well known among the scholars on this issue. This holds whether we consider ihrām an essential pillar or not. The necessity of intention admits of no disagreement, for acts intended as worship cannot qualify as the prescribed acts of worship without intention. Whether ihrām takes effect through intention alone, however, is disputed both within our school and elsewhere, as we shall explain, if Allah Most High wills.

There is a distinction between the intention required for Hajj and the intention by which one enters ihrām. A man may intend to perform Hajj from the moment he leaves his home, as commonly happens, and perform the standing and circumambulation while maintaining that intention, both consciously and in legal effect, even though he neither intends to enter ihrām nor even thinks of it.

The basis of this distinction is that intention, as understood in acts of worship, comprises two elements: intending the act of worship and directing one’s intention to the One worshipped. Directing one’s intention to the One worshipped is the foundation indicated by His words, glorified be He:

“They were commanded only to worship Allah, devoting their religion sincerely to Him.”

And by the words of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace):

“Whoever’s migration is to Allah and His Messenger, his migration is to Allah and His Messenger. But whoever’s migration is for worldly gain or a woman to marry, his migration is to that for which he migrated.”

He (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) thus distinguished between one intended goal and another, and this