Abdulbary Yahya – Umdah al-Ahkaam – Chapter on Recitation during prayer
AI: Summary ©
The importance of reciting the Prophet's words during prayer is discussed, including the importance of reciting the Lord's Prayer and reciting the Prophet's words in a loud, audible, and sound way. The importance of reciting the Prophet's words in a way that is not considered recitation is emphasized, as it is one of the pillars of the prayer. The importance of reciting the Prophet's words in a way that is not considered recitation is also emphasized. The importance of reciting the Prophet's words for prayer is also emphasized, as it is considered to be important and valuable.
AI: Summary ©
In the name of Allah, the
Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
This is the chapter on the recitation in
prayer.
The first hadith in this chapter is the
hadith of Ubad ibn Samit.
The Prophet ﷺ said in this hadith, there
is no prayer for the one who does
not recite the opener of the book, meaning
this is Surah Al-Fatiha.
The opener of the book, Al-Fatiha, means,
Fatiha from the word Fatiha means to open
a book.
Fatiha al-Kitab, because it is the first
surah in the Qur'an.
It's one of the names of Surah Al
-Fatiha amongst the many names of Surah Al
-Fatiha.
This particular hadith, the Prophet ﷺ said, La
Salata.
La Salata, there is no prayer, which means
that there is no prayer that is valid.
There is no prayer that is valid, because
when you say there is no prayer, it
means that there is no prayer that is
considered acceptable and valid, except for the one
who does not recite the opener of the
book.
So when he says La Salata, this encompasses
the Fard prayer, whether it is Fard, or
whether it is Nafilah or Sunnah prayer, whether
it is Salat al-Janazah, whether a person
is Iman or Ma'mum.
This particular wording here encompasses all prayers.
La Salata, liman lam yaqra bi Fatiha al
-Kitab.
When the Prophet ﷺ said, liman lam yaqra,
that means there is no prayer for the
one who does not recite Al-Fatiha.
What is the recitation of Al-Fatiha we
mentioned before?
There is an ijma', that means there is
a consensus amongst the scholars and amongst those,
Imam al-Nawawi and others have mentioned, there
is a consensus amongst the scholars that in
order for a person to have recited, that
means that lam yaqra, the word qara' means
to recite with your mouth also, meaning your
tongue, and reciting it verbally.
Not reciting it just in your head, because
in English when you say somebody is reading,
like read the book, and somebody is just
like, and his mouth is not moving, his
tongue is not moving, his lips are not
moving.
Can you say that he is reading it
in English?
Yes, right, he is reading it.
But shara' in the Arabic language, in the
shari'a, there is an ijma', which means
that there is no difference of opinion amongst
the scholars.
That the recitation isn't something you think in
your head, it is something that you utter
with your mouth.
The movement of your tongue and sound that
comes out as a result of it, whether
it is loud, audible, or whether it is
very, very silent or soft, where only you
can hear, because sometimes I can recite, I
can hear, I can hear myself, but people
next to me can't hear, because I am
reciting it with very, very low, the lowest
voice possible, but everything is moving and the
pronunciation also is pronounced, I mean I pronounce
it as if I am reciting it out
loud also, meaning if I were to raise
my voice, then you would be able to
hear me.
So the recitation encompasses every movement of the
mouth also.
Without it, it is not considered recitation.
And the same way with dhikr also, the
remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
There are different levels of dhikr.
When the true remembrance of Allah is said
with also the tongue, subhanallah, walhamdulillah, wa la
ilaha illallah.
But if somebody remembers Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala in their mind, silently, it is also
considered the remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala, but it is not the utterance of
it.
So because the Prophet ﷺ said in Hadith
al-Qudsi, وَمَن ذَكَرِنِ فِي نَفْسِهِ ذَكَرْتُهُ فِي
نَفْسِهِ If he remembers within himself, that means
he doesn't say anything out loud, but he
remembers Allah, then Allah remembers him also.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala remembers him also.
