Islamic Fiqh > Prayer > The pillars and conditions of prayer > The body of prayer: standing, Fatiha, bowing, prostration
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Updated on 24 September 2026 at 7:46 PM
This second part of the sheets on the pillars of prayer continues the chapter's detailed treatment. It covers, with the exact positions of the schools and their classical references: the detail of the minimum stillness, the order of the pillars, clasping the hands in prayer (al-qabd) with its manner and placement, the opening supplication, its formulas and Malik's divergence, the ta'awwudh and its repetition in every rak'a, the basmala with its recitation and whether said aloud or quietly, the amin, the recitation after the Fatiha, the transition takbirs, the bowing with its glorifications and the praise upon rising, the raising of the hands, the descent into prostration, the prostrate posture, the sittings and the rest pause, the qunut of dawn, then the blinking of the eyes and the direction of the gaze in prayer.
The detail of the minimum stillness is established school by school. The Malikis say: the minimum is the disappearance of the limbs' movement for a brief time. The Shafi'is: that the worshiper remain until his limbs settle and the movement of his descent separates from his rising. Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) specifies: if he adds to the descent then rises while the movements are continuous and he does not pause, the stillness is not achieved; the extra descent does not stand in place of stillness, without any disagreement on this.
The Hanbalis: the minimum is stillness, even if brief, and this is the sound position of the school; it is also said that it is measured by the extent of the obligatory remembrance. Al-Mirdawi (may Allah have mercy on him) explains the benefit of the two views: if one forgets the tasbih of the bowing or the prostration, or the praise at the rising, or the asking of forgiveness while sitting, or is unable to say it due to paralysis or muteness, or deliberately leaves it out, we say it is a sunna; if he remains still for a duration not long enough to say it, his prayer is valid according to the first view and invalid according to the second. The Hanafis: the minimum of stillness is the settling of the limbs for the duration of one tasbih («Hashiyat al-Dasuqi» 1/24, «al-Sharh al-Saghir» 1/211, «al-Majmu'» 4/124, «Mughni al-Muhtaj» 1/178-179, «Nihayat al-Muhtaj» 1/539, «Kashshaf al-Qina'» 1/389, «Matalib Uli al-Nuha» 1/501, «Manar al-Sabil» 1/106, «al-Ifsah» 1/178, «al-Bahr al-Ra'iq» 1/314-315, Ibn Abidin 1/449, 454, 461, «Sharh Fath al-Qadir» 1/275, «Majma' al-Anhar» 1/221).
Thirteenth pillar: the order of the pillars. The jurists make the order of the pillars of prayer itself one of the pillars: whoever deliberately prostrates before bowing has his prayer void by consensus, as a form of mockery; if he omits it out of forgetfulness, what he does after the omitted pillar is not counted, being out of its place, and he must go back to bow and then prostrate. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed it in order:
"Pray as you have seen me pray"Reported by al-Bukhari
and he taught it, in order, to the one who had erred in his prayer, through the conjunction "then", and the prostration of forgetfulness becomes due. The order is obligatory only in the obligatory prayers in themselves; the order of the sunnas, in themselves or alongside the obligations, is not obligatory, as in one who places the ta'awwudh before the opening supplication.
«Matalib Uli al-Nuha», of the Hanbalis, establishes this branch: if a worshiper believes that these mentioned pillars are sunnas and prays with that belief, his prayer is valid; if he holds a sunna to be an obligation, it is also valid; if he holds nothing at all, neither recommended nor obligatory nor anything else, yet performs the prayer knowing that all of this is part of it, his prayer is valid.
Likewise if one does not know what distinguishes a condition from a pillar, or an obligation from a sunna: Abu al-Khattab allowed this, and al-Majd refuted those who do not validate the following (al-i'timam) of one who holds the Fatiha to be supererogatory, relying on the practice of the Companions and those after them, despite their intense disagreement over what is obligatory and what is sunna. For the belief in obligatoriness or supererogatoriness affects the prayer as a whole, not its details: whoever prays believing the prayer to be an obligation performs acts from which valid ones come, some being obligations and some supererogations; if he does not know what is sunna, or holds something to be obligatory that is not, his prayer is valid by consensus, as stated in «al-Mubdi'».
The scholars diverge on this into four opinions. The first: the majority of the jurists, the Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis, count the qabd, that is placing the right hand over the left, among the sunnas of the prayer; it is the narration of Mutarrif and Ibn al-Majishun from Imam Malik, who declared it a sunna, and Ibn al-Mundhir narrates the same from Malik. Ibn al-Arabi said: it is the sound view. Their evidences are the following:
First evidence: Qabisa ibn Hulb reports it from his father (may Allah be pleased with him):
"The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would lead us in prayer and take his left hand with his right"Hasan hadith: reported by al-Tirmidhi (252), Ibn Majah (809) and Ahmad (5/226-227)
Al-Tirmidhi specifies that action is taken upon it among the people of knowledge, from the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the Successors and those after them.
Second evidence: Abu Hazim reports it from Sahl ibn Sa'd al-Sa'idi:
"The people were commanded to place the right hand over the left arm in prayer"Reported by al-Bukhari (707); Abu Hazim said: I know of this only as going back to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
Third evidence: it is narrated from Wail ibn Hujr concerning the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
"He placed his right hand over his left palm, the wrist and the forearm"Sahih hadith: reported by Abu Dawud (727) and al-Nasa'i (889)
Fourth evidence: Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
"The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by me while I had placed my left hand over my right; he took my right hand and placed it over the left"Sahih hadith: reported by Abu Dawud (755) and Ibn Majah (811)
Fifth evidence, the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
"We, the company of prophets, have been commanded to hasten the breaking of the fast, to delay the pre-dawn meal, and to place our right hands over our lefts in prayer"Sahih hadith: reported by Ibn Hibban in his «Sahih» (5/67) and al-Tayalisi (2654)
The second opinion: it is recommended to leave the hands at the sides (al-irsal) and disliked to clasp them in the obligatory prayer, permitted in the supererogatory; it is said: absolutely, and it is said: if one lingers in it. This is the narration of Ibn al-Qasim from Malik in the «Mudawwana», the choice of Shaykh Khalil and the commentators of his text such as al-Dardir and al-Dasuqi. The dislike in the obligatory is explained by the fact that clasping the hands there implies leaning upon them, which resembles taking support; al-Dardir specifies: if he does it not to lean but simply to rest his hands, it is not disliked; this explanation is the relied-upon one, and it follows that clasping is permitted absolutely in the supererogatory, since taking support is permitted there without necessity.
The third opinion: the permissibility of clasping the hands in both the obligatory and the supererogatory, the view of Malik according to the hearings of Ashhab and Ibn Nafi'. Al-Hattab reports from Ibn Farhun: as for letting the hands down after raising them, Sanad said: I have found no text on this; it seems most apparent to me that they be let down at the takbir, together with the movement, and they should be let down gently («Mawahib al-Jalil» 1/537). Ibn Abd al-Barr (may Allah have mercy on him): placing the right over the left or letting the hands hang, all of that is sunna in the prayer («al-Kafi» 43). The qadi Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him): placing the right hand over the left carries two narrations, the recommendation and the permissibility; as for the dislike, it lies outside the area of disagreement: it concerns the case where one intends by it support and leaning.
The evidence for the recommendation: the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Three things are part of the morals of prophethood...", in which he mentions placing the right hand over the left in prayer. It was also said that the meaning of Allah's saying:
"So pray to your Lord, and sacrifice"
Surah 108, 2
is placing the right hand over the left in prayer; and because it is fuller and more encompassing of humility and the dignity of the prayer. The evidence for its negation: the saying "Restrain your hands in prayer", and the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught the Bedouin the prayer with its obligations and sunnas without mentioning this; the first view is the more apparent.
Chapter: the description of placing one hand over the other is to place them below the chest and above the navel, contrary to Abu Hanifa who held that the sunna is to place them below the navel, since that is a covered spot falling under the 'awra, and is therefore not a place for placing the right hand over the left, like the thigh («al-Ishraf ala «Nukat masa'il al-khilaf»» 1/265-266, case no. 182). The fourth opinion: the prohibition of clasping the hands in both cases, narrated by al-Baji and followed by Ibn Arafa, but al-Misnawi said this is among the anomalous views («Hashiyat al-Dasuqi» 1/250, «al-Mudawwana» 1/74, «al-Muntaqa» 1/281, al-Zurqani 1/214, «Tafsir al-Qurtubi» 20/220, «Ahkam al-Qur'an» of Ibn al-Arabi 4/461, «al-Istidhkar» 2/290-291, «Bidayat al-Mujtahid» 1/194, «al-Sharh al-Saghir» 1/216, «al-Tamhid» 20/75, «Ma'ani al-Athar» 2/31, «al-Bahr al-Ra'iq» 1/320, «Umdat al-Qari» 5/279, «Sharh Muslim» 4/102, «Mughni al-Muhtaj» 1/152, «al-Majmu'» 3/257, «al-Mughni» 2/19, «Kashshaf al-Qina'» 1/333). The Malikis argue for their position with the hadith of the one who erred in his prayer: the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught him the prayer without mentioning placing the right hand over the left.
The jurists then diverged over the manner of clasping the hands and the place of their placement. As for the manner, the Hanafis distinguish between the man and the woman: the man takes with his right hand the left wrist, circling the wrist with his little finger and thumb, the three other fingers outstretched, according to «Sharh al-Muniyya» and likewise in «al-Bahr», «al-Nahr», «al-Mi'raj», «al-Kifaya», «al-Fath» and «al-Siraj»; «al-Durr al-Mukhtar» retains this as the chosen position. Al-Kasani writes in «Bada'i' al-Sana'i'»: he circles with his thumb, his little finger and his ring finger, placing his middle finger and index finger upon his wrist. As for the woman, she places palm over palm, and the same applies to the hermaphrodite (Ibn Abidin 1/487, «Ma'ani al-Athar» 2/34).
The Malikis and the Hanbalis: he grasps with his right hand the left arm up to the elbow, for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) placed the right over the left («al-Istidhkar» 1/477, «al-Ishraf ala «Nukat masa'il al-khilaf»» 1/267, «al-Mubdi'» 1/431, «al-Insaf» 2/46, «Asna al-Matalib» 1/145). With the Shafi'is: it is recommended to place the right hand over the left, grasping with the right palm the left elbow, part of its wrist and its forearm, the fingers outstretched across the joint and spread toward the forearm, according to what Wail ibn Hujr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated:
"I said: I shall look at how the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prays; I looked at him: he had placed his right hand on the back of his left palm, on the wrist and the forearm"Sahih hadith: reported by Abu Dawud (727), Ibn Khuzayma in his «Sahih» (1/243) and Ibn Hibban in his «Sahih» (1/243)
(«al-Majmu'» 3/257, «Rawdat al-Talibin» 1/232, «Kifayat al-Akhyar» 158, «Asna al-Matalib» 1/145).
As for the placement, the Hanafis and the Hanbalis according to the school's position: the worshiper places his hands below the navel, according to the saying of Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him):
"The sunna is to place palm over palm in prayer, below the navel"Weak hadith: reported by Abu Dawud (756), al-Bayhaqi (2/31) and Ahmad (1/110); al-Nawawi writes in «Sharh Muslim» (4/115): there is agreement on its weakness
The Hanafis, however, specify this for the man: the woman places her hand on her chest; it is said: below her chest. The Shafi'is, the Malikis (in the supererogatory) and Imam Ahmad in one narration: it is recommended to place the hands below the chest and above the navel, according to Wail ibn Hujr:
"I prayed with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and he placed his right hand over his left hand, on his chest"Sahih hadith: reported by Ibn Khuzayma in his «Sahih» (1/243), with this corroboration from Tawus: the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would place his right hand over his left and press them together on his chest while in prayer
The scholars specify: that is, its lower part, the hand thus being beneath the chest according to the narration "below his chest"; the wisdom in placing the hands below the chest is to be above the noblest of the organs, the heart, which lies below the chest. According to Imam Ahmad, one has the choice in this matter, since all of it has been transmitted and the matter is broad («Majmu' al-Fatawa» 22/388).
Third point: the opening supplication. The majority of the jurists, the Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis, count it among the sunnas of the prayer, after the opening takbir. A group of the companions of Imam Ahmad holds the remembrance obligatory, that is, praise such as the opening supplication; this is the choice of Ibn Battah and others, and it is also narrated as a transmission from Ahmad («Majmu' al-Fatawa» 22/388). Malik diverged on this: Ibn al-Qasim reports in the «Mudawwana» that Malik did not approve of this formula that people recite: "Glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise; blessed is Your name, exalted is Your majesty, and there is no god but You"; he did not recognize it.
Ibn Wahb then transmits, with his chain, from Anas ibn Malik that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Bakr, Omar and Othman used to open the prayer with:
"All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds"
Surah 1, 2
Malik adds: whoever prays behind the imam, whoever prays alone, and whoever is an imam should not say "Glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise..." and the rest, but should say the takbir and begin the recitation from there («al-Mudawwana» 1/62).
«Minh al-Jalil» comments on Khalil's view of the dislike: it is disliked according to the famous position, the one followed in practice, even if the hadith supporting it is authentic. It is reported from Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that he recommended saying these formulas before it, that is, before the opening takbir: "Glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise...", "I turn my face..." and "O Allah, distance between me and my sins...". Ibn Habib: saying it after the iqama and before entering the prayer; Ibn Rushd in «al-Bayan»: that is good («Minh al-Jalil» 1/266, «al-Taj wa al-Iklil» 1/538). The qadi Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him): it is recommended to recite the Fatiha right after entering the prayer, contrary to al-Shafi'i in his recommendation of turning the face and the glorification, according to Abu Humayd describing the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): he would raise his hands, say the takbir, then recited. It is also reported that he said to the one he taught the prayer: "Say the takbir, then recite", and: "You say the takbir, then you recite". In the hadith of Ubayy: how do you recite when you open the prayer? He replied: "Allah is the greatest", then "All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds" («al-Ishraf ala «Nukat masa'il al-khilaf»» 1/251, case no. 172). Al-Rafi'i reports from the Shafi'is Malik's saying: after the takbir nothing opens the prayer but the Fatiha, the supplication and the ta'awwudh being placed before the takbir («Fath al-Aziz» 3/301; «Kifayat al-Akhyar» 158, «Manar al-Sabil» 1/109, «al-Mughni» 2/21, Ibn Abidin 1/328, «Mughni al-Muhtaj» 1/155, «Kashshaf al-Qina'» 1/334). The divergence between the Malikis and the majority over the opening supplication therefore comes down to a disagreement over its place: with the former it takes place before the takbir, with the others after it.
The hadith transmits from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the opening of the prayer with different formulas, the most famous being three. The first, from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her):
"When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) opened the prayer, he would say: Glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise; blessed is Your name, exalted is Your majesty, and there is no god but You"Sahih hadith: reported by Abu Dawud (776)
The second, from Ali (may Allah be pleased with him): when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood for prayer, he would say: "I turn my face to the One who created the heavens and the earth, in pure faith, and I am not of the polytheists. My prayer, my rites, my life and my death belong to Allah, Lord of the worlds, who has no partner; with this I was commanded, and I am of the Muslims". In one version: "and I am the first of the Muslims. O Allah, You are the King; there is no god for me but You; You are my Lord and I am Your servant; I have wronged myself and I confess my sin, so forgive me all my sins, for none forgives sins but You; guide me to the best of character, for none guides to it but You, and turn away from me its worst, for none turns it away but You; at Your service and in Your pleasure, all good is in Your hand, and evil does not reach You; I live by You and turn to You; blessed are You and exalted; I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance".
