FIQ111 – Fiqh of Salat Q&A

Q: What is the differentiation between Mustahab and Sunnah ghair Mu’akada actions because wouldn’t ghair muakada also be included as recommended even though they are not emphasized?

A: Sunnah Mu’akkadah are not emphasized although they are still in the “Sunnah” category therefore leaving them according to some fuqaha would at least be slightly disliked (makruh tanzihi). Leaving mustahabb on the other hand would not even be slightly disliked.

Q: If one is in the habit of saying “Sallallahu alaiyhi wa Salam” everytime one hears Rasullullah (saw)’s name,and one says it when repeating after hearing “ashhadu anna Muhammadan Rasullullah” is this considered unnecessary or inappropriate?

every time one hears his (ﷺ) A: The habit of sending blessings (salat) upon the Prophet blessed name is indeed a virtuous habit and this is what every believer should normally do. Although, in the case of the , we have an authentic narration in Sahih Muslim which is as follows:

as saying: When you hear (ﷺ) Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As reported ’s Messenger‘ the Mu’adhdhin, repeat what he says, then invoke a blessing on me, for everyone who invokes a blessing on me will receive ten blessings from Allah; …. (Muslim)

is reserved for until ﷺ In this hadith, the command to send blessings on the Prophet after the adhan. Therefore, one will wait until the adhan ends and then recite any salat .ﷺ such as “allahumma salli ala …” etc.) one wishes upon the Prophet)

during the adhan — when ﷺ The scholars mention that reciting salat upon the Prophet the second shahadah “ashhadu anna muhammadan …” is pronounced — has not been transmitted to us nor is a practice of the ummah. Hence, it should be avoided in light of the hadith mentioned above.

Q: Why does the imam make niyyah for women? Aren’t women considered as part of the muqtadi (i.e they would make the intention to be praying behind the imam)?

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A: As for the condition of making niyyah of women upon the imam, then yes, according to qiyas (analogy), there should be no difference between men and women, as both are muqtadis (followers) of the same imam. But the problem arises if for example, a woman manages to align herself with the imam (I realize this is a rare scenario but the fuqaha consider all possibilities!), then the salat (prayer) of the imam would be invalidated (this is the ruling).

Therefore, the imam has been given the authority to make niyyah for the women for their salat to be valid because if he intends then then he will naturally ensure that the scenario above never occurs. The underlying reasoning for this is that there should be no undue hardship upon the imam imposed by someone else.

Q: If you have an entire year of qada , how would you go about making a specific Niyyah for each one, i.e if you are not sure which specific number you are at (i.e should you specifically intend that you are making up for the 50th fajr of that year?)

A: The way to do this is to first calculate — using one’s best estimate — how many fajr salats one has missed. If it amounts to let’s say 6 months. Then that gives that person 6 * 30 = 180 fajr salats to make up. One will then intend “the first fajr salat I missed” every time one prays the qada up until one is able to wrap up the 180. To do this, one would need to keep track obviously but the number does not need to be mentioned in the niyyah. The niyyah has to be simply for the first (or last ) salat one missed.

Q: If for the past year one has been praying them without having made intention of “the first or last” but rather having just intended to pray a qadha dhuhr, asr etc, do these prayers still count? Or must one repeat them with the “first or last” intentions?

A: What the scholars have mentioned is that if one has prayed a lot of qada salat (such as in the case you mentioned where one has prayed an entire year’s worth) without specifying the day and date (using the method of either intending the first missed or the last missed) then it should be fine. One does not need to repeat in this situation when doing so would entail hardship because there is room for flexibility here. Although, in the

Rayyan Institute 2 FIQ111 – Fiqh of Salat Q&A future, one should ensure to specify. Keep in mind that it’s either the intention of first or the the intention of last, not both.

Q: With regards to praying behind a child, sometimes masajids have their young huffaz practice their recitation by leading taraweeh in Ramadan. Where does this fall with regards to being disliked or is it alright since it is a sunnah salah?

A: behind a child who has not become baligh is not valid. The huffaz who lead the tarawih should be at least baligh (i.e., having reached puberty), regardless if the musallis are male or female.

It is makruh tahrimi for the imam to lead a group of female musallis who are all his non- mahram. To correct such a situation, another male should be present as a musalli behind the imam or a female mahram of the imam (such as his mother or sister) or the wife of the imam should be present. Any one of these three would suffice and it would then be perfectly alright to arrange such a tarawih at home for the women.

Q: It was mentioned that if alternate option of 3 verses were recited instead of a complete surah after Fatiha, then if those 3 verses are from the beginning of some surah, then tasmiyah is required. Does this mean that in the rakaat in which recitation needs to be done after fatiha, and the chosen verses are not from the beginning of some surah, then tasmiyah is not needed?

A: The tasmiyah is sunnah at the beginning of al-fatihah in each of the rak’ahs only. It is not sunnah between the fatihah and the surah that follows, although there is some ikhtilaf among the Hanafi imams on this.

The fatwa is that it is not a sunnah to recite the tasmiyah between them but it is not makruh either, so if one does it, it is good and well because one should recite it before beginning a surah anyways. If one is not beginning a new surah then in that case, it shouldn’t be done (although if one does it, it is not a big deal).

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Q: For fajr salah if one has only 5-10 minutes left until sunrise, can one pray the fard rakahs first and then the sunnahs (due to fear of the fard becoming qada)? or should one only read the fard and then read the qada sunnahs after sunrise?

A: If there isn’t enough time, one should pray fard only. Then do qada of the sunnahs after sunrise (i.e. 10 minutes after sunrise time) and before zawal on the same day. I’m assuming the only reason why anyone would not pray the sunnahs first is if not enough time remains for the fard, so there is no question of praying sunnah after fard and before sunrise. In any case, that cannot be done as one cannot pray any salat after Fajr, as discussed earlier, aside from the Qada.

Q: About the point on praying 8 rakahs of nawafil at night with a single set of salutations, aren’t the 8 rakahs prayed in units of 2, and each unit would have a single set of salutations in it?

A: Praying in units of 2 with a single set of salams would be the preferred method. But if one prayed 8 rak’ahs with after every two and only one set of salams in the end, that would be permissible as well.

Q: In a situation when one has to make qadha of a salaah when one was a musaafir (i.e one was required to pray qasar salaah), would one pray the qadha as a full four ra’kah or two rak’ah (due to its requirement of being two on a journey over 48 miles)?

A: One will make qada according to the state they were in. If one was a traveller and missed Zuhr salat, then after becoming resident, one will pray only the qasr (shortened) two rak’ahs fard of Zuhr (not four).

Q: Regarding saff formation, if there were two individuals – one being the imam and the other the muqtadi – and the muqtadi was a female, how would she align herself next to the imam (for example, the imam was her husband)?

A: The wife would stand directly behind her husband.

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Q: Would the salaah of a man and woman count (the male is the mehram of the female, for example a husband and his wife) if they prayed their own individual salaahs next to each other?

A: Yes it will count if they are praying individually.

One of the conditions mentioned in the lecture was that both of them have to be in the same salat for this ruling (i.e. the ruling of the man’s salat being invalidated due to a woman joining in the same salat as him and standing by his side) to apply.

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