Fatwa ID: 08732

 

 

Answered by: Maulana Yusuf Badshah

 

Question:

 

1) What is the maximum speed when praying Salah? I often get stressed that maybe I am praying too quickly. Is there some guideline you can offer so I know what is too fast or not?

 

 

2) If the imam leading the prayer invalidated his Salah, what about the people behind him? e.g. If I am being led by this imam, how am I supposed to know whether he read his prayers rapidly or not (which would violate one of the pillars of Salah.) When sitting down, he recited quite a bit quicker than I do so It caused me stress on whether I should repeat my prayer.

 

 

 

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

 

 

Answer:

 

1) According to the Ahnaf, in each position of Salah it is wajib to pause such that one becomes momentarily stationary for the duration it would take to recite a tasbih such as ‘SubhanAllah’ [1]. This is called ta’deel. The Salah of the one who does not do ta’deel will still be valid, but if they do not perform sajdah sahw at the end nor repeat the Salah then they will be sinful [2].

 

In general, if a person moves into a position and then moves out of it without holding that position for even a moment then they are going too fast.

 

2) If the Imam performs some action that you can clearly identify invalidates their Salah and yet continues to lead the Salah regardless, then their Salah as well as the Salah of all those following will be invalid. Should you be unaware that the Imam invalidated their Salah, or should the Imam be of a different Madhab which believes such an action does not invalidate their Salah, then your Salah will still be valid [3]. In certain scenarios when the Imam breaks their Wudhu, they can indicate another to lead the Salah in their place, after which the Salah of those following will remain intact [4].

 

 

In the case of the Imam who reads Salah too fast, then as mentioned above this does not invalidate the Salah, and thus will not invalidate the Salah of those following him. However, were an Imam to lead Salah without Ta’deel the people would be unable to keep up, thus such an occurrence would be most irregular.

 

 

 

 

References:

 

[1] Raddul Muhtar, vol. 1, pg. 464, Darul Fikr:

(وَتَعْدِيلُ الْأَرْكَانِ) أَيْ تَسْكِينُ الْجَوَارِحِ قَدْرَ تَسْبِيحَةٍ فِي الرُّكُوعِ وَالسُّجُودِ

 

Raddul Muhtar, vol. 1, pg. 464, Darul Fikr:

وَالْحَاصِلُ أَنَّ الْأَصَحَّ رِوَايَةً وَدِرَايَةً وُجُوبُ تَعْدِيلِ الْأَرْكَانِ، وَأَمَّا الْقَوْمَةُ وَالْجَلْسَةُ وَتَعْدِيلُهُمَا فَالْمَشْهُورُ فِي الْمَذْهَبِ السُّنِّيَّةُ، وَرُوِيَ وُجُوبُهَا، وَهُوَ الْمُوَافِقُ لِلْأَدِلَّةِ، وَعَلَيْهِ الْكَمَالُ وَمَنْ بَعْدَهُ مِنْ الْمُتَأَخِّرِينَ

 

[2] Raddul Muhtar, vol. 1, pg. 456-457, Darul Fikr:

(وَلَهَا وَاجِبَاتٌ) لَا تَفْسُدُ بِتَرْكِهَا وَتُعَادُ وُجُوبًا فِي الْعَمْدِ وَالسَّهْوِ إنْ لَمْ يَسْجُدْ لَهُ، وَإِنْ لَمْ يُعِدْهَا يَكُونُ فَاسِقًا آثِمًا

 

[3] Surah Al-Baqarah 286:

{لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا…}

 

[4] Raddul Muhtar, vol. 1, pg. 600-601, Darul Fikr:

(سَبَقَ الْإِمَامَ حَدَثٌ) سَمَاوِيٌّ، لَا اخْتِيَارَ لِلْعَبْدِ فِيهِ وَلَا فِي سَبَبِهِ كَسَفَرْجَلَةٍ مِنْ شَجَرَةٍ، وَكَحَدَثِهِ مِنْ نَحْوِ عُطَاسٍ عَلَى الصَّحِيحِ (غَيْرِ مَانِعٍ لِلْبِنَاءِ) كَمَا قَدَّمْنَاهُ (وَلَوْ بَعْدَ التَّشَهُّدِ) لِيَأْتِيَ بِالسَّلَامِ (اسْتَخْلَفَ) أَيْ جَازَ لَهُ ذَلِكَ وَلَوْ فِي جِنَازَةٍ بِإِشَارَةٍ أَوْ جَرٍّ لِمِحْرَابٍ

 

 

 

Only Allah s.w.t knows best

Written by Maulana Yusuf Badshah

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham