Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

I had mailed you earlier , why do you not prepare a prayer guideline. It will be most helpfull. Give niyaat , what ayahs to pray etc for all salaahs Thanks 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Intention for Prayers

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His  forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Beloved brother, we have written an answer to a similar question regarding the prayers, which we are attaching for your reference.

Ref: Neeyah or intention for prayer

Beloved brother, there is absolutely no need to declare verbally the intention that one wishes to offer so and so prayer to the All Knowing, All Wise, Lord of the Worlds! If one makes an intention in his heart, that would more than suffice; for Allah Subhanah indeed knows the deepest secrets of our hearts!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 11 Surah Hud verse 5: Behold! They fold up their hearts that they may lie & hide from Him! Ah! Even when they cover themselves with their garments, He knoweth what they conceal and what they reveal: for He knoweth well the (inmost secrets) of the hearts.

There is absolutely no evidence in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) that whenever he stood to offer his prayers, he would declare his intentions verbally. He (saws) would simply raise both his hands to his ear and declare the ‘takbeer’ – ‘Allah-o-Akbar’, and start his prayer.

Ref: the Aayahs to recite in each Rakah

It is an obligatory condition of prayer that the Surah Fateha (first Surah of the Quran) be recited in each Rakah of the prayer. After the Surah Fateha, one may recite any Surah or any aayah/s he may have memorized from the Quran, to complete the Rakah.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan