It is reported from Ibn al-Mubaarak that he said:“I heard Ja’far bin Hayyaan say: ‘The foundations of these actions are the intentions. Indeed, a man reaches with his intentions a position he does not reach with his actions.'”
It is reported from al-Junaid that he said:To Allaah belong servants who understand, and when they understand they act and when they act they make (their action) sincere. Their recalling of Ikhlaas at the time of doing righteousness is what accumulates the greatest (good for them).
Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullah) said: “Ikhlaas is the tawheed of one’s intent”.
It is reported from Abu Sulaimaan ad-Daarinee (radi’Allahu ‘anhu) that he said:
Toobaa (the tree in Paradise) for the one who took a single step desiring nothing but the face of Allaah by it.
It is also reported that Ibn al-Mubarak said: “Maybe a small action is made great by its intention, and maybe a great action is made small by its intention.
Tawheed First 