"I turn my face to the One who created the heavens and the earth..."Reported by Muslim (771)
The third is the hadith of Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him):
"When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said the takbir in prayer, he would fall silent for a moment before reciting. I said: O Messenger of Allah, may my father and mother be ransomed for you, I see your silence between the takbir and the recitation: what do you say? He said: I say: O Allah, distance me from my sins as You have distanced the East from the West; O Allah, purify me of my sins as a white garment is purified of filth; O Allah, wash me of my sins with water, snow and hail"Reported by al-Bukhari (711) and Muslim (598)
The scholars diverged over which of the transmitted formulas to prefer. The first position: the majority of the Hanafis and Hanbalis say the opening is made with "Glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise..." and the rest. The second position: the Shafi'is according to the relied-upon view among them, and al-Ajurri among the Hanbalis, opt for the opening with "I turn my face..." and the rest. Al-Nawawi specifies that the hadith coming next in merit is that of Abu Hurayra, that is "O Allah, distance me from my sins..." and the rest. The third position: Abu Yusuf among the Hanafis and a group of Shafi'is such as Abu Ishaq al-Marwazi and the qadi Abu Hamid, also the choice of the vizier Ibn Hubayra among the companions of Imam Ahmad: to combine the two transmitted formulas; al-Mirdawi attributes this to Ibn Taymiyya as well. Al-Nawawi also recommends gathering all the transmitted formulas for whoever prays alone, and for the imam if the congregation permits him. All these opinions concern the obligatory prayer; in the supererogatory, especially the night prayer, the Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis agree to combine the praise and the supplication of turning. Ibn Abidin explains: in order to carry all that has been reported, one recites the supplication of turning in the night prayer, the matter there being broad. In the Sahih of Muslim, when he stood for prayer (in one version: when he opened the prayer), he said the takbir then recited "I turn my face to the One who created the heavens and the earth, in pure faith". Those who practice it agree it is said in secret («Sharh Miniyyat al-Musalli» 302, «al-Majmu'» 3/267, «Kifayat al-Akhyar» 158, «al-Bahr al-Ra'iq» 1/328, «al-Insaf» 2/47, «al-Mughni» 2/22, «al-Furu'» 1/303).
The opening supplication is a sunna in every prayer and in all circumstances. Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) writes: it is recommended for every worshiper, imam, follower, one praying alone, a woman, a child, a traveler, in the obligatory and the supererogatory, sitting or lying down, and this includes the ordered and free supererogatory prayers, the Eid prayer and the eclipse in the first standing, as well as the istisqa («al-Majmu'» 3/318-319). Some jurists except the funeral prayer; the discussion will come in detail in the rules of funerals, Allah willing. Fourth point: the ta'awwudh. The majority of the jurists, the Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis, hold that seeking protection in prayer, after the opening supplication, is a sunna, for Allah's saying:
"When you recite the Quran, seek Allah's protection from Satan the accursed"
Surah 16, 98
Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he stood for prayer, would open then say:
"I seek protection with Allah, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, from Satan the accursed, from his suggestion, his breath and his spittle"Sahih hadith: reported by Abu Dawud (775)
Al-Tirmidhi says it is the most famous hadith of the chapter, and a narration from Ahmad makes it obligatory. The Malikis: it is permitted in the supererogatory, disliked in the obligatory; their argument is that Satan flees at the adhan and the takbir, plus the hadith of Anas:
"I prayed behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Bakr, Omar and Othman: they would open the prayer with the Fatiha"Reported by Muslim (399)
The form of seeking protection is to say: I seek protection with Allah from Satan the accursed; this is the view of Abu Hanifa, al-Shafi'i and Ahmad in one narration, for the word of Allah cited above. According to another narration from Ahmad: I seek protection with Allah, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, from Satan the accursed, according to the hadith of Abu Sa'id and Allah's saying:
"Seek protection with Allah; He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing"
Surah 41, 36
this formula including the added mention. Hanbal reports from Ahmad that he added after it: "Allah is indeed the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing"; all of this is permitted, and any seeking of protection is good. Ibn Qudama: it is said quietly, not aloud, and I know of no disagreement on this («al-Mughni» 2/24, «Ahkam al-Qur'an» of al-Jassas 5/12, Ibn Abidin 1/443, al-Rahuni 1/424, al-Dasuqi 1/201, al-Qurtubi 1/86-87, «Ahkam al-Qur'an» of Ibn al-Arabi 3/158, «al-Majmu'» 3/268-269, «I'anat al-Talibin» 1/164, «Kifayat al-Akhyar» 158, «al-Insaf» 2/119, «al-Ifsah» 1/158). Ibn al-Qasim, of the Malikis, transmits the formula: "I seek protection with Allah the Most Great from Satan the accursed; Allah is indeed the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing" («Tafsir al-Qurtubi» 1/87).
Seeking protection is legislated in the first rak'a by agreement of those who practice it; as for repeating it in the remaining rak'as, the jurists diverge into two opinions. The first: repeating it in every rak'a is recommended; this is the view of Ibn Habib among the Malikis, with no one of the school reported as contradicting him, the madhhab of the Shafi'is and a narration from Ahmad; the basis is the word of Allah cited above: the verse falls between two recitations, so the case resembles one who interrupts his recitation outside the prayer for some business and then returns to it: the ta'awwudh is recommended for him; moreover the command being conditional, it repeats with the repetition of the condition, like Allah's saying:
"If you are in a state of impurity, purify yourselves"
Surah 5, 6
and further: if it is legislated in the first rak'a, it is legislated in the others by analogy, the cause being shared. The second opinion: repeating the seeking of protection in the second rak'a and beyond is disliked; this is the madhhab of the Hanafis, a view of the Shafi'is and the position of the Hanbalis, for the hadith of Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him):
"When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) rose from the second rak'a, he would begin the recitation with the Fatiha, without pausing"Reported by Muslim (599)
This hadith shows he did not seek protection afterwards; the prayer being one whole, the recitation taken as a whole is like a single recitation, which is why the order in the recitation of the two rak'as was counted; it resembles one who prostrates for the recitation in the middle of his reading: if he returns beginning with the seeking of protection, that suffices, like the opening supplication («al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya» 1/74, «al-Inaya» 1/217, «al-Bahr al-Ra'iq» 1/328, Ibn Abidin 1/356, «al-Majmu'» 3/270, «Kifayat al-Akhyar» 159, al-Ruhuni 1/424, «Hashiyat al-Jamal» 1/354, «al-Mughni» 2/85, «al-Insaf» 2/119).
Fifth point. Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) writes: know that the question of the basmala is great and important, the validity of the prayer, the greatest pillar after tawhid, being built upon it; given this high standing, the early and late scholars devoted attention to it and produced many dedicated works («al-Majmu'» 3/280). The scholars agree that the Fatiha counts seven verses, except that whoever places the basmala among them counts it as a verse, and whoever does not count it among them counts "those You have blessed" as the seventh verse («Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar» 1/201). They also agree that it is a verse of the sura of the Ants; the divergence concerns this: is it a verse of the Fatiha or not? The majority of the jurists, the Hanafis, Malikis and Hanbalis according to the school's position, hold it is not a verse of the Fatiha, with details to come; the Shafi'is and the Hanbalis in one narration hold that it is.
The Hanafis say: the basmala is a verse of the Quran, the umma having agreed that whatever is written between the two boards by the pen of revelation is part of the Quran, and the basmala is such; but it is neither a verse of the Fatiha nor of the head of every sura: it is only an opening for them, by way of blessing. The worshiper, imam or alone, recites it quietly with the Fatiha in every rak'a of the prayer; if he recites it with every sura, it is good, and this is the Hanafi madhhab. Their evidence is the hadith of Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him):
"I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: Allah said: I have divided the prayer between Me and My servant into two halves, and for My servant is what he asks. When the servant says: All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, Allah says: My servant has praised Me. When he says: the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy, Allah says: My servant has extolled Me. When he says: Master of the Day of Judgment, He says: My servant has glorified Me; in one version: My servant has entrusted himself to Me. When he says: You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help, He says: This is between Me and My servant, and for My servant is what he asks. When he says: Guide us to the straight path, the path of those You have blessed, not of those who have incurred anger, nor of those astray, He says: This is for My servant, and for My servant is what he asks"Reported by Muslim (395)
The argument from this hadith is twofold. On one hand, it begins with "All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds", not with the basmala: were it part of the Fatiha, the beginning would be with it, not with the praise. On the other, it explicitly states the halving: were the basmala part of the Fatiha, the halving would not hold, Allah's share being four and a half verses. Moreover, a verse's belonging to a given sura and a given position is established only by a mutawatir transmission from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); it is established by tawatur that the basmala is written in the mushafs, but not that it belongs to the suras: hence the scholars' divergence, the readers of Kufa counting it among the Fatiha's verses and the readers of Basra not counting it, which is evidence of the absence of tawatur and of the presence of doubt; with such doubt, its belonging to the sura is not established. Al-Kasani (may Allah have mercy on him) adds: making the basmala a verse of every sura is something particular to al-Shafi'i, and no one of the umma's predecessors follows him in it: this suffices as evidence of the invalidity of that view.
Another evidence, reported from Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him): the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said there is in the Quran a sura of thirty verses that interceded for its reader until he was forgiven, "Blessed is He in whose hand is the dominion"; the readers and others agree it has thirty verses without the basmala, which, were it part of them, would make thirty-one, contrary to the Prophet's words (peace and blessings be upon him). Likewise the consensus of the jurists and readers settled that the sura al-Kawthar has three verses and al-Ikhlas four; with the basmala they would have four and five, against the consensus. That the basmala belongs to the Fatiha can be established only by a transmission compelling knowledge, while it is opposed by something stronger, more established and more famous, the hadith of the division, which is not accepted in its contradiction.
As for the objection that it was written in the mushafs by the pen of revelation at the heads of the suras, the answer is: indeed, but this proves it is part of the Quran, not that it belongs to the suras: it may have been written to separate the suras, not because it is of them; its belonging to the suras is thus not established by mere possibility. It follows that in our view one does not say the basmala aloud in prayer, since there is no text on saying it aloud and it is not part of the Fatiha, which would warrant saying it aloud as with the Fatiha. With the Shafi'is, it is said aloud in the prayers recited aloud, like the Fatiha, being part of it. When the basmala wavers between being part of the Fatiha or not, saying it aloud wavers between sunna and innovation; when an act wavers between sunna and innovation, the side of innovation prevails, since abstaining from innovation is obligatory while there is no obligation of realizing the sunna or the required act: concealing it is therefore preferable. The evidence is what is reported from Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman, Ali, Abdallah ibn Mas'ud, Abdallah ibn al-Fadl, Abdallah ibn Abbas, Anas and others (may Allah be pleased with them): they concealed the basmala; many of them said: saying the basmala aloud is a Bedouin manner, and the attribution to these latter is false, ignorance of the laws prevailing over them.
Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reports having prayed behind the Messenger of Allah, behind Abu Bakr and Omar (may Allah be pleased with them), and that they did not say the basmala aloud. In our (Hanafi) view it is not said aloud, but the imam recites it to open the recitation, by way of blessing, as he recites the ta'awwudh in the first rak'a by agreement of all narrations. Is it recited at the start of the Fatiha in the other rak'as? Two narrations from Abu Hanifa: al-Hasan narrates from him that it is recited only in the first rak'a, since it is not part of the Fatiha and opening the recitation with it, by way of blessing, is specific to the first rak'a, like the ta'awwudh. Al-Mu'alla narrates from Abu Yusuf from Abu Hanifa that it is recited in every rak'a, which is also the view of Abu Yusuf and Muhammad: if the basmala is not definitively established as part of the Fatiha by an ahad report (and the ahad report entails action), it became part of the Fatiha in practice; whenever the recitation of the Fatiha is required, the recitation of the basmala is required as a precaution. At the head of each sura in the prayer, it is not recited according to Abu Hanifa and Abu Yusuf; Muhammad says it is recited as a precaution, as at the start of the Fatiha; the sound view is that of the former two: the possibility of its belonging to the sura being cut off by the consensus of the predecessors, there remains the possibility that it is not part of the Fatiha, on which there is no consensus, hence action on the possibility as a precaution for the recitation; but this possibility does not count for saying it aloud, since precaution is the basis for remembrances, and saying it aloud is an innovation in principle; when it may be a remembrance in this case, and may be part of the Fatiha, concealment is the furthest from innovation and therefore more worthy. Muhammad also narrated: when one recites quietly, one comes with the basmala between the Fatiha and the sura, this being closer to following the mushaf; when one says it aloud, one does not come with it, else one would have to conceal it, which would be a pause in the middle of the recitation, not prescribed; then one recites the Fatiha of the Book and the sura («Bada'i' al-Sana'i'» 1/203, 205).
Imam Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi (may Allah have mercy on him) adds: it being established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and those we mentioned after him that they left saying the basmala aloud, it is established that it is not of the Quran; were it of the Quran, saying it aloud would be obligatory as with the rest of the Quran. Do you not see that the basmala of the sura of the Ants is said aloud like the rest of the Quran, because it is part of it? Once it is established that the one before the Fatiha of the Book is concealed while the Quran is said aloud, it is established that it is not of the Quran, and that it is concealed like the ta'awwudh and the opening supplication and what resembles them. We also see it written at the heads of the suras in the mushaf, including before the Fatiha of the Book; outside the Fatiha it is not a verse, so it is established too that it is not a verse within the Fatiha. Those who denied saying it aloud in prayer are Abu Hanifa, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, may Allah have mercy on them («Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar» 1/204, «al-Tajrid» of al-Quduri 2/499, 502, «Tuhfat al-Fuqaha» 1/128, «Umdat al-Qari» 5/291, «al-Durr al-Mukhtar» 1/491, «Hashiyat al-Tahtawi» 1/174).
The Malikis: the recitation of the basmala is forbidden in the written (obligatory) prayer, aloud or quietly, neither in opening Umm al-Kitab nor in any other sura; they permit it in the supererogatory. They establish it with the hadith of Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him):
"The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Bakr and Omar opened the prayer with the Fatiha"Reported by al-Bukhari (71); in Muslim's version (399): they did not mention the basmala, neither at the beginning of the recitation nor at its end
And with the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her):
"The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) opened the prayer with the takbir, and the recitation with the Fatiha"Reported by Muslim (498)
And with the hadith of Abdallah ibn Abdallah ibn Mughaffal (may Allah be pleased with him): my father heard me in prayer reciting the basmala and told me: O my boy, beware of innovation, for I prayed with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), with Abu Bakr, Omar and Othman without hearing any of them say it; when you pray, say the Fatiha, a weak hadith reported by al-Tirmidhi (244). And with the hadith of Abu Hurayra on the division of the prayer, cited previously: his saying "I divided the prayer" means the Fatiha, called prayer because the prayer is not valid without it; were the basmala a verse, it would have been mentioned in this sacred hadith («Tafsir al-Qurtubi» 1/93).
Imam Ibn al-Arabi, the Maliki (may Allah have mercy on him), writes: it suffices you that it is not Quran, given the disagreement over it, and the Quran admits no disagreement, denying the Quran being disbelief. Were it objected: were it not Quran, whoever inserts it into the Quran would be a disbeliever, we answer: the disagreement prevents it being a verse, and also prevents excommunicating whoever counts it among the Quran, for disbelief only comes from opposing text and consensus in matters of creed. Were it asked: is its recitation in prayer obligatory? No, for Anas reports having prayed behind the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Bakr and Omar without any of them reciting the basmala; and Ibn Mughaffal said the like. Were it objected that the sound version of Anas's hadith is: they opened the prayer with the Fatiha, and that al-Shafi'i took it to mean they recited nothing before the Fatiha, we answer: such an interpretation is unworthy of al-Shafi'i given the greatness of his fiqh; Anas and Ibn Mughaffal said this in reply to those who recite the basmala. Were it objected that a group narrated its recitation and that al-Daraqutni gathered all of that in a part he authenticated, we answer: we do not deny the narration; but our school is favored in that our ahadith, though fewer, are sounder, and by a great method, the rational one applied to many questions of the Law: the mosque of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in Medina saw the centuries pass, from the time of the Messenger to the time of Malik, without anyone ever reciting the basmala there, in following of the sunna. Our companions nevertheless recommend its recitation in the supererogatory, and it is in this sense that the traditions mentioning it are carried («Ahkam al-Qur'an» 1/5-6).
