Fatwa ID: 08845

 

 

Answered by Alimah Humairah Badshah

 

Question:

 

When reciting more than three ayats of the first three verses of Surah Al-Fatihah, to require forgetfulness prostrations. Is it in terms of the actual text in the Quran or in terms of how long it took me to actually pronounce the first three verses?

 

 

 

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

 

 

Answer:

 

It is wajib to recite the entirety of Surah Al-Fatihah in the first two rakaats of a fardh or wajib salah, and all rakaats of a sunnah or nafl salah. In each rakaat this recitation must occur once before the additional recitation of the Qur’an (Qira’ah). If a person misses Surah Al-Fatiha or any verses from it, they must perform sajdah sahw (forgetfulness prostration).

 

 

Once a person has recited Surah Al-Fatihah in the rakaats where it is wajib, it is then wajib for them to then recite an amount of the Qur’an (Qira’ah). This recitation should not be Surah Fatiha again, since reading Surah Fatiha twice in succession without any recitation between them is a mistake which necessitates sajdah sahw. The minimum one may recite is three short ayats or one long ayat. The consideration here is for the amount of the actual text rather than one’s personal recitation time: for example, reciting a single short ayat but stretching and prolonging its recitation for thrice as long as usual would not be valid.

 

 

Another point to mention is that one should not pause one’s salah to think between Surah Al-Fatihah and one’s Qur’an recitation (Qira’ah), or in fact at any point during salah, for an excess amount of time. Doing so would be a mistake which would require one to perform sajdah sahw. The amount of time which is considered excess is the amount of a pillar, which has also been explained as three utterances of “SubhanAllah” at a normal pace.

 

 

 

References:

 

جِبُ تَعْيِينُ الْأُولَيَيْنِ مِنْ الثُّلَاثِيَّةِ وَالرُّبَاعِيَّةِ الْمَكْتُوبَتَيْنِ لِلْقِرَاءَةِ الْمَفْرُوضَةِ حَتَّى لَوْ قَرَأَ فِي الْأُخْرَيَيْنِ مِنْ الرُّبَاعِيَّةِ دُونَ الْأُولَيَيْنِ أَوْ فِي إحْدَى الْأُولَيَيْنِ وَإِحْدَى الْأُخْرَيَيْنِ سَاهِيًا وَجَبَ عَلَيْهِ سُجُودُ السَّهْوِ كَذَا فِي الْبَحْرِ الرَّائِقِ

وَتَجِبُ قِرَاءَةُ الْفَاتِحَةِ وَضَمُّ السُّورَةِ أَوْ مَا يَقُومُ مَقَامَهَا مِنْ ثَلَاثِ آيَاتٍ قِصَارٍ أَوْ آيَةٍ طَوِيلَةٍ فِي الْأُولَيَيْنِ بَعْدَ الْفَاتِحَةِ كَذَا فِي النَّهْرِ الْفَائِقِ وَفِي جَمِيعِ رَكَعَاتِ النَّفْلِ وَالْوِتْرِ. هَكَذَا فِي الْبَحْرِ الرَّائِقِ

وَيَجِبُ تَقْدِيمُ الْفَاتِحَةِ عَلَى السُّورَةِ. كَذَا فِي النَّهْرِ الْفَائِقِ

Al-Fataawa Al-Hindiyyah (Daar Al-Fikr, https://shamela.ws) v.1 p.71

 

إذَا شَغَلَهُ ذَلِكَ) الشَّكُّ فَتَفَكَّرَ (قَدْرَ

…

أَدَاءِ رُكْنٍ وَلَمْ يَشْتَغِلْ حَالَةَ الشَّكِّ بِقِرَاءَةٍ وَلَا تَسْبِيحٍ) ذَكَرَهُ فِي الذَّخِيرَةِ (وَجَبَ عَلَيْهِ سُجُودُ السَّهْوِ

…

مَا لَزِمَ مِنْهُ تَأْخِيرُ الْوَاجِبِ أَوْ الرُّكْنِ عَنْ مَحَلِّهِ بِأَنْ قَطَعَ الِاشْتِغَالَ بِالرُّكْنِ أَوْ الْوَاجِبِ قَدْرَ أَدَاءِ رُكْنٍ وَهُوَ الْأَصَحُّ

Radd Al-Muhtaar (Halabi ed., Daar Al-Fikr, https://shamela.ws) v.2 p.93-94

 

 

 

Only Allah (عز و جل) knows best.

Written by Alimah Humairah Badshah

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham