The Ruling on Verbalizing the Intention in Charity

Question:
A guest of the Shaykh, a friend I love for the sake of Allah, and I give charity with the intention of it being for this person. Should I verbalize it and say when giving the charity, "This is for so-and-so," or is the intention in the heart sufficient? And what is the virtue of this act?

Answer:
So we take pride in the intention. One may give charity and in other matters where it is permissible. In fact, one may give charity without verbalizing it, and intend in his heart that this charity is on behalf of so-and-so; this is sufficient, because Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows intentions without you having to verbalize them. He knows the secret and what is even more hidden, and He knows what is in the chest. When the Bedouins said, "We have believed," Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, said: It is sufficient for a person to perform an act of worship on behalf of himself or another by intention in his heart alone. He should not say, "I intend to pray," or "I intend to fast," or "I intend to give charity," or "I intend to give zakah," or the like. None of this is to be said with the tongue; rather, it is to be intended in the heart, because intention is necessary in acts of worship. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It is beneficial. So intention is necessary, but its place is the heart. The place of intention is the heart, not the tongue. Verbalizing it, as the scholars say, is a religious innovation (bid'ah), because it was not reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Rather, it was reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that verbalizing the intended act occurs in only two acts of worship: in the consecrated state of pilgrimage (ihram), where one says, "Labbaik 'Umrah" or "Labbaik Hajj," verbalizing the intended ritual; and the second is verbalizing the intended act when slaughtering the sacrificial animal. When slaughtering the 'Id sacrifice, one says, "This is a sacrifice on behalf of so-and-so," or "on my behalf," or "This is a sacrificial animal for Hajj on my behalf" or "on behalf of so-and-so," or "This is an 'aqiqah sacrifice on behalf of so-and-so," or the like. There is no harm in verbalizing the dedication in these two places: the ritual and the sacrificial animal. Beyond that, it is not permissible to verbalize anything, because it was not reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: