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Resolve for an act (hamm)

الهم بالعمل

The hamm in the thirty-seventh hadith of the Forty — the heart's resolve upon an act before doing it — is the measure by which deeds are written with God: 'whoever resolves on a good deed and does not do it, God writes it down as a complete good deed; if he resolves and does it, ten good deeds to seven hundred times over and more; if he resolves on an evil deed and does not do it, He writes it down as a complete good deed; and if he resolves and does it, God writes it down as a single evil deed' — so resolve for good is rewarded even without the act, resolve for evil is unpunished and counts as good when left for God's sake, and no evil deed is written except upon doing; resolve outranks a passing thought as a settled purpose approaching firm intention (Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam pp. 754–755).

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
Review
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Spirituality and Sufism

Overview

Hamm is the resolve of the heart to act before the act is done. Ibn Rajab explains it in the thirty-seventh hadith of the Forty, and it is connected to the chapter on intention. 1

The four cases

The hadith mentions four cases. Whoever resolves on a good deed but does not do it, God writes for him a full good deed. If he does it, ten good deeds are written for him, up to seven hundred times, to many times more. Whoever resolves on an evil deed but does not do it, God writes for him a full good deed. If he does it, one evil deed is written. 1

Ibn Rajab's commentary

One is rewarded for resolving on a good deed even if the act does not take place. Resolving on an evil deed is not punished; rather a good deed is written if one leaves it for God's sake, and an evil deed is written only when it is done. He explains that the merit of resolve over a mere passing thought is that it is a settled purpose resembling a firm will. 1

Connections

Explore the connections

Based on
Arba'un 37 — God wrote the good deeds and the evil deeds
Part of
Niyya (intention in deeds)

People and things also explored

Sacred hadith (hadith qudsi)· Niyya (intention in deeds)· Charity (sadaqa)· Arba'un 1 — Actions are but by intentions· Arba'un 25 — the wealthy have taken all the reward· Abdullah ibn Abbas· Arba'un 37 — God wrote the good deeds and the evil deeds· Prophetic adab (proper conduct)

Sources

  1. Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam — Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali , p.754-755
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Resolve for an act (hamm)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/hamm/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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Wing

Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Sacred hadith (hadith qudsi)

A hadith qudsi is what the Prophet related from his Lord, marked in the chains by the formula 'among what he relates from his Lord' — as in Abu Dharr's 'O My servants, I have forbidden injustice to Myself', transmitted by Muslim (2577), the first sacred hadith in al-Nawawi's Forty — while al-Tirmidhi's wording states 'God Almighty says' explicitly; the Imam Ahmad called it the noblest hadith of the people of Syria, and its narrator Abu Idris al-Khawlani would kneel on his knees whenever he transmitted it, as Sa'id ibn Abd al-Aziz related of him from Rabi'a ibn Yazid.