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What is the ruling on forming the intention overnight for make-up fasting?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

For every obligatory fast, such as Ramadan, its make-up (qada'), vows (nadhr), and expiations (kaffarah), the intention (niyyah) must be formed during the night, based on the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) saying: "Whoever does not determine to fast before Fajr, there is no fast for him." There is another opinion that a single intention suffices for continuous fasting, such as Ramadan and its expiation, based on the hadith: "Deeds are only by intentions." As for non-continuous fasting, such as making up for Ramadan and the expiation for an oath (kaffarat al-yamin), the intention must be renewed every night.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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