Qira'at (reciting)

999. In the daily obligatory prayers, one should recite Surah al-Hamd in the first and second Rak’ats, and thereafter one should recite one complete Surah.

1000. 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, he should not recite the other Surah. Also, if he has something important to do, he may not recite it.

1001. If a person intentionally recites Surah before Hamd, his prayer is void, and if he does it by mistake, and realizes this while reciting it, he should abandon the Surah and recite Hamd firs, and then the Surah.

1002. If a person forgets to recite Hamd and Surah, or either of them and realizes after reaching the Ruku, his prayers are in order.

1003. If a person realizes before bowing for Ruku, that he has not recited Hamd and Surah, he should recite them, and if he realizes that he has not recited the Surah, he should recite the Surah only. But if he realizes 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 realizes 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.

1004. If a person intentionally recites one of the four Surahs which contain verses of Wajib Sajdah in Namaz and will be mentioned in point no. 1114, his Namaz is void.

1005. If a person begins reciting by mistake, a Surah, which has verses of Wajib Sajdah and he realizes this before reaching the verse of Sajdah, he should abandon that Surah and recite some other Surah. But if he realizes this after reciting the verse of Sajdah, he should perform Sajdah by sign, as a precaution, and the Surah is acceptable.

1006. If during Namaz a man listens to the verses making Sajdah obligatory, his prayer are in order, if by sign he makes Sajdah.

1007. 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 perscribed Surah.

1008. 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.

1009. 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.

1010. If a person recites intentionally Surah Qul Huwallah Ahad or Surah Qul ya ayyauhal 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.

1011. If in Namaz, a person recites a Surah other than Surah Qul Huwallah Ahad and Surah Qul ya ayyuhal Kafirun he can abandon that Surah before reaching half of it, and recite some other Surah.

1012. 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.

1013. 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.

1014. 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.

1015. 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 obligatory precaution, recite them silently.

1016. 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 realizes 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.

1017. 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.

1018. One should learn the correct way of offering Namaz and a person who is not able to learn correctly at all, he may recite as he can and as a recommended precaution, he must pray in mass.

1019. A person who does not know Hamd and Surah and other issues of Namaz exactly, but he is able to learn, if time is enough, he must learn and if it is not, as an obligatory precaution, he must pray in mass as far as possible.

1020. To take wages for teaching obligatory acts of prayers is Haraam, as an obligatory precaution, and taking wages for teaching Mustahab things is permissible.

1021. 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.

1022. 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 necessary for him to offer the prayers again, as a recommended precaution, and if the time has passed, he must offer its Qadha.

1023. If a person does not know the correct movements of words, he must learn but if he recites the end of words always in the form of Waaf (without movement), then it is not necessary to learn their movement. Also, if he does not know whether a word is written with “seen” or “swad”, he must learn and if he recites them in two or more ways, for example in reciting “Ahteno Sarat al-Mostaghim” he reads “Mostaghim” once like seen and once like swad, his Namaz is void except when both forms are normal and he recites with the hope of acting correctly.

1024. If there is a “waw” in a word and the letter before waw in that word has “Zammeh” and the letter after waw in the same word is “Hamza” like the word “Sooe”, it is better to gibe waw, a “Madd” which means prolonging, and also if there is “Alef” in a word and the letter before Alef in that word has “Zebar” movement and the letter after Alef is Hamza like “Ja’a”, it is better to prolong Alef and if there is “Ya” in a word and the letter before that has Kasrah and the letter after “Ya” has Hamza lke “Jaea”, it is better to read that “Ya” with Maad, and if after the waw and Alef and Ya, instead of Hamza, there is a Sakin letter which means without movement, again it is better that all these three letters are read with Maas, for example in “Walazzalin” that after Alef, Lam is Sakin, it is better to read Alef with Maad.

1025. The recommended precaution is that while offering prayers, one should not recite the ending word of any Ayat with Waaf, if one wishes to join it to the next Ayat. Nor should one render it without waaf 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”.

1026. In the third and fourth Rak’ats of prayers, one may either read only Surah al-Hamd or Tasbihat 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.

1027. When time for Namaz is short, one must recite Tasbihat Arba’ah once.

1028. 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.

1029. If a person recites Surah al-Hamd in the third and fourth Rak’ats, it is obligatory for him to recite its “Bismilla” silently, specially one who is following in congregational prayers, and one who is reciting individually.

1030. A person who cannot lean Tasbihat Arba’ah, or cannot pronounce them correctly, should recite Surah al-Hamd in the third and fourth Rak’ats.

1031. 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 realizes the error before Ruku, he should recite Surah al-Hamd and Surah. And, as a recommended precaution, after Namaz, he must offer Sajdah of error (Sahve) and many Tasbihat, and if he realizes the above point during Ruku, his prayers are in order.

1032. 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 Rak’ats, thinking that they are the last two Rak’ats, his prayer is in order, whether he realizes the mistake before or after Ruku.

1033. 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 but Surah al-Hamd comes on his tongue, he should abandon it and recite Tasbihat Arba’at 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 and had sincerely intended that, then he should complete it and his prayers will be valid.

1034. 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 necessary for him to recite Surah al-Hamd or Tasbihat Arba’ah again.

1035. 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 ignore his doubt and also if a person who wants to pray, before bowing for Ruku, while he is not seeking forgiveness (Istighfar) doubts that he has read al-Hamd or Tasbihat, he must ignore it.

1036. 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.

1037. If one doubts whether he/she has pronounced a verse or word correctly or he has started something which should have come next to it, he should read them correctly and the issue which he has started, if it is a Rukn (elemental part), such as doubting while in Ruku that certain word of a verse is read or not, he/she must ignore the doubt, and it is an elemental part, for example when reciting “Allaho-Samad”, he/she doubts whether he has said “Ghol Howallao-Ahad” correctly or not, again he/she may ignore it; but if he/she recites that word or verse correctly as a precaution, it has no harm and if he doubts several times, he may repeat the same rule but if he reaches the obsession and he still goes on reading them again, as an obligatory precaution, he should pray again.

1038. 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 congregaton, and by himself, if he is praying alone. And after reciting Surah Qul huwallahu Ahad, he should say, Kazalikallahu Rabbi once, twice to 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.

1039. 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.

1040. It is Makrooh not to recite Surah Qul huwallahu Ahad even in one of the daily prayers.

1041. It is Makrooh to recite the whole of Surah Qul huwallahu Ahad in one breath.

1042. 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.