Intention is a condition for all acts of worship.

Intention may be discussed from two perspectives:

The first concerns specifying the act, so that it is distinguished from others. Thus, in prayer one intends that it is a prayer and that it is, for example, the noon prayer; in pilgrimage, that it is pilgrimage; and in fasting, that it is fasting. This is what the jurists discuss.

The second concerns the One for Whom the deed is performed, rather than the specification of the act of worship itself. This is sincerity, the opposite of which is polytheism. Those who discuss this are the scholars of spiritual wayfaring, in the chapter of monotheism and related matters. This is more important than the first, for it is the essence of Islam and the very core of the religion, and it is what a person must take care to attend to.

When performing an act of worship, a person should remember two things:

First: that Allah, Most High, has commanded this act of worship, so that he performs it while mindful of Allah’s command. Thus, he performs ablution for prayer in compliance with Allah’s command, for He, Most High, says:

“O you who believe! When you rise for prayer, wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows.” [al-Ma'idah 5:6]

He should not do so merely because ablution is a condition for the validity of prayer.

Second: following the example of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, so that conformity to his sunnah may be attained.

His statement, “Intention is a condition,” means that it is a condition for the validity, acceptance, and sufficiency of the deed, due to the Prophet’s saying, peace and blessings be upon him: “Actions are only by intentions.” (1)

And because Allah, glorified and exalted is He, has qualified many deeds with His saying: “seeking the countenance of Allah.”