to bring it about by speaking it. Yet bringing into being what already exists is impossible. This is why many people fall prey to various forms of obsessive doubt.

The scholars agree that it is not permissible to pronounce the intention aloud, whether one is leading the prayer, following an imam, or praying alone, and that repeating it is not recommended. Their disagreement concerns only whether pronouncing it quietly is disliked or recommended.

Section

The word innamā conveys restriction according to the overwhelming majority of scholars. This is something self-evident in Arabic, just as the meanings of particles of negation, interrogation, condition, and the like are understood. Scholars have, however, differed over whether it conveys restriction through its explicit wording or its implied meaning. There are two views. The majority hold that it does so through its explicit wording. The other view is held by some who recognize implied meaning as authoritative, such as al-Qādī Abū Yaʿlā in one of his two positions, and by some of its more extreme opponents. These maintained that it conveys restriction, citing expressions such as Allah’s words:

“The believers are only”

Some scholars of legal theory have argued that it conveys restriction because the particle in expresses affirmation and the particle mā expresses negation; when combined, they convey both negation and affirmation.