Intention Vs Action
Let me see if I understand the first part of your question correctly. When you make an intention, it means that you want to do something. Are you suggesting that you just want to intend to do something but never actually do it? Would that not be fooling your own self? As for the prayers, it’s not for the benefit of God, but that of our own selves. Salat is just an established way of the prophets to make dua to God. I hope the following video will shed some light. If it’s not clear, please don’t hesitate to ask a follow-up question. https://youtu.be/QA2n6RFhB8k
Upon reflection and introspection, I understood this as follows; There are two aspects of my self and two realms of my existence. The inner (باطنی) and the outer (خارجی). The ilm part relates to the inner. This inner is where my thought process is taking place, my philosophical side is being nourished and polished as the process of reflection and tadabbur progresses. And this is an umbrella term for each of the ‘hidden’ aspects of my personality. This is also where my intentions are nurtured. Now, if Im ready to implement or already implementing those intentions/thoughts into action, would it serve as a proof for the truth in them. How truthful were my intentions. So among all the other benefits, could we say that one of the wisdom behind this intention and action علم و عمل (in terms of God) also serves as a measuring tool for my own self to gage where I stand in terms of faith. For e.g namaz. How much punctual i am, how humble I am etc all of this helps me to check my own faith and keep reviewing it constantly? @AhmadShoaib @UmerQureshi @faisalharoon