But if he remembers him in a congregation,
then of course Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
mentions him in the congregation of the angels
also.
So the remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala, like somebody is reflecting upon the creation
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, would be
considered the remembrance of Allah.
But when you make the adhkar, when you're
going out of your house, when you're about
to travel, or before you go to the
bathroom, the remembrance that is considered valid is
that which is said with your tongue, your
mouth, and the movements of your tongue.
And so that's why, like for example, we
mentioned about al-wudu' when making wudu'.
The Prophet ﷺ, as mentioned in hadith, in
Sunan Ibn Dawud, the Prophet ﷺ said, لَا
وُضُوءَ لِمَنْ لَمْ يَذْكُرِ اسْمَ اللَّهَ عَلَيْهِ There
is no wudu' liman lam yadhkurismallahi alayhi.
The one who does not mention the name
of Allah upon that wudu'.
So if you don't mention the name of
Allah according to the hanabilah, the hanabilah are
the opinion that is mandatory.
If you remember, you have to say bismillah.
The majority of the scholars of the opinion
of bismillah before wudu' is sunnah only.
So the remembrance of Allah here, even amongst
the hanabilah, if you are hanbali, before you
make wudu' you say bismillah, even if you
are in the bathroom, because it's mandatory upon
you to do so, to mention it, not
just to, just think about it only.
But if you are in the bathroom, you
can say bismillah, that it would not be
considered an action that's considered valid shara'ah.
That means when you can remember Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala, but in terms of in
application, in acts of worship, like prayer, then
it has to be done verbally.
And so the Prophet ﷺ said, liman lam
yakra bi fatihat al kitab.
Fatihat al kitab is of course the opener
of the book, fatihat al kitab.
And this is surat al-fatihah.
And it starts with, according to the majority
of the scholars, it starts with alhamdulillahi rabbil
alameen.
Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen.
So that's why if someone did not recite
bismillahirrahmanirrahim in their prayer, according to the majority
of the scholars, it would be considered valid.
According to the shafi'i, the shafi'i
has considered that to be part of surat
al-fatihah, bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
Whether a person recites it out loud or
whether a person recites it silently, but you
have to recite bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
And inshallah we'll get to that when we
mention it also inshallah.
There is though, of course, surat al-fatihah.
How many verses?
There are seven verses.
There's an consensus amongst the scholars that there
are seven verses.
There are seven verses in surat al-fatihah.
But the seven verses, if you consider surat
al-bismillah from it, then the last verse
is all one.
If you don't, then you split the last
verse into two.
But there is a consensus that surat al
-fatihah, of course, is seven verses.
And the stronger opinion is that al-bismillah
is not part of al-fatihah.
It's not part of al-fatihah.
Why?
Because there's another hadith in which the Prophet
ﷺ said, قَصَمْتُ الصَّلَاةَ بَيْنِ وَبَيْنَ عَبْدِ نِسْفَيْنَ
I have divided the prayer between me and
my servant into two parts.
And so the prayer here, as is clear
from the remainder of the hadith, is surat
al-fatihah.
It's surat al-fatihah.
Why?
Because the Prophet ﷺ said that Allah ﷻ
says, I have divided the prayer into two
parts, for me and my servants.
And then he says, إِذَا قَالُ, when he
says, الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ So the beginning,
when he says alhamdulillah, then I say, حَمِدَنِي
عَبْدِي My servant has praised me.
So the beginning of this hadith in Qudsi
is that the Prophet ﷺ said that Allah
ﷻ said, and when my servant said, الحَمْدُ
لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ And he didn't start with,
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ رَحْمَنِي رَحِيمِ And that's why Allah
ﷻ knows best, the stronger opinion seems to
be that الحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ is the
beginning of surat al-Fatiha.
And بَسْمِ اللَّهِ is not part of surat
al-Fatiha.
And Allah ﷻ knows best.
