The Noble Shaykh Muḥammad Ibn Sāliḥ al-‘Uthaymīn (may Allāh have mercy upon him) was asked:

Question: What is the ruling on changing the intention during the prayer? As an example: I forgot (to pray) Salāt adh-Dhuhr and the time for Salātul-‘Aṣr came in. So I entered into Salātul-‘Aṣr with the intentions that it’s ‘Aṣr; then, in the third Rakaʿah, I remembered I didn’t pray Dhuhr. Therefore, I changed the intention. So what is upon me to do?

Answer: Now I ask you a question, when the (person) changed the intention – the intention of praying ‘Aṣr to praying Dhuhr – did he negate the ‘Aṣr or not? He negated it. Therefore the ‘Aṣr has become negated. Also, when he made the intentions for the prayer that it is Dhuhr, is his intention sound while he did not intend it from the beginning? Therefore both of the prayers are invalid. Continue reading →