The importance of intending to good works every day

A person of faith orders his whole life according to the Qur'an, and
strivesto apply carefully from day to day what he has read and learned
in its verses. In everything he does from the moment he gets up in the
morning until the time he falls asleep at night, he is intent on
thinking, speaking and acting according to the teachings of the
Qur'an. Allah shows us in the Qur'an that this dedication dominates
the whole life of a believer.
Say: "My prayer and my rites, my living and my dying, are for Allah
alone, the Lord of all the worlds."
(Surat al-An'am: 162)
From the moment a Muslim has faith, he has already made the
decision to spend every moment of his life to earn Allah's good
pleasure. From that moment on, he displays a great spiritual zeal
and effort in the material and spiritual sense. However, as an
inherent inclination, a Muslim never feels his faith to be at a
sufficient level, for until his last breath he has the opportunity
to deepen his faith at every moment of his life. For this reason
every day, every hour, every moment, he must once again make the
intention in his heart to deepen his faith, refresh it and be
committed to spending every moment of his life in engaging in good
deeds deserving Allah's consent.
The Believer Must Renew His Intention Every Day
At this very moment, as we are reading this article, we can
accordingly renew our intention. From this very moment, we can
intend to spend our time, use our opportunities, and put our
spiritual and physical power into use in a much more conscious,
attentive and sincere manner. We can assess every opportunity of
fulfilling any act of worship with great zeal. We can observe every
opportunity by which we can earn Allah's good pleasure and race
towards the good deeds. Without thinking, "I have already made
auspicious deeds, this is sufficient for today," or "Compared to
others around me I make much greater effort, and in any event, I am
better than them", we can make progress in order to gain Allah's
good pleasure.
What is mentioned here is a very different and distinctive state of
mind. No doubt a Muslim spends his every moment in compliance with
the morality of the Qur'an. However the demeanor of a person who
makes a conscious and decisive decision on this subject is very much
different, for the conscience of a person with such an intent is
very sensitive. He is keenly interested in what is happening
around him. He is more vigilant towards arduous works than anyone
else. He is the one that speaks the best words. He is more kind,
conciliatory and positive than everyone else. He is full of love and
compassion. He notices the needs of people before anyone else and
meets them. He always employs an appeasing and peaceful style. He
has a very different, positive mood that everyone notices right
away.
Believers Intend to Live by the Moral Values Revealed by Allah in
the Qur'an in the Finest Manner, 24 Hours a Day
No matter what the conditions, believers will not compromise in
showing superior behavior. Their values do not change; they always
conform to Allah's commands and recommendations. They take Allah's
Messenger Prophet Muhammad , may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, (saas) as their example whom Allah praises in the Qur'an in
these words:
Indeed you are truly vast in character (Surat al-Qalam: 4)
There is only one way to escape being lost in the endless punishment
of the Fire: living according to the Qur'an and the Sunnah, for by
means of these Allah grants to human beings "their glory". It saves
people from the ignorance in which they are sunk, their primitive
way of thinking, stressful environments, negative character traits,
baseless fears, perverse beliefs, and the torments of the Fire for
which all these things are the causes. In place of these they gain
understanding and wisdom, higher values, a sane environment filled
with peace of mind and, most importantly, life in the Garden filled
with endless blessings.
There is only one way to remove all the anxiety, battles, wars,
hostility, poverty, destitution and anger that fills the world:
living according to the teachings of the Qur'an and the Sunnah of
Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace (saas). There is no
other way for a person to obtain the happiness, well-being,
justice, love and peace that he desires.
Living according to the Qur'an and the Sunnah as a defense against
injustice, conflict, inequality, envy, war, unfairness, waste, fear,
bigotry, cruelty, violence, immorality and other such things is the
most basic solution for human beings in order for them to live at
ease, in peace, in happiness and justice.
Despite this, and because they have turned their backs on the
morality of true religion for the sake of small gains, worldly
profit and human weakness, some people inflict great harm on
themselves. For a human being to turn his back on the morality of the
Qur'an and Sunnah means that he will remain unaware of truths that
are vital for him to know. However, the resources that he and
transitory human beings like him have collected will not be enough
to survive in the situations and problems that they encounter in
the world. People like him will spend their whole lives in anxiety,
worry, stress, fear and adversity, with no solution to their
problems. And later, they will come to accept this situationas normal
and will spend the rest of their lives deceived, thinking that
their suffering is a "fact of life" when it is actually a
punishment for not living by the tenets of religious morality.
Believers who follow the values set by Allah in the Qur'an and make
them prevail over every moment of their lives will live in the best
way. Allah announces good tidings to these believers in the
following words:
It is not your wealth or your children that will bring you near to
Us, only in the case of people who believe and act rightly; such
people will have a double recompense for what they did. They will
be safe from all harm in the High Halls of Paradise. (Surah Saba':
37)
The believer experiencesthe positive effects of "once again renewing
his intention" every day. The goal of a believer who assumes this
morality is to be among the "the most beloved servants of Allah." For
this reason, once he fullyadopts this morality, he once again intends
to bemore sincere, more sensitive towards Allah's good pleasure, and
more scrupulous; this deepens his morality even more. This continues
until the end of his life; he never findshis efforts and auspicious
deeds to be sufficient. Consequently his faith, morality, personality
and attitudesprogress continuously and ultimately attains perfection.
In the Qur'an Allah informs us about the character of Muslims with
such traits as follows:
Such people are truly racing towards good things, and they are the
first to reach them. (Surat al-Muminun, 61)
By Allah's will, living according to the teaching of the Qur'an and
the Sunnah will enable people to develop a broad means of
understanding, superior intelligence, the ability to distinguish
right from wrong and the ability to consider a matter in depth.
These characteristics will ensure that the person who possesses
them will live every moment of his life in the ease that comes from
these advantages. A person who lives his life in submission to
Allah and according to the religious teachings will be totally
different from other people in how he behaves, sits and walks, in
his point of view and how he explains and interprets things, and in
the solutions he finds for the problems that confront him.