NIYYAT FOR NAMAZ

Niyyat is not something to be confined to certain words uttered in the name of intention. All four Madhhabs are unanimous in that acts of worship performed without the niyyat made by heart are not sahîh. No one heard Rasûlullah, the Sahâba, the Tâbi’în, or even the four imâms, make niyyat verbally. [Please see chapter 2, par. 15.] Hadrat Imâm-i Rabbânî ‘rahmatullâhi ’alaih’ says in the hundred and eighty-sixth letter of the first volume of Maktûbât: “Niyyat is made by heart. It is bid’at to make niyyat verbally. This bid’at has been called hasana (good, useful). But this bid’at annihilates not only the sunnat but also the fard. For, many people have been making niyyat only by tongue, without passing the niyyat through their heart. Thus niyyat through heart, one of the fards (principles) of namâz, has been neglected, and namâz has been nullified. This faqîr (hadrat Imâm-i Rabbânî means himself) do not recognize any bid’at as ‘Hasana’. I see no beauty in any bid’at.” It is sunnat to make niyyat (also) orally in Shafi’î and in Hanbalî Madhhabs. It is stated in Ibni ’Âbidîn: “That it is fard to make niyyat when beginning namâz has been stated unanimously. Niyyat is made only with the heart. It is bid’at to make it only in words. It is permissible for a person who makes niyyat with his heart to make niyyat verbally also in order to be safe against doubts.”