for Allah, glorified be He. The jurists agree that intending the particular kind of obligatory act is necessary in principle: one must intend prayer, Hajj, or fasting. They have detailed discussions and disagreements concerning subsidiary questions, but this is not the place for them.

They differed concerning the first intention, namely, the intention to dedicate the act to Allah Most High. Some scholars of our school said that this intention is not obligatory. Others distinguished between acts of worship intended for their own sake, such as prayer, Hajj, and fasting, and those not intended for their own sake, such as ritual purification and dry ablution.” Likewise, according to the sounder of their two views, the scholars of al-Shāfiʿī’s school did not require an intention to dedicate the act to Allah Most High. This is because the very intention to perform an act of worship implicitly includes dedicating it to Him, just as it includes the number of units of prayer. Prayer is prescribed only for Allah Most High, just as the noon prayer, when one is not travelling, can only consist of four units. For this reason, the intention to dedicate the act to Him was not obligatory.

Furthermore, an intention that remains in force takes the place of an intention consciously kept in mind, although consciously maintaining the intention is more complete and better. Thus, if a servant intends the noon prayer at the outset, it suffices for that intention to remain in force. Likewise, the believing servant into whose heart faith has entered has already formed a general intention that his acts of worship are for Allah alone and no one else; otherwise, he would be a hypocrite. When he intends a particular act of worship, such as prayer or fasting, he maintains the continuing effect of that