Does Switching My Intention Mid-Prayer Invalidate It?

Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi

Question

I used to think that switching the intention of a prayer to a nafl mid-prayer was valid. There may have been some past sunna prayers which, for various reasons, I switched my intentions to nafl mid-prayer that I did not make up. Do I have to make up these sunna prayers if I am not sure how many times I switched my intention?

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

I pray this finds you in the best of states.

No, you don’t have to make up the sunna prayers in which you simply intended in your heart mid-prayer to switch to a voluntary (nafl) prayer. [Hibatu Allah al-Tajih, Tahqiq al-Bahir Sharh al-Ashbah wa al-Nazair]

The reason for the ruling above is that intention alone is not an invalidator of the prayer. Thus, as long as you have not performed any invalidator of the prayer, you are still in the first prayer you have started, even if this is not your intention anymore. This is why it is a condition to utter the opening Takbir (saying “Allah Akbar”) in order to move from one prayer to another mid-prayer. [ibid]

Thus, whether you knew it or not, you were still in the sunna prayer you had started, and your intention was of no consequence. [ibid]

If, on the other hand, you uttered the opening Takbir for the voluntary (nafl) prayer along with your intention, then the sunna prayer you had started became invalid, and your switching was successful. [ibid]

If you uttered your intention out loud mid-prayer, the sunna prayer you had started beforehand became invalid, even if you didn’t utter the opening Takbir for the voluntary (nafl) prayer. This is because you have introduced worldly speech in your prayer, which is an invalidator of the prayer. [ibid]

Making Up Sunna Prayers

Missed confirmed sunna are not made up after their time. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah; Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

Please see: Do I Have to Make up the Confirmed Sunna Prayers?

Nonetheless, it is necessary (wajib) to make up a sunna prayer or nafl prayer that has been started and invalidated before completion. [Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

Allah, Most High, says: “Do not let your deeds be in vain.” [47:33]

And Allah knows best.
Wassalam
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching far and wide for answers to the fundamental questions of life and was disappointed at the answers he found. Then he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor Shaykh Faraz Rabbani. He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others. He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.