the commencement of the prescribed time, facing the qiblah, bowing, prostrating, raising the head from prostration, standing, the final sitting, and performing the acts of prayer in their prescribed order.
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The evidence that intention is obligatory and a condition for the validity of prayer is Allah’s saying, Mighty and Majestic:
“So worship Allah, making your devotion sincere to Him.” [al-Zumar: 2]
And His saying:
“They were commanded only to worship Allah, making their devotion sincere to Him.” [al-Bayyinah: 5]
And the Prophet’s saying, peace and blessings be upon him: “Actions are only according to intentions.” Prayer is an act of worship and an action; therefore, it cannot be valid without intention.
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Intention in its fullest form requires the person to bring faith consciously to mind and, together with that, intend to draw near to Allah Most High by performing the particular prayer He has made obligatory upon him. This comprises four intentions: intending to draw near to Allah, acknowledging the prayer’s obligatory nature, intending to perform it, and specifying which prayer it is. Bringing faith consciously to mind is a condition for the validity of all of these.
If he enters prayer with an intention of this kind, he has entered it in the most perfect manner. If, however, he forgets to bring faith consciously to mind when entering prayer, this does not invalidate his entry into it, because his knowledge and conviction of faith are already established: he remains a believer whether he is mindful of his faith or not.
Likewise, if, when entering prayer, he forgets to intend that the prayer is obligatory upon him, that he is performing it, and that through it he seeks nearness to Allah Most High, this does not invalidate his entry into prayer, provided he specifies which prayer it is. Specifying it entails its obligatory nature, seeking nearness to Allah, and performing it, since he already knows that the particular prayer he has specified is obligatory upon him.
If he does not specify which prayer it is, however, he has not entered that prayer. For this reason, we hold that someone who remembers having missed a prayer on a particular day, but does not know which prayer it was, must offer five prayers. This differs from the view reported from some of al-Shāfiʿī’s followers: that he offers four rakʿahs, recites aloud in the first two, sits in the second and third, recites the tashahhud and invokes blessings upon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and that this suffices. It is only