Clarification On Niyyat For Prayer
Niyyah is not just being consciously aware of doing something but purposefully doing it with an intent. Let’s understand this with the example of eating as you used above. Suppose that you were walking from your bedroom to your living room in order to watch TV and passing by the kitchen counter you happened to just pick up a few grapes to eat even though you weren’t hungry. In contrast, suppose that you were sitting in your bedroom and felt hungry and then decided to go to the kitchen to grab something, and you ended up eating grapes. In both cases you were consciously aware of your action to eat, but in the first case you didn’t intent on it while in the second case you clearly did. In case of salah, niyyah refers to the intent of actually praying rather than doing it just as an unintentional habit, for example.
JazakAllah Mr. Faisal Haroon. I think I understand your point. It’s like if I’m washing my face at the sink to wake myself up, but then decide to continue with the next step of wudu after realizing that I’ve just completed the first step. I hope I am correct in my understanding. Based on your explanation, it seems like I can ignore what the imam said, since I can purposefully perform dhur with intent without having to actively bring to mind that I am praying dhur and that it is four rakat. These are things that I naturally know due to practice. Can you please confirm that I have the right idea? JazakAllah
Yes, but you must be clear in your mind that what you’re trying to do, which is also referred to as intention.