Liaison office of Grand Ayatullah Sayyid Ali Al Sistani (L.M.H.L) in London, Europe, North and South America.
987. In the the daily obligatory prayers, one should recite Surah
al-Hamd in the first and second Rak'ats, and thereafter one should, on the basis
of precaution, recite one complete Surah. The Surah az Zuha and Surah Inshirah
are treated as one Surah in namaz, and so are the Surah al-Fil and Quraysh.
988. If the time left for namaz is little, or if a person has to
helplessly abandon the Surah because of fear that a thief, a beast, or anything
else, may do him harm, or if he has an important work, he should not recite the
other Surah. In fact, there are situations when he should avoid it, like when
the namaz time at his disposal is limited, or when in fear.
989. If a person intentionally recites Surah before Hamd, his prayer
is void, and if he does it by mistake, and realises this while reciting it, he
should abandon the Surah and recite Hamd first, and then the Surah.
990. If a person forgets to recite Hamd and Surah, or either of them
and realises after reaching the Ruku, his prayers are in order.
991. If a person realises before bowing for Ruku, that he has not
recited Hamd and Surah, he should recite them, and if he realises that he has
not recited the Surah, he should recite the Surah only. But, if he realises that
he has not recited Hamd only, he should recite Hamd first and then recite the
Surah again.
Moreover, if he bends but before reaching the Ruku realises
that he has not recited Hamd and Surah, or only Surah, or only Hamd, he should
stand up and act according to the foregoing rules.
992. If a person intentionally recites one of the four Surahs which
contain verses of Wajib Sajdah, in namaz, he will perform an immediate Sajdah
upon reciting the verse. And if he does so, as a precaution, his namaz will be
void, and he will have to pray again. But if he does not go to Sajdah
immediately, and continues to pray, it will be in order, though he will have
committed a sin for not going to Sajdah immediately.
993. If a person begins reciting by mistake, a Surah which has verses
of Wajib Sajdah and he realises this before reaching the verse of Sajdah, he
should abandon that Surah and recite some other Surah. But if he realises this
after reciting the verse of Sajdah, he should act as guided in the above rule
(i.e. 992).
994. If during namaz a man listens to the verses making Sajdah
obligatory, his prayer are in order, and on the basis of precaution, he should
make a sign of Sajdah, and should also offer Sajdah after the prayers.
995. It is not necessary to recite a Surah after Hamd in Mustahab
prayers, even if that prayers may have become obligatory due to Nazr. But, as
for some Mustahab prayers like wahshat prayers, in which a particular Surah is
recommended, if a person wishes to act according to the rules, he should recite
the prescribed Surah.
996. While offering Friday prayers, or Zuhr prayers on Friday, it is
Mustahab that after reciting Surah al-Hamd, Surah al-Jumu'ah should be recited
in the first Rak'at, and Surah al-Munafiqun in the second Rak'at, and once a
person begins reciting one of these Surahs he is not allowed as per obligatory
precaution, to abandon it and recite another Surah in its place.
997. If after Hamd, somebody begins reciting the Surah Qul Huwallah or
Qul ya ayyuhal Kafirun, he cannot abandon it and recite some other Surah.
However, if in Friday prayers and in Zuhr prayers on Friday, he recites one of
these Surahs forgetfully, instead of Surah Jumu'ah and Surah Munafiqun, he can
abandon it and recite Surah Jumu'ah and Surah Munafiqun, but the precaution is
that he should not abandon that Surah after having read more than half of it.
998. If a person recites intentionally Surah Qul Huwallah or Surah Qul
ya ayyuhal Kafirun in Friday prayers or in Zuhr prayers on Friday, he cannot, as
an obligatory precaution, abandon it to recite Surah Jumu'ah and Surah
Munafiqun, even if he may not have reached half of it.
999. If in namaz, a person recites a Surah other than Surah Qul
Huwallah and Surah Qul ya ayyuhal Kafirun he can abandon that Surah before
reaching half of it, and recite some other Surah. But as a precaution, he should
not abandon it after having reached half, and it is not permissible to resort to
another Surah.
1000. If the person in namaz forgets a part of a Surah, or cannot
complete it owing to helplessness, like very little time of namaz is left, or
for some other reason, he can abandon that Surah and recite some other Surah,
even if he may have reached half of it. This applies to Surah Qul Huwallah or
Surah Qul ya ayyuhal Kafirun also.
1001. It is Wajib for a man to recite Surah al-Hamd and the other
Surah loudly, while offering Fajr, Maghrib and Isha prayers, and it is Wajib for
a man and a woman to recite Surah al-Hamd and the other Surah silently while
offering Zuhr and Asr prayers.
1002. As a precaution, men must take care to recite loudly every word
of Surah al-Hamd and the other Surah, including their last letters, in the
prayers of Fajr, Maghrib and Isha.
1003. A woman can recite Surah al-Hamd and other Surah in Fajr,
Maghrib and Isha prayers loudly or silently. But, if a na-Mahram hears her
voice, she should, on the basis of precaution, recite them silently, especially
if allowing him to listen is haraam.
1004. If a person intentionally prays loudly where he should pray
silently, and vice versa, his prayer is void. But, if, he does so owing to
forgetfulness, or not knowing the rule, his prayer is in order. And if he
realises that he is doing a mistake while reciting the Surah al-Hamd and the
other Surah, it is not necessary to recite again what he has recited not
following the rule.
1005. If a person raises his voice unusually high while reciting Surah
al-Hamd and Surah, as if he were shouting, his prayer will be void.
1006. A person should learn Surahs to be recited in namaz, so that he
may not recite them incorrectly, and if one cannot by any means learn the whole
of Surah al-Hamd, he should learn as much of it as he can and recite; but if
that is a very small part, then as an obligatory precaution, he should add to it
as many verses of Qur'an that he can remember. And if he cannot do that, he
should add some Tasbeeh to it. But if someone cannot recite Surah al-Hamd at
all, then there is no necessary replacement for it. The recommended precaution
for him is to join Namaz-e-Jamaat.
1007. If a person does not know Surah al-Hamd well, but can learn it,
he should do so if the time of namaz permits. And if the time does not permit,
he should act as guided in the above rule, and his prayers will be valid. But
wherever possible, such a person should join Namaz-e-Jamaat to relieve himself
of the responsibility.
1008. To take wages for teaching obligatory acts of prayers is haraam,
as a precaution, and taking wages for teaching Mustahab things is permissible.
1009. If a person does not know a certain word of Surah al-Hamd or
Surah, or does not utter it intentionally, or utters one letter for another
like, Za for Zad, or changes the inflections, by giving movements of Fathah or
Kasrah where not needed, or does not render tashdid properly, his prayer is
void.
1010. If a person has learnt a word which he believes to be correct,
and recites it that way in prayers, but comes to know later that he has been
reciting it incorrectly, it is not necessary for him to offer the prayers again.
1011. If a person does not know whether a particular word is to be
read with Fathah or Kasrah, of if he does not know whether a particular word has
a "seen" or a "swad" in it, he should take pains to learn that. But if he tries
to recite in two or more ways, and if the wrong or incorrect recitation is
neither from the Qur'an nor any Zikr, his prayers will be void. But if both the
recitations are correct, like, reciting the 'S' of "Siratal" with "seen" and
"swad", then the prayers will not be affected.
1012. The Ulama of Tajweed, that is, the art of reciting the Qur'an,
have outlined several places where "Madd" (prolonging certain letters) is
necessary. Wherever a vowel in a word precedes another vowel, say, 'alif' or
'hamza', it has to be prolonged, so that the utterances of each word is clear.
But in namaz, its validity does not depend upon following these rules, so if
one does not strictly follow them, his namaz will not be void. Except in
"Wal-dhaalleen" (the last word of Surah al-Hamd) one should exercise certain
care to prolong, so that tashdid is properly pronounced.
1013. The recommended precaution is that while offering prayers, one
should not recite the ending word of any Ayat with Waqf if one wishes to join it
to the next Ayat. Nor should one render it without waqf and join. For example,
if you recite "ar Rahmanir Rahimi" and then wait before starting the next, it is
not proper.
You should continue with no waiting. Similarly, in the same
Ayat, that is, "ar Rahmanir Rahim", if you read the last letter "mim" with
sakin, you should not attach the "mim" to "Maliki Yawmi ddin".
1014. In the third and fourth Rak'ats of prayers, one may either read
only Surah al-Hamd orTasbihat Arba'ah - Subhanallahi wal hamdu lillahi wa la
ilaha illal lahu wallahu Akbar which may be said once, although it is better
that it should be said three times. It is also permissible to recite Surah
al-Hamd in one Rak'at, and Tasbihat Arba'ah in the other, but it is better to
recite Tasbihat in both.
1015. When time for namaz is short, one must recite Tasbihat Arba'ah
once, and if even that much cannot be recited within time, then he must say only
"Subhanallah" once.
1016. It is obligatory for men and women that in the third and fourth
Rak'ats, they should recite Surah al-Hamd or Tasbihat Arba'ah silently.
1017. If a person recites Surah al-Hamd in the third and fourth
Rak'ats, it is not obligatory for him to recite its "Bismilla" silently, except
in the case of one who is following in congregational prayers, for whom, as an
obligatory precaution, it is necessary that "Bismillah" is recited silently.
1018. A person who cannot learn Tasbihat Arba'ah, or cannot pronounce
them correctly, should recite Surah al-Hamd in the third and fourth Rak'ats.
1019. If a person recites Tasbihat Arba'ah in the first two Rak'ats,
thinking that they are the last two Rak'ats, and if he realises the error before
Ruku, he should recite Surah al-Hamd and Surah. But if he realises this during
or after the Ruku, his prayer is in order.
1020. If a person recites Surah al-Hamd in the last two Rak'ats,
thinking that they are the first two Rak'ats, or recites Surah al-Hamd in the
first two Raka'ts, thinking that they are the last two Rak'ats, his prayer is in
order, whether he realises the mistake before or after Ruku.
1021. If in the third or fourth Rak'at, a person wanted to recite
Surah al-Hamd, but instead of that,Tasbihat Arba'ah came on his tongue, or if he
wishes to recite Tasbihat Arba'ah but Surah al-Hamd comes on his tongue, he
should abandon it and recite Tasbihat Arba'ah or Surah al-Hamd again with the
intentions. However, if the recitation which came on his tongue was the one to
which he was habituated, then he should complete it and his prayers will be
valid.
1022. If a person who has the habit of reciting Tasbihat Arba'ah in
the third and fourth Rak'ats, ignores his habit and begins reciting Hamd, with
the intention of performing his obligation, it will be sufficient, and it will
not be not necessary for him to recite Surah al-Hamd or Tasbihat Arba'ah again.
1023. In the third and fourth Rak'ats, it is Mustahab to seek
forgiveness from Allah after Tasbihat Arba'ah. That is, one should say,
Astaghfirullaha Rabbi wa Atubu Illayhi, or one should say, Allahummaghfir li.
And before bowing for Ruku, while he is uttering Istighfar or has finished it,
if he doubts whether he has read al-Hamd or Tasbihat or not, he should read
either of them.
1024. If the person doubts while in Ruku of third or fourth Rak'at,
whether or not he has recited Surah al-Hamd or Tasbihat Arba'ah, he should
ignore his doubt. Similarly, he should ignore the doubt if it occurs while
bowing for Ruku.
1025. If a person doubts whether he has pronounced a verse or a word
correctly, like, whether he has uttered Qul Huwallahu Ahad correctly or not, he
may ignore his doubt. However, if he repeats that verse or word correctly as a
precautionary measure, there is no harm in it. And if he doubts often he may
repeat as many times. However, if it becomes an obsession, and he still goes on
reading it again, as a recommended precaution, he should pray all over again.
1026. It is Mustahab that in the first Rak'at one should say
A'uzubillahi Minash shaytanir Rajim before reciting Surah al-Hamd, and in the
first and second Rak'ats of Zuhr and Asr prayers one should say Bismillah
loudly. It is Mustahab also to recite Surah al-Hamd and other Surah distinctly,
with a pause at the end of every verse i.e. not joining it with the next verse,
and while reciting Surah al-Hamd and Surah, one should pay attention to the
meanings of each verse.
And it is Mustahab to say, Alhamdulillahi Rabbil
'Alamin after the completion of Surah al-Hamd by the Imam in the congregation,
and by himself, if he is praying alone. And after reciting Surah Qul huwallahu
Ahad he should say, "Kazalikallahu Rabbi" once, twice or three times or
"Kazalikallahu Rabbuna" three times. Similarly, it is Mustahab to pause a little
after reciting the Surah, then say Takbir, before going to Ruku or reciting
Qunut.
1027. It is Mustahab that in all the prayers, one should recite Surah
Inna Anzalnahu in the first Rak'at, and Surah Qul huwallahu Ahad in the second
Rak'at.
1028. It is Makrooh not to recite Surah Qul huwallahu Ahad even in one
of the daily prayers.
1029. It is Makrooh to recite the whole ofSurah Qul huwallahu Ahad in
one breath.
1030. It is Makrooh to recite in the second Rak'at the same Surah,
which one has recited in the first Rak'at. However, if one recites Surah Qul
huwallahu Ahad in both the Rak'ats, it is not Makrooh.