The qadi Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him): the basmala is neither a verse of the Fatiha nor of the beginning of every sura, contrary to al-Shafi'i; for there is no way to establish the Quran except by a mutawatir transmission that produces certain knowledge and removes excuse, or by the consensus of the umma; it is not established by an ahad report, nor by analogy, nor by anything yielding predominant conjecture: there is here no consensus nor transmission upholding a proof, so affirming it as part of the Fatiha is not permitted. If they invoke the consensus of the transmitters of Othman's mushaf that it is established at the head of every sura, and their agreement with us that everything written in the mushaf is Quran in its place, we answer: the transmitters of the mushaf did not agree that it belongs to every sura; most say it does not belong to them but was set as a separator between two suras. If it is said that the occurrence of disagreement does not negate consensus, we answer: the existence of disagreement forbids claiming consensus; and it is established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explained the Quran with one even explanation that upholds proof and removes excuse, his manner of explanation not being divergent, explaining some of it one way and other parts in a summary manner to one or two men; on this basis we firmly conclude that nothing of the Quran remains that was not transmitted to us, nor that isolated reports of Companions established what is not in the mushaf, and we firmly conclude the nullity of the Rafidi claim against the compiled mushaf, that the Quran is the load of a camel and is with their awaited imam. Hence, were it part of the praise, its explanation would be widespread and mutawatir; were that so, there would be no disagreement, as there is none over what is within the sura. This is the mainstay, together with the preceding evidences. As for the way of ahad reports concerning the parts of the prayer, with the absence of its recitation in what is transmitted from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), whose hadith of the division runs ("Allah says: I divided the prayer between Me and My servant, half for Me and half for My servant, and for My servant what he asks; when the servant says: All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, Allah says: My servant has praised Me, until: when he says: You alone we worship..., Allah says: this verse: half for Me and half for My servant, and for My servant what he asks"), two proofs emerge: first, he said "the servant says: All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds"; had the basmala been part of it, he would have said: when he says: the basmala; second, he reports that it divides into two halves, which is impossible unless it begins with "All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds", otherwise it would exceed half. The Prophet (peace be upon him) also said: "I shall teach you a sura the like of which was not revealed in the Torah nor the Gospel", and mentioned until: "how do you recite when you open the prayer? I recited: All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, until its end"; the location of the proof is that he did not mention the basmala nor reproach him for it, evidence that it is not part of it («al-Ishraf ala «Nukat masa'il al-khilaf»» 1/255-256, case no. 176; «al-Dhakhira» 2/176, 178; «al-Qawanin al-fiqhiyya» 44).
The Hanbalis, according to the sound position of the school: the basmala is not a verse of the Fatiha. Ibn Qudama (may Allah have mercy on him): reciting the basmala is legislated in prayer at the start of the Fatiha and at the start of every sura, according to the saying of most people of knowledge, based on what Nu'aym al-Mujmir reports:
"I prayed behind Abu Hurayra: he recited the basmala, then recited Umm al-Qur'an, and said: By Him in whose hand is my soul, I resemble your prayer most closely to the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)"Reported by al-Nasa'i (905), Ibn Khuzayma in his «Sahih» (1/251), Ibn Hibban in his «Sahih» (5/100) and al-Daraqutni (1/300), who says: sahih hadith, its narrators are all trustworthy; al-Bayhaqi (2/146, 158) says: its chain is sahih; al-Hafiz writes in «Fath al-Bari» (2/267): it is the soundest hadith that came on this point, but al-Albani weakened its chain
Ibn Qudama adds: the narration from Ahmad diverged: is it a verse of the Fatiha whose recitation in prayer is obligatory, or not? According to him, it is part of the Fatiha, and Abu Abdallah Ibn Battah and Abu Hafs follow this, as do Ibn al-Mubarak, al-Shafi'i, Ishaq and Abu Ubayd. Ibn al-Mubarak: whoever leaves the basmala leaves one hundred and thirteen verses. Al-Shafi'i likewise holds it a verse of every sura, according to Umm Salama's hadith; and Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When you recite the Fatiha, recite the basmala: it is Umm al-Kitab, the seven oft-repeated verses, and the basmala is one of its verses"; and the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) established it in the mushafs they wrote, establishing nothing between the two boards but the Quran. It is also narrated from Ahmad that it is neither of the Fatiha nor a verse of anything else and that its recitation in prayer is not obligatory: this is the position supported by evidence among his companions, and the view of Abu Hanifa, Malik, al-Awza'i and Abdallah ibn Ma'bad al-Rummani. Other sayings are reported from Ahmad: it is a separate verse that descended between two suras, as a separator; or again: it is only part of a verse of the sura of the Ants; Ibn Ma'bad and al-Awza'i likewise: the basmala only descended in the sura "it is from Souleyman, and it begins with the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy" (Surah 27, 30). The proof that it is not of the Fatiha is Abu Hurayra's hadith of the division, reported by Muslim and cited previously: were the basmala a verse, he would have counted it and begun with it, and the halving would not hold: the verses of praise would be four and a half and those of supplication two and a half; according to our description, the halving holds. Were it objected that Abdallah ibn Ziyad ibn Sam'an reported: My servant, when he opens the prayer, says the basmala and mentions Me, we answer: Ibn Sam'an is abandoned in hadith, no proof is made with him, as al-Daraqutni said, and the narrators' agreement on contradicting his narration is more worthy. It is reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the saying about the sura of thirty verses that interceded for its reader, "Blessed is He in whose hand is the dominion", it being thirty verses without the basmala; and the people agreed that the sura al-Kawthar has three verses without the basmala, which would make four; moreover the positions of verses follow the same rule as the verses themselves: they are established only by tawatur, and no mutawatir transmission came on this. Umm Salama's saying is her own opinion; the divergence over it is not denied, though we say: it is a separate verse serving as a separator between the suras. Abu Hurayra's hadith "When you recite..." is stopped at him: it belongs to the narration of Abu Bakr al-Hanafi from Abd al-Hamid ibn Ja'far from Nuh ibn Abi Bilal, and Abu Bakr said: I reviewed it with Nuh and he withheld it; this shows its raising was Abd al-Hamid's error; as for its being written between the suras in the mushaf, it is as a separator, which is why it was set alone on a line («al-Mughni» 2/25, 30, «al-Kafi» 1/130, «al-Mubdi'» 1/434, «al-Insaf» 2/48).
The Shafi'is: the basmala is a verse of the Fatiha, according to the hadith of Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her): the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited in prayer the basmala counting it as a verse, and "All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds" as two verses (sahih hadith, its takhrij is to come). And according to Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him): the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When you recite the Fatiha of the Book, recite: the basmala, for it is Umm al-Qur'an and the seven oft-repeated verses, and the basmala is one of its verses", a sahih hadith reported by al-Hakim in his «Mustadrak» (2051); the Companions having established it in what they compiled of the Quran, this proves it is a verse of it. Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him): our school holds the basmala to be a complete verse of the beginning of the Fatiha without disagreement, and that it is not at the beginning of "Bara'a" by consensus of the Muslims. As for the other suras, excluding the Fatiha and "Bara'a", three opinions divide over the basmala at the head of each, narrated by the Khorasanians; the soundest and most famous, which is the correct, or the more correct, is that it is a complete verse; the second: part of a verse; the third: it is not Quran at the heads of the suras other than the Fatiha. The school holds it is Quran at the heads of the suras, "Bara'a" excepted. There remains whether it is Quran in the Fatiha and the others definitively, like the rest of the Quran, or by legal ruling: two famous views among our companions, narrated by al-Mahamili, the author of the «Hawi» and al-Bandaniji. The first: by legal ruling, in the sense that the prayer is not valid without its recitation at the start of the Fatiha, and whoever recites a sura does not complete it except by beginning with the basmala. The sound view is that it is not Quran definitively: Muslims do not disagree that its denier is not a disbeliever; were it definitively Quran, he would be, like the denier of the rest of the Quran; on this basis an ahad report is accepted in establishing it, as with other rulings; were it said to be definitively Quran, the ahad report would not be accepted, as with the rest of the Quran, and its being written in the mushaf is established only by the mutawatir transmission of the Companions, as will be detailed in the branch on the schools. Imam al-Haramayn and others weakened the view of those who say it is definitively Quran; the imam said: great foolishness belongs to the one holding this statement, for claiming knowledge where nothing is decisive is impossible. The author of the «Hawi»: the majority of our companions say it is a verse, by ruling and not definitively. Abu Ali Ibn Hubayra: it is a verse of the head of every sura, "Bara'a" excepted, definitively, and there is no disagreement among us: its recitation is obligatory at the start of the Fatiha and the prayer is not valid without it, it being like the rest of the Fatiha. Al-Shafi'i and his companions: saying the basmala aloud is recommended in the aloud prayer, in the Fatiha and the sura, without disagreement among us («al-Majmu'» 3/279-280, «Sharh Sahih Muslim» 4/111, «al-Hawi al-Kabir» 2/105, 109, «al-Muhadhdhab» 1/73).
Branch on the schools of the scholars regarding affirming the basmala or not: the question, as we said, is great and important, the validity of the prayer being built upon it; Shaykh Abu Muhammad Abd al-Rahman ibn Ismail ibn Ibrahim al-Maqdisi al-Dimashqi gathered it in his famous book, encompassing most of the writings in one large volume, whose aims al-Nawawi presents here in summary, adding the necessary completions: our school holds the basmala to be a verse of the beginning of the Fatiha without disagreement, and likewise a complete verse of the head of every sura, "Bara'a" excepted, according to the sound position of our school, and countless predecessors said so.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya (may Allah have mercy on him): the scholars disputed: is it a verse or part of a verse of every sura? or is it not of the Quran, except in the sura of the Ants? or is it a verse of the Book of Allah wherever it is written in the mushafs, without belonging to the suras? Three opinions; the third is the most balanced, the proofs converging in it: the Companions' writing it in the mushafs proves it belongs to the Book of Allah, and their separating it from the sura after it proves it does not belong to them. It is established in the Sahih that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "a sura has just been revealed to me", and recited the basmala then "We have given you al-Kawthar" to the end. It is established in the Sahih that the first the angel brought of the revelation was: "Recite in the name of your Lord who created, who created man from a clinging form. Recite, and your Lord is the Most Generous, who taught by the pen, taught man what he did not know" (Surah 96, 1-5): this was the first to descend, and the basmala had not descended before. It is established from him in the Sunan that he said a sura of the Quran, thirty verses, interceded for a man until he was forgiven, "Blessed is He in whose hand is the dominion", thirty verses without the basmala. It is established from him in the Sahih that Allah says: "I divided the prayer between Me and My servant into two halves, and for My servant is what he asks; when the servant says: All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, Allah says: My servant has praised Me; when he says: the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy, Allah says: My servant has extolled Me; when he says: Master of the Day of Judgment, He says: My servant has glorified Me; in one version: My servant has entrusted himself to Me; when he says: You alone we worship..., He says: This is between Me and My servant, and for My servant is what he asks; when he says: Guide us to the straight path..., He says: This is for My servant, and for My servant is what he asks". This hadith is sahih, explicit that it is not part of the Fatiha, and no sahih explicit hadith contradicts it. The best of the hadiths of this chapter only proves his reciting it at the start of the Fatiha, not that it is part of it; hence the readers among them divided: some recited it at the head of the sura, others did not, both being permitted; whoever recited it did better, and whoever repeated it at the head of every sura did better than whoever left it, since he recited what the Companions wrote in the mushafs. Were it supposed they wrote it by way of blessing, it ought to be recited by way of blessing; otherwise how would they write in the mushaf what is not prescribed to recite, when they purged the mushaf of everything that is not Quran, to the point of not writing the amin, nor the names of the suras, nor the grouping in fives and tens, while the sunna for the worshiper is to say after the Fatiha "amin": how would they write what it is not prescribed to say, and not write what it is prescribed for the worshiper to say outside the Quran? Gathering the legal evidences, they indicate that it belongs to the Book of Allah without belonging to the sura («Majmu' al-Fatawa» 22/276, 278).
Sixth point. The two imams Abu Hanifa and Ahmad hold that saying the basmala aloud is not prescribed, for the hadith of Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him):
"I prayed with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), with Abu Bakr, Omar and Othman, without hearing any of them recite the basmala"Reported by Muslim (399)
and for Ibn Mughaffal's hadith cited above, as well as Aisha's: he opened the prayer with the takbir and the recitation with the Fatiha, and that of Abu Hurayra "I divided the prayer...": all of this proves he did not mention the basmala nor say it aloud («al-Ifsah» 1/159, «al-Mughni» 2/27, «al-Ikhtiyar» 1/50). Yet the sahih of Anas's hadith does not negate the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) and Abu Bakr's, Omar's and Othman's quiet recitation: "without hearing any of them recite it", or "without their saying it aloud"; the version "without their mentioning the basmala, neither at the beginning of the recitation nor at its end" only proves the negation of saying it aloud, for Anas negated only what he knew, and he cannot know what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in secret. Nor can it be said that the Prophet did not pause and joined the takbir to the recitation: the two Sahihs establish that Abu Hurayra asked him: "do you see your silence between the takbir and the recitation: what do you say?"
Ibn Taymiyya (may Allah have mercy on him): whoever interprets Anas's hadith as negating its quiet recitation matches the one who says Anas meant they opened with the Fatiha of the Book before the other suras, and this too is weak; for this is public knowledge that people never ceased to practice: al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf and other rulers behind whom Anas prayed recited the Fatiha before the sura without anyone contesting it, and no one was asked about it, neither Anas nor anyone else; Anas had no need to narrate this from the Prophet and his two companions; and whoever narrates from Anas that he doubted whether the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited the basmala, his narration agrees with the sahih narrations: Anas did not know whether it was recited in secret; he only negated saying it aloud («Majmu' al-Fatawa» 22/279, «Bada'i' al-Sana'i'» 1/203, 205, «Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar» 1/204, «al-Tajrid» of al-Quduri 2/499, 502, «Tuhfat al-Fuqaha» 1/128, «Umdat al-Qari» 5/291, «al-Durr al-Mukhtar» 1/491, «Hashiyat al-Tahtawi» 1/174, «al-Mughni» 2/25, 30, «al-Kafi» 1/130, «al-Mubdi'» 1/434, «al-Insaf» 2/48).
This is also the Malikis' view: when he recites it, he does so quietly. The qadi Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him): we showed that leaving it is recommended; if he recites it, he does not say it aloud, contrary to al-Shafi'i, based on Anas: "I prayed behind the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and Ali: they did not say it aloud"; the like is reported from Ibn Mas'ud and Aisha. Ibn Mughaffal, seeing his son say it aloud, told him: beware of innovation, I prayed with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and Ali without hearing any of them recite it; when you recite, say the Fatiha («al-Ishraf ala «Nukat masa'il al-khilaf»» 1/257). The Shafi'is: saying the basmala aloud is recommended in the aloud prayer, in the Fatiha and the suras. Al-Khatib: as for the Successors and those after them who held saying it aloud, they are too many to be mentioned and too broad to be enumerated. Shaykh Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi: saying the basmala aloud is what the imams among the great memorizers established, chose and wrote on, such as Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazi, Abu Bakr Ibn Khuzayma, Abu Hatim Ibn Hibban, Abu al-Hasan al-Daraqutni, Abu Abdallah al-Hakim, Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi, al-Khatib, Abu Omar Ibn Abd al-Barr and others, may Allah have mercy on them. The hadiths of saying it aloud: the proof stands by what was attested as authentic; they come from six Companions: Abu Hurayra, Umm Salama, Ibn Abbas, Anas, Ali ibn Abi Talib and Samura ibn Jundub (may Allah be pleased with them).
As for Abu Hurayra, hadiths establishing it came through three ways. The first is derived from a report whose authenticity is agreed upon: al-Bukhari and Muslim report from him that "in every prayer there is a recitation", in one version "no prayer without a recitation"; Abu Hurayra said: "what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) made aloud, we made aloud to you, and what he concealed, we concealed from you"; in one version: "what the Prophet made us hear, we make you hear, and what he concealed from us, we conceal from you"; these wordings are in the Sahih, some in both, some in one of them; the meaning is: aloud what was aloud, quietly what was quiet. It is further established from Abu Hurayra that he said the basmala aloud in his prayer, proving he heard it from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Al-Khatib Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: saying the basmala aloud is Abu Hurayra's school, preserved and famous, transmitted by more than one of his companions.
The second way is the hadith of Nu'aym ibn Abdallah al-Mujmir:
"I prayed behind Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him): he recited the basmala, then recited Umm al-Qur'an until 'not of those who incurred anger, nor of those astray', said: amin, and the people said: amin. He said at every prostration: Allah is the greatest; when he rose from the sitting between the two: Allah is the greatest; when he gave the salam, he said: By Him in whose hand is my soul, I resemble your prayer most closely to the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)"Reported by al-Nasa'i in his Sunan and Ibn Khuzayma in his Sahih, who writes: as for saying the basmala aloud in prayer, it is authentic and established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) by a firm, unbroken chain, without doubt or suspicion among those versed in the reports; Abu Hatim Ibn Hibban reported it in his Sahih and al-Daraqutni in his Sunan, saying: sahih hadith, all its narrators trustworthy; al-Hakim says: sahih hadith by the two's criterion; al-Bayhaqi used it in the «Kitab al-Khilafiyyat» and said: all its narrators are trustworthy, agreement on their uprightness and proof made with them in the Sahih; in «al-Sunan al-Kubra» he says: a sahih chain with corroborations; al-Khatib relied on it at the head of his book on saying the basmala aloud in prayer, transmitting it through several satisfactory ways, then said: this hadith is established and sahih, no explanation can be sought against its connectedness and the trustworthiness of its men
The third way: al-Daraqutni reports in his Sunan from Abu Hurayra from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that "he opened the prayer with the basmala when he recited while leading the people". Abu Hurayra said: "it is a verse of the Book of Allah; recite the Fatiha of the Book, if you wish: it is the seventh verse". In one version: "the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited the basmala when he led the people". Al-Daraqutni: all the men of its chain are trustworthy. Al-Khatib: a group reported from Abu Hurayra that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said the basmala aloud and commanded it, and he cites this hadith replacing "recited" with "said aloud". From al-Zuhri from Ibn al-Musayyib from Abu Hurayra: "the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) opened the recitation with the basmala". From Abu Hazim from Abu Hurayra: "the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited the basmala aloud". Shaykh Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi: there is no excuse for leaving the explicit wording of these hadiths from Abu Hurayra and relying on "I divided the prayer", carrying it as the abandoning of the basmala altogether or as its quiet saying: nothing of that is explicit in it; and all of it comes from one Companion, reconciling their narrations being better than believing in their disagreement; moreover this hadith reported by al-Daraqutni with his chain is precisely the hadith of the division of the prayer: the two hadiths must therefore be carried on what is explicit in one of them.
As for Umm Salama's hadith, a group of trustworthy narrators reported it from Ibn Jurayj from Abdallah ibn Abi Mulayka from her (may Allah be pleased with her): "the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would break up his recitation: the basmala, then All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, then the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy, then Master of the Day of Judgment" (Surah 1, 1-4); in one version: "the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited the basmala breaking it up letter by letter"; in another: "when he recited, he broke up his recitation verse by verse"; reported by al-Hakim, Ibn Khuzayma and al-Daraqutni, who says: all its chains have trustworthy men, it is a sahih chain; al-Hakim: sahih by the two's criterion. Omar ibn Harun al-Balkhi reported it from Ibn Jurayj from Ibn Abi Mulayka from Umm Salama: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) recited in prayer the basmala counting it as a verse, and "All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds" as two verses.
As for Ibn Abbas's hadith, al-Daraqutni in his Sunan and al-Hakim reported it with their chain from Sa'id ibn Jubayr from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): "the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said the basmala aloud". Al-Hakim: this is a sahih chain, without defect. Al-Daraqutni reported two hadiths from Ibn Abbas, saying of each: a sahih chain, no criticized narrator: the first, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) "said the basmala aloud"; the second, that he "opened the recitation with the basmala"; the latter is reported by al-Tirmidhi, who says: its chain is not at that level. Shaykh Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi: we hold, praise be to Allah, several hadiths from Ibn Abbas authenticated by the imams. As for the hadiths of Anas, Ali and Samura ibn Jundub (may Allah be pleased with them), let whoever wishes consult al-Nawawi's «Majmu'»; I have left them out to avoid length, and Allah is the Giver of success.
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him): know that the question of saying it aloud is not built on the question of establishing the basmala, for a group of those who favor the quiet recitation do not hold it to be Quran but count it among the prayer's sunnas, like the ta'awwudh and the amin; and a group of those who favor the quiet recitation hold it to be Quran while concealing it; each group says it aloud or conceals according to what prevails with them of the reports and traditions («al-Majmu'» 3/280, 291, «Sharh Muslim» 4/98). Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya: the scholars agree that whoever does either of the two, his worship is valid, with no sin; they only dispute over which is better; and the question of saying the basmala aloud is of this type: they agree that whoever says it aloud has a valid prayer, and whoever conceals it too («Majmu' al-Fatawa» 22/267). He also says: as for the basmala, there is no doubt that among the Companions were some who said it aloud, and among them some who did not say it aloud, reciting it quietly or not reciting it; those who said it aloud mostly said it aloud at times and concealed it at others, for a remembrance may be sunna when concealed and said aloud for a prevailing benefit such as teaching the congregation: it is established in the Sahih that Ibn Abbas said the Fatiha aloud at a funeral to teach them that it is a sunna. It is established in the Sahih that Omar ibn al-Khattab used to say aloud, many times: "Allah is the greatest; Glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise; blessed is Your name, exalted is Your majesty, and there is no god but You"; the scholars agree this saying aloud is not a constant sunna: he said it for teaching; likewise one Companion is reported to have said the ta'awwudh aloud at times; since Companions said the opening supplication and the seeking of protection aloud with the Companions' approval, saying the basmala aloud has more title to be so, and saying it aloud at times for a prevailing benefit may be legislated. Yet there is no dispute among the people of hadith science: the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not say the opening supplication nor the seeking of protection aloud; the Sahihs even establish that Abu Hurayra asked him: O Messenger of Allah, do you see your silence between the takbir and the recitation? What do you say? He replied: "I say: O Allah, distance me from my sins as You have distanced the East from the West; O Allah, purify me of my sins as a white garment is purified of filth; O Allah, wash me of my sins with water, snow and hail". In the Sunan, he sought protection in prayer before the recitation; saying the basmala aloud is stronger than saying the seeking of protection aloud, since it is a verse of the Book of Allah; the scholars disputed its obligatoriness as they disputed the opening supplication and the seeking of protection, two views existing in the school of Ahmad and others; but that dispute is weaker than the dispute over the basmala's obligation. Those holding its obligation are the best and most numerous; yet it is not established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said it aloud, and neither in the Sahih collections nor the Sunan collections is there a sahih explicit hadith on saying it aloud; the explicit hadiths on it are all weak, even fabricated. Hence, when al-Daraqutni composed a work on this question, he was asked: is there in that anything authentic? He replied: as for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), no; as for the Companions, there is among it the authentic and the weak. And had the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said it aloud constantly, the Companions would have transmitted it, the Successors would have known it, and people would not have needed to ask Anas ibn Malik after the era of the caliphs ended; yet the rightly guided caliphs, then the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs, all agreed on not saying it aloud; and the people of Medina, the most knowledgeable of the people of the cities about his sunna (peace and blessings be upon him), denied its recitation altogether, quietly and aloud; and the sahih hadiths indicate it is a verse of the Book of Allah without belonging to the Fatiha or the other suras («Majmu' al-Fatawa» 22/274, 276).
Seventh point: the amin. The jurists agree that the amin after the recitation of the Fatiha is a sunna, for the hadith of Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) raised to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
"When the imam says: not of those who incurred anger, nor of those astray, say: amin; for whoever's words coincide with those of the angels, his past sins are forgiven"Reported by al-Bukhari (747) and Muslim (410)
The amin is then a sunna for the worshiper in general, whether imam, follower or praying alone, according to the majority and Imam Malik in one narration; Malik, in the narration of Ibn al-Qasim, and the Egyptians except the imam in the aloud prayer: the amin is not recommended for him; likewise the follower when he does not hear his imam say "nor of those astray". The majority establish it with Abu Hurayra: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When the imam says amin, say amin; for whoever's amin coincides with the amin of the angels, his past sins are forgiven" (al-Bukhari 747, Muslim 410). Wail ibn Hujr reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he said "nor of those astray", would say amin raising his voice (sahih hadith: Abu Dawud 932). Malik argues with the Prophet's saying: "When the imam says: not of those who incurred anger, nor of those astray, say: amin" (al-Bukhari 749, Muslim 415): this proves the imam does not say amin; for had he said it, he would not have commanded the follower to say amin at the end of Umm al-Kitab before the imam himself says it.
The qadi Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him): the imam's amin carries two narrations. The evidence for affirming it: the saying "when the imam says amin, say amin"; Wail ibn Hujr reports that he (peace and blessings be upon him) would say amin raising his voice; and because it is a remembrance prescribed to the follower, it is therefore prescribed to the imam like the other prescribed remembrances, since he is a worshiper resembling the follower and the one praying alone; and because the imam is the most capable of attainment in remembrances, coming with what the follower does not do of recitation and saying aloud; and if what is disliked for the follower can be prescribed to him, what is prescribed to the follower is prescribed to him with stronger reason; in consideration too of the quietness of the recitation. The evidence for negating it: the saying (peace be upon him): "The imam was only established to be followed", up to: "when he says: nor of those astray, say: amin"; two proofs lie in it. The first: were the amin part of the imam's sunna, he would have said: when he says amin, say amin. The second: the command to the follower rests on his acts following the imam's acts, and the report says he says amin upon finishing "nor of those astray", which makes us share with him the moment in which he says amin; the imam being the one who supplicates and the follower the one who listens, and it befits supplication that the one answering with amin not be the one supplicating («al-Ishraf ala «Nukat masa'il al-khilaf»» 1/258-259, case no. 178).
With the Hanafis and the Malikis, the sunna is for the worshiper to say the amin quietly, whether imam, follower or alone, for the amin is a supplication and the basis in it is concealment: saying it is one sunna and saying it quietly another; the Hanafis add that the sunna of saying it is attained this way even if it is said aloud. The Shafi'is and the Hanbalis: saying it aloud is a sunna in the aloud prayer, for the imam, the follower and the one praying alone, and quietly in the silent prayer; for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said amin raising his voice; and the Prophet commanded the amin at the moment of the imam's amin: were he not saying it aloud, the command would not apply to him, as in the case of concealment («Bada'i' al-Sana'i'» 2/50-51, Ibn Abidin 1/320, «al-Mabsut» 1/32-33, «Umdat al-Qari» 6/53, «al-Istidhkar» 1/473-474, «al-Kharashi ala Khalil» 1/282, «al-Tamhid» 7/11, «Hashiyat al-Dasuqi» 1/248, «Ahkam al-Qur'an» of Ibn al-Arabi 1/11, 14, «al-Mughni» 2/36-37, «Mughni al-Muhtaj» 1/160, «Kifayat al-Akhyar» 159, «al-Insaf» 2/51, «Sharh Muslim» 4/411, «Bidayat al-Mujtahid» 1/206).
Eighth point. The jurists agree that reciting a sura after the Fatiha is prescribed in the dawn prayer, the first two rak'as of every four-rak'a prayer and the maghrib. Ibn Qudama (may Allah have mercy on him): I know of no disagreement among the people of knowledge: reciting a sura with the Fatiha in the first two rak'as of every prayer is recommended, aloud where the Fatiha is recited aloud and quietly where it is recited quietly; the basis is the Prophet's practice (peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Qatada reporting:
"The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited in the first two rak'as of the zhuhr the Fatiha of the Book and two suras, lengthening the first and shortening the second, sometimes making a verse heard; and he recited in the first two rak'as of the asr the Fatiha of the Book and two suras, lengthening the first and shortening the second; and he lengthened the first rak'a of the dawn prayer and shortened the second"Reported by al-Bukhari (759) and Muslim (451)
In one version: "in the zhuhr he recited in the last two rak'as Umm al-Kitab", upon which the two Sahihs agree. Abu Burza reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited at dawn between sixty and one hundred verses (al-Bukhari 574, Muslim 461). The Prophet's recitation with the Fatiha in the aloud prayer is famous, transmitted in a mutawatir manner: he commanded Mu'adh to recite "By the sun and its brightness", "Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High" and "By the night when it covers" (al-Bukhari 673, Muslim 465, «al-Mughni» 2/40, 129).
They diverged over reciting a sura after the Fatiha in the last two rak'as of every four-rak'a prayer and the last of the maghrib: is it a sunna or not? The majority of the jurists, the Hanafis, Malikis, Shafi'is on one view and the Hanbalis according to the madhhab, hold it is not a sunna, based on Abu Qatada's report that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
"recited at the zhuhr, in the first two rak'as, Umm al-Kitab and two suras, and in the last two rak'as Umm al-Kitab, sometimes making a verse heard"Upon which the two Sahihs agree
From Jabir ibn Samura (may Allah be pleased with him): the people of Kufa complained about Sa'd to Omar (may Allah be pleased with him), who removed him and appointed Ammar over them; they complained until they claimed he did not know how to pray; he wrote to him: O Abu Ishaq, these claim you do not know how to pray. Abu Ishaq answered: as for me, by Allah, I used to pray with them the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) without deviating from it: I prayed the isha slowing down in the first two rak'as and lightening the last two. Omar said: that is indeed what is thought of you, O Abu Ishaq (al-Bukhari 722, Muslim 453). For the first two rak'as, being singled out by the extra saying aloud where it applies, were also singled out by the extra recitation; the last two, diminished from them in the quality, namely saying aloud, are diminished in the extra recitation («Fath al-Qadir» 1/274-275, al-Tahtawi 1/293, «al-Ishraf ala «Nukat masa'il al-khilaf»» 1/267-268, case no. 183, «al-Taj wa al-Iklil» 1/524, «al-Sharh al-Saghir» 1/216, «al-Majmu'» 3/340, 342, «Kifayat al-Akhyar» 160, «al-Mughni» 2/40, 129, «al-Insaf» 2/88, «Manar al-Sabil» 1/109, «al-Ifsah» 1/165-166).
The Shafi'is according to the madhhab and Ahmad in one narration: it is a sunna, for the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri: the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) "recited in the zhuhr prayer, in each of the first two rak'as, the equivalent of thirty verses, and in the last two the equivalent of fifteen verses, or he said: half of that; and in the asr, in each of the first two rak'as, the equivalent of the recitation of fifteen verses, and in the last two half of that"; and because it is a rak'a in which the Fatiha is prescribed, the sura is prescribed in it as in the first two, the first rak'a having no preference over the second in recitation («al-Majmu'» 3/340, 342, «Kifayat al-Akhyar» 160, «al-Mughni» 2/40, 129, «al-Insaf» 2/88, «Manar al-Sabil» 1/109, «al-Ifsah» 1/165-166).
Ninth point. The majority of the jurists, the Hanafis, Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis on one view, hold that the transition takbirs are a sunna among the sunnas of the prayer, based on what is reported from Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) "said the takbir at every descent and rising" (al-Bukhari 752, Muslim 392); it is also reported that he said the takbir while descending, the conjunction indicating the state; and because remembrance is a sunna at every pillar, so as to magnify Allah through remembrance in what is part of the pillars of the prayer as He is magnified through action, the meaning of magnification being increased; and the transition from one pillar to another has the worth of the pillar as a means to it: the remembrance in it is therefore prescribed. They specify it is not an obligation, since the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not teach it to the one who erred in his prayer, and delaying the explanation beyond the time of need is not permitted; and were it obligatory, it would not be dropped through forgetfulness, unlike the pillars («Ma'ani al-Athar» 2/52, «al-Ishraf ala «Nukat masa'il al-khilaf»» 1/269-270, case no. 185).
The Hanbalis, according to the famous position among them: the transition takbirs are obligatory, for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded them, a command signifying obligation, and by his practice and his saying "pray as you have seen me pray". Abu Dawud reports from Yahya ibn Khallad from his uncle from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:
"The prayer of no one among the people is complete until he performs ablution covering its places, then says the takbir and praises Allah and extols Him, then recites whatever he can of the Quran, then says: Allah is the greatest, then bows until his joints are at rest, then says: Allah hears the one who praises Him, until he stands upright, then says: Allah is the greatest, then prostrates until his joints are at rest, then says: Allah is the greatest, then raises his head until he sits upright, then says: Allah is the greatest, then prostrates until his joints are at rest, then raises his head saying the takbir: when he has done that, his prayer is complete"Sahih hadith: reported by Abu Dawud (858) and al-Nasa'i (1/225)
This text establishes the obligation of the takbir; as for the hadith of the one who erred in his prayer, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not teach him all the obligations, proof being that he taught him neither the tashahhud nor the salam; and it may be that he confined himself to teaching him what he had seen of his fault («al-Mughni» 2/54, «al-Ifsah» 1/180-181).
Tenth point. The sufficient posture in bowing is to bend in a pure bow until the palms reach the knees; the completeness of the sunna is that the worshiper bend so that his back and neck are level, extending them like a board, neither lowering his back below his neck nor raising it, keeping his legs straight without bending his knees, placing his hands on his knees and gripping his knees with his hands, spreading his fingers at that moment; the man keeps his elbows away from his sides, while the woman draws them together, that being more concealing for her; according to Uqba ibn Amir:
"He bowed, kept his hands apart, placed his hands on his knees and spread his fingers behind his knees, and said: thus I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) pray"Sahih hadith: reported by Ahmad (4/120)
From Abu Humayd al-Sa'idi (may Allah be pleased with him): "I am the most knowledgeable of you concerning the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). They said: why? By Allah, you are neither the one who followed him most nor the earliest of us in his company. He said: indeed. They said: present it then. He said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), when he stood for prayer, raised his hands until they were level with his shoulders, then said the takbir until every bone settled in its place, upright; then he recited, then said the takbir, raised his hands until they were level with his shoulders, then bowed and placed his palms on his knees, then straightened without drooping or raising his head, then raised his head..." to the end of the hadith (al-Bukhari 794). If he does not place his hands on his knees but reaches that degree, it suffices him; it is however disliked for him to do the tafbiq in bowing, that is, for the worshiper to place one palm over the other and then set them between his knees or thighs when bowing. The tafbiq was legislated at the beginning of Islam, then abrogated; Mus'ab ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him): "I prayed beside my father, joining my palms and then placing them between my thighs; my father forbade me and said: we used to do that, then we were forbidden it and commanded to place our hands on the knees" (al-Bukhari 757; «al-Mughni» of Ibn Qudama 2/50-51, «al-Majmu'» 3/366, «Kifayat al-Akhyar» 150, «Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi» 2/101, «Awn al-Ma'bud» 1/240, «Kashshaf al-Qina'» 1/346, «Jawahir al-Iklil» 1/48, al-Adawi 1/231, Ibn Abidin 1/320).
Eleventh point. The jurists agree on the legality of the tasbih in bowing, for the hadith of Uqba ibn Amir: when "Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most Great" descended (Surah 56, 74), the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Place it in your bowings" (Abu Dawud 869, Ibn Majah 887, Ahmad 4/155, Ibn Khuzayma in his «Sahih» 1/303, Ibn Hibban in his «Sahih» 5/225; al-Albani weakened it in «Da'if Abi Dawud» 736). Hudhayfa reports that he heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say while bowing: "Glory to my Lord, the Most Great", three times (sahih hadith: Ibn Majah 888).
The divergence concerns the rulings beyond that. Abu Hanifa, Malik and al-Shafi'i: it is a sunna, not an obligation, for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not teach it to the one who erred in his prayer; and a pillar of the prayer entails no tasbih, like the standing. Ahmad, according to the famous narration from him: it is obligatory along with the remembrance; it is also reported from him that it is a sunna, like the madhhab of the community; what is obligatory according to him is once only, according to the narration in which he holds obligation. They then agree that the minimum of completeness in the tasbih of bowing is three glorifications; a single tasbih suffices him («Ma'ani al-Athar» 2/56, Ibn Abidin 1/494, al-Tahtawi 1/177, «Sharh Fath al-Qadir» 1/298, «al-Ishraf ala «Nukat masa'il al-khilaf»» 1/270-271, case no. 187, «al-Qawanin al-fiqhiyya» 1/45, «al-Kafi» 1/43, «al-Dhakhira» 2/224-225, «al-Tamhid» 16/119, «al-Mudawwana» 1/72, «Fath al-Bari» 2/312, «al-Mughni» 2/52, «al-Ifsah» 1/180-181, «al-Sharh al-Saghir» 1/218; Malik, according to the narration of Ibn al-Qasim, did not know the people's saying in bowing "Glory to my Lord, the Most Great" nor in prostration "Glory to my Lord, the Most High", disapproved of it, and found in bowing and prostration neither timed supplication nor tasbih, saying: when the hands reach the knees in bowing and the forehead the ground in prostration, it suffices).
Imam Ibn Rushd (may Allah have mercy on him): they diverged over whether bowing and prostration have a defined saying that the worshiper utters. Malik: there is no defined saying in that. Al-Shafi'i, Abu Hanifa, Ahmad and a group of others: the worshiper says in his bowing "Glory to my Lord, the Most Great" three times, and in his prostration "Glory to my Lord, the Most High" three times, according to what came in the hadith of Uqba ibn Amir; al-Thawri: I prefer that the imam say them five times in his prayer so that the one behind him attains three glorifications.
The cause of this divergence is the confrontation of Ibn Abbas's hadith with that of Uqba ibn Amir: in Ibn Abbas's hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I have been forbidden to recite the Quran while bowing or prostrating; as for bowing, magnify the Lord in it; as for prostration, strive in supplication in it, for it is most deserving of being answered for you". And in the hadith of Uqba ibn Amir: when "Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most Great" descended (Surah 56, 74), the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Place it in your bowings"; and when "Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High" descended (Surah 87, 1), he said: "Place it in your prostrations".
Likewise they diverged over supplication in bowing, after agreeing on the permissibility of praising Allah: Malik disliked it, for the hadith of Ali that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "As for bowing, magnify the Lord in it; as for prostration, strive in supplication in it". A group of scholars: supplication in bowing is permitted, relying on hadiths in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicated while bowing; this is the madhhab of al-Bukhari, who relied on the hadith of Aisha:
"The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would say in his bowing and prostration: Glory be to You, O Allah, our Lord, and with Your praise; O Allah, forgive me"Reported by al-Bukhari
Abu Hanifa, however, does not permit supplication in prayer with words other than the Quran's, while Malik and al-Shafi'i permit it. The cause is their disagreement over whether it is divine speech or not («Bidayat al-Mujtahid» 1/183-184).
Twelfth point. The jurists agree on the legitimacy of the tasmie, that is saying "Allah hears the one who praises Him", and the tahmid, that is saying "Our Lord, to You is all praise", according to Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him): the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said the takbir when bowing, then "Allah hears the one who praises Him", then, raising his torso from bowing, said while standing: "Our Lord, to You is all praise" (al-Bukhari 756, Muslim 392). The Hanafis, Malikis and Shafi'is hold it a sunna at rising from bowing, and the tahmid while standing; the Hanbalis according to the madhhab hold it obligatory, and Imam Ahmad in one narration a sunna, like the community.
The scholars diverged over which worshiper says the tasmie and the tahmid. Abu Hanifa and the Malikis: the imam says the tasmie only and does not say the tahmid; the follower says the tahmid only and does not say the tasmie; the one praying alone combines both, according to Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"When the imam says: Allah hears the one who praises Him, say: O Allah, our Lord, to You is all praise"Reported by al-Bukhari (763) and Muslim (409)
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) divided between the two, and division excludes sharing; the tasmie is an invitation to the tahmid, and the right of whoever is invited to something is to answer what he is invited to, not to repeat the words of the inviter; it is moreover a remembrance made in counter-response to another's words, so the follower does not share it with the one followed, like the response given to the sneezer. This hadith contains two proofs: he did not say "say: Allah hears the one who praises Him"; and he intended to show the meaning of following the imam and its manner, distinguishing what is done there like his act and what is done there contrary to his act, assigning to each a formula different from that assigned to its owner: it thus appears the two are not shared in it.
The Shafi'is and the two companions (Abu Yusuf and Muhammad) among the Hanafis: the tasmie and the tahmid are a sunna for all, the imam, the follower and the one praying alone. The Hanbalis: the tasmie is obligatory upon the imam and the one praying alone, not the follower, and the tahmid obligatory upon all, imam, follower and one praying alone («Ma'ani al-Athar» 2/58, Ibn Abidin 1/334, «al-Ishraf ala «Nukat masa'il al-khilaf»» 1/271-272, case no. 188, «Hashiyat al-Dasuqi» 1/243, «al-Fawa'id al-Dawani» 1/209, «Mughni al-Muhtaj» 1/165, «al-Mughni» 2/57, 62, «Kashshaf al-Qina'» 1/348, «al-Ifsah» 1/180, «Sharh Muslim» 4/173). The Shafi'is and Hanbalis specify that after the tahmid it is sunna to say: "as much as the fullness of the heavens, the earth, and whatever You will thereafter", according to Abdallah ibn Abi Awfa that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he raised his back from bowing, said: "Allah hears the one who praises Him; O Allah, our Lord, to You is all praise, as much as the fullness of the heavens, the fullness of the earth, and the fullness of whatever You will thereafter" (Muslim 476). And he may add: "O Owner of praise and glory, the truest words a servant has said, and we are all Your servants; O Allah, none can withhold what You give, none can give what You withhold, and the wealth of the miser does not avail him against You" (Muslim 477).
Thirteenth point. The jurists diverged over the legality of raising the hands at bowing, at rising from it and at standing from the first tashahhud for the third rak'a, after agreeing on its being recommended at the opening takbir. The Shafi'is, the Hanbalis and Malik in one narration agree on the legality of raising the hands at bowing and rising from it, it being among the sunnas of the prayer, according to Ibn Omar (may Allah be pleased with them both):
"I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), when he opened the prayer, raise his hands until level with his shoulders, and before bowing, and when he rose from bowing; he did not raise them between the two prostrations"Reported by al-Bukhari (703) and Muslim (390)
Abu Qilaba saw Malik ibn al-Huwayrith: when he prayed, he said the takbir raising his hands, raised his hands when about to bow and raised them when lifting his head from bowing, reporting that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did so (al-Bukhari 704). Al-Hasan and Humayd ibn Hilal: the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to raise their hands; al-Bukhari says: this raising is reported from seventeen men among the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), whom he lists, then says: it is not established from any of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he did not raise his hands. Al-Suyuti: the raising is established from the Prophet through the narration of fifty Companions.
The Shafi'is and Imam Ahmad in one narration: raising the hands when standing from the tashahhud for the third rak'a is recommended, according to Nafi': Ibn Omar (may Allah be pleased with them both), when he entered the prayer, said the takbir raising his hands, raised his hands at bowing, when he said "Allah hears the one who praises Him", and when he rose from the two rak'as; and Ibn Omar traced this to the Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (al-Bukhari 706). Ahmad, in the second narration: no raising; «al-Insaf» states this is the madhhab, followed by the multitude of the companions, many of them holding it with certainty («al-Majmu'» 3/355, «Mughni al-Muhtaj» 1/164, «Nihayat al-Muhtaj» 1/463, «Sharh Muslim» 4/85, «Kifayat al-Akhyar» 158, «Fatawa Ibn Taymiyya» 22/452-453, «Kashshaf al-Qina'» 1/346, 363, «al-Mughni» 2/49, «al-Insaf» 2/88, «Bidayat al-Mujtahid» 1/189).
The Hanafis and the Malikis, according to the famous view among them: raising the hands is not legitimate except at the opening takbir; it is therefore not legislated at bowing, rising from it, or standing for the third rak'a, for the hadith of al-Bara (may Allah be pleased with him):
"I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) raise his hands at the start of the prayer, then not raise them again until he departed"Sahih hadith: reported by Abu Dawud (752)
And Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Shall I not pray with you the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? He prayed without raising his hands but once" (sahih hadith: Abu Dawud 748, al-Tirmidhi 257, al-Nasa'i 1058; «Ma'ani al-Athar» 2/52-53, «Tabyin al-Haqa'iq» 1/120, «al-Bahr al-Ra'iq» 1/341, «al-Tamhid» 19/252, «al-Sharh al-Saghir» 1/216, «Hashiyat al-Dasuqi» 1/247).
Imam Ibn Rushd al-Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him): as for their divergence over the places of raising, the people of Kufa, Abu Hanifa, Sufyan al-Thawri and the rest of their jurists, hold that the worshiper raises his hands only at the opening takbir; this is the narration of Ibn al-Qasim from Malik. Al-Shafi'i, Ahmad, Abu Ubayd, Abu Thawr, the majority of the people of hadith, likewise the literalists: raising at the opening takbir, at bowing and at rising from bowing; this is narrated from Malik, except that with some of those it is an obligation and with Malik a sunna; some of the people of hadith add raising at the prostration and at rising from it.
The cause of all this divergence is the divergence of the traditions and the differing of the practice of the people of Medina among themselves: there are the hadith of Abdallah ibn Mas'ud, the hadith of al-Bara ibn Azib: "he raised his hands at entering the prayer once only, not more", and another hadith from Salim ibn Abdallah ibn Omar from his father: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), when he opened the prayer, raised his hands level with his shoulders, and when he raised his head from bowing, raised them likewise, saying "Allah hears the one who praises Him; our Lord, to You is all praise", and he did not do that in the prostration; this hadith has unanimous attestation of its authenticity, and they claimed thirteen men among his Companions transmitted it from him; among them the hadith of Wail ibn Hujr, which adds to what is in the hadith of Abdallah ibn Omar that he raised his hands at the prostration. Whoever carries the raising here as recommendation or obligation: some confined it to the entering only, preferring the hadiths of Abdallah ibn Mas'ud and al-Bara ibn Azib, and this is the Maliki madhhab, for conforming to the practice; others preferred the hadith of Abdallah ibn Omar and saw the raising in the two places, bowing and entering, for its fame upon which all agree, each carrying it according to his opinion of obligation or recommendation. Others took the way of combination, saying these additions must be gathered one with another, as in the hadith of Wail ibn Hujr; and the scholars in these traditions followed the way of preference or the way of combination. The cause of their divergence over carrying the raising in prayer as recommendation or obligation is what we said before: some carry the Prophet's acts (peace and blessings be upon him) as obligatory until evidence indicates otherwise, others hold nothing may be added to what is established without clear evidence of a fixed saying or consensus; we have said this, and there is no sense in repeating one thing many times.
As for the limit to which the hands are raised: some hold it is the shoulders, as Malik, al-Shafi'i and a group said; some: the ears, as Abu Hanifa said; some: the chest; all of that is reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the most established being that he raised them level with his shoulders, the majority's view, raising to the ears being more established than raising to the chest and more famous («Bidayat al-Mujtahid» 1/189, 191).
Fourteenth point. The majority of the jurists, the Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis according to the madhhab: it is sunna, when descending to prostration, to place the knees first, then the hands, then the forehead and the nose, according to Wail ibn Hujr (may Allah be pleased with him):
"I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): when he prostrated, he placed his knees before his hands, and when he rose, he raised his hands before his knees"Weak hadith: reported by Abu Dawud (838), al-Tirmidhi (267), al-Nasa'i (1089) and Ibn Majah (882)
and because it is gentler for the worshiper and more beautiful in form and to the eye («Tabyin al-Haqa'iq» 1/116, «al-Mabsut» 1/32, «Ma'ani al-Athar» 2/61, «al-Majmu'» 3/380, «Mughni al-Muhtaj» 1/170, «al-Mughni» 2/66, «al-Ifsah» 1/183, «Kashshaf al-Qina'» 1/350, «Bidayat al-Mujtahid» 1/195). Malik and Ahmad in one narration: placing the hands first is recommended, according to Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) raising it to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
"When one of you prostrates, let him not collapse as the camel collapses, and let him place his hands before his knees"Sahih hadith: reported by Abu Dawud (840) and others
because it is fuller of the dignity of the prayer and further from resembling the sitting of the common people who lack dignity, and is therefore more befitting («al-Ishraf ala «Nukat masa'il al-khilaf»» 1/277-278, case no. 192, «al-Taj wa al-Iklil» 1/541, «al-Talqin» 1/107, «Hashiyat al-Dasuqi» 1/250, «al-Ifsah» 1/183, «Bidayat al-Mujtahid» 1/195).
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about praying while avoiding the earth, placing the knees before the hands or the hands before the knees. He answered: praying in either way is permitted by consensus of the scholars: if the worshiper wishes, he places his knees before his hands; if he wishes, he places his hands then his knees; his prayer is valid in both cases by consensus; they disputed over which is better: some say the first, as the madhhab of Abu Hanifa, al-Shafi'i and Ahmad in one of the two narrations; some say the second, as the madhhab of Malik and Ahmad in the other narration («Majmu' al-Fatawa» 22/449).
The prescribed prostrate session for the worshiper is to prostrate upon the seven members: the forehead, with the nose, the two hands, the two knees and the two feet, making his forehead and nose able to reach the ground, spreading the fingers of his hands toward the qibla, separating his knees, raising his belly from his thighs and his thighs from his shins, keeping his elbows away from his sides and pointing the tips of his feet toward the qibla (Ibn Abidin 1/339, al-Dasuqi 1/249, «Mughni al-Muhtaj» 1/170, «Kashshaf al-Qina'» 1/335, «al-Mughni» 2/71-72).
