"I told my family at night: 'I will fast tomorrow as qaḍā' (a make-up fast),' but I forgot to make the intention before sleeping. Is my fast valid?"
All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
The intention is obligatory in acts of worship. For obligatory fasting, the required intention is to resolve to fast during the night [before dawn]. Its proper locus is the heart, while verbalizing the intention out loud in acts of worship is a sunnah — so that the tongue may align with the heart. If the intent behind the statement in question was the intention to fast, then it is valid; but if the intent was merely to inform someone, or reflected hesitation or doubt, then it is not valid.
It is stated in *Bushrā al-Karīm* (Vol.1/P.216): "It is a sunnah to verbalize the intention — that is, whatever has already been intended in the heart, whether an obligatory or a voluntary act — such as specifying the number of rak‘ahs, just before the opening takbīr — so that the tongue may assist the heart, and because this is further removed from whispered doubts (waswasah), and in order to accommodate the view of those who held it obligatory in every act of worship that requires an intention (even though this is a minority position), by analogy with Ḥajj."
Accordingly: if the intention to fast arose in your heart before the second adhān [i.e., before Fajr], then your fast is valid.
And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.
What is the ruling on a young man and a young woman having a love relation for the purpose of getting married?
It is forbidden for a man and a woman to have any kind of relation whether for marriage, or not because it leads to committing sin. Such relations include: private meetings, mixing, gazing, and seclusion (Khulwa). Accordingly, one who is sincere in his intentions should go to the woman`s guardian and ask for her hand in marriage.
What is the ruling on the fasting of a woman who has reached menopause if menstrual blood flows?
If a woman reaches the age of menopause (which is usually sixty-two) and her menses have ceased, then she sees blood after that, and its duration is not less than a day and a night (24 hours), it is menstruation (hayd). If it is less than a day and a night, she is considered as having non-menstrual vaginal bleeding (mustahada), so she fasts and prays. However, she must perform ablution for every obligatory prayer after its time enters, pray immediately, and be treated as a person with a continuous condition. There is no specific end limit for a woman's menstruation; it is possible as long as the woman is alive. And Allah the Almighty knows best.
What is the ruling on making up the regular *rawātib* (sunnah) prayers together with a missed obligatory prayer?
All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
It is obligatory to make up (qaḍāʾ) a missed obligatory prayer (farḍ). As for the timed supererogatory prayers (al-sunan al-muʾaqqatah) or the regular rawātib prayers, it is recommended (mandūb) to make them up, even if a long time has passed. Ibn Ḥajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his Fatāwā: "It is established in our school that it is sunnah to make up the timed voluntary prayers, by night or by day, even if congregation is not prescribed for them, whether much time has passed or little."
Accordingly, it is recommended to make up the sunan together with the obligatory prayer. And Allah Almighty knows best.
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Note on terminology: Al-nawāfil al-muʾaqqatah (timed voluntary prayers) refers to supererogatory prayers tied to a specific time or cause, such as the rawātib (regular prayers before and after the obligatory ones), Duha, and the like. The ruling given here reflects the Shāfiʿī position.
