Is it Wājib for a Non-Bāligh Child to Make Niyyah of Farḍiyyah?

The question of a child’s _niyyah_ when performing _ṣalāh_ is an oft-obscure one, and the range of opinions concerning it remains unknown to a large majority of the Shāfiʿī laity. This brief article hopes to elucidate the matter by tracing the genealogy of the issue through postclassical Shāfiʿī fiqh. It examines the textual ambivalence of Imām al-Nawawī in _Rawḍat al-Ṭālibīn_ and _al-Majmūʿ_, identifies which of these positions were adopted by al-Ramlī and Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī, explains the respective reasoning behind their preferences, and references the later scholars who followed each position.