Fifteenth point: the first tashahhud and its sitting. The jurists agree that the first tashahhud and the sitting for it are legislated, the later generations transmitting it from the early ones from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in a mutawatir manner, the umma practicing it in its prayer; they diverged over whether it is obligatory or recommended. The Hanafis on one view, the Malikis, the Shafi'is and Ahmad in one narration: both are a sunna, since both drop through forgetfulness and require two prostrations of compensation, according to Abdallah ibn Buhayna, a Companion of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
"The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed with us two rak'as of one of the prayers, then stood without sitting, and the people stood with him; when he finished the prayer and we awaited his salam, he said the takbir and prostrated twice while sitting, before the salam, then he saluted"Reported by al-Bukhari (795) and Muslim (570)
The hadith's import is that were it obligatory, he would have returned to it when they informed him, as in some narrations, after standing, rather than repair it with prostration. The Hanafis according to the apparent narration, the Hanbalis according to the madhhab and the Shafi'is on one view: it is obligatory with the remembrance, dropping through forgetfulness; for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did it and persisted in it, commanded it in the hadith of Ibn Abbas: "say: all greetings belong to Allah", and prostrated for forgetfulness when he omitted it, he who said "pray as you have seen me pray"; what drops through forgetfulness requiring replacement resembles the compensations of the hajj repaired by blood, unlike sunnas; and it is one of the two tashahhuds, hence obligatory like the other. Imam Ibn Nujaym, the Hanafi (may Allah have mercy on him): the term "the tashahhud" means the first and the second (in some copies of the «Niqaya»: the two tashahhuds, in dual form), due to the persistence indicating obligation, and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) to Ibn Mas'ud: "say: all greetings belong to Allah", without distinguishing between the first and the second.
A group chooses the sunna of the tashahhud in the first sitting to distinguish the two sittings: since the last is an obligation, its tashahhud is obligatory, and since the first is a sunna, its tashahhud is a sunna. The answer: by the impossibility of necessary correlation; the tashahhud is only a remembrance legislated in a specific state, which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) observed in both sittings; the obligation in both is therefore the apparent narration, the soundest, as in the «Muhit» and the «Dhakhira», stated explicitly in the «Hidaya» in the chapter on the prostration of forgetfulness even though he is silent about it in the chapter on the description of the prayer; the statement of Sadr al-Shari'a that the author of the «Hidaya» made it a sunna is not sound, being an oversight of his explicit statement in that chapter; the author perhaps used the dual only to indicate that every tashahhud in the prayer is obligatory, whether two or more, as is known regarding the sittings («al-Bahr al-Ra'iq» 1/318). Badr al-Din al-Ayni (may Allah have mercy on him): "and he performed the tashahhud", the commentator: meaning he recited: all greetings belong to Allah..., in the last sitting too; "and it is obligatory upon us": the tashahhud is obligatory upon us («al-Bunyayya» 2/274).
They agree that nothing is added to the first tashahhud beyond "and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger", except al-Shafi'i in the later of his two views: he says the prayer upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), it being recommended for him; this is also the choice of the vizier Ibn Hubayra among the Hanbalis («Mukhtasar al-Wiqaya» 1/122, «Tuhfat al-Fuqaha» 1/137, «al-Inaya» 2/284-285, «al-Ishraf ala «Nukat masa'il al-khilaf»» 1/284-285, case no. 201, «Tafsir al-Qurtubi» 1/173, «al-Tamhid» 10/201, «al-Mughni» 2/86, 91, «al-Istidhkar» 1/523, «Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar» 1/440, «Sharh Muslim» 5/53, «al-Ifsah» 1/172, Ibn Abidin 1/301, «al-Ikhtiyar» 1/53-54, «al-Qawanin al-fiqhiyya» 69, «Jawahir al-Iklil» 1/48, «Hashiyat al-Dasuqi» 1/249).
If he stands from the first tashahhoud and remains standing to the end, he does not return to it, for the Prophet's saying (peace and blessings be upon him): "say: O Allah, I have greatly wronged myself, and none forgives sins but You; so grant me forgiveness from Yourself and have mercy on me; You are the Forgiving, the Merciful" (al-Bukhari 799, Muslim 2705). And from Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him): the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "when one of you performs the tashahhud, let him seek Allah's protection from four things; he says: O Allah, I seek Your protection from the torment of Hell, from the torment of the grave, from the trials of life and death, and from the evil of the trial of the false Messiah" (Muslim 588; Ibn Abidin 1/350, «Tabyin al-Haqa'iq» 1/123, «Hashiyat al-Dasuqi» 1/251-252, «al-Sharh al-Saghir» 1/221, «Sharh Muslim» 4/105, «Mughni al-Muhtaj» 1/176, «Kashshaf al-Qina'» 1/360, «Sharh al-Zurqani» 1/271, «al-Tahqiq» 1/427, «al-Hawi al-Kabir» 2/139).
The wording of the prayers upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is transmitted in the books of hadith and fiqh without the mention of "our master" before his name (peace and blessings be upon him); the early jurists have no discussion of this addition; the later ones diverged into two views. Opting for its recommendation were al-Izz ibn Abd al-Salam, al-Ramli, al-Qalyubi, al-Sharqawi, Jalal al-Din al-Mahalli and other Shafi'is, as well as al-Haskafi, Ibn Abidin and al-Tahawi among the Hanafis, following al-Ramli. Al-Ramli (may Allah have mercy on him): the best is to come with the term of lordship, as Ibn Dhihira said, a group stating it explicitly, and al-Mahalli issued a firm fatwa on it: it comes with what we were commanded and with the added information of the real, which is good manners, making it better than leaving it, even if al-Isnawi hesitated over its preferability («Hashiyat al-Ramli ala «Asna al-Matalib»» 1/166). Al-Haskafi (may Allah have mercy on him): the lordship is recommended, for adding information of the real is the very essence of good conduct: leaving it is therefore worse; al-Ramli and others mentioned it («al-Durr al-Mukhtar» with «Hashiyat Ibn Abidin» 1/513). Ibn Abidin (may Allah have mercy on him): it is objected that this contradicts our school, given the imam's statement that adding to or subtracting from the tashahhud is disliked; I say: there is something to consider, for the prayer upon the Prophet is over and above the tashahhud and is not part of it; on this basis, however, one ought not to say "our master" in "and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger", and to come with the term concerning Ibrahim (peace be upon him) («Hashiyat Ibn Abidin» 1/513). Al-Izz ibn Abd al-Salam (may Allah have mercy on him): this belongs to good manners, and observing good manners is better than literal compliance.
Two hadiths are argued with. The first: Sahl ibn Sa'd al-Sa'idi reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) went to the Banu Amr ibn Awf to make peace between them; the time of prayer came, the muezzin came to Abu Bakr and said: will you lead the people in prayer while I give the iqama? He said: yes. Abu Bakr led the prayer; the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came while the people were praying and made his way until he stood in the row; the people began clapping, and Abu Bakr would not turn around in his prayer; when they clapped much, he turned, saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who gestured to him to stay in his place; Abu Bakr raised his hands, praised Allah for what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had commanded him, then moved back until he was in the row, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stepped forward and prayed; when he departed he said: "O Abu Bakr, what prevented you from standing still when I commanded you?" Abu Bakr said: it is not for the son of Abu Quhafa to lead the prayer before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (al-Bukhari 652, Muslim 421). One may however answer this evidence with what is also reported from Abu Bakr the Truthful: al-Bukhari (651) reports from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded Abu Bakr to lead the people in prayer during his illness, and he led them; Urwa said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) felt strength, went out, and there was Abu Bakr leading the people; when Abu Bakr saw him he began to move back, but he gestured to him to stay as he was; the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sat beside Abu Bakr, who prayed following the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) while the people prayed following the prayer of Abu Bakr: Abu Bakr himself complied with the Prophet's command, does that mean he lacked good manners here?
The commentary on this question further clarifies: that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is the master of the sons of Adam on the Day of Resurrection is beyond doubt, the famous hadith stating: "I am the master of the sons of Adam on the Day of Resurrection, the first whose grave will split open, the first intercessor and the first granted intercession"; the controversy of the later scholars concerns using the term "our master" as a slogan in sermons, writings, exhortations, and even in the tashahhud of the prayer. Yet the religion is following, not innovating: "Say: if you love Allah, follow me, and Allah will love you" (Surah 3, 31); "Say: I warn you only by the revelation" (Surah 21, 45); "It is nothing but revelation revealed" (Surah 53, 4); "Follow what is revealed to you from your Lord"; the Prophet warns neither by reason nor by desire nor by opinion, but by revelation alone, and were he to say or do anything contrary to what Allah wills, the rebuke would descend upon him; Allah commands His messenger to follow what is revealed to him, and the Messenger commands us to follow him, for he does not speak from desire. When his Companions asked him how to pray upon him, he taught them, and in no sahih hadith is there that he taught them adding the word "our master", let alone making it a slogan placed before every mention of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). We firmly believe in this attribute for him, but it is not said in an act of worship: not in the prayer, not in the adhan as some states do; outside the prayer and the adhan, in an exhortation, a lesson or an article, saying "the master of the messengers (peace and blessings be upon him)" faces no objection, but not as an absolute commitment made a slogan. Venerating the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) occurs only by what came in al-Bukhari, Muslim and others such as Imam Ahmad: in the «Musnad» one never finds from Abu Hurayra "our master Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)"; the righteous predecessors knew the Prophet, loved him and esteemed him more than we do, without denying he is the master of the sons of Adam, but they did not use it as a slogan or title: we stop where they stopped. Moreover, the word "master" is used for any tribal chief: Abu Sufyan was called master of Quraysh, al-Aqra ibn Habis master of the Banu Tamim; there is thus nothing distinctive in the appellation; had the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said "our master Muhammad", it would have equalled the tribal titles, whereas the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is greater than that; when the delegations of the Persians came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who shaved their beards and let their mustaches grow, he said: who commanded you this? They said: our lord, meaning their king Kisra, the word also denoting the owner of a slave; what honors the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and distinguishes him is rather his perfect servitude to Allah and the completion of the message; the hadith moreover carries the restriction to the Day of Resurrection, a day whose state differs wholly from this world's: on that day the arrogant are gathered like ants trodden underfoot, all the prophets excuse themselves from intercession, then he (peace and blessings be upon him) rises and intercedes: that is the true lordship; "the master of the messengers" is likewise a clear preference, the messengers being the best of men, unlike the common people's "our master", which may evoke notables, princes and kings. Hence the worthier course is to say he is "the servant of Allah and His messenger".
The second hadith: the refusal of Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) to erase the Prophet's name from the document of al-Hudaybiyya; al-Bara ibn Azib said: the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed the 'umra in dhu al-qi'da; the people of Mecca refused to let him enter until a pact granted him three days there; when they wrote the document, they wrote: this is what Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), has agreed upon; they said: we do not accept it; had we known you were the Messenger of Allah we would not have barred you, but you are Muhammad ibn Abdallah; he said: I am the Messenger of Allah and Muhammad ibn Abdallah; then he said to Ali: erase: the Messenger of Allah; Ali said: no, by Allah, I shall never erase you; the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) took the document and wrote: this is what Muhammad ibn Abdallah has agreed upon (al-Bukhari 2552, Muslim 1783). Both hadiths are in the two Sahihs, and his confirmation (peace and blessings be upon him) of both behaviors is a declining of the command out of good manners, mindful of his precedence.
The Malikis, al-Shirbini and al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar among the Shafi'is: saying "our master" is not recommended, for it belongs to conforming to what is reported from him (peace and blessings be upon him), without addition to the remembrances and transmitted formulas. Al-Isnawi of the Shafi'is suspends judgment: the addition of "our master" before Muhammad is famous among most worshipers, and its being preferable is debatable; in my memory, Shaykh Izz al-Din built it on which prevails: good manners or compliance with the command; according to the first it is recommended, not according to the second. Al-Shirbini: the apparent sense of their words opts for the second view («Mughni al-Muhtaj» 1/176, «Awn al-Ma'bud» 3/191). Shaykh Ahmad al-Sawi (may Allah have mercy on him): confining oneself to what is transmitted is best, to the point that the best is to leave out the lordship, since it is transmitted without it («Bulghat al-Salik» 1/214).
Here is the view of al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, one of the great Shafi'i scholars combining hadith and fiqh: al-Hafiz Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Gharabilli (790-835), a constant attendant upon al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, asked him, may Allah grant him long life, about the description of the prayer upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in prayer or outside it, whether held obligatory or recommended: is it required to describe him with lordship, as in saying "O Allah, pray upon our master Muhammad", or "upon the master of creation", or "the master of the sons of Adam", or to confine oneself to "O Allah, pray upon Muhammad"? And which is better: coming with the term of lordship as an established attribute of his (peace and blessings be upon him), or not coming with it since it is not transmitted? He answered (may Allah have mercy on him): yes, following the transmitted formulas is weightier; and it is not to be said that he (peace and blessings be upon him) left it out of humility, just as he did not say the honorific at his own name; and his umma is recommended to say it at every mention, for were it preferable, it would have come from the Companions then the Successors, and we never stop at any tradition of a Companion or Successor saying it, despite the abundance of what is transmitted from them. Imam al-Shafi'i, may Allah raise his rank, among the greatest of people in venerating the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), said in the introduction of his book, the mainstay of his school: "O Allah, pray upon Muhammad", to the extent his effort reached: "at every mention of those who remember, and every lapse of those who forget"; he may have derived this from the sahih hadith containing "Glory to Allah by the number of His creatures", for it is established that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the Mother of the Believers, seeing her multiply the tasbih and lengthen it: "I have said after you words which, weighed against what you said, would outweigh it", he being fond of comprehensive supplications.
The qadi Iyad devoted in the «Shifa» a chapter to the formulas of the prayer upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), transmitting in it traditions raised to a group of Companions and Successors, none of which contains from any Companion or other the wording "our master". Among it, the hadith of Ali, who taught them the manner of the prayer upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "O Allah, You who spread out the flattened lands and create the interlocked forms, make the forerunners of Your prayers, the rays of Your blessings and the increase of Your greetings upon Muhammad, Your servant and Your messenger, the opener of what was closed". And from Ali: he used to say: "may the prayers of Allah, the Virtuous, the Merciful, of the angels brought near, of the prophets, the truthful, the martyrs and the righteous, and of everything that glorifies You, O Lord of the worlds, be upon Muhammad ibn Abdallah, the seal of the prophets and the imam of the God-fearing", to the end. And from Abdallah ibn Mas'ud, that he said: "O Allah, make Your prayers, Your blessings and Your mercy upon the master of the messengers, the imam of the God-fearing, the seal of the prophets, Muhammad, Your servant and Your messenger, the imam of good and the messenger of mercy", to the end. And from al-Hasan al-Basri: whoever wishes to drink from the brimming cup of the Chosen One's basin should say: "O Allah, pray upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, his companions, his wives, his children, his descendants, the people of his house, his in-laws, his helpers, his followers and those who love him". This is what is preferred from the «Shifa» concerning the form of the prayer upon him, from the Companions and those after them; other things are mentioned there too. It is true that there comes in Ibn Mas'ud's hadith, in his prayer upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "O Allah, place the merits of Your prayers, Your mercy and Your blessings upon the master of the messengers", reported by Ibn Majah, but its chain is weak; as for the hadith of Ali mentioned, al-Tabarani reported it with a chain without fault but with singular wordings, explained in the «Fadl al-Nabi» of Abu al-Hasan ibn al-Faris. The Shafi'is report that a man who swore to pray upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with the greatest prayer should, for the righteous course, say: "O Allah, pray upon Muhammad whenever those who remember mention him, and whenever the heedless forget him". Al-Nawawi said: the sound position to affirm decisively is to say: "O Allah, pray upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You prayed upon Ibrahim", to the end of the hadith. A group of later scholars countered him that the two stated manners are equal, which proves the preference between the two from the standpoint of transmission; as for the standpoint of meaning, the preference is apparent in the first. The question is famous in the books of fiqh, and its aim is that every jurist who mentioned it, without exception, never wrote "our master"; were this addition recommended, it would not have escaped all of them until they all overlooked it; all good lies in following, and Allah knows best (transmitted from the «Description of the Prophet's Prayer» by Shaykh al-Albani 150, 152; the statement is also mentioned by al-Tahtawi in his «Hashiya ala Maraqi al-Falah» from al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar 1/181). Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him): the most complete and best prayer upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is: "O Allah, pray upon Muhammad..." («Rawdat al-Talibin» 1/265, «al-Adhkar» 76, «al-Durr al-Mukhtar» 1/513-514).
Seventeenth point. The jurists diverged over the prescribed sitting posture in prayer: is the sunna the iftirash in all the prayer's sittings, or the tawarruk absolutely, or the iftirash in the middle tashahhud and the tawarruk in the last tashahhud? The Hanafis distinguish between the man and the woman: the man's sunna is the iftirash and the woman's the tawarruk, whether in the first sitting, the last or the sitting between the two prostrations. Their evidence is what Wail ibn Hujr reports of the Prophet's prayer (peace and blessings be upon him), whose text says: "when he sat in prayer, he would erect his right leg and sit on his left" (sahih hadith: Abu Dawud 957, al-Nasa'i 1265); they add that his tawarruk (peace and blessings be upon him) is carried upon his old age and weakness, and that he performs the iftirash between the two prostrations («Hashiyat Ibn Abidin» 1/477, «Umdat al-Qari» 6/102-103, «Tabyin al-Haqa'iq» 1/122, «al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya» 1/72).
The Malikis: the prescribed sitting in all the prayer's sittings is the tawarruk, with no difference between man and woman, according to Malik in the «Muwatta» from Abdallah ibn Omar: "the sunna of the prayer is to erect your right leg and bend your left" (al-Bukhari 793; Malik in the «Muwatta» 201). In his narration from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad: he showed them the sitting of the tashahhud, erected his right leg, bent his left, sat on his left hip without sitting on his foot, then said: "Abdallah ibn Abdallah ibn Omar showed me this, and told me his father used to do it" (reported by Malik in the «Muwatta» 52 and al-Bayhaqi 2/103 with a sahih chain). And from Abdallah ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him):
"When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sat in prayer, he would place his left foot between his thigh and shin, spread his right foot, place his left hand on his left knee and his right hand on his right thigh, and point with his finger"Reported by Muslim (579)
In another wording: "when he sat in prayer, he would place his left foot under his right thigh and shin, and spread his right foot" (Abu Dawud 988). This occurs only with resting the hip on the ground, as we said; because it gives fuller stability and greater dignity to the prayer; and because it is an act repeated in prayer in which imam and follower are equal, it must therefore have one single form, like the bowing; and because it is a prescribed posture during the sitting whose form does not vary, like placing the hands on the thighs («al-Ishraf ala «Nukat masa'il al-khilaf»» 1/283-284, case no. 200, «al-Istidhkar» 1/479, «al-Tamhid» 19/248, «Tafsir al-Qurtubi» 1/360, «Bidayat al-Mujtahid» 1/192-193).
The Shafi'is and the Hanbalis: the tawarruk is sunna in the last tashahhud, and the iftirash in the rest of the sittings, according to Abu Humayd (may Allah be pleased with him): "the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he sat in the two rak'as, sat on his left leg and erected the right; and when he sat in the last rak'a, he advanced his left leg, erected the other and sat on his buttocks"; in one version: "in the fourth, he rested his left hip on the ground and brought out both feet from one side" (al-Bukhari 794 without the last narration, which is with Abu Dawud 731). The wisdom in differing between the last sitting and the rest is that the worshiper is poised for movement there, unlike the last one, and movement from the iftirash is easier. The Shafi'is add: the tawarruk is sunna in every tashahhud followed by a salam, even if it is not the second, like the tashahhud of dawn and Friday, for it is a tashahhud whose lengthening is sunna, the tawarruk being sunna in it as in the second. As for the woman, she sits in whatever manner is most concealing for her («al-Hawi al-Kabir» 2/133, «Mughni al-Muhtaj» 1/172, «Kashshaf al-Qina'» 1/356, 363, «al-Mughni» 2/92-93, «al-Kafi» 1/141).
The Hanbalis: the man does the tawarruk only in the last tashahhud of a prayer containing two tashahhuds, for the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her): "the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in every two rak'as the greetings, spreading his left leg and erecting his right leg" (Muslim 498); since the second tashahhud carries the tawarruk to distinguish the two tashahhuds, one containing only a single tashahhud admits no confusion, so there is no need for distinction. As for the woman among them, she may sit cross-legged, Ibn Omar ordering women to sit thus in prayer, or let her two legs hang down on her right side; the explicit text from Ahmad makes the hanging down better, being Aisha's constant practice (may Allah be pleased with her) and resembling more the man's sitting («al-Mughni» 2/92-93, «al-Kafi» 1/141, «Kashshaf al-Qina'» 1/356, 363).
The iftirash consists of erecting the right foot vertically on the tips of the toes, directed toward the qibla, and extending the left leg so its back touches the ground, sitting on its inner face. The tawarruk is like the iftirash, but one brings out one's left from the right side and presses one's hip to the ground (Ibn Abidin 1/477, «Umdat al-Qari» 6/102-103, «Tabyin al-Haqa'iq» 1/122, «al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya» 1/72, «al-Istidhkar» 1/479, «al-Tamhid» 19/248, «Tafsir al-Qurtubi» 1/360, «Bidayat al-Mujtahid» 1/192-193, «al-Hawi al-Kabir» 2/133, «Mughni al-Muhtaj» 1/172, «Kashshaf al-Qina'» 1/356, 363, «al-Mughni» 2/92-93, «al-Kafi» 1/141).
Eighteenth point. The rest sitting is the one the worshiper makes when he finishes the first or third rak'a and rises for the second or fourth: a brief sitting after the second prostration, before standing for the next rak'a. The jurists diverged: is this sitting legislated and a sunna of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or not? The Hanafis, the Malikis and the Shafi'is according to the soundest view, and the Hanbalis according to the madhhab: when he rises from the second prostration, he does not sit for rest and stands on the fronts of his feet; Abu Humayd al-Sa'idi reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he raised his head from the prostration, stood up, with no mention of sitting (sahih hadith, mentioned above, though it is also established in his hadith that he sat, as will come). In the hadith of Rifaa ibn Rafi concerning the instruction of the Bedouin: "then prostrate until you are at rest prostrating, then stand", without commanding him the sitting (sahih hadith, mentioned above). Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi establishes this view too: they agree that one returns from prostration with the takbir, saying no other takbir for standing; were the sitting prescribed, the transition from it to standing would occur with a remembrance, as in the other transitions; and because it is a rising toward standing, it would not be his sunna to separate the two with another act, the basis being the rising from sitting toward the third rak'a; and because it is a transition from one pillar to a pillar contrary to it, no intermediate sitting is prescribed there, like the transition from standing to prostration («Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar» 2/65, «Tabyin al-Haqa'iq» 1/119, Ibn Abidin 1/340, «al-Tamhid» 19/254-255, «al-Ishraf ala «Nukat masa'il al-khilaf»» 1/281-282, case no. 198, «al-Qawanin al-fiqhiyya» 68, «Nihayat al-Muhtaj» 1/518, «Mughni al-Muhtaj» 1/177, «al-Majmu'» 3/403, «al-Mughni» 2/81, 83).
The Shafi'is according to the soundest view among them, and Imam Ahmad in a narration chosen by Khalal: the rest sitting is sunna after the second prostration of every rak'a one rises from, according to Malik ibn al-Huwayrith: "when he raised his head from the second prostration, he sat leaning on the ground, then stood" (al-Bukhari 790). In one narration from Malik ibn al-Huwayrith (may Allah be pleased with him): "he saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) praying: in each odd-numbered rak'a of his prayer, he would not stand until he sat fully upright" (al-Bukhari 789). And from Abu Humayd in the description of the Prophet's prayer (peace and blessings be upon him): "...he raised his hands until level with his shoulders, then bowed and placed his palms on his knees, leaning without drooping or raising his head, upright; then he said: Allah hears the one who praises Him, raised his hands until level with his shoulders until every bone returned to its place, then descended to the ground, keeping his hands away from his sides; then he raised his head, bent his left leg, sat upon it and spread the toes of his feet when prostrating; then he prostrated, then said the takbir and sat on his left leg until every bone returned to its place, then stood, doing the like in the other rak'a" (sahih hadith, mentioned above). It is said that Ahmad returned to this view, abandoning the first; Khalal: Abu Abdallah returned to this, meaning he left his view of not sitting. Ibn Qudama (may Allah have mercy on him): it is also said that if the worshiper is weak he sits for rest, needing to sit; if strong, he does not sit, having no need of it; and the Prophet's sitting (peace and blessings be upon him) is carried upon the end of his life, his old age and weakness; this reconciles the reports and takes the middle between the two views.
The sunna with the Malikis and Shafi'is is to rise taking support on the hands from the ground, according to Abu Qilaba: Malik ibn al-Huwayrith came to us and prayed in this mosque of ours, saying: I shall pray with you though I had no intention of prayer, but to show you how I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) pray; Ayyub said to Abu Qilaba: how was his prayer? He said: like the prayer of this shaykh of ours, meaning Amr ibn Salama; Ayyub: this shaykh completed the takbir, and "when he raised his head from the second prostration, he sat leaning on the ground, then stood" (al-Bukhari 790); and because this is fuller of humility and lowliness, more helpful to the worshiper and safer against his toppling.
With the Hanafis and the Hanbalis, one does not lean on the ground, according to Ibn Omar (may Allah be pleased with them) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) "forbade a man to lean on his hands when rising in prayer" (weak hadith: Abu Dawud 992). One stands on the fronts of the feet, according to Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him): "the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would rise in prayer on the fronts of his feet" (weak hadith: al-Tirmidhi 288); except if that is hard upon him, then he leans on the ground, for Ali's saying (may Allah be pleased with him): "part of the sunna, in the written prayer, when a man rises from the first two rak'as, is not to lean with his hands on the ground, unless he is an aged man unable to do otherwise" (reported by Ibn Abi Shayba in his «Musannaf» 3998; «Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar» 2/65, «Tabyin al-Haqa'iq» 1/119, Ibn Abidin 1/340, «Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari» of Ibn Batal 2/440, «al-Tamhid» 19/254-255, «al-Qawanin al-fiqhiyya» 68, «al-Ishraf ala «Nukat masa'il al-khilaf»» 1/281-282, case no. 198, «al-Majmu'» 3/406, 408, «Nihayat al-Muhtaj» 1/518, «Mughni al-Muhtaj» 1/177, «al-Majmu'» 3/403, «al-Mughni» 2/81, 83, «Matalib Uli al-Nuha» 1/454, «Manar al-Sabil» 1/113).
The jurists diverged over the ruling of the qunut in the dawn prayer into three opinions. The first: it is not legislated and not a sunna in it; this is the view of the Hanafis and the Hanbalis. Imam Abu Hanifa (may Allah have mercy on him): it is an innovation; the Hanbalis in the sound position: it is disliked. Their evidence: Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) "made the qunut in the dawn prayer for a month, supplicating against tribes of Arabs, then left it off" (reported by al-Bukhari 2/386 and Muslim 677; the cited wording is composite, drawn from several narrations of the two). They say: the qunut was therefore abrogated, the leaving being evidence of abrogation; and it is reported that he "used to make the qunut in the dawn and the maghrib" (Muslim 678), the qunut of the maghrib having been abrogated by consensus, so that of the dawn likewise. And by what Abu Malik al-Ashja'i reports: I said to my father: O my father, you prayed behind the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), behind Abu Bakr, Omar and Othman, and behind Ali ibn Abi Talib here in Kufa for about five years: did they make the qunut in the dawn? He said: "O my son, it is an innovation"; in another wording: "O my son, an innovation" (sahih hadith: al-Tirmidhi 402, al-Nasa'i 1080, Ibn Majah 1241); and were the qunut of the dawn prescribed, its transmission would be mutawatir.
Al-Jassas: widespread reports relate that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made the qunut in the dawn, the maghrib and the isha; then Abdallah ibn Mas'ud, Abu Hurayra and Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them) report that he left it off after doing it. The narration from Anas diverged: Amr ibn Ubayd reports from al-Hasan from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) "never ceased making the qunut in the dawn prayer until he left the world"; likewise Abu Ja'far al-Razi from al-Rabi ibn Anas from Anas; and Humayd reports from Anas: "the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) made the qunut for twenty days"; Ayyub reports from Ibn Sirin from Anas: "the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) made the qunut briefly in the dawn prayer"; Abu Nu'aym reports from Hisham al-Dastuwa'i from Qatada from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him): "the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) made the qunut after the bowing, supplicating against a tribe of Arabs, then left it off, and he used to supplicate against Ri'l and Dhakwan". Anas's reports (may Allah be pleased with him) thus contradict one another over the qunut's abandonment or its practice until his death: they fall away as if never received, and there remain to us the reports of the others on his leaving the qunut after doing it; these therefore have the stronger title, being his last act (peace and blessings be upon him). And when the jurists all agreed to leave off what is reported of the qunut in the maghrib and the isha, the qunut of the dawn is likewise: the qunut in all of them was made at one time, and what is besides the dawn prayer was abrogated by the leaving, so its ruling at the dawn must be so too.
Were it said: why should the leaving not be a choice rather than abrogation? He is answered: the qunut being a sunna of the prayer while he did it, his leaving it shows it ceased to be among its sunnas; we find that in the rest of the prayer's sunnas the worshiper is not given the choice of doing or leaving them, like the two prostrations of forgetfulness, the tashahhud, the tasbih of bowing and prostration and the opening praise; were the sunna of the qunut remaining, leaving it would not be permitted. Do you not see that leaving the qunut in the maghrib and isha is not for anyone a matter of choice, but one of abrogation? Likewise the qunut of the dawn. Further, were the qunut prescribed in the dawn, its transmission would have to be mutawatir and known to most of the Companions, given the universality of the need, like the tashahhud, the takbir of bowing and prostration; yet we find Abdallah ibn Mas'ud, Abdallah ibn Abbas, Omar in one narration and Ibn Omar (may Allah be pleased with them) did not hold it in the dawn: we thus know it was abrogated by the Prophet's leaving it (peace and blessings be upon him). Ibn Mas'ud and Ibn Omar (may Allah be pleased with them) had transmitted the hadith of the qunut; then Qatada reports from Abu al-Mujalid who said: "I prayed behind Ibn Omar (may Allah be pleased with them): he did not make the qunut; I said: does old age prevent you? He said: I retain nothing of it from any of my companions"; Abu al-Sha'tha' reports the like from him regarding the dawn prayer. Abd al-Baqi ibn Qaniya reports, chain up to Zayda from al-Ash'ath from Abu al-Sha'tha' from his father: Ibn Omar (may Allah be pleased with them) was asked about the qunut of the dawn and said: "I did not use to see anyone make the qunut at dawn". Abd al-Baqi also reports, chain up to Bishr ibn Harb: I heard Ibn Omar (may Allah be pleased with them) say: "Do you see your standing after the imam finishes the recitation, this innovation? By Allah, it is an innovation: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did it only for a month, then left it". Al-Aswad and Amr ibn Maymun: "we prayed the dawn behind Omar (may Allah be pleased with him): he did not make the qunut"; and al-Aswad: "Omar made the qunut when he waged war, and did not otherwise". Alqama: "I met Abu al-Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) in Syria and asked him about the qunut: he did not know it". Ibrahim al-Nakha'i: "the first to make the qunut here in the dawn was Ali (may Allah be pleased with him); they held he did it only because he was at war, supplicating against his enemies in the qunut of the dawn and the maghreb". Abd al-Baqi ibn Qaniya reports, chain up to Anbasa ibn Abd al-Rahman from Abdallah ibn Nafi' from his father from Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) "forbade the qunut in the dawn prayer"; this hadith decides over what is reported of the qunut, for it contains a prohibition that rules out interpreting the leaving and doing as a choice («Mukhtasar al-Tahawi» of al-Jassas 1/669, 674).
If the imam makes the qunut in the dawn prayer, the one behind him stays silent according to Abu Hanifa and Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on them. Abu Yusuf (may Allah have mercy on him): he follows him, for he is the follower of his imam, and the qunut is a matter of juristic effort. According to the first two it is abrogated and no one is followed in it; it is then said: he stands, to follow him in what requires following; and it is said: he sits, to mark the divergence firmly, the silent one being the associate of the supplicant; the first is the more apparent. The Hanafi who is being led follows a Shafi'i imam who makes the qunut in the witr, even after the bowing («Mukhtasar Ikhtilaf al-Ulama» 1/215, «Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar» 1/244, 253, «Sharh Fath al-Qadir» 1/431, «al-Hidaya» 1/66, «al-Inaya» 2/188, «al-Bada'i'» 1/273, «al-Bunyayya» 2/494-495, «Majma' al-Anhar» 1/193, «Fath Bab al-Inaya» 1/385, «al-Ifsah» 1/186, «al-Mughni» 2/350, «Kashshaf al-Qina'» 1/421, «al-Insaf» 2/174, «Nayl al-Awtar» 2/394, 398).
