Step 1 of 13
Intention (niyyah)
Every prayer begins in the heart. Before the opening takbir, the one praying knows which prayer they are standing for: that this is Dhuhr and not 'Asr, an obligatory prayer and not a voluntary one. The Prophet ﷺ said that actions are only by intentions, and that each person has only what they intended.
The intention is an act of the heart, so there is no fixed formula to learn. It is enough to have decided, as you stand, to pray this particular prayer for the sake of Allah, and the intention should be present when you begin and not abandoned partway through.
The Prophet ﷺ told his companions, "Pray as you have seen me pray." The steps that follow walk through that prayer in order. One word about terms: the Hanafi school separates the pillar (fard, or rukn), without which the prayer is invalid, from the obligatory act (wajib): forgetting a wajib is made up with the prostration of forgetfulness, and leaving one on purpose leaves the prayer deficient so that it should be repeated. The Hanbali school also has wajib acts of the prayer, which forgetfulness is likewise made up for, though omitting one deliberately invalidates the prayer.
The four schools differ on some details. Show them
Each school's ruling, with the schools that share it named together.
Is the intention a pillar of the prayer or a condition for it?
The schools are split two and two.
Show each school
- Condition (shart)Hanafi · Hanbali
- Pillar (rukn)Maliki · Shafi'i
- Hanafi
- The intention is a condition that must precede or accompany the opening takbir, since it comes before the prayer itself begins.
- Maliki
- The Malikis list the intention among the obligatory acts (fara'id) of the prayer itself, made at the opening takbir.
- Shafi'i
- In the relied-upon view it is the first pillar of the prayer, joined to the opening takbir; some Shafi'is held it to be a condition.
- Hanbali
- The intention is a condition of the prayer, and it is best that it be joined to the opening takbir.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 631 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
Create a free account to keep your place as you go. Create a free account · Sign in