Of course, al-Fatiha from the beginning, الحَمْدُ
لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ until غَيْرَ الْمَعْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا
الظَّالِينَ So that's the last, reciting it from
the beginning until the end.
Which means that the recitation of it also
has to be done correctly.
Because if a person recites, that's why according
to the majority of the scholars, that the
recitation of al-Fatiha means it has to
be done from the beginning to the end.
Which means that if someone leaves out just
a letter or a word or part of
surat al-Fatiha, then they would not have
been deemed to recite surat al-Fatiha.
And that's why it's very very important to
focus on the proper recitation of surat al
-Fatiha at least.
And that's why some of the scholars are
very very strict when it comes to the
recitation of surat al-Fatiha.
Because it is a pillar of the prayer.
That means it's one of the pillars of
the prayer.
If part of the prayer, if part of
the surat al-Fatiha is not recited, that
means it's as if you didn't recite it
at all because you didn't complete.
Just like if a person were to, you
know, sujood, the mouth of sujood, when somebody
makes sujood, if they make one sujood only
between the two, it would not be valid,
considered valid.
You have to make complete.
And the same thing with the ruku.
If you don't make the ruku, complete ruku,
and you're able to, like you don't go
all the way down, you just bend down
halfway and then go back up, you have
not completed it at all.
So you have to complete it totally from
the beginning until the end.
And so, you know, of course, there are
many mistakes that people make in surat al
-Fatiha itself also.
And it's very, very important for us to
focus on correcting some of those mistakes.
So the hadith, first of all, the hadith
mentions that the surah, surat al-Fatiha itself,
is a rukud.
What is a rukud?
The hadith, of course, the scholars have mentioned
that it is a rukud.
That means it's a pillar.
A pillar of something, a pillar of something,
that means that does not stand without it.
Because it is an integral part of a
building.
Like for example, the pillars are there to
hold up the building.
Without it, it falls.
And so the pillars of prayer cannot be
made up.
Cannot be made up.
That which is mandatory, wajib, can be made
up.
But the pillars cannot be made up.
And so, when it comes to surat al
-Fatiha, based on this hadith, the majority of
the scholars have the opinion that it's mandatory
to recite surat al-Fatiha.
Mandatory upon a person to recite surat al
-Fatiha.
According to the Hanafi marhab, it is not
mandatory.
It is wajib.
It means you should do it.
You should recite it if you can.
But if someone were to recite some other
verses, then it would still be valid.
It would still be valid, according to the
Hanafi marhab.
Why?
Because the Prophet ﷺ, in the hadith of
al-Musi' al-Salat, the person who did
not pray properly, that we covered previously in
this hadith, the Prophet ﷺ said, ثُمَّ قَرَعْ
مَا تَيَسَّرَ لَكَ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ Then recite that
which is easy for you, of the Qur
'an.
After you stand up, you make the takbir,
say Allahu Akbar, ثُمَّ قَرَعْ مَا تَيَسَّرَ لَكَ
مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ So here, this particular hadith indicates
that Fatiha itself is not mandatory.
It's not mandatory, based on this hadith.
But we have many other hadith also, like
this particular hadith, and also the other hadith
in which the Prophet ﷺ said, مَنْ لَمْ
يَقْرَعْ بِفَاتِحَةِ الْكِتَابِ Whoever does not recite the
opener of the book, فَهِيَ خِدَاجٌ خِدَاجٌ غَيْرْ
تَابٌ Then indeed, it is lacking, missing, missing,
and it's not complete.
Whoever recites, whoever prays, does not recite the
surah al-Fatiha.
And so that's why, sometimes you have a
statement, but it doesn't mean that it's not
mandatory.
Because when you say, ثُمَّ قَرَعْ مَا تَيَسَّرَ
لَكَ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ What's easy for you, the
Qur'an you recite.
But, some of the scholars have mentioned that
in this particular wording here, it's for those
who are unable to recite surah al-Fatiha
completely maybe.
Maybe they're new Muslims and so forth.
It would be applicable to those people.
But if someone is able to recite surah
al-Fatiha, then they have to recite surah
al-Fatiha.
And surah al-Fatiha should be the first
surah that anyone who accepts Islam learns.
Because it is integral part of our prayer,
and we recite it at least 17 times
a day.
At least 17 times a day.
So the same surah that we recite over
and over again, because it is the greatest
surah in the Qur'an.
Just like you have the greatest surah in
the Qur'an is surah al-Fatiha, and
you have the greatest verse in the Qur
'an is ayat al-Qursi.
And so, the surah in the Qur'an,
of course, when we say surah al-Fatiha,
surah al-Baqarah, these are the surah, these
are the different chapters.
So the companions also understood and they knew
that the Qur'an is divided into different
surahs.
And surah al-Fatiha is one of the
first surahs that were revealed to the Prophet
ﷺ in Mecca.
And when the Prophet ﷺ said, لا صلاة
لمن لم يقرأ بفاتحة الكتاب How about if
a person were to pray behind the imam?
Pray behind the imam.
And the imam has already gone into a
rapport.
We never recite surah al-Fatiha.
Or, if you're standing behind the imam and
you have the opportunity to recite surah al
-Fatiha, should you recite it?
Yes, even if you're praying behind the imam.
Why?
Because the Prophet ﷺ in another hadith, and
the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, before at the
beginning, whenever he used to recite something, the
companions used to repeat after him.
They used to repeat after him.
So if he would recite, قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ
أَحَدٌ They would recite, قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ
And so they would recite everything that the
Prophet ﷺ would recite.
And so one time he was reciting, and
you know with all the sound that's coming
from behind him, the Prophet ﷺ got a
little bit confused because of all the sound.
And he said, لَعَلَكُمْ تَقَعُونَ خَلْفِي It's as
if you guys recite after me.
As if you're reciting after me.
That means you're repeating after what I'm saying
every time I recite something.
And so they said, Yes, O Messenger of
Allah.
Yes, we do.
And so the Prophet ﷺ said, لَعَلَكُمْ تَقَعُونَ
خَلْفِي Don't recite after me.
Don't recite whatever I recite.
Whenever I recite something.
إِلَّا بِفَاتِحَةِ الْكِتَابِ Except for, فَاتِحَةِ الْكِتَابِ The
hadith is in Sunan al-Nasa'i and
the majority of the scholars have the opinion
that the hadith is up to the level
of acceptability.
And it's in Musnad Imam Ahmed also.
لَعَلَكُمْ تَقَعُونَ خَلْفِي Do not recite after me.
إِلَّا بِفَاتِحَةِ الْكِتَابِ فَإِنَّهُ لَا صُلَاتَ لِمَنْ لَمْ
يَقْرَأْ بِفَاتِحَةِ الْكِتَابِ Because there is no prayer
for the one who does not recite Fatiha.
So some people, if you have to recite
it, some of the scholars have mentioned, well
when do you recite it?
When do you recite it?
Some people will recite it before even.
You will see like, as soon as they
begin, they start reciting.
And then the Imam recites.
And sometimes some scholars have mentioned, whatever you
are able to recite, when the Imam stops
for a little bit, then you recite it.
Or when the Imam starts the next recitation,
you recite even though he is reciting.
So let's say he recites Al-Fatiha.
And then he is reciting, قُلْهُ لَوْ أَحَدٍ
While he is reciting قُلْهُ لَوْ أَحَدٍ or
reciting another surah, or some other verses, then
you recite Surah Al-Fatiha while he is
reciting.
Because the Prophet ﷺ said, don't recite after
me.
With exception of what?
Except Surah Al-Fatiha.
Because it is a rukun.
But remember the Arkan, we said if it
is an action, then it cannot be made
up by the Imam.
But if it is a verbal action in
prayer, if you are praying behind the Imam,
then if you catch the ruku, which means
that you are not going to catch the
Fatiha.