The second opinion: the qunut in the dawn is a recommended sunna; this is the view of the Malikis and the Shafi'is. The qadi Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him): the qunut is made in the dawn prayer, contrary to Abu Hanifa, for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made it according to Abu Hurayra, Khuffaf ibn Ima, al-Bara and Anas ibn Malik; Anas said: "he never ceased making the qunut in the dawn until he left the world" («al-Ishraf ala «Nukat masa'il al-khilaf»» 1/294, case no. 211). Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him): know that the qunut is legislated with us in the dawn, an emphatic sunna («al-Adhkar» 1/49). Their evidence is Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him): "the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) never ceased making the qunut in the dawn until he left the world" (weak hadith: Ahmad in the «Musnad» 12679, al-Tahawi in «Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar» 1/224, al-Daraqutni 2/39, al-Bayhaqi in «al-Sunan al-Kubra» 2/201); and because the qunut is a prescribed supplication in a non-obligatory prayer, the witr: it must therefore be prescribed in an obligatory prayer, as in his saying "O Allah, forgive the believing men and women"; and because the dawn is a day prayer in which recitation is aloud: it must therefore be singled out by a remembrance no other prayer shares, as Friday is singled out by the sermon. Al-Mawardi (may Allah have mercy on him) answers their argument "were the qunut of the dawn a sunna, its transmission would be mutawatir given the universality of trial with it": the explanation need only be widespread, not its transmission mutawatir; do you not see that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed the pilgrimage with a great multitude and explained the hajj to them in a widespread manner, yet no more than twelve Companions transmitted it from him, five of them reporting he performed it single, four that he combined the 'umra, and three that he joined the two («al-Hawi al-Kabir» 2/152). And to their saying that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) left the qunut of the maghrib by consensus, so that of the dawn likewise, they say: we have consensus that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) made the qunut in the dawn, then we diverged over his leaving it: let us hold to what we agree upon until the point of divergence is established («al-Mudawwana al-Kubra» 1/102, «al-Muwatta» 1/159, «al-Istidhkar» 2/292 and what follows, «al-Ishraf ala «Nukat masa'il al-khilaf»» 1/294, case no. 211, «al-Taj wa al-Iklil» 1/539, «Sharh al-Zurqani» 1/456, «al-Fawa'id al-Dawani» 1/185, «al-Qawanin al-fiqhiyya» 1/45, «al-Hawi al-Kabir» 2/150, «Fath al-Bari» 2/491, «al-Umm» 1/142, 140, «Sharh Muslim» 5/1765-178, «al-Majmu'» 3/458, «al-Ifsah» 1/186, «Tarh al-Tathrib» 2/255, «Nayl al-Awtar» 2/394, 398). Imam Ibn Rushd (may Allah have mercy on him): they diverged over the qunut: Malik held the qunut of the dawn recommended, al-Shafi'i a sunna, Abu Hanifa held the qunut of the dawn prayer not permitted, its place being only the witr; some said: rather the qunut is made in every prayer; some said: there is no qunut except in Ramadan; some said: rather in its second half; some said: rather in its first half. The cause is the divergence of the traditions transmitted from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the analogy of some prayers over others in this, that is, those he made the qunut in over those he did not. Abu Omar Ibn Abd al-Barr: the qunut with the cursing of the disbelievers in Ramadan was widespread among the first generation, in emulation of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicating against Ri'l, Dhakwan and the party who killed the companions of the well of Ma'una. Al-Layth ibn Sa'd: I have not made the qunut for forty years, or forty-five, except behind an imam who made it; al-Layth: I took to this on the hadith that came from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he made the qunut for a month or forty days, supplicating for one people and against others, until Allah sent down upon him, rebuking: "You have no part in the matter: whether He turns to them in forgiveness or punishes them, for they are wrongdoers" (Surah 3, 128); the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) then left the qunut and did not make it again until he met Allah; since I retained this hadith I have not made the qunut, and this is the madhhab of Yahya ibn Yahya; the qadi: the elders informed me this was practiced in his mosque in our city of Cordoba and continued to our time or near it. Muslim reports from Abu Hurayra that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made the qunut in the dawn prayer, and we were informed he left it when there descended "You have no part in the matter..." (Surah 3, 128); Muslim reports from Abu Hurayra that he made the qunut in the zhuhr, the last isha and the dawn prayer, and from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he made the qunut for a month in the dawn prayer supplicating against the Banu Usayya.
They diverged over the qunut's formula. Malik recommends: "O Allah, we seek Your help and Your forgiveness, we turn to You in guidance, we believe in You, we submit to You, and we renounce and abandon whoever disbelieves in You; O Allah, You alone we worship, for You we pray and prostrate, to You we strive and hasten, we hope for Your mercy and fear Your punishment, for Your punishment will overtake the disbelievers"; the people of Iraq call it the two suras, and it is reported to be in the mushaf of Ubayy ibn Ka'b. Al-Shafi'i and Ishaq: rather one makes the qunut with "O Allah, guide me among those You have guided, grant me well-being among those You have granted it, protect me from the evil of what You have decreed; You decree and none decrees over You; blessed are You, our Lord, and exalted"; al-Hasan ibn Ali transmits this through established chains that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught him this supplication to make the qunut with in the prayer. Abdallah ibn Dawud: whoever does not make the qunut with the two suras, prayer is not made behind him; others: nothing in the qunut is fixed («Bidayat al-Mujtahid» 1/186, 188).
The third opinion: Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn al-Qayyim: the qunut is a sunna when there is need of it. Ibn Taymiyya (may Allah have mercy on him): as for the qunut of the dawn, it is established in the Sahih from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he made the qunut in calamities: "he made the qunut once for a month, supplicating against a people of disbelievers who had killed a group of his companions, then left it"; he made the qunut another time supplicating for companions held captive by a people preventing them from emigrating to him; likewise his rightly guided caliphs after him made a qunut of this kind; he did not persist in it constantly, nor leave it altogether. The scholars hold three views on it: it is said persisting in it is a sunna; it is said the qunut is abrogated and all of it is an innovation; the third view, which is the sound: it is a sunna when there is need of it, as the Messenger of Allah and his rightly guided caliphs made the qunut («Majmu' al-Fatawa» 23/98-99). He says elsewhere: a group of the people of Iraq held that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made the qunut only a month, then left it by way of abrogation, the qunut in the written prayers being abrogated; and a group of the people of the Hijaz held he never ceased making it until he left the world, some of them holding he made it before the bowing, others that he made it after the bowing. The sound position is the third view, held by the majority of the people of hadith and many of the imams of the Hijaz, and it is what is established in the two Sahihs and others: "he made the qunut a month supplicating against Ri'l, Dhakwan and Usayya" (al-Bukhari 2899, Muslim 677), then he left this qunut, then a while after Khaybar, after Abu Hurayra's Islam, he made the qunut, saying in it: "O Allah, rescue al-Walid ibn al-Walid, Salama ibn Hisham and the weak among the believers; O Allah, harden Your grip upon Mudar and make years upon them like the years of Youssouf" (al-Bukhari 771, 961; Muslim 675): had the qunut been abrogated, he would not have made it this second time. It is established from him in the Sahih that he "made the qunut in the maghrib and in the last isha" (Muslim 676, 678), and in the Sunan: "he used to make the qunut in the five prayers, and most of his qunut was in the dawn"; he did not persist in the qunut, neither in the dawn nor elsewhere; the two Sahihs establish from Anas that he said: "he made the qunut after the bowing only for a month" (al-Bukhari 2999, Muslim 677). The hadith reported by al-Hakim and others from al-Rabi ibn Anas that he said: "he never ceased making the qunut until he left the world" (weak, mentioned above) was said in the context of the qunut before the bowing; this hadith, were it to contradict the sahih hadith, would not be heeded, al-Rabi ibn Anas not being among the men of the Sahih; how then when it does not contradict it: its meaning is only that he used to lengthen the standing in the dawn constantly; as for his supplicating in the dawn constantly, before or after the bowing, with a supplication audible or not, that is absolutely false; whoever contemplates the sahih hadiths knows this necessarily, and knows that were this so, the Companions and Successors would have transmitted it: how could they have neglected his regular, legislated qunut for us while transmitting the qunut that is not legislated in itself but by its like? It is therefore legislated to make the qunut in calamities, supplicating for the believers and against the disbelievers, in the dawn and in the other prayers; thus Omar made the qunut when he fought the Christians with his supplication containing "O Allah, curse the disbelievers of the People of the Book" to its end, and likewise Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) when he fought a people, making the qunut supplicating against them; the one making the qunut should, at every calamity, supplicate with the supplication fitting that calamity, and naming the believers he supplicates for and the warring disbelievers he supplicates against is good («al-Fatawa al-Kubra» 2/477-478).
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him): the clarification an impartial scholar accepts is that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said things aloud and quietly, made the qunut and left it; his quiet saying was more than his aloud, and his leaving the qunut more than his doing it: he made the qunut only in calamities, to supplicate for a people and against others; then he left it when those to supplicate for arrived, when the captives were freed and those supplicated against repented and came back: his qunut was therefore for an occasion; the occasion gone, he left the qunut, not singling out the dawn: he made the qunut in the dawn prayer and the maghrib prayer, mentioned by al-Bukhari in his Sahih from Anas and by Muslim from al-Bara; Imam Ahmad reports from Ibn Abbas: "the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) made the qunut a month consecutively in the zhuhr, the asr, the maghrib, the isha and the dawn, at the end of every prayer; when he said: Allah hears the one who praises Him, in the last rak'a, he would supplicate against a tribe of the Banu Sulaym, against Ri'l, Dhakwan and Usayya, and those behind him would say amin"; reported also by Abu Dawud (Ahmad 1/301, Abu Dawud 1443). His guidance (peace and blessings be upon him) was the qunut in calamities only, and leaving it in their absence; he did not single out the dawn, but most of his qunut was in it, for the lengthening prescribed in it, its connection with the night prayer, its nearness to the pre-dawn meal and the hour of response, the divine descent, and because it is the attested prayer witnessed by Allah and His angels, or the angels of the night and the day, as this is reported; this is the interpretation of Allah's saying:
"The recitation of dawn was witnessed"
Surah 17, 78
It is authentically established from Abu Hurayra that he said: "By Allah, I am the closest of you to the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)": Abu Hurayra would make the qunut in the last rak'a of the dawn prayer, after saying "Allah hears the one who praises Him", supplicating for the believers and cursing the disbelievers (al-Bukhari 764). No doubt the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did this then left it, and Abu Hurayra loved to teach them that such a qunut is a sunna and that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did it: a reply to the people of Kufa, that is the Hanafis, who dislike the qunut in the dawn absolutely, in calamities and otherwise, saying it is abrogated and doing it an innovation. The people of hadith take the middle between these and those who recommend it in calamities and otherwise; they are the most blessed by the hadith of the two groups: they make the qunut where the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) made it and leave it where he left it, emulating him in doing and leaving; his doing is a sunna and his leaving is a sunna; and with all this they do not reproach whoever persists in it, nor dislike its doing, nor hold it an innovation nor its doer contravening the sunna, just as they do not reproach whoever leaves it in calamities, nor hold its leaving an innovation nor its leaver contravening the sunna: whoever made the qunut did well, and whoever left it did well («Zad al-Ma'ad» 1/272, 275).
The sheet opens with the hadith of the man of Quba, cited among the cases of varying the recitation: he never opened a sura without reciting "Say: He is Allah, the One" and then another sura with it, in every rak'a; his companions spoke to him: you open with this sura yet do not find it sufficient until you recite another: either recite it alone, or leave it and recite another. He said: I shall not leave it; if you wish me to lead you on that basis I shall do so, and if not I shall leave you. They held him the best of them and disliked that anyone else lead them; when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to them they informed him, and he said: "O so-and-so, what prevents you from doing what your companions command you, and what makes you cling to this sura in every rak'a? He said: I love it. He said: your love of it has admitted you to Paradise" (al-Bukhari 741; Ibn Abidin 1/546, «Sharh Fath al-Qadir» 1/343, «al-Sharh al-Kabir» 1/242, «Ahkam al-Qur'an» of Ibn al-Arabi 4/468, «al-Khulasa» 1/78, «Sharh Muslim» 6/100, «al-Majmu'» 3/337, «al-Fatawa al-Fiqhiyya al-Kubra» 1/125, «al-Mughni» 2/45, «Nayl al-Awtar» 2/252, «Kashshaf al-Qina'» 1/374).
Fourth point: closing the eyes. The majority of the jurists, the Hanafis, Malikis, Hanbalis and some of the Shafi'is, hold it disliked to close the eyes in prayer, for the Prophet's saying (peace and blessings be upon him): "when one of you stands in prayer, let him not close his eyes" (weak hadith: al-Tabarani in «al-Kabir» 11/34, «al-Awsat» 2/356, «al-Saghir» 1/37, from Ibn Abbas); the sunna is to cast one's gaze toward the place of one's prostration, the closing leaving off this sunna; every limb has a share in this act of worship, the eye likewise. Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him): it is the practice of the Jews, and it betokens sleep. The Hanafis except the closing for complete humility, when one fears losing concentration because of seeing what scatters the mind: it is then not disliked, indeed some scholars say it is rather better; Ibn Abidin: this is not far-fetched. The Malikis: the dislike of closing applies so long as one does not fear looking at the unlawful or that opening the eyes would scatter one's attention; otherwise closing is not disliked then. Al-Nawawi of the Shafi'is: closing the eyes is not disliked so long as no harm to oneself or another is feared, for it gathers humility and the heart's presence and prevents the wandering of the gaze and the scattering of the mind; were harm feared from it, it would be disliked («al-Majmu'» 3/261). Imam al-Tabari and al-Nawawi transmit from Malik that there is no harm in it in the obligatory and the supererogatory («al-Majmu'» 3/261, «Ma'ani al-Athar» 2/18, Ibn Abidin 1/645, «Sharh Mukhtasar Khalil» 1/293, «Minh al-Jalil» 1/271, «al-Sharh al-Saghir» 1/226, «Mughni al-Muhtaj» 1/180, «I'anat al-Talibin» 1/183, «Asna al-Matalib» 1/169, «Mukhtasar Ikhtilaf al-Ulama» 1/327, «al-Mughni» 2/192, «al-Kafi» 1/173, «al-Rawd al-Murbi'» 1/184).
Fifth point. Imam Ibn Batal (may Allah have mercy on him): they all agree on the dislike of raising the gaze in prayer («Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari» of Ibn Batal 2/364, «Fath al-Bari» 2/233). Iyad (may Allah have mercy on him): raising the gaze to the sky in prayer involves a kind of turning away from the qibla and an exit from the prayer's posture («Fath al-Bari» 2/233). The evidence is Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "What is the matter with people who raise their gaze to the sky in their prayer?", and he grew stern in this until he said: "let them desist from that, or their gaze will be snatched away" (al-Bukhari 717); in Muslim: "let people who raise their gaze to the sky in prayer desist, or their gaze will not return to them" (Muslim 428). Al-Hattab (may Allah have mercy on him): Malik said: the scholars, seeing the generality of people raising their gazes to the sky while remaining unharmed, said the snatching meant is taking the gaze away from heedfulness, until one considers the signs of the heavens and the earth; it is an indirect expression, and it is the gravest snatching. The key to it is that the worshiper's saying "Allah is the greatest" forbids him the acts of the limbs and the words of the tongue, and the intention of prayer forbids him the heart's thoughts and the wandering of ideas; but the Lawgiver, knowing that governing one's secret thoughts escapes human capability, was lenient therein («Mawahib al-Jalil» 1/549-550, «Ahkam al-Qur'an» of Ibn al-Arabi 3/312, «Sharh Muslim» 4/152, «Umdat al-Qari» 5/308, «Fath al-Bari» 2/233, «Fatawa Ibn Taymiyya» 22/559, «I'anat al-Talibin» 1/191, «al-Mughni» 2/190).
It is on this point that this second part of the chapter's sheets on the pillars of prayer ends, the continuation of the detail being treated in the next part of the encyclopedia.