Explanation of the issue of verbalizing the intention according to the Hanafis and that it is the first of the recommended practices of prayer.

The Shaykh : This is a jurisprudential issue we had read in the branches of the Hanafi school, based on their verbalizing of the intention, which they consider to be the first of the recommended practices of prayer: verbalizing the intention.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : He said: So if one intends and follows the imam and says, "I intend to pray four rak'ahs of the obligatory Zuhr prayer for Allah the Exalted, facing the qiblah, following this imam who is Zayd," but it turns out he is 'Amr, then the criterion is his words, not his gesture.
The student : Glory be to Allah, how strange.

The Shaykh : If there were no one in the house, what would he say? He would say, "There is no one in the house from among the people."
The student : Yes, that is right.

The Shaykh : This aligns perfectly with what I tell people when they say, "My brother, do not pray except behind a sutrah," and they reply, "There is no one."
The student : And how do you know?

The Shaykh : Look at this etiquette: do not say "there is no one in the house"; say "there is no one from among the people, from among the relatives, from such and such," and so on.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar!