Is washing the hands at the beginning of ablution sufficient as an indication of the intention for ablution? Is it necessary to renew the intention if one seeks forgiveness or speaks between the intention and the تكبيرة الإحرام (Takbirat al-Ihram) for prayer? And must the intention for prayer be present until one enters it, or is it sufficient to intend a short time before?

The intention (niyyah) resides in the heart and is merely a person's aim and knowledge of something. It does not require great effort or obsessive doubt. Whoever knows what they intend to do has already made the intention, without needing to choose it again. If a Muslim intends to perform ablution (wudu) and then performs it, the intention has been fulfilled. Similarly, if one intends to pray Dhuhr and knows that they will pray it, the intention is present. Seeking forgiveness or speaking does not invalidate the intention, because the intention's place is the heart, not the tongue. It is permissible to make the intention a short time before the prayer, not restricted by specific minutes; rather, this is determined by common practice. Indeed, some scholars have even held that it is permissible to make the intention a long time after the prayer's time has begun, as long as it is not nullified.