Student Life

Salam. Today's Thursday and as most of us know, it is sunnah to fast during this day of the week. Coincidentally today is also a day in the month of rejab and it is also sunnah to fast during the month of rejab. We can do an ibadah with 2 intentions (niyyah/niat) only if those two intentions are of the same hukum. Example, one is fasting today with the intention of doing the Thursday fasting AND the Rejab fasting. This is allowed because both of the intentions are from the same hukum which is SUNNAH. InsyaAllah the reward will also be higher than having just one intention. This works the same way with other ibadah like Solat. We can combine the intention of doing sunnah 2 rakaat after taking wudhu' and 2 rakaat tahiyyatul masjid with only one action that is doing the 2 rakkat solat. These are permissible just as long as the the 2 sunnah have the same ibadah act.

One can't combine 2 ibadah which have different hukum. Example, one is doing Solat Subuh but he has the intention of doing the obligatory (fardh/wajib) solat subuh and doing 2 rakaat sunnah qabliyyah subuh. This is NOT allowed in Islam as decided by most scholars because eventhough the acts of Solat Subuh and sunnah qabliyyah is the same; solat with 2 rakaats; the 2 intentions are of a different hukum, one wajib and one sunnah. This works the same way with fasting. One can't fast on Monday with the intention of replacing (qadha') a fast during last Ramadhan; which is wajib; and the intention of doing the Monday sunnah. Those two ibadah have the same ibadah act but different hukum.

Most Malaysians today fast on mondays and thursday with two intentions which one of them is to qadha' and the other is for the sunnah. It is not accepted in Islam and it is better for us to remove this practice from our daily life. It is recommended that we settle all our wajib replacement fasting first and then do the sunnah fasting aftwerwards. The wajib ibadah always have to be prioritized first before the sunnah ones.

I know some maybe will find it hard to cope with this but this is the law which most scholars has agreed with and we must abide by it. Any comments or disagreements or ke-tidak-puashati-an are welcomed in the comments.