Imam An Nawawi wrote...

"Know that whoever intends to do a good deed even if it is very minute should have the intention of obedience of God, the all-Mighty. This includes all acts of worship, including prayer, fasting, Wudhu, Tayammum, Iitikaf, Hajj, Zakah, charity, serving the people, helping them, visiting the sick, attending funerals, greeting people, responding to their greeting, making Du'a for a sneezing person,  enjoining what is right, forbidding what is evil, accepting invitations, attending gatherings of knowledge and remembrances of Allah, visiting good people etc.

Likewise, Spending on the family and the guest, being good with the relatives, gaining knowledge, discussing religious issues, spreading good knowledge, reading or writing books, giving religious guidance, advising people and the like.

Even if one eats, drinks, or sleeps, he intends regaining strength to obey God, or some relaxation to reenergize himself for the worship of Allah.

Likewise if he becomes intimate with his wife, he intends to fulfil her natural rights, protect her from falling into haram, have a righteous child who worships God Almighty, and to satisfy his natural needs in order to keep from indulging in what is forbidden.

So, whoever neglects the intentions in these actions has been deprived of a great deal of good, and whoever is guided to have sincere intention in them has been given a great bounty. So, we ask God Almighty to grant us that, and all forms of good.

The evidence of this rule  is the Hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) who said: “Actions are but by intentions, and every person gets what he intends.”

Bustan ul Aarifeen

Imam an Nawawi (p:13)

Sheikh Abdus Salam al-Madani

Founder,

Aspire College of Excellence

in Chennai and Bangalore