Fatwa ID: 01474
Answered by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Question:
If you read surat al-Fatiah with mistakes in the certain letters (e.g. "ghaighil" instead of "ghairil" or "Zaalliin" instead of "Daalliin"), is your salat invalid? And what about if you read behind an imam that makes these mistakes?
Answer:
In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent, the most Merciful.
The Hanafi jurists have mentioned the following rules with regards to making a mistake in recitation during salah:
- If the person makes such a mistake in which the meaning of the Holy Quran is changed. The Salah in this case will be deemed invalid irrespective of whether three verses of the Holy Quran was recited or not.
- If the mistake is such that the harakaats were changed. For example zabar was read instead of zer etc. In this situation the salah will not be rendered invalid. However, if by changing the harakaats the meaning of the Holy Quran changed then the salah will become void.
- If a person read a certain letter instead of another letter and it was possible to differentiate between both without any difficulty the salah will break. However, if it was difficult to differentiate between the letters for example ‘seen and saad’ then if he changed it intentionally the salah will be rendered void, otherwise it will be considered intact.
- If a person read extra words in which the meaning of the verse changed the Salah will be rendered invalid, whether the extra words he read were in the Holy Quran or not. However, if the meaning does not change then whether the extra words he read are mentioned in the Holy Quran or not, his salah will remain intact. (Fatawa Hindiyyah p.79 v.1)
Regarding your question, the opinion given by my respected teachers are that in such a situation, a person’s Salah will be done, mainly because non-Arabs (Ajmees) tend to make such a mistake who are not well versed in the understanding of the Holy Quran and the Arabic language, thus, certain degree of flexibility is afforded when it comes to the validity of the Salah.
Only Allah Knows Best
Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham.
