Intention (نِيَّة)

Arabic: نِيَّة (niyyah) — plural: نِيَّات (niyyāt) Domain: Fiqh al-Ibadat, Islamic Ethics, Usul al-Fiqh, Tazkiyah

Definition

Niyyah (نِيَّة) is the inward resolve or purpose behind an action. In Islamic ethics and jurisprudence, intention is the primary determinant of the moral and legal worth of an act. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) declared: "(The value of) an action depends on the intentions behind it. A man will be rewarded only for what he intends" — a hadith narrated via Umar ibn al-Khattab and recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim, which scholars regard as one of the foundations of Islam, opening both al-Bukhari's Sahih and many treatises on ethics.^[raw/extracted/ethics-in-islam/ch-04.txt] ^[raw/extracted/ethics-in-islam/ch-02.txt]

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