Is Making a Verbal Intention a Condition for the Validity of the Fast?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam alaykum,

Last night during suhoor when I usually make intentions, verbally, to fast, I had not. But doesn’t the act of suhoor indicate what I’d be doing the following morning (fasting) and therefore reflect the intention I had at heart?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

I pray that you are in the best of health and faith, insha’Allah.

Yes, making a verbal intention is not a condition for the validity of the fast.

The intention is the resolve to do something, and the act of waking for suhur is a sufficient indicator of the intention.

And Allah alone gives success.

Tabraze Azam

Checked & Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani