Is it obligatory to state intention while performing wudu?
Intending while performing minor ablution is sunnah according to the Hanafi school and fardh according to other three schools. Hanafis take the absence of intention among the actions mentioned in the verse known as the verse of wudu (Ma’idah, 5/6) as evidence. On the other hand, the facts that intention is not required in “purification from material impurities” and “satr al-awrat (covering certain parts of the body)”, which are among the required preparatios done before the ritual prayer just like ablution, and that ablution is not considered as a separate act of worship in itself but it is a condition for some acts of worship also show that intention is not a fardh in ablution according to Hanafis. (Kasani, Bada’i, I, 19-20; Marghinani, al-Hidayah, I, 103-104; Aliyy al-qari, Fath Bab al-‘Inayah, I, 55-56).
Other schools state that intention is fardh in ablution, as it is in other acts of worship (Shirbini, Mughni’l-muhtaj, I, 86), on the grounds of the verse of Allah, “And they have been commanded no more than this: to worship Allah, offering him sincere devotion, being true (in faith); to establish regular prayer; and to practice regular charity; and that is the religion right and straight,” (Bayyinah, 98/5) and of the hadith of Prophet Muhammad (saw), “All deeds are (judged according) to intentions …” (Bukhari, Bad’ al-wahy, 1; Muslim, Imara, 155).
Source: Presidency Of Religious Affairs The Turkey, High Board of Religious Affairs FATWAS
How To Perform Ablution in Islam
