By Asma bint Shameem
“I make the intention to pray four rak’aat of fardh prayer, at the time of Dhuhr, for the sake of Allaah, facing the Kaa’bah....Allaahu Akbar”
This is what I was “taught” to say as a child, when I was beginning the prayer.
But then upon studying the Deen and the way of the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam, I realized that there was NO PROOF of saying my intention this way.
Actually, there’s NO NEED to say my intention this way.
But unfortunately a lot of people don’t know that.
In fact this is a very common misconception among the people of the subcontinent.
When we were little, most of us were taught that we must verbalize our intentions.
But that’s not correct.
The niyyah is in the *heart*.
Allaah already KNOWS your intention.
Whatever you *”intend”* or *resolve* to do is the niyyah.
Why is it wrong?
The “intention” is an act of ibaadah.
And for any act of ibaadah to be valid,
we must have EVIDENCE for the validity of that act from the Qur’aan and/or authentic ahaadeeth.
But when we search for ‘evidence’ for
*verbalizing* the niyyah, we see NO EVIDENCE for that from the Qur’aan NOR from the authentic practice or teachings of the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam or his Sahaabah.
He Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam NEVER said the niyyah in the form of words for ANY Ibaadah.
Rather he made the niyyah in the HEART.
So if the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam didn’t do it, then surely it doesn’t become right for ‘us’ to do it.
So how should I make my niyyah if I shouldn’t verbalize it?
Just “thinking” about the act of ibaadah and taking all the means to perform, it is enough.
So for example, when you *’intend’* to pray Fajr, all that’s required is for you to make wudhu, stand for prayer facing the Qiblah and *’know’* in your *‘heart’* that the two rak’aat you’re about to offer at the break of dawn, are the two Sunnah of Fajr.
And start praying.
You don’t have to ‘say’ anything.
The intention of the heart is *enough*.
Then when you’re done with the two Sunnah, you would again stand up and have the *intention* to pray two more rak’aat.
You *know* in your *heart* that now you’re going to pray two “Fardh” because you’ve just already prayed the Sunnah.
Similarly, when you *“intend”* to pray Tahiyyatul wudhu, for example, you don’t have to *‘say’* anything.
The fact that you made wudhu and now you *‘want’* to follow that up with praying two rak’aat of Tahiyyatul wudhu is enough; because the *intention* in your heart is to pray “Tahiyyatul Wudhu”.
You are not wanting to pray Dhuhr or Ishaa or Istikhaarah or the eclipse prayer.
You want to pray “Tahiyyatul wudhu”.
And Allaah KNOWS that.
So as you can see, there’s no need to “say” anything from your mouth.
The intention of the heart is enough for ANY act of ibaadah, and not just the prayer.
Allaah already knows.
There’s no need to “inform” Him Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala what you’re intending to do.
Rather the Ulama say that saying the intention out loud is bid’ah.
And anyone who does bid’ah is sinful.
Ibn al-Qayyim said:
“When the Prophet Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam stood up to pray, he would say: “Allaahu akbar,” and he did not say anything before that, or utter the intention (niyyah) out loud at all.
He did not say, “I am going to pray such-and-such a prayer, facing the qiblah, four rak'ahs, as an Imaam or following an Imaam.”
And he did not say “ada’an (on time)” or “qadaa’an (making up a missed prayer)” or “fard al-waqt (the obligatory prayer of this time).”
These are all *bid’ahs* which were not narrated by any scholar with any isnaad, be it saheeh, da’eef, musnad or mursal …
Neither was this narrated from any of the Prophet’s companions, and none of the Taabi’een or the four Imaams described it as mustahabb.”
[Zaad al-Ma’aad (1/201)]
We can not verbalize our intentions for ANYthing.
This principle goes for ALL acts of ibaadah.
So for example if you’re going to fast, you don’t have to “say”:
“I’ve woken up at 4 am, to eat eggs and toast, and I’m going to refrain from food and drink, so that I can fast today from Fajr to Maghrib, for the sake of Allaah”
although that’s what you intend, isn’t it?
ALL you have to do is to *RESOLVE* to fast the day.
That’s it.
No need to VERBALIZE it.
By the way, those so-called “duaas” for ‘intention’ for fasting that we’ve all seen on Ramadhaan calendars and timetables, are NOT authentic or proven from the authentic practice or teachings of the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam.
So yes, we should NOT be saying:
نـَوَيْتُ صَوْمَ غـَدٍ
Or
وَبِصَوْمِ غَدٍ نَّوَيْتُ
when we plan to fast.
That’s because there’s NO PROOF of this from the authentic Sunnah.
Rather it is BID’AH.
And bid’ah is a HUGE SIN.
Someone asked the scholars of the Standing Committee:
“How should a person intend to fast Ramadaan?”
They said:
“The intention is done by *resolving* to fast.” [Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 10/246]
Imaam Ibn Taymiyah said:
“If it crosses a person’s mind that he is going to fast tomorrow, then he has made the intention.” [al-Ikhtiyaaraat (p. 191)]
Ibn Taimiyyah also said:
“The intention of purifying oneself by doing wudoo’ ghusl or tayammum, of praying, fasting, paying zakaah, offering kafaarah (expiation) and other acts of worship does not need to be uttered verbally, according to the consensus of the imaams of Islam.
Rather the place of intention is the HEART, according to the consensus among them.
If a person utters something by mistake that goes against what is in his heart, then what counts is what he *intended*, NOT what he said.
No one has mentioned any difference of opinion concerning this matter, except that some of the later followers of al-Shaafa’i expressed approval of that, but some of the leaders of this madhhab said that this was wrong.
But in the dispute among the scholars as to whether it is mustahabb to utter one’s intention, there are two points of view.
Some of the companions of Maalik, Ahmad and others said that it is not mustahabb to utter it, because that is a bid’ah (innovation).
It was not narrated that the Messenger of Allaah Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam or his Sahaabah did it or that he commanded anyone among his ummah to utter the intention.
That is not known from any of the Muslims.
If that had been prescribed then the Prophet Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam
and his companions would not have neglected it, as it has to do with worship which the ummah does every day and night.
This is the more CORRECT view.
Indeed, uttering the intention is of irrational thinking and falling short in religious commitment.
In terms of falling short in religious commitment, that is because it is bid’ah (an innovation).
In terms of irrational thinking, that is because it is like a person who wants to eat some food saying,
“I intend to put my hand in this vessel, take out a morsel of food, put it in my mouth and chew it, then swallow it, and eat until I have had my fill.”
This is sheer foolishness and ignorance.
Intention is connected to *knowledge*.
If a person *knows* what he is doing then he has *obviously made an intention*.
It cannot be imagined, if he knows what he wants to do, that he has not formed an intention.
The imaams are agreed that speaking the intention out loud and repeating it is not prescribed in Islaam, rather the person who has made this a habit should be disciplined and told not to worship Allaah by following bid’ah and not to disturb others by raising his voice.”
[Al-Fataawa al-Kubra, 1/214, 215]
So let us give up this inauthentic habit of saying the niyyah out loud.
Let us adopt the Sunnah.
And Allaah knows best
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