Because he is already finished with Al-Fatiha.
He is in ruku already.
If you catch his ruku, you catch the
prayer.
Why?
Because you didn't miss any actions.
Because you said Allahu Akbar while he is
standing.
You got the Takbir of Al-Ihram, you
got the Qiyam, you got the facing of
the Qibla and everything else that is connected
to the prayer in terms of the Arkan.
But if the Imam has already finished his
Fatiha, and you caught that, the ruku only,
then your raka'ah still counts.
Your raka'ah still counts.
Why?
Because any recitation, anything that you make a
mistake with the Imam, in terms of the
recitation, or the Adhkar, you don't have to
do Sujud al-Sahur.
Let's say for example, you go down and
say, Subhanu Rabbi al-Azim.
And then you just went to the ruku
and Sujud, and you didn't say anything.
You didn't say anything.
If you were praying by yourself, if you
were praying by yourself and you didn't mention
some of these Adhkar that's considered wajib, mandatory,
then you would have to make Sujud al
-Sahur.
But if you prayed behind the Imam, your
forgetfulness in terms of your recitation can be
made up by the Imam.
What if I'm praying behind the Imam?
I'm the ma'mum, and I'm sitting down, I'm
praying, but then, you know, sometimes the Imam
recites al-Fatiha.
But then you are, sometimes your mind is
not in it, in the prayer.
So you're thinking about other things.
And so you didn't recite al-Fatiha.
You didn't recite al-Fatiha.
If you didn't recite al-Fatiha, out of
forgetfulness, then it's okay.
And that's why what's mandatory is, when we
say something that's wajib, that means it's excusable
if forgotten.
It's excusable if forgotten.
But it's not permissible to leave it on
purpose.
Like, you know you should do it, but
you don't do it.
Or, you know, let's say sometimes you're reciting
al-Fatiha, but you don't have time to
finish.
The Imam's already going down to Ruku, and
you're only halfway through al-Fatiha, then it's
also valid.
Your prayer is considered valid also, because the
recitation of the Imam is your recitation.
The recitation of the Imam is your recitation.
And this of course goes with prayers that
we recite out loud, or prayers that we
recite silently.
All of that is applicable.
So if you were to stand up, Allahu
Akbar, and you're praying behind the Imam, you
come in, and you're like out of it.
If you prayed behind the Imam, and you
didn't recite anything, out of forgetfulness, then it
would still be considered valid.
But you don't do it on purpose.
You don't do it on purpose.
Just like, that's why according to the Hanabilah,
when it comes to making wudu, when you
make wudu, and you don't recite Bismillah, al
-Basmillah, you don't recite al-Basmillah.
And you remember, but you don't want to.
So you're like, I'm not going to recite.
And it's not valid.
But if you don't remember, you forgot.
Then it's okay.
It's excusable if forgotten, and not excusable if
you do remember.
And you can't just abandon it on purpose,
intentionally.
and that's why when a person is behind
the Imam, the recitation of the Imam, من
كان له امام فقراءة الامام له قراءة Whoever
prays behind the Imam, then the recitation of
the Imam is his recitation.
And so, the Prophet ﷺ, by the way,
at the beginning, the companions used to recite
the verses after him.
And the Prophet ﷺ, ما لي أنازع في
القرآن Why are you guys competing with me
in the recitation of the Qur'an?
Why are you competing with me?
but then, so even though, even though he
didn't want anyone to recite, but the importance
of it is so great that the Prophet
ﷺ said, yes, I'm reciting, but you're reciting
at the same time also.
It's not permissible, except for, except for Surah
Al-Fatiha.
Except for Surah Al-Fatiha.
And that's the exception because of this hadith.
And of course, the prayer, the Fatiha is
considered very, very important to the point where
one of the names of Al-Fatiha is
Al-Salah.
Like that's the prayer.
Your Surah Al-Fatiha is the prayer.
