Q1. What is the ruling of An-Niyyah with respect to fasting?
Niyah is an essential and basic prerequisite for all acts of worship. As-Si’dee raḥimahullāh said in his ‘Mandhūmah Al-Qawā’id Al-Fiqhiyyah’:
النية شرط لسائر العمل * بها الصلاح والفساد للعمل
An-Niyyah is a condition for all acts * by way of it (the Niyyah) actions are either sound or corrupt
Thus, the Niyyah is a requirement for every fast, whether the fast is obligatory or a voluntary one. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Actions are judged according to intentions, and everyone will be rewarded according to what he intended.” [Bukhāri & Muslim].
Benefit:
1. Niyyah is what differentiates acts of worship from customary acts; for example, two people fastes today; one fasted seeking to draw closer to Allāh and the other fasted because they didn’t have an appetite. From the outside they are the same, but in reality the they are miles apart due to the difference in Niyyah.
2. Niyyah differentiates between acts of worship; such as obligatory acts (waajibaat) from voluntary acts (nawaafil); for example: the two units offered before Fajr is voluntary, whereas the two units of Fajr itself is compulsory. The difference between the two is in the Niyyah.
Q2. When is a person required to form the Niyyah?
Based on the previous ḥadīth, most of the scholars have said that the intention must be formed the night before if it is an obligatory fast.
Another evidence they use is the ḥadīth of Ḥafṣah raḍhiyallāhu ’anhā, that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “There is no fast for the one who did not intend to fast from the night before.” [Abū Dāwūd]
However, many of the scholars of ḥadīth; such as Bukhāri, An-Nasā’ee, Tirmidhi and others, have said that this report is Mawqūf (i.e. the statement of Ḥafṣah, rather than the Prophet ﷺ).
Nonetheless, scholars are agreed that the Niyyah precedes the action, so on this basis it has to be formed before dawn, which is when fasting begins; and perhaps this is what Ḥafṣah was meant by her statement. Therefore, the Niyyah must be formed the night before.
Q3. What about voluntary fasts?
With voluntary fasts, it’s not a condition to form the intention the night before. Rather it’s allowed to form the intention during the day. This is proven by the ḥadīth of ’Ā’ishah raḍhiyallāhu ’anhā, who said: “The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ entered upon me one day and said, ‘Do you have anything [to eat]?’ We said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘In that case I am fasting.’” [Muslim]
Note: initiating the Niyyah partway through the day is allowed ONLY IF a person has not already invalidated their fast by eating, drinking, engaging in sexual intercourse, etc. If they have eaten already, they cannot fast.
Note: if someone initiates the intention partway through the day, they will only be rewarded for the portion that was accompanied by the Niyyah, i.e. the point the Niyyah was formed onwards, because the Prophet ﷺ said: “Everyone will be rewarded according to what he intended.” So how can one be rewarded for something they did not intend!?
Benefit: There are two types of voluntary fasts:
(1) confined voluntary fasts (Muqayyad); days of fasting that have a specific virtue proven in the Sunnah, such as the 6 days of Shawwāl, ’Arafah, ’Āshūrah, etc.
(2) unconfined voluntary fasts (Muṭlaq); days of fasting that have no specific virtue, such as Wednesday.
With respect to confined voluntary fasts (Muqayyad), in order for a person to attain the virtues for fasting these days, they should form the intention from the night before – not partway through the day.
Q4. When forming the Niyyah does one have to specify the type of fast?
With regards to obligatory fasts, majority of scholars have said that it’s necessary to specify what type of obligatory fast it is; whether that is Ramaḍhān, Kaffārah (expiatory fast) or Nadhr (fasting in fulfilment of a vow).
In the case of voluntary fasting, one does not have to specify unless it is a confined voluntary fast (Muqayyad), such as ‘Arafah, ‘Āshūrā’ etc. They have to specify if they want to attain the specific virtues of fasting these days.
Q5: How is the Niyyah actually formed?
This is an important question, especially for those who suffer from Wiswās.
Sheikhul Islām Ibn Taymiyyah raḥimahullāh said “Once a person knows what he is doing, he has instinctively made the intention to do that act, because it’s not possible for anyone to know what he wants to do, without having already formed an intention.” [Majmū’ Fatāwa (22/217)]
Similarly, Ibnul Qayyim raḥimahullāh said: “Anyone with a firm resolve to carry out an act has instinctively made the intention for that particular act; it’s not possible to separate between the two… So whoever sits in order to perform wuḍhū’ has made the intention for wuḍhū’. In the same way, the one who stands to pray has made the intention for prayer…Intentions are an inseparably part of all acts that a person seeks to carry out…if a person wanted to carry out an act without any intention, he would not be able to do so.” [Ighāthat Al-lahfān (1/157)]
Q6: How does one form the Niyyah for Ramaḍhān?
Sheikhul Islām Ibn Taymiyyah raḥimahullāh said: “Anyone who knows that tomorrow is one of the days of Ramaḍhān and wants to fast, then he has already formed his intention.” [Majmū’ Al-Fatāwa (25/215)]
Note: The scholars differed with regards to making an individual Niyyah for each day of Ramaḍhān; those who consider the days of Ramaḍhān to be distinct acts of worship say it’s necessary to make a separate Niyyah for each day, whereas those who consider the whole month to be one act of worship say it’s sufficient to make one continued intention at the start of Ramaḍhān for the whole month; this way, one does not need to repeat the intention every night of Ramaḍhān as long as this intention remains uninterrupted. However, the safest option is to make a separate intention for each day.
Final note:
The Niyyah must remain intact throughout the fast. If the Niyyah is invalidated the act of worship is also invalidated; for example, if someone who is fasting makes a firm, determined decision to break their fast, their fast is automatically broken – even if they don’t eat or drink.