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Fatwa CenterWhat a praying person says when he performs the night prayer
Question
yes, asalam alakum i wanted to know what we have to say when we perform the night prayer do we just say we want to pray 2 rakats for Allah or say 2 sunnahs instead. thank you bye
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
A praying person is not Islamically required to say ‘I pray two Rak’ahs for Allaah’ nor to say ‘I pray two Rak’ahs as Sunnah’; rather, he is only required to have the intention and then start the prayer by saying ‘Allaahu Akbar’.
The place of the intention is the heart and not the tongue, and this is an easy matter, as it is just intending to do something. So, if one stands for the prayer and sets his mind to perform the night prayer for instance, then by him doing so the intention takes place. Intending it (the night prayer) does not necessitate uttering it by the tongue.
Thus, the intention is just to know which prayer one wants to perform. Ibn Taymiyyah 
said: “Intention follows knowledge, so if one knows what he wants to do then he has necessarily intended it.”
It is for this reason that many scholars are of the view that uttering the intention when performing the prayer is a religious innovation, whether the prayer is obligatory or supererogatory; for more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 88875.
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