Rulings of niyyah [intention] for fasting

1- If during Ramadan one ignorantly or forgetfully, intended to fast for a purpose other than Ramadan, what is the ruling about his sawm?

A: In the given question his sawm is correct and valid to be considered as part of the fast of Ramadan.

2- In niyyah, is it obligatory to determine the subject in details?

A: It is not obligatory. It is sufficient to intend the wanted sawm, i.e. if he wanted to fast Ramadan at a time when it is obligatory, it is valid to intend the sawm of the month of Ramadan.

3- Is it possible to fast during the month of Ramadan, consciously aware of the niyyah, other than Ramadan fasts?

A: It is incorrect and cannot be applied either to the month of Ramadan or to the niyyah one had intended.

4- If the mukallaf wanted to make a fast other than that of Ramadan, is he obliged to specify it in the niyyah?

A: If the kinds of sawm he is allowed to fast are more than one kind, he is obliged to sepcify it.

5- Is one niyyah sufficient for the whole month of Ramadan?

A: It is sufficient if it would continue every day till the end of the month.

6- Is there a specific form of niyyah in the Islamic law?

A: There is no specific form. The standard is the occurance of the sawm with continuing determination or desire in one's mind even though if this would take place just before the fajr of a day of fasting or even before that.

7- If a mukallaf intends either to cancel his sawm by abolishing its niyyah or to perform anything that would invalidate it during the month of Ramadan, its qada or the sawm of the kaffarah or nadhr, then what is the ruling of his sawm?

A: If he just intends to perform or take anything that would invalidate the sawm, it would not harm the correctness of the sawm unless he had already eaten something except if he became aware that this would entail the intention of canceling his sawm by abolishing its niyyah. While the niyyah of canceling the fasting by the determination to abolish it completely will invalidate the obligatory and time specific sawm, in general. In case of obligatory time-non-specific sawm it would not be invalidated with this intention in case that he returned to the niyyah of the sawm before the zawal.

8- What is the ruling if a mukallaf did not intend to fast for the month of Ramadan due to forgetting the ruling or the subject, then he became aware:

a) before zawal and before eating anything,

b) after zawal and before eating anything,

c) after he eats something.

A: If he became aware only after he committed an act which would void the sawm, his sawm is void and he is obliged to refrain from eating for the rest of the day. While if he becam aware before that, then if it was after zawal, his sawm is void, while if it was before zawal, then it is based on obligatory caution to intend to observe sawm at this day and do fast and perform its qada later on.

Adopted from the book : "Questions & Answers About Fast Accroding to Ayatollah Khamenei's Fatwa"