Niyyat

Q. Is niyat necessary for fasting?
A. Yes, niyat is necessary for fasting. A fast will not be considered fast, if one keeps away from all those things which break the fast and does not take anything from subh-e-sadiq to sunset without niyat.

Q. At what time should one express the niyat?

A. One should do niyat for fast during the night or before mid-day in the morning, for ramadan, nazr-e- mu'aiyan and nafil fasts. "day" in shari'at means the time from subh-e-sadiq to sunset. If subh-e-sadiq appears at 4 a.m., and the sun sets at 6 p.m., the day will be 14 hours long, and mid-day will be at 11 a.m. So one should express, at the lastest, the niyat for fasting by 11 a.m.

For qada fasts for ramadan, kaffara or nazr-e-ghair mu'aiyan, the niyat should be expressed before subh-e-sadiq.

Q. How to express the niyat?

A. It is not necessary to do niyat for fasting of ramadan, nazr-e-mu'aiyan, sunnat and nafil fasts, only a wish, and intention to fast will do. The fast for ramadan, during the month of ramadan, nazr-e-mu'aiyan on the fixed date and sunnat or nafil on any day will be completed in this way. But in the case of ghair-e-mu'aiyan, kaffara and qada of ramadan, the expression of niyat for particular fasts is necessary.

Q. Is it necessary to express the niyat by words?

a. Niyat is to will and to intend. It is enough to do the niyat in beart. It is better however, to do so by tongue. There is no harm if it is not expressed in words.