How to Form the Intention for Fasting!!

Question : The questioner asks: How does one form the intention for fasting?

Answer : Forming the intention for fasting (tabiit al-niyyah) means that the intention must occur before the dawn (Fajr) breaks. This is the meaning of tabiit. It does not mean that you must intend before you go to sleep. Tabiit means intending to fast before the dawn breaks. For this reason, it appears in some wordings of the hadith: . Accordingly, the meaning of tabiit is to intend before the dawn breaks so that the intention covers all parts of the day. This intention applies to every obligatory fast. Therefore, for any obligatory fast, the intention must occur before the dawn breaks, whether it is the fast of Ramadan, making up a missed day of Ramadan, or an obligatory fast for expiation. This intention also applies if the fast is a specific voluntary fast, such as fasting the three white days (the 13th, 14th, and 15th of the lunar month). However, if it is a general voluntary fast, then a general voluntary fast is valid with an intention made during the day, according to the stronger opinion among the scholars.