Perhaps, what I am about to write is besides the point...but anyway.

Niyah is definitely very important. Someone told me this:

Suppose there is a person who thinks of committing a sin such as stealing, or rape or murder or whatever. But his sin is NOT been accounted for until he/she has committed the sin in reality.

On the other hand, suppose there is a person who thinks and intends to do a noble and kind deed such as helping a needy but is unable to do so because of his limitations, yet, his/her virtue is already accounted for though he/she has not actually done the good deed.

You could sympathize with the panhandler and say, here, enjoy yourself. I mean, they don't have much time to live, so why not make them happier for another night?

It's not money or the time that they are thankful but that you actually care and think about them.

Intentions > Actions

I think good intentions are important but knowledge is even more important...you cant say that im going to drink this can of beer and intend not to get drunk...you have to know right from wrong wheter you have good intentions or not...not to say giving to the poor is wrong but im just talking in general terms

My rationale in giving money to panhandlers who are likely to spend it all at the nearest booze-can is to say so what?

I have my vices and so do they. Let them enjoy themselves for a while longer because I too might be begging for the same one day.

I love that book, it has humanity at its very core

Yes - as soon as you've given the money, it isn't yours anymore. So it is not your decision or judgement to make as to what the person receiving it will do with it.

Some words from Khalil Gibran's "The Prophet":

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.

And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.

And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;

They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.

Though the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.

Should you give money to panhandlers knowing they will spend it on alcohol?

To judge whether or not your action is good you need to examine your niyat.

If you act spontaneously deep from your heart, then your act is always a good one. This works very well!

I find hesitations and second guessing to mar one's niyat.

For example, when passing by a homeless person who asks for some spare change, do you question yourself as to whether or not to give knowing that he could spend it on liquor?

the following is a quote from Iqbal, with the more fundamental question.. the issue of body and mind... thought and deed...

Thus parallelism and interaction are both unsatisfactory. Yet mind and body become one in action. When I take up a book from my table, my act is single and indivisible. It is impossible to draw a line of cleavage between the share of the body and that of the mind in this act. Somehow they must belong to the same system, and according to the Qur??n they do belong to the same system.25 ?To Him belong Khalq (creation) and Amr (direction),26 how is such a thing conceivable? We have seen that the body is not a thing situated in an absolute void; it is a system of events or acts.27 The system of experiences we call soul or ego is also a system of acts. This does not obliterate the distinction of soul and body; it only brings them closer to each other. The characteristic of the ego is spontaneity; the acts composing the body repeat themselves. The body is accumulated action or habit of the soul; and as such undetachable from it. It is a permanent element of consciousness which, in view of this permanent element, appears from the outside as something stable. What then is matter? A colony of egos of a low order out of which emerges the ego of a higher order, when their association and interaction reach a certain degree of coordination. It is the world reaching the point of self-guidance wherein the Ultimate Reality, perhaps, reveals its secret, and furnishes a clue to its ultimate nature. The fact that the higher emerges out of the lower does not rob the higher of its worth and dignity. It is not the origin of a thing that matters, it is the capacity, the significance, and the final reach of the emergent that matter. Even if we regard the basis of soul-life as purely physical, it by no means follows that the emergent can be resolved into what has conditioned its birth and growth. The emergent, as the advocates of the Emergent Evolution teach us, is an unforeseeable and novel fact on its own plane of being, and cannot be explained mechanistically. Indeed the evolution of life shows that, though in the beginning the mental is dominated by the physical, the mental, as it grows in power, tends to dominate the physical and may eventually rise to a position of complete independence. Nor is there such a thing as a purely physical level in the sense of possessing a materiality, elementally incapable of evolving the creative synthesis we call life and mind, and needing a transcendental Deity to impregnate it with the sentient and the mental. The Ultimate Ego that makes the emergent emerge is immanent in Nature, and is described by the Qur??n, as ?the First and the Last, the Visible and the Invisible.?28

Suicide bombing by young uninformed Muslim youngsters has been carried out almost routinely as a mean of revenge in the Middle East conflict. It is mainly done to avenge their oppression, occupation and loss of freedom they have been experiencing all their life. The young people, who lost all the hope to a peaceful settlement as they witnessed their families, loved ones carry it out, neighbors, and the innocent bystanders die or tortured at the hand of a merciless occupying force. But regardless of these intolerable situations no permission can be found in Islam to avenge by suicide bombing or by targeting the innocent civilians. These young desperate Muslim people have been taught what is not in the Quran, and what God never promised in the Holy book. I do understand the dire situation in which these people live and I do have the full sympathy to their suffering and oppression, but cannot agree with breaking God's commandment.

You shall spend in the cause of GOD; do not throw yourselves with your own hands into destruction. You shall be charitable; GOD loves the charitable.

O you who believe, do not consume each others' properties illicitly - only mutually acceptable transactions are permitted. You shall not kill yourselves. GOD is Merciful towards you.

Anyone who commits these transgressions, maliciously and deliberately, we will condemn him to Hell. This is easy for GOD to do.

We are only thinking from one perspective. Sometimes I think what makes these suicide bombers do what they do. We get furious when our lunch is not made the way we want. These people had lost all they had. There is a reason to be angry. But there are people who use this anger to gain their political gain instead of guiding in the right direction. These leaders are to be blamed for everything. I also think that killing innocent people has no justification. It is totally forbiden in Islam and absolutely against any rational. You are absolutely right that these people can contribute more and better to the society in any way other than what they adopt.

Jihad as presented in the Quran and any of the other scriptures implies the striving of spiritual good. This Jihad particularly involves change in one's self and mentality. It may concern the sacrifice of material property, social class and even emotional comfort solely for the salvation and worship of God alone. However, there are times, in certain circumstances, when Islam tolerates, permits and sometimes even accepts the practice of war. Islam strongly emphasizes the ideas of justice, freedom and opposition to oppression. There is another condition: fighting for self-defense. War is tolerated in these conditions, but if there is a possibility to avoid war, then this alternative, as long as it is reasonable, must be taken.
About these suicide bombers, They can contribute more and better for the society if they direct their efforts into teaching the world about their cause and work with their neighbors to strengthen their stand against oppression, or be a part of the peaceful solution of the problem they have been facing instead of being a reason for its failure. Quran urges the followers of Islam to resort to peace first and whenever possible but they may fight the oppressors if peaceful means failed. But fighting does not include killing the innocent civilians and the least expecting people as this reflects the meanest kind of character and does not reflect the spirit and/or teachings of Islam.

Pangong Lake, in Ladakh. Makes up a bit of the India-China border - was absolutely beautiful but pretty scary to get to. Will send you a link to my photos - even if i do say so myself, i took some good shots... :)

Shazia, I LOVE your new pic!

What a beautiful place... where was this taken?

nice one bleech, i didnt think of nutters believing their niyaats to be pure... it is situational indeed

I believe in accountability. Every action sets off another set of actions. Every action has a consequence.

I think having good intentions can take you far.. but only so far. Once you become aware of your responsibility in the "reactions" you're creating you cannot rely on having good intentions alone. That is why it is of dire importance to think before we act.

In the end I suppose you cannot really know if good intentions alone can absolve you as only Allah is the ultimate judge.

that's one of the purposes of revelation in my eyes... to balance this idea of piety and transform good intention into the proper way of acting... human beings tend to become imbalanced in their intentions... case in point... ascetism...

Like they say, it's the thought that counts.

Which also leads me to think niyat is much better than action.

I've developed a whole pan-handler donation policy about this.