What does it mean to be intentional?
First, the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said this about intention:
Indeed, actions but accord with intentions, and, indeed, for each person there shall be only what he intended …”
This statement contains three important meanings:
It means that when we do anything, Allah alone calibrates the divine worth of that act, accounting not only for what we have done but also why we have done it. We might formulate this for our understanding in an equation:
why we did an action + for whose sake we did it = our intention
It means that Allah, who registers everything we do for recompense – that is, toward our punishment or reward, whether here in this life but inescapably in the Hereafter – weighs our every doing according to the value He attaches to it, which includes the purpose we formed in our hearts as the reason we did each act. This divine measure is the true worth of our deed.
It means knowledge of the divine value that Allah has tied to actions in their contexts is essential. So we must invest ourselves (commit time and take action) in learning the deeds Allah has told us He wants us to do and also the ones He does not want us to do, and why. This is the very definition of taqwa, fearing Allah.
Allah tells us, moreover, that in the end He will show us exactly what we did and the true value of even the least of our actions. Here is what He says in what some of the most knowledgeable Companions of the Prophet, on him be peace, called the most frightening Surah, or division of Revelation, in the Quran:
So whoever does an atom’s weight of good shall see it. And whoever does an atom’s weight of evil shall see it. (Surat Al-Zalzalah, 99:7-8)
A final word on the importance of becoming intentional: It is telling that the great hadith collector Al-Bukhari chose to open his renowned and incredibly important compendium (known popularly as Sahih Al-Bukhari) “intentionally” with the prophetic statement, hadith, that begins this writing on intentional charitable giving in Ramadan.
Can you give an example of how intention affects our sadaqah?
If I see someone suffering from thirst who has no access to drinkable water, and I give him water to drink to save his life, my divine reward will be for the extent of my intention to relieve and preserve this suffering man.
So, if the reason I have done this is for people to say what a noble person I am, or think it, then my reward will be only the favorable mention or opinion of these onlookers whom I sought to impress, even if I saved the thirsting man’s life or provided him a gushing well of water.
If, on the other hand, I have given him water because I know from the Quran that Allah will count it for me as a deed equivalent to saving all humanity (Surat Al-Ma’idah, 5:32), meaning I did it with no other intention than to please Allah and seek His Face in the Hereafter, then my intention shall have been pure and complete – to help and save a suffering human being only for the sake of pleasing Allah.
This would be an important formulation within me of an act that Islam characterizes as “good.” My action is not merely a spontaneous deed of compassion. It is not simply to make me feel better about myself, or to morally relieve my conscience in the face of a world whose immoral suffering is ever more outrageously egregious. Thus my act is not severed from God and actual good.
Rather, my deed’s “humanitarian reason” is clear and complete. I have based my sadaqah on the “three meanings” of intentionality in Islam: awareness that (1) Allah alone measures the divine value of every act and why it is done; (2) Allah alone will register my act for me and record my intention in doing it and reward me accordingly; and (3) I have acquired knowledge of the good Allah wants me to do in the world, in this case, with some of the wealth He has given me.
So now for the rest of the all-important prophetic statement on action and intention first cited above:
… So one whose emigration [to Madinah in the time of the prophetic flight from Makkah] was to Allah and His Messenger, then his emigration was to Allah and His Messenger. And one whose emigration was for the world, to strike it rich, or for a woman, to marry her, then his emigration [to Madinah in the time of the prophetic flight from Makkah] was to that for which he emigrated.”
In other words, intentionality determines the moral and spiritual value of your sadaqah with the only One who rewards it, Allah. So the wise Muslim will train him- or herself to become mindful and intentional in all one does, heedful of Allah as one’s ultimate goal toward Whom one is traveling, and intentional about what one is giving, to whom, and why – and the answer to why is always the same:
And know that whatever good you believers spend, it is for the good of your own souls. So whatever you spend in charity, do so seeking only the Face of Allah. Thus whatever good you spend shall be rendered to you in full — and never shall you be wronged in the least.
And also:
Yet beware, for whatever you give others in usury — to gain increase from the wealth of people — shall never increase with Allah! But blessed is whatever you give of the Zakât-Charity— desiring only the Face of Allah. For it is such as these who shall have a much-multiplied reward. (Surat Al-Rum, 30:39)
Zakat, of course, is an obligatory form of sadaqah, and its best and traditional time for payment is Ramadan. (See Is Ramadan the Best Time to Pay Zakat? and What Is the Right Time to Pay Zakat?)
