Literal vs Intention

Assalamualaikum

Sahih Bukhari

Volume 1, Book 1, Number 1:

Narrated 'Umar bin Al-Khattab:

I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "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."

Clearly our intention is the core of every deed that we do. Doing our daily salat (prayers), fasting in the month of ramadhan, paying our zakat etc....All these without the proper intention will count for nothing.

To get direct to the point....yes i think intention is more important than interpretation.

Hayfa wrote

 "The purpose i think it to make ourslves more consious of our every action or deed.  The person who seeks good all the time may be further along then the person who does the "basics" but has not brought it to a deeper level. Some people, honestly do not operate on a deeper level. That just may be their make-up. who knows.Of course Allah.  Some people lack the "empathy" gene. 

I really have nothing else to say that will top this one.  Bravo Bravo Bravo.  You have summarized it all.

That's a tricky one.  In my faith, your fast would not be valid.  The whole point of a fast is to remember through sacrifice.  If you forgot your fasting, then you failed to remember.  In our belief, its better to desire to fast and fail because of illness or weakness.  I cannot fast due to my health issues, however, I observe the prayerfulness of the fast each month with my husband and pay my fast offerings as if I missed the meals.

Since intention is key (in my belief) then forgetfulness in a way is part of that intention.  Its better to remember and desire to do the good act, then to forget and ignore it.

For example, (my opinion) it would be better for a Muslim to remember Asr prayer and desire to go to it. But, if he were prevented to go on time by a meeting, emergency or doctor's visit, he still at least remembered and can make it up later.  However, if you just simply forget about your prayers, something you should be doing daily.  Then what does that say about your priorities and intentions.

Its a tough call, as with anything, there are definitely times where forgetting is forgivable.  If you're in an accident and you're dealing with the tow truck, the police office, EMS, and the insurance company, stuff gets forgotten.  However, I really would say in that case circumstances of the forgetfulness would have to be looked at carefully.