Para fuqaha telah bersepakat tentang syarat niat (niyyah) bagi sahnya solat, kerana solat ialah bentuk yang paling utama di antara pelbagai jenis ibadah ritual yang telah ditetapkan dalam syariat tanpa diberikan kepentingan yang rasional (maslahah), iaitu kepentingan yang nyata. Namun, mereka berselisih pendapat tentang sama ada disyaratkan bahawa niat makmum mesti selaras dengan niat imam. Dengan kata lain, adakah dibolehkan seorang makmum menunaikan solat zuhur ketika imam sedang menunaikan solat asar? Dan adakah dibolehkan imam menunaikan solat zuhur sunat ketika makmum menunaikan solat fardu? Malik dan Abu Hanifah berpegang bahawa wajib niat makmum selaras dengan niat imam, manakala al-Syafi'i berpendapat bahawa ia tidak wajib.

The jurists agreed about the stipulation of intention (niyya) for the validity of prayer, because prayer is the foremost form among the different kinds of ritual worship that have been ordained in the law without being assigned a rational interest {maslaha), that is, a tangible interest. They disagreed, however, about whether it is a condition that the niyya of the follower should conform with the niyya of the imami In other words, is it permitted for a follower to pray zuhr when the imam is praying W? And, is it permitted for the imam to be praying supererogatory zuhr when the follower prays fard? Malik and Abu HanTfa maintained that it is obligatory that the intention of the follower conform with the intention of the imam, while al-ShaficT held that it is not obligatory.

Punca perselisihan mereka ialah pertembungan antara makna tersirat sabda Nabi (ﷺ), "Imam dilantik supaya diikuti", dengan riwayat Mu'adh bahawa dia biasa solat bersama Nabi (ﷺ) kemudian mengimamkan kaumnya. Mereka yang berpendapat bahawa ini khusus bagi kes Mu'adh, dan bahawa makna umum sabda Nabi (ﷺ), "Imam dilantik supaya diikuti", merangkumi niat, mensyaratkan supaya niat imam selaras dengan niat makmum. Mereka yang berpendapat bahawa keizinan yang diberikan kepada Mu'adh meliputi semua orang beriman, iaitulah prinsipnya, berkata bahawa riwayat yang pertama (terdahulu) itu boleh ditafsirkan dengan dua kemungkinan: pertama, bahawa makna umumnya tidak merangkumi niat, kerana makna zahirnya berkaitan dengan perbuatan (zahir), dan dalam keadaan ini ia tidak bercanggah dengan riwayat Mu'adh; atau ia mungkin merangkumi niat, dan dalam keadaan itu riwayat Mu'adh telah mengkhususkan keumumannya.

The reason for their disagreement is the conflict between’ the implication of the saying of the Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be upon him), “The imam has been appointed so that he may be followed”, and the tradition of Mu<adh that he used to pray with the Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) and then lead his people la prayer. Those who maintained that this was specific to the case of Mu^dh and that the general implication of the words of Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be upon him), “The imam has been appointed so that he may be followed”, includes intention, stipulated the conformity of the imam's intention with that of the follower. Those who maintained that the permission granted to Mu<adh extends to all the believers, which is the principle, said that there can be two possible interpretations of the other (former) tradition: first, that its general implication does not include intention, for its apparent meaning relates to (external) acts, in which case it would not conflict with Mu^dh’s tradition; or it may include intention, in which case Mu’adh’s tradition has restricted the generality.

Berkaitan dengan niat terdapat isu-isu yang tidak berkaitan dengan perkara-perkara yang dinyatakan secara jelas dalam syariat, dan kami memutuskan untuk menggugurkannya, kerana tujuan utama kami ialah membincangkan isu-isu yang berkait secara langsung dengan perkara-perkara yang dinyatakan secara jelas dalam syariat.

' Related to niyya are issues that have no concern with matters expressly stated’in the law, and we decided to drop them, as our primary purpose is the discussion of issues that are directly related to matters expressly stated in the law.