Niyya (intention: its place in worship, contracts and oaths, its conditions and time)

نِيّة

Niyya in the lexical sense is intention. For the Hanafis it is the purpose of obeying and drawing near to God in enjoining the act; for the Malikis the heart's purpose in what one does; for the Shafi'is intending a thing together with doing it; for the Hanbalis the heart's resolve to perform an act of worship seeking God. ^{1 2} It differs from azm, which precedes the act. ² Acts commanded in their form, such as prayer, purification, fasting and the rites, need intention, since their purpose is to honour God by doing them; those whose purpose is met by performance alone, such as repaying debts, do not. ³ Most jurists hold intention a condition of worship; most Shafi'is a pillar of it. ⁴ Acts that could be confused with another of their kind, such as the obligatory prayers and fasting, need specification; it is not required in the pilgrimage, the purifications and zakat. ^{5 6} The schools differ on whether intention in ablution, the major ablution and tayammum must be of obligation or merely of purification; the majority hold intention a condition of ablution, the Hanafis a sunna, and removing filth needs none according to the majority. ^{7 8 9} The schools differ on specifying obligation, performance or making up in prayer, fasting, zakat, the pilgrimage and expiations; the Shafi'is require specification where acts could be confused. ^{10 11 12} Intention is real or constructive: the real one is a condition at the start of worship, the constructive one suffices for its continuance. ^{13 14} Intention cannot be delegated; the schools differ on combining intentions and on splitting intention over the parts of ablution and worship. ^{15 16 17} In fasting, zakat and the pilgrimage the schools differ on the time and the sufficiency of intention. ^{18 19 20} In contracts, intention matters for allusive wording: a clear divorce takes effect without intention, an allusive one only with it; likewise return, zihar, waqf, marriage, emancipation and retaliation; in oaths the Hanafis follow the intention of the swearer if wronged and of the one who demands the oath if he is the wrongdoer. ^{21 22 23 24 25} In jihad, slaughter, hunting and the finding of lost property, intention affects the ruling; hunting is owned by taking even without intention, but the finder who intends to appropriate becomes liable. ^{26 27 28}