feel it in our whole being.

The time of fasting,

When our body becomes weak and we are more than usually sent back to ourselves,

Is a wonderful opportunity to make space for our inner longing.

Ramadan is also the month of observation and contemplation,

Muraqabah.

Fasting slows us all down,

And this slowness helps us become more sensitive to our inner states.

Thus Allah gives us the possibility to notice the thoughts and feelings which veil us from Him,

And delude us into thinking that we are separate beings.

Allah tells us,

Hence repulse not any of those who at morn and evening invoke their sustainer,

Seeking yuriduna,

His countenance.

Quran 6,

52.

Here,

Yuriduna means intention.

The intention,

Naya,

Behind our words and deeds is an active conscious act of connecting with God.

It is to express our faith in our words and deeds.

It is to turn our heart to God consciously every day,

For when our heart opens to God time and again,

Our mind is less susceptible to negativity.

Therefore,

Naya is to connect the mind and the heart,

And to unite them with the fragrance of God-consciousness.

Our teacher and prophet,

Peace be upon him,

Told us,

Verily,

Allah does not look at your bodies nor at your faces,

But at your hearts,

And he pointed a finger to his heart.

So our naya is the yardstick against which Allah measures our deeds.

If we perform an apparently good deed with a bad naya,

It is not a good deed in the sight of Allah.

This means that if I only perform a good deed,

Say,

In order to improve my reputation among the people,

Out of vanity,

Pride,

And concealed arrogance,

Or in order to obtain a purely personal advantage,

Then my deed was not out of love for Allah.

It furthers essentially my own interests and does not contain Allah's blessing and mercy.

Conversely,

If I hold my deed to Allah in my heart,

Allah will accept it out of his love for us.

And through Allah's love,

My deed will become eternal.

We can turn all our deeds into a path to God.

When I go to bed to sleep,

It serves my rest and my well-being.

But if I go to bed with the intention to give my body its right to rest,

So that I can get up invigorated to pray,

Then it becomes an act of worship.

If I go for a workout for the sake of health and vitality,

That is good.

But if I work out so that my stronger body gives me more presence and watchfulness,

And I can sit in zikr longer,

Then my exercise too becomes an act of worship,

Ibadah.

If I water my plants because they need it,

That is good.

But if I water them,

Because in doing so I acknowledge and express my love of Allah,

My gratitude to him,

And my humble dependence on him,

Then the watering becomes an act of faith.

Everything on earth points to God.

We shall make them fully understand our messages through what they perceive in the utmost horizons of the universe and within themselves.

Quran 41,

53.

In our daily life,

Naya helps us embed ourselves time and again in the eternal bond between God and us.

Naya is the intimate dialogue between us and Allah.

Never allow your past,

Your mistakes,

Or your weaknesses to make you feel unworthy of having a relationship with God.

It is true that we human beings love to be recognized by others.

We love being admired.

To perform good deeds in order to obtain recognition often persists tenaciously in our heart.

It is very natural to rejoice when we are praised,

But we should not become the slaves of praise.

To open our heart to Allah until the moment comes when we can lay it completely in his hands in deep trust and loving surrender is a process.

Intention anchors our feet in faith,

Iman,

On our path to Allah.

Oh Allah,

Do not let me speak without mentioning you so that my heart does not harden without my noticing.

Oh Allah,

Do not let me look at the dishonest deeds of human beings as if I were something better,

And let me always be aware of you in my deeds and words.

For I know that wrong deeds befall some people while others are protected against them.

Everything happens in your wisdom and compassion.

Oh Allah,

Let me always be lenient and compassionate with people who are in distress and grant us always your protection.

Oh Allah,

Let me always be aware of your words.

It is only your God-consciousness that reaches him.

Quran 22 37 Practice suggested for today.

Start very consciously every one of your deeds with Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim.

In the name of Allah,

The all-merciful,

All-compassionate.

Whenever you are about to do something,

Start by asking yourself sincerely,

Does this wish,

This deed,

Nourish my pride?

Is it to my sole advantage?

Does it only serve my pleasure?

And then act honestly.

May you have a blessed day full of beautiful intentions.