SIFAT SALAAT AN NĀBI ﷺ* *(The Prophet's Prayer Described From The Beginning To The End As Though You See It) Episode 18 The Necessity of al-Faatihah, and its Excellence

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*SIFAT SALAAT AN NĀBI ﷺ*

*(The Prophet's Prayer Described From The Beginning To The End As Though You See It)*

*Episode 18*

*The Necessity of al-Faatihah, and its Excellence*

He would vehemently emphasise the importance of this soorah, saying:

"There is no prayer for the one who did not recite [in it] the

opening chapter [at least]"

210, and in another saying: That prayer is

not sufficient in which a man does not recite the Opening of the

Book.211 He also said: He who performs a prayer in which he does

not recite the Opening of the Book, then it (i.e. the prayer) is

deficient, it is deficient, it is deficient, incomplete.212 He also said: Allaah the Blessed and Exalted has said: "I have divided the

prayer213 between Myself and My servant, into two halves: half of

it is for Me and half is for My servant, and My servant shall have

what he has asked for."Then the Messenger of Allaah (Sallallaahu

'Alaihi wa Sallam) said: Recite! The servant says "Praise be to

Allaah, the Lord of the Worlds"; Allaah the Exalted says "My

servant has praised Me". The servant says, "The Most Merciful,

the Bestower of Mercy"; Allaah says, "My servant has extolled

Me". The servant says "Master of the Day of Judgment"; Allaah

the Exalted says, "My servant has glorified Me". The servant says,

209 Tammaam ar-Raazi in al-Fawaa'id, Ibn Abi Dawood in al-Masaahif (7/2), Abu Nu`aim in Akhbaar Isbahaan (1/104) &

Haakim who declared it saheeh and Dhahabi agreed. Both of these recitations are mutawaatir.

210 Bukhaari, Muslim, Abu `Awaanah & Baihaqi. It is given in Irwaa' (302).

211 Daaraqutni, who declared it saheeh, and Ibn Hibbaan in his Saheeh. It is also in Irwaa' (302).

212 Muslim & Abu `Awaanah.

213 i.e. soorah al-Fatihah. It is an example of the wording including the whole prayer but intending only a part, as a way

of emphasis on that part. "It is You (alone) we worship and it is You (alone) we ask for

help"; [He says:], "This is between Me and My servant, and My

servant shall have what he has asked for". The servant says,

"Guide us to the Straight Path, the Path of those whom You have

favoured, not of those who receive Your anger, nor of those who

go astray". [He says:], "All these are for My servant, and My

servant shall have what he has asked for."

214

He also used to say: Allaah did not reveal in the Torah or the Gospel anything

like the Mother of the Qur'aan. It is the Seven Oft-Repeated215 [and the

Grand Recitation which have been bestowed upon me].216

He (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi wa Sallam) commanded "the one who prayed

badly" to recite it in his prayer217, but said to one who could not remember it, say: (I declare Allaah free from all defects; all Praise be to Allaah;

none has the right to be worshipped but Allaah; Allaah is the

Greatest; there is no might or power except by Allaah).218

He also said to "the one who prayed badly": If you know some of the

Qur'aan, then recite it, otherwise praise Allaah, declare His Greatness

and declare that none has the right to be worshipped but Allaah;219

214 Muslim, Abu `Awaanah & Maalik, and Sahmi has a supporting hadeeth of Jaabir in Taareekh Jurjaan (144)

215 Baaji said: "He is referring to the saying of the Exalted "And We have bestowed upon you seven of the Oft-Repeated

and the Grand Recitation." (Hijr 15:87). It is named the "seven" because it has seven verses, and "oft-repeated" because it

is repeated again and again in prayer. It has been called "the grand recitation" to specify this name for it, even though

every part of the Qur'aan is a grand recitation; similarly, the Ka`bah is "the House of Allaah" even though all houses belong

to Allaah; this is by way of specifying it and emphasising its importance."

216 Nasaa'i & Haakim, who declared it saheeh and Dhahabi agreed.

217 Bukhaari in his article on "Recitation behind the Imaam" with a saheeh isnaad.

218 Abu Daawood, Ibn Khuzaimah (1/80/2), Haakim, Tabaraani & Ibn Hibbaan who, along with Haakim, declared it

saheeh and Dhahabi agreed. It is in Irwaa' (303).

