TheAuthenticBase
Assalaamu 'alaykum!
As for stating the intention out aloud then this is nothing short of a bid'ah (innovation) due to you adding something to the worship. There is ijmaa' (a consensus) that the place for the intention is in the heart. There is no narration from the Prophet (saw) or the sahaabah which can be used as proof to say that the intention is to be said. None of them done this, whether for salaah or any other act of worship.
Those who say that one should say the intention, say so due to their argument that it prevents confusion in one's intention. But if this concept was indeed logical and acceptable in Islaam then the Prophet (saw) would have told us, and he (saw) would not have overlooked it. Also if one intends to pray asr though he says he intends to pray zhuhr, then it is the intention of asr that counts (as that was what was in his heart). So the articulation of the intention, even according to them, doesn't count here. So in reality there is no need for articulating the intention.
As for the argument that there is proof from the sunnah that one should state one's intention, namely the talbiyah said at hajj (labayk Allaahumma labayk...), then this is a weak argument for two reasons:
1) That this is the exception to this rule (however this counter-argument is also a weak opinion).
2) That the talbiyah is not an intention. One is not articulating one's intention by saying the words of the talbiyah. The talbiyah is only a statement to enter an act of worship, like the takbiratul-ihraam for entering the prayer (i.e, saying 'Allaahu Akbar" when one starts his prayer).
[Taken from the class notes to "Ar-Raud Al-Murbi'" taught by Shaykh Aboo Rumaysah]
Those who say that one should say the intention, say so due to their argument that it prevents confusion in one's intention. But if this concept was indeed logical and acceptable in Islaam then the Prophet (saw) would have told us, and he (saw) would not have overlooked it. Also if one intends to pray asr though he says he intends to pray zhuhr, then it is the intention of asr that counts (as that was what was in his heart). So the articulation of the intention, even according to them, doesn't count here. So in reality there is no need for articulating the intention.
As for the argument that there is proof from the sunnah that one should state one's intention, namely the talbiyah said at hajj (labayk Allaahumma labayk...), then this is a weak argument for two reasons:
1) That this is the exception to this rule (however this counter-argument is also a weak opinion).
2) That the talbiyah is not an intention. One is not articulating one's intention by saying the words of the talbiyah. The talbiyah is only a statement to enter an act of worship, like the takbiratul-ihraam for entering the prayer (i.e, saying 'Allaahu Akbar" when one starts his prayer).
[Taken from the class notes to "Ar-Raud Al-Murbi'" taught by Shaykh Aboo Rumaysah]