is verbally making intention before praying salah is bidah ?

Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

Is Verbally Making Intention Before Praying Salah is Bidah ??? 

Like " mai niyat karta hun 2 rakah namaz fazar ki farz waste allah ke rukh mera qaba sharif ke taraf...?? 

Can you please give me dalil in the light of quarn and authentic hadith.... Jazak allahu kahir

Praise be to Allah :

STEP # 1 ==> INTENTION (Niyah)

(1) Narrated 'Umar bin Al-Khattab: I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended.

[Ref: Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1 Book #1, Hadith #1]

[Ref: Sahih Bukhari,Volume 1 Book #2, Hadith #51]

[Ref: Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3 Book #46, Hadith #706]

[Ref: Sahih Bukhari, Volume 5 Book #58, Hadith #238]

(1.1) It was narrated that 'Umar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Messenger of Allah said:"Actions are but by intentions, and each man will have but that which he intended

[Ref: Sunan Al Nasai Vol. 4, Book 27, Hadith 3467]

(1.2) The Niyat to pray Salah, should be within one's heart or mind only. There is not a single Hadith or even an Athar (teaching of a sahabi) which shows that either the Prophet (s.a.w) or the best of Muslims to have ever lived - 

his companions (r.a.a) ever, in their entire life uttered their Niyat (to pray) VERBALLY in words (either loudly or softly). 

The sahabas went to different countries wherein they found people belonging to different caste, culture and languages who came to them ( the companions r.a.a) to learn Islam (which included prayer). 

The sahabaas never taught anyone to make their niyat (intention) verbally in any language. So how can we do something which the Prophet (s.a.w) or his companions never did in Islam? We are neither better than them, nor are our scholars of today or past (All combined) better than them in understanding Islam,

On the contrary the Prophet (s.a.w) said:

“The key to prayer is purification; its beginning is Takbeer and its end is Tasleem”

[Sunan Abu Dawood (61, 618)], 

Al-Tirmidhee (3, 238)],

[Ibn Maajah (275, 276)] 

on the authority of `Alee bin Abu Taalib, Abu Sa`eed al-Khudree رضي الله عنهما and graded as “Saheeh” by Shaikh al-Albaanee]

And elsewhere the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said, in the hadeeth about the one who prayed badly: “Then turn towards the qiblah and say Allahu akbar.”

[Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6667]

Thus as we read , we see that the guidance (teaching) of the prophet (s.a.w) in regards to one commencing his prayer is to face the Qiblah and say "Allahu-Akbar (takbeer)" . He (s.a.w) did not mention verbal utterance of niyah in arabic let alone in Hindi/Urdu/Bangla/etc. Hence this action of doing a verbal niyat (either loudly or softly ) is not proven from the prophet (s.a.w) or his companions and is an innovation (Bid'at) in Islam and there are numerous hadiths warning against any Innovation in Islam. Out of many, I'l Post 2 of them below :

(i) Narrated Aisha:Allah's Apostle said, "If somebody innovates something which is not in harmony (accordance) with the principles of our religion (Mine and my sahabas), that thing is rejected."

[Ref: Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 3, Book 49, Hadith 861]

(ii) On the Authority of Ali Ibn Abi Talib (r.a) : The prophet (s.a.w) said " If anyone introduces an innovation, he will be responsible for it. If anyone introduces an innovation or gives shelter to a man who introduces an innovation (in religion), he is cursed by Allah, by His angels, and by all the people

[Ref: Sunan Abu Dawood, Book 39, Hadith 4515. This hadeeth is Da'eef but the matan is supported from different texts such as Abu-Dawud Book 036, Hadith Number 5221 and Sahih Muslim Book 7, Number 3159]

(1.3) So the act of verbally uttering one's niyat is not only religiously wrong but Also Illogical. e.g : You hear the Asr Adhan and you get up from your bed/office/room/work/desk etc and make wudhu, then you get out of the house, walk or ride towards the masjid. enter the masjid. and get ready to pray asr behind the Imam when the Iqama is heard. Now you did this only because you "INTENDED TO PRAY ASR" and not because "YOU WERE FAKING IT"

(1.4) From 1.3 we learn that our Niyat has been already made logically. and We all know that Allah has been called by the word "Bizatis Sudoor" in the Quran which means "knower of the hearts". So Allah knows what we intend and what we don't. If a person intends to pray asr for the sake of Allah then Allah knows his niyat and if a person is standing to fake his prayer then no matter how good his verbal niyat is, Allah knows what is in his heart.

(1.5) from 1.4 we learn that Allah already knows what we are going to pray or how and etc. so now comes the Point that "if we pray only for the sake of Allah, and if Allah knows what we are going/intend to pray, and if we ourselves also know what we are going/intend to pray" then why are we reciting our niyat verbally? When

- Allah knows,

- We know

Then why to utter it verbally? This is illogical and one should abstain from this for this is a cursed innovation in Islam.

Ibn Taymiyah (r.h) said : "The intention (for the prayer) should not be uttered (verbally) according to the consensus (Ijmaa) of the Imams of Islaam. Rather the place of intention is the heart , according to the consensus among them" 

[Ref: Fataawa al-Kubra, 1/214,215]

Ibn al-Qayyum (r.h) said : "Doing intention from the tongue is not proven from the Prophet (s.a.w) nor a Sahaabi not a Tab'aee not from the 4 Imaams (Abu Hanifa, Al-Sha'afi, Hanbal and Maalik] 

[Ref: Zaad Al-Ma'ad Vol 1, Pg 201]

Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyyah:"When the Prophet (?) stood up to pray, he would say: “Allaahu akbar,” and he did not say anything before that, or utter the intention (niyyah) out loud at all. He did not say, “I am going to pray such-and-such a prayer, facing the qiblah, four rak'ahs, as an imam or following an imam.” And he did not say “ada’an (on time)” or “qadaa’an (making up a missed prayer)” or “fard al-waqt (the obligatory prayer of this time).” These are all bid’ahs which were not narrated by any scholar with any isnaad, be it saheeh, da’eef, musnad or mursal … Neither was this narrated from any of the Prophet’s companions, and none of the Taabi’een or the four imams described it as mustahabb."

(Zaad al-Ma’aad 1/201)

Conlusion : Uttering one's niyat (intention) verbally for any salah is against the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) and logic.