Reframing: Turn Every mundane, daily activity into an act of worship through power of intention

I find this to be one of the most fascinating and inspiring narrations about the power of sincerity. Mu’adz ibn Jabal said,

أَنَامُ أَوَّلَ اللَّيْلِ فَأَقُومُ وَقَدْ قَضَيْتُ جُزْئِي مِنَ النَّوْمِ، فَأَقْرَأُ مَا كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لِي، فَأَحْتَسِبُ نَوْمَتِي كَمَا أَحْتَسِبُ قَوْمَتِي‏.‏

“I sleep in the first part of the night, then I get up after having slept for the time devoted for my sleep, and then recite as much as Allah has written for me. 

So I expect that Allah Rewards me for my sleep, just as I expect He Rewards me for my my night prayer (tahajjud).” (Narrated by Al-Bukhari)

Mu’adz here shares a holistic understanding on the power of intention: He has the optimistic hope that Allah will reward his sleep, with JUST as much as reward as He would reward the night prayer (qiyamullayl / tahajjud).

Why?

Because he sets the intention that his sleep is a requirement that grants him the rest to be energized to effectively perform his night prayer. 

This teaches us that any “mundane” deeds that we do, if we can focus our intention for the greater good of a higher purpose, then those mundane deeds become just as rewarding as the ultimate deed itself. And Not just rewarded as a "side project", but the same, full rewards at the actual deed by reframing our intentions towards the greater goal of ibadah: an act that pleases Allah.

And another important lesson: the required PREPARATION for an action is also rewarded like the action itself. 

This reminds me of a quote from Usain Bolt: “Sleep is extremely important to me - I need to rest and recover in order for the training I do to be absorbed by my body”. 

And this is how, through our jobs  - earning halal income to provide for ourselves and our family the basic necessities of living, especially linking that with the intention of enabling us to fulfill our higher purpose - our jobs can become an act of worship. 

But the beauty of this principle is that it extends more than that to include pretty much every Halal deed with the right intention: Whether it's buying groceries for the family, performing the house chores, spending quality time playing with the children, building relationships with good company, keeping good fitness through exercise and healthy eating habits, improving our competency in communication to be a better mentor in developing others, purchasing stationery or gadgets that will assist us in seeking beneficial knowledge.. 

.. All of these can be ibadah! 

When we reframe deeds in this way, we   no longer see all these tasks as a hindrance or as conflicting goals. Rather, all of them - including our job and family  - are COMPLEMENTING the big objective!  

A power reminder as we enter into Ramadan, to remind us that "Productivity" isn't just about the quantity of deeds, but also the QUALITY of our intentions and faith, and how well we prioritize our deeds for the big picture. 

The Prophet ﷺ said, 

إنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ

"Actions are (judged) by motives (niyyah), so each man will have what he intended." (Al-Bukhari, Muslim)