2 February, 2026
The word ‘think’ is a verb. Oxford Learner‘s Dictionary defines it as: “to use your mind to consider something, to form connected ideas, to try to solve problems, etc.”
So what is more important? Action or thinking? If you think that action is more important than thinking, I will disagree with you.
Is an action more important, or the intention (Niyyah) behind it? An intention is the result of a structured thought. In Islam, an action may be acceptable by Allah (SWT) in spite of its imperfections, but adulteration in intention garners rejection of the act.
There was immense wisdom behind the decision of Imam Bukhari to begin his collection of Ahadeeth, *Sahih al-Bukhari*, with the following hadith:
إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى، فَمَنْ كَانَتْ هِجْرَتُهُ إِلَى دُنْيَا يُصِيبُهَا أَوْ إِلَى امْرَأَةٍ يَنْكِحُهَا فَهِجْرَتُهُ إِلَى مَا هَاجَرَ إِلَيْهِ
“The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended.
So whoever emigrated for worldly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration was for what he emigrated for.”