Fast: Niyyah, part 1

1 It is obligatory on Muslims to fast in the month of Ramadan. This means that to obey Allah's command, we must avoid acts that invalidate our fast from dawn until sunset. But to be on the safe side, it is obligatory to abstain from the acts that invalidate the fast from a little before Fajr- adhān until a little after the Maghrib adhān. One of the necessary conditions for fasting is Niyyah or intention. It is not necessary to verbally state the Niyyah or even think it out in our mind. The fact that we decide in order to obey Allah's command to abstain from the acts that invalidate the fast on this certain day suffices as Niyyah. If, God forbid, what intends to fast for pretension, the obligatory precaution demands that they complete the fast of that day and also observe the qada of that fast on another day. There is no specific time for Niyyah. With regards to the specified obligatory fasts such as fasting in the month of Ramadan, one can make their Niyyah at any time before the Fajr-Adhan. It is better that, on the first night of the month of Ramadan, one makes a Niyyah for the whole month in addition to making a Niyyah for every single day. But with regards to fasts with no set time, such as the qada fasts of the month of Ramadan or kaffārah fasts, one can make their Niyyah until the noon of that day on the condition that they have not done any of the acts that invalidate the fast. But one is free to make their Niyyah for recommended fasts until before sunset if they have not done any of the acts that invalidate the fast.