Intention and Sincerity

The sixth concerns the importance of intention, niyyah, and sincerity, ikhlāṣ, within ṣalāh. The schools of thought differ on how this intention is classified, but in ṣalāh itself a prayer cannot be performed without one. Intention is a farḍ component of prayer: without it the movements alone do not count as ṣalāh, since intention is one of the prerequisites — one of the farāʾiḍ that lies outside the prayer itself, established before it begins rather than within it: before entering the prayer, the intention of which prayer is being prayed must already be there. The same importance attaches to intention in ṭawāf, in ḥajj and in fasting, all of which have their own farḍ components resting on it. In acts of worship such as wuḍūʾ and ghusl, the Ḥanafīs hold intention to be a sunnah rather than a farḍ component, while Imam al-Shāfiʿī holds it to be farḍ, obligatory, in all these acts of worship.

As for ikhlāṣ, the scholars define it as freeing the heart from any worldly benefit, and from any benefit sought in the hereafter beyond the act of worship itself, so that whatever is done is done purely for Allah. Under no circumstance does Allah (swt) accept any worship from a servant unless it is done purely for Him. A prayer is not performed in order to reach Paradise, nor to impress an employer into granting a favour; it is performed for Allah (swt) alone, and this alone is ikhlāṣ — freedom from any expectation, worldly or otherwise, save Allah Himself. Cultivating this sincerity, and the intention that carries it, brings its own additional reward each time prayer is performed.