219 Abu Daawood & Tirmidhi, who declared it hasan; its isnaad is saheeh. (Saheeh Abi Dawood no. 807)

 

 The Abrogation of Recitation behind the Imaam in the Loud

Prayers 

He had given permission for those being led by the Imaam to recite

Soorah al-Faatihah in the loud prayers, when once: "he was praying Fajr and the recitation became difficult for him. When he

finished, he said: Perhaps you recite behind your imaam. We said:

"Yes, quickly220, O Messenger of Allaah." He said: Do not do so, except

for [each of you reciting] the opening chapter of the Book, for the

prayer is not valid of the one who does not recite it.221

Later, he forbade them from reciting in the loud prayers at all, when:

"He finished a prayer in which he was reciting loudly (in one narration: it

was the dawn prayer) and said: Were any of you reciting with me

just now?! A man said: "Yes, I was, O Messenger of Allaah". He said: I

say, why am I contended with? [Abu Hurairah said:] So the people

stopped reciting with the Messenger of Allaah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi wa

Sallam) when he was reciting loudly after hearing that from him [but

they recited to themselves quietly when the imaam was not reciting

loudly]."222

He also made silence during the imaam's recitation part of the

completeness of following the imaam, saying: The imaam is there to

be followed, so when he says takbeer, say takbeer, and when he

recites, be silent223, just as he made listening to the imaam's recitation

enough to not have to recite behind him, saying: He who has an

imaam, then the recitation of the imaam is recitation for him224

 -

this applying in the loud prayers. 

220 hadhdhan: reciting quickly, implying racing or hurrying.

221 Bukhaari in his pamphlet, Abu Daawood & Ahmad. Tirmidhi & Daaraqutni declared it hasan.

222 Maalik, Humaidi, Bukhaari in his pamphlet, Abu Daawood & Mahaamali (6/139/1). Tirmidhi declared it hasan; Abu

Haatim ar-Raazi, Ibn Hibbaan & Ibn Qayyim declared it saheeh.

223 Ibn Abi Shaibah (1/97/1), Abu Daawood, Muslim, Abu `Awaanah & Ruwayaani in his musnad (24/119/1). It is given in

Irwaa' (332, 394).

224 Ibn Abi Shaibah (1/97/1), Daaraqutni, Ibn Maajah, Tahaawi & Ahmad from numerous routes, musnad and mursal. Shaikh-ul-

Islam Ibn Taymiyyah declared it strong, as in al-Furoo` of Ibn `Abdul Haadi (48/2). Boosayri declared some of its isnaads

saheeh. I have discussed it in detail and investigated its routes of narration inthe manuscript version and then in Irwaa' al-

Ghaleel (no. 500)

 

The Obligation to Recite in the Quiet Prayers

As for the quiet prayers, he urged them to recite during them; Jaabir

said, "We used to recite behind the imaam in Zuhr and 'Asr: soorah al-

Faatihah and another soorah in the first two rak'ahs, and soorah al-

Fatihah in the last two."225

However, he dissuaded them from confusing him with their recitation,

when:

"he prayed Zuhr with his Companions and said (afterwards): Which of

you recited "Glorify the name of your Lord the Most High" (soorah

al-A'laa, 87)? Someone said: It was I [but I was only intending nothing

but good by doing so]. So he said: I knew that someone was

contending with me by it.226 In another hadeeth: "They used to recite

behind the Prophet (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi wa Sallam) [loudly], so he said:

You have mixed up my (recitation of the) Qur'aan.227

He also said: Truly, the person praying is privately consulting his

Lord, so he should be careful about what he consults him with,

and you should not recite the Qur'aan loudly over each other.228

He also used to say: Whoever recited a harf (letter) from the Book

of Allaah, it will count for him as one good deed, and a good deed

is worth ten times over. I do not mean that "alif laam meem" is a

harf, but "alif" is a harf, "laam" is a harf, and "meem" is a harf.229

225 Ibn Maajah with a saheeh isnaad. It is given in Irwaa' (506)

226 Muslim, Abu `Awaanah & Siraaj.

227 Bukhaari in his article, Ahmad & Siraaj with a hasan isnaad.

228 Maalik & Bukhaari in Af`aal al-`Ibaad with a saheeh isnaad.

* NB The view of the validity of recitation behind the imaam in quiet but not loud prayers was taken by Imaam 

Shaafi`i initially, and by Muhammad the student of Abu Haneefah in a narration from him which was preferred by 

Shaikh `Ali al-Qaari and other shaikhs of the madhhab; it was also the position of, among others, the Imaams 

Zuhri, Maalik, Ibn al-Mubaarak, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, several of the muhadditheen, and it is the preference of 

Shaikh-ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah.

229 Tirmidhi & Ibn Maajah with a saheeh isnaad. Transmitted also by Aajuri in Aadaab Haml al-Qur'aan. As for the

hadeeth, "He who recites behind the imaam, his mouth is filled with fire", it is fabricated (mawdoo`) and this is

explained in Silsilat al-ahaadeeth al-da`eefah (no. 569) - see Appendix 5.