How will being intentional with my sadaqah in Ramadan benefit me?
Here are three profound blessings that intentional sadaqah in Ramadan can bring you:
1. allah loves intentionality
The Prophet, on him be peace, in an authentic report praised this quality in one of his Companions:
Indeed, in you are two characteristics both of which Allah loves, discernment and deliberateness. (Muslim)
He said also in a good report:
Deliberation is from Allah and reckless haste is from Satan. (Nasa’i)
So when you not only make a vague intention to give in Ramadan but deliberate on specifically how you plan to achieve that intention, you will be developing a quality in yourself that the Prophet, on him be peace, told us Allah loves to see in us.
For example, if you do not stop at merely saying and intending, ‘I am going to give sadaqah in Ramadan,’ but follow through and deliberately decide that you are going to give it daily, you can go to Zakat.org (Zakat Foundation of America’s website) and choose to give a Warm Iftar/Fast-Breaking Meal at $5 a faster for 30 days, or $150. Then one hot iftar meal will be delivered to a fasting person in need each day of Ramadan, God willing, and your reward from Allah will be recorded and stored up for your Divine Scales each day of Ramadan.
2. you will maximize your rewards
The relative and close Companion of the Prophet, on him be peace, Ibn ‘Abbas, God be pleased with him, said about the Prophet’s giving in Ramadan, on him be peace:
The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, was ever the most generous of people. Yet he was more generous than ever in Ramadan. …Then would the Messenger of Allah, on him be peace, become more generous in doing good than the gusting of a giving-wind.” (Bukhari)
Ramadan is the great multiplier of rewards for every good deed, which Allah may give at hundreds of times its blessings than when done on other days. Charitable intentionality in Ramadan leads you to strategic sadaqah – that is, knowing what causes you want to put your charity into, where you want to invest it, and with what Islamic humanitarian organizations doing good work you will entrust it. This is among the best ways to get the most reward and do the greatest good in the world with your sadaqah.
For instance, many humanitarians consider the unprecedented global orphan crisis the most severe calamity in the world, with a minimum of 153 million children now orphaned, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The horrifying truth is the majority of these orphans are Muslims.
So the strategic sadaqah you intentionally plan in Ramadan may be to deploy your charity to sponsor an Orphan at $50 a month, or $600 a year because of the great incentive the Prophet, on him be peace, attached to it.
The Prophet, on him be peace, made this stunning statement about orphans, according to an authentic report:
‘I and the one who sponsors an orphan shall be in Paradise like these two’— and he raised his index finger and the one next to it, holding them together, barely separate.” (Bukhari)
3. you can direct your sadaqah for far greater results
When you approach your charitable giving in Ramadan with an intentional plan, you will amplify its impact in at least five ways:
You can further a cause you see as crucial, focusing more of your sadaqah on it instead of giving less individually to a bouquet of relief efforts.
You’ll get greater satisfaction knowing you are supporting the specific relief efforts or people in need when you’ve taken the time to think through and plan out your Ramadan sadaqah.
You will likely give more sadaqah in Ramadan – and hence greatly increase your own reward with Allah – when you’ve put the effort in to plan out how you will fulfill your charitable desire by giving where your heart is, for the sake of Allah.
You will increase the humanitarian profile, power, and prolific good works of the Islamic charities doing the best and most critical philanthropic work in the world, knowing that many Muslim charities like the Zakat Foundation have become the most trusted and efficient humanitarian organizations in the global charitable sector.
You will change the lives of ever more people suffering and in need as a da‘wah, or testimony to the truth of the Oneness of Allah, His last Messenger Muhammad, on him be peace, and His final Heavenly Book, the Quran – that is to say, to Allah’s religion of Islam. This is perhaps the greatest impact of all.
Does this mean sadaqah should only be given after planning?
No. Muslims should give when they are asked if they can, or whenever they come upon a need. But whether you have planned out your sadaqah giving or you offer it spontaneously, it is all about intention.
Whatever you give in sadaqah – planned and in the moment of need – do so seeking only the Face of Allah, meaning the Beatific Countenance of His pleasure, so that you too may be thrilled with gladness when you meet Allah.
Yet of the righteous … is one who gives his wealth to purify himself, and confers no favor upon anyone for any recompense – except seeking the Face of his Lord, the Most High – and for this he shall, most surely, be well-pleased. (Surat Al-Layl, 92:17-21)