That's why the Prophet ﷺ said, remember hadith
in Sahih Muslim that I mentioned before, the
Hadith Al-Qudsi, Qala Allah Azza wa Jal
Qassamtu Salata bayni wa bayna abdi nisfayn I
divided the prayer and he says, the prayer
here is what?
As-Salat bayni wa bayna abdi nisfayn I
divided the prayer into two parts.
So he called Al-Fatiha, even though Al
-Fatiha is technically just a part of the
prayer, but because of its importance, the Prophet
ﷺ called it their prayer.
I divided the prayer.
And then he says, of course, the clarification
of that, if I say, when my servant
says, Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen in the whole hadith,
mentions Surah Al-Fatiha.
And so just like the Prophet ﷺ when
he said, Al-Hajju Arafah Al-Hajju Arafah
Hajj, right?
Arafah is Hajj.
Like Al-Hajju Arafah.
Even though, is that, Arafah, is that the
only thing that you do when you go
make Hajj?
No, there's Tawaf and Sa'i and Bayna
Safa and Marwa, between Safa and Marwa, and
a Tawaf of the house of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala also.
And there's also Mabit, like you spend your
time in Mina.
And so, and a very good Ramadan Jemaa,
you know, the stoning also of the pillars.
So all of that, there's so many actions
that are part of the Hajj.
But he says, Al-Hajju Arafah Hajj is
Arafah, because that's the most important, that's the
most important aspect of Hajj.
If you do not spend your time in
Arafah, then you have no Hajj.
Then you have no Hajj.
And so the Salat itself, the prayer itself,
the Raka'at itself also, meaning the prayer
itself is Surah Al-Fatiha.
It's Surah Al-Fatiha, even though you have
other Arka'an, but the most important aspect
of the prayer itself is Surah Al-Fatiha
and the recitation of Surah Al-Fatiha.
So the recitation of Surah Al-Fatiha, of
course, Insha'Allah, you know, I don't want
to take more of your time, but Insha
'Allah, we need to spend a little bit
more time going through Surah Al-Fatiha also
in correcting our recitation.
On Saturday mornings, Saturday mornings after Fajr, we
have Qur'an class where we correct the
proper, we correct common mistakes that people make.
And usually we're reciting other Surahs, but we
always go back to Surah Al-Fatiha if
there are mistakes that are common, like in
Surah Al-Fatiha and so forth.
And so you have so many mistakes that
people don't even realize it and don't even
focus on the recitation of it.
And so that's why it's very, very important
for us also to focus on it because
Surah Al-Fatiha is the prayer.
And Surah Al-Fatiha, any part of it,
when the Prophet ﷺ said, لَا صُلَاتَ لِمَا
لَمْ يَقْرَأْ بِفَاتِحَةِ الْكِثَابِ That means from the
beginning to the end.
I mean every single letter of it, every
single verse of it, and every single word
of it, every single letter of it, has
to be done, recited correctly because it's one
of the Arkan that's a pillar amongst the
pillars of the prayer that cannot be made
up.
That cannot be made up.
Any Raka'ah that's missing Surah Al-Fatiha,
according to the majority of scholars, any Raka
'ah, then that Raka'ah has to be
repeated over again.
If you forgot to recite Surah Al-Fatiha.
And as I mentioned, according to the majority
of the scholars.
And so Insha'Allah with that, we ask
Allah ﷻ to teach us that which benefits
us and benefits from that which He taught
us.
وَصَلَى اللَّهَ عَلَى نَبِينَ مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِمْ صَحِبَهُمْ
Any questions?
Yeah, you only recite Surah Al-Fatiha.
You don't recite any other Surah.
What's the difference between Surah Al-Fatiha and
other Surahs?
No, I mean, if you're praying like in
Zuhur and Asr, you can recite other Surahs,
of course.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
But if you recite it by yourself, of
course.
But when the imam is reciting out loud,
then you just recite Surah Al-Fatiha.
Wa Allahu Ta'ala.