SIFAT SALAAT AN NĀBI ﷺ* *(The Prophet's Prayer Described From The Beginning To The End As Though You See It) Episode 20 The Permissibility of Reciting al-Faatihah only

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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 20*

*The Permissibility of Reciting al-Faatihah only*

Mu'aadh ibn Jabal used to pray 'Ishaa' [the last] with the Messenger of

Allaah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi wa Sallam), and then return and lead his people in prayer. One night when he returned and prayed with them, a young man [called Sulaim, of the Banu Salamah] from his people prayed, but

when it became too long for him, he [went away and] prayed [in the

corner of the mosque], then came out, took the reins of his camel and

departed. When Mu'aadh had prayed, this was mentioned to him, so he

said: "He surely has some hypocrisy in him! I will surely tell the

Messenger of Allaah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi wa Sallam) what he has done."

The young man said: "And I will tell the Messenger of Allaah (Sallallaahu

'Alaihi wa Sallam) what he has done." So in the morning they came to

the Messenger of Allaah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi wa Sallam), and Mu'aadh

informed him of what the young man had done. The young man said: "O

Messenger of Allaah! He stays a long time with you, and then he returns

and lengthens it for us." So the Messenger of Allaah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi

wa Sallam) said: Are you one who causes great trouble, Mu'aadh?!

and he said to the young man250: What do you do when you pray, son

of my brother? He said: "I recite the opening chapter of the Book, then

I ask Allaah for the Garden, and seek refuge with Him from the Fire. I

249 Abu Daawood & Baihaqi with a saheeh isnaad. This hadeeth is general, so it applies to both recitation during prayer,

whether voluntary or obligatory, and outside it. Ibn Abi Shaibah (2/132/2) has transmitted from Abu Moosa al-Ash`ari

and Mugheerah ibn Shu`bah that they used to say this in obligatory prayers, and from `Umar and `Ali without such

specification.

250 In the original, "the young man said". know neither your dandanah251 nor the dandanah of Mu'aadh!" So the

Messenger of Allaah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi wa Sallam) said: I and Mu'aadh

are similar in this.

The narrator said: The young man said, "But Mu'aadh will know (about me)

on going to the people when they will have been informed that the enemy

has arrived." The narrator said: So the enemy came, and the young man

attained shahaadah (martyrdom). So after that the Messenger of Allaah

(Sallallaahu 'Alaihi wa Sallam) said to Mu'aadh, What did the one

disputing with me and you do? He said, "O Messenger of Allaah, he was

true to Allaah, and I spoke falsely - he was martyred."252

Quiet and Loud Recitation in the Five Prayers and others He (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi wa Sallam) used to recite loudly in the morning prayer

and in the first two rak'ahs of Maghrib and 'Ishaa', and quietly in Zuhr, 'Asr,

the third rak'ah of Maghrib and the last two rak'ahs of Ishaa'.253

They could tell when he was reciting quietly from the movement of his beard254, and

because he would let them hear an aayah or so sometimes.255

He also recited loudly in Friday prayer and the two 'Eid prayers256, in the

prayer for rain257, and in the eclipse prayer.258

251 dandanah: when someone speaks some words such that their intonation is audible but they cannot be understood; it

is a little bit more than murmuring. (Nihaayah)

252 Ibn Khuzaimah in his saheeh (1634) & Baihaqi with a saheeh isnaad. It has a supporting narration in Abu Daawood

(no. 758, Saheeh Abi Dawood) and the basic story is in Bukhaari and Muslim. The first addition is in one narration of

Muslim, the second in Ahmad (5/74), and the third and fourth in Bukhaari . Also under this heading is the hadeeth on

the authority of Ibn `Abbaas: "that the Messenger of Allaah (Sallallaahu `Alaihi wa Sallam) prayed two rak`ahs in which

he recited only al-Fatihah", transmitted by Ahmad (1/282), Haarith ibn Abi Usaamah in his musnad (p.38 of its zawaaid)

and Baihaqi (2/62) with a da`eef isnaad. I used to declare this hadeeth hasan in previous works, until I realised that I

had been mistaken, because this hadeeth depends on Hanzalah al-Dawsi, who is da`eef, and I do not know how this

was unknown to me; maybe I thought he was someone else. Anyway, praise is due to Allaah who guided me to

recognise my mistake, and that is why I hurried to correct it in print. Then Allaah compensated me with this better

hadeeth of Mu`aadh which relates to what the hadeeth of Ibn `Abbaas indicated. Praise be to Allaah by whose Grace

good actions are completed.

253 There is Ijmaa` (consensus of opinion) of the Muslims on this, with successors passing it on from the predecessors,

along with authentic hadeeths which establish this, as Nawawi has said, and some of them follow. See also Irwaa' (345).

254 Bukhaari & Abu Daawood.

255 Bukhaari & Muslim.

256 see the sections on his recitation in Friday prayer and the two `Eid prayers.

257 Bukhaari & Abu Daawood.

258 Bukhaari & Muslim.

 

Quiet and Loud Recitation in the Night Prayer (Tahajjud)259

As for night prayer, he would sometimes recite quietly and sometimes

loudly260, and "he used to recite in his house such that he could be heard

in the courtyard."261 "Occasionally he would raise his voice more than

that until someone lying in bed could hear him"262 (i.e. from outside the

courtyard). 

He ordered Abu Bakr and 'Umar (Allaah be pleased with them) likewise,

when:

"he came out at night to find Abu Bakr (Allaah be pleased with him) praying

in a low voice, and he passed by 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab (Allaah be pleased

with him) who was praying in a loud voice. Later, when they gathered

around the Prophet (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi wa Sallam) said: O Abu Bakr, I

passed by you and you were praying in a low voice? He said: "I let Him

whom I was consulting hear, O Messenger of Allaah." He said to 'Umar: I

passed by you and you were praying raising your voice? So he said:

"O Messenger of Allaah, I repel drowsiness and keep the devil away." The

Prophet (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi wa Sallam) said: O Abu Bakr, raise your voice

a little bit and to 'Umar: lower your voice a little bit.263

He used to say: The one who recites the Qur'aan loudly is like the

one who gives charity loudly, and the one who recites the Qur'aan

quietly is like the one who gives charity quietly.

264

What he (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi wa Sallam) used to Recite in the

Different Prayers 

As for which soorahs and aayaat he (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi wa Sallam) used

to recite in prayer, this varied according to the different prayers. The

details now follow, beginning with the first of the five prayers: 

259 `Abdul Haqq said in Tahajjud (90/1):

"As for voluntary prayers during the day, there is nothing authentic from him (Sallallaahu `Alaihi wa Sallam)

regarding either quiet or loud recitation, but it would seem that he used to recite quietly during them. It is reported from

him (Sallallaahu `Alaihi wa Sallam) that once, during the daytime, he passed by `Abdullaah ibn Hudhaafah who was praying

and reciting loudly, so he said to him: O `Abdullaah, let Allaah hear, not us. But this hadeeth is not strong."

260 Muslim & Bukhaari in Af`aal al-`Ibaad.

261 Abu Daawood & Tirmidhi in Shamaa'il with a hasan isnaad. The hadeeth means that he (Sallallaahu `Alaihi wa Sallam)

used to moderate between quietness and loudness.

262 Nasaa'i, Tirmidhi in Shamaa'il & Baihaqi in Dalaa'il with a hasan isnaad.

263 Abu Daawood & Haakim , who declared it saheeh, and Dhahabi agreed.

264 ibid.