intending worship, may seek the Face of Allah in general terms, or seek to obey Him, worship Him, or draw near to Him. He may seek His reward without having any particular reward in mind, or hope for a particular reward in the Hereafter, in this world, or in both; or he may fear punishment, whether conceived of generally or in detail. The particulars of these intentions constitute a vast subject.

From this perspective, he may have no preference for one kind of bodily deed over another, except by considering how this compares with the intention for a particular kind of deed. Someone who intends to perform Hajj may have only a general conception of it—namely, that it involves going to a particular place—and thus intend what he has conceived, without knowing or intending its individual rites: standing, circumambulation, refraining from prohibited acts, and so forth. Rather, the individual rites of Hajj become objects of his intention only when he becomes conscious of them. He may know the kinds of rites involved in Hajj—that they include standing, circumambulation, and the like—because they have been described to him, even though he does not know the exact place or how circumambulation is performed; he then intends those rites. Or he may know all these details and intend what he knows.

Likewise, when a disbeliever embraces Islam and we tell him, “Prayer has now become obligatory for you,” he commits himself to it and intends to perform it because he has a general conception of it, even though he does not yet know how it is performed. Indeed, everyone who has firm faith in the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has a faith that entails believing what the Messenger reports and obeying what he commands, even if he neither knows nor intends the various kinds of