When should one form the intention to do wudoo’

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

The intention (niyyah) is essential for all acts of worship;
no act of worship – including wudoo’ – is valid without the intention.

Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

The intention is an essential condition of wudoo’, ghusl and
tayammum being valid, and there is no difference of opinion among us
concerning that. This is the view of Maalik, al-Layth ibn Sa’d, Ahmad ibn
Hanbal and Dawood. They quoted as evidence the words of Allaah
(interpretation of the meaning):

“And they were commanded not, but that they should worship
Allaah, and worship none but Him Alone (abstaining from ascribing partners
to Him)”

[al-Bayyinah 98:5]

Worshipping none but Allaah with sincere devotion is an
action of the heart; this is intention, and the command here shows that it
is obligatory.

From the Sunnah, we have the words of the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “Actions are but by intentions.”

What is meant is that the ruling on an action is based on the
intention behind it.

Another piece of evidence
is the hadeeth in which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: “Every person will have but that which he intended.” If he
did not intend to do wudoo’ then he has not done wudoo’, and so on.

End quote from al-Majmoo’, 1/356. See also
al-Mughni, 1/156

Secondly:

It should be noted that the seat of the intention is the
heart, and it is not prescribed to utter it out loud.

See question no. 13337.

Thirdly:

It is better to form the
intention when starting to do wudoo’ or shortly before, so that the
intention will cover all parts of wudoo’. What is obligatory is to have the
intention when starting to do the obligatory parts of wudoo’.

Ibn Qudaamah said in al-Mughni, 1/159:

The intention must
precede the entire act of purification, because it is an essential condition
thereof, so it is regarded as being essential throughout. If any of the
obligatory parts of the act of purification take place before the intention,
they do not count. It is mustahabb to form the intention before washing
one’s hands, so that the intention will cover both the Sunnah parts of the
purification and the obligatory parts. If a person washes his hands before
forming the intention, he will be like one who has not washed his hand. It
is permissible to form the intention shortly before purifying oneself… but
if there is a long time in between, that is not sufficient. End quote.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said in al-Sharh al-Mumti’
(1/140):

The intention is either of two things:

1 – Either it is Sunnah, which is if it is done before a
Sunnah act of purification that comes before a waajib act’

2 – Or it is required when doing the first obligatory action.
End quote.

Based on this, it is better to form the intention before
starting to do wudoo’, and it is obligatory to have the intention when doing
the first of the obligatory actions of wudoo’. The scholars differed as to
which is the first obligatory action of wudoo’. It was said that it is
saying Bismillaah, or rinsing out the mouth – which is the correct view – or
washing the face. See questions no. 21241 and
11497.

But if a person forms the intention with the first obligatory
action of wudoo’, he will not be rewarded for whatever Sunnahs of wudoo’ he
did before that, such as saying Bismillaah and washing the hands three
times, as stated above in the words of Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy
on him).

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him)
said:

It is proven from the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) that the first part
of wudoo’ is to wash the hands three times, with the intention of doing
wudoo’, and to say Bismillaah.

Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz,
10/98

And Allaah knows best.