Question: What should be the intention of doing a good action?
The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said that 'Actions are judged by intentions.' This made me wonder that what should be the intention for doing a good deed? Should we do something good because it is something good and we should be doing it; because Allah wants us to do that thing, or because doing that thing will lead us to Jannah? I was also thinking, that isn't it a bit selfish and greedy to do something good just for the sake of going to heaven? It also made me think that if there was no concept of Jannat and Jahannum, should we still be doing good deeds? Should we as Muslims think of Jannah as an additional reward we will get if we do good actions, or as the sole purpose of doing good actions? I mean, shouldn't we be doing something good because that's what Allah wants us to do and ultimately, because it's the best thing for us? (Question by Zainab Salman)