All Solutions Are with the Prophet's Progeny

All Solutions Are with the Prophet's Progeny21%

All Solutions Are with the Prophet's Progeny Author:
Translator: Abdullah al-Shahin
Publisher: Ansariyan Publications – Qum
Category: General Books

All Solutions Are with the Prophet's Progeny
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All Solutions Are with the Prophet's Progeny

All Solutions Are with the Prophet's Progeny

Author:
Publisher: Ansariyan Publications – Qum
English

This book is corrected and edited by Al-Hassanain (p) Institue for Islamic Heritage and Thought

The Ahlul Bayt are the natural continuity of the Mission of their grandfather

When we say ‘the Ahlul Bayt’, we mean the twelve Imams of the immaculate progeny of the Prophet (S) whom we have studied in full in the previous books. The Shia and the Sunni have agreed that the Messenger of Allah (S) said:

The Imams after me are twelve; all of them are from (the tribe of) Quraysh.

The tradition mentioned in the Sahih of al-Bukhari reads:

This matter (caliphate) shall remain in Quraysh even if (only) two people remain alive.1

We know necessarily that Allah the Almighty has chosen Adam, Noah, the family of Abraham, and the family of Imran and preferred them - a progeny of one from the other - to the rest of mankind. The Prophet Muhammad (S) has taught and declared to us that Allah the Almighty chose him from among all the Hashimites, who were the choicest of choices. In the Sahih of Muslim - the book of ‘Virtues’, chapter of ‘The preferring of our Prophet to all Creation’ - it is mentioned that the Prophet (S) has said:

Allah has chosen Kinanah from the children of Ishmael, the Quraysh from Kinanah, the Hashimites from Quraysh and me (the Prophet) from the Hashimites.

The meaning of this tradition, as understood by every reasonable person, is that the Hashimites were a family that had been chosen and preferred among all mankind. Allah chose Muhammad (S) from the Hashimites to be the best of all mankind. This shows that the Hashimites came second after the Prophet Muhammad (S) in preference with no separation.

Likewise the Prophet Muhammad (S) chose Ali and his progeny from all of the Hashimites2 to be his successors by the command of the Revelation, and made it obligatory on all Muslims to pray to Allah to send His blessings on them. We have found that the most tafsirs (commentaries) mention their names and confirm that it is they who are referred to in the Qur’anic verses of ‘Purification 33:33’; ‘Love, mawaddah 42:23’; ‘Guardianship, wilayah 5:55’; ‘Choosing and bequeathing of the Book 35:32’; ‘The people of remembrance 16:43’; ‘Who are firmly rooted in knowledge 3:7’ and the Sura of al-Insan (or ‘hal ata’) 76.3

As for the Prophet’s traditions that have been agreed upon as true traditions by all Muslims and in which the Prophet (S) has referred to the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) with preference and virtues saying that they were the Imams of guidance, are too many. So, here we mention just two of them.

The first tradition was mentioned by Muslim in his Sahih, the book of Virtues, chapter of The Virtues of Ali ibn Abi Talib. The Prophet (S) said:

O people, I am but a human being. The messenger of my Lord (Death) is about to come and I shall respond. I am leaving among you two weighty things - the first of them is the Book of Allah in which there is guidance and light. So follow the Book of Allah and keep to it. The second is my Household. I remind you to obey Allah by being dutiful to my progeny, I remind you to obey Allah through my progeny, I remind you to obey Allah through my progeny.

The second tradition was mentioned by Muslim in the same book narrated by Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas from his father, that the Messenger of Allah (S) had said to Ali:

You are to me as Aaron was to Moses, except that there shall be no prophet after me.4

For brevity, these two traditions are enough to prove that Imam Ali (a.s.) was the chief of the Prophet’s progeny and was the natural continuity to the Prophet Muhammad (S).

Did the Messenger of Allah (S) not say:

I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate?

Surely, this saying alone is enough to show that the whole of nation cannot enter this city of Muhammad’s knowledge except when entering through the gate of Ali (a.s.), because Allah the Almighty has ordered His people to enter houses through their doors.

Here, we must point out that Imam Ali (a.s.) had acquired his knowledge from the Prophet (S) who had brought him up since childhood. He accompanied the Prophet (S) all through his life. The Prophet (S) taught Imam Ali (a.s.) the knowledge of the past and the future where he said:

Gabriel did not pour anything into my chest except that which I poured it into the chest of Ali.

Imam Ali (a.s.) said about that:

If the rug was folded to me (to sit on),5 I would judge among the people of the Torah according to their Torah, among the people of the Gospel according to their Gospel and the people of the Qur'an according to their Qur'an.

He often said:

Ask me before you shall miss me.

All the companions and all Muslims throughout history witness that Imam Ali (a.s.) was the most knowledgeable of all people in the affairs of religion and the world, and that he was the most pious, most abstinent, most patient with calamities, the bravest in wars and the most forgiving.

For better understanding, we have to read what Imam Ali (a.s.) said about the relation between the Prophet (S) and his progeny. He said:

They are the place of his secret, the recourse in his affairs, the sack of his knowledge, the resort for his wisdom, the den of his books, and the mountains of his religion. By them he has made erect the bending of his back and driven away his fear.6

He said:

By Allah, I have been taught the knowledge about missions, carrying out of promises, and all words and there are doors of wisdom and light of all affairs with us the Ahlul Bayt …7

He said:

…where are those who claim that they are deep-rooted in knowledge other than us - claiming falsely and oppressively against us. Allah has exalted us and lowered them, given us and deprived them, included us and excluded them. Guidance is looked forward to through us and thereby blindness is recovered…the Imams from Quraysh have been sowed in this set of Hashim so that imamate does not fit other than them and chiefs from other than them shall not be fit.8

He said:

…surely the example of the progeny of Muhammad, may Allah have blessing and peace on them, are like the stars of the sky - when one star sets, another star shines. As if the virtues from Allah have been perfected in you (the Ahlul Bayt) and He has given you what you hoped for.9

He said:

…no one from this nation can be compared to the progeny of Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him and his progeny and no one on whom their favor has been bestowed can be equaled to them at all. They are the foundation of religion and the pillar of certainty. The oppressed resort to them and followers join them. The specialties of the right of guardianship are for them and among them is custodianship and inheritance…10

He said:

…and surely I am on the clear way that I picked up, picking it from between the ways of deviation and confusion. Observe the progeny of your prophet, cling to their way and follow trace of their footsteps for they will not take you away from guidance, nor will they take you back to be perished. If they keep silent, you have to keep silent and if they rise, you have to rise. Do not precede them lest you go astray and do not lag behind them lest you perish…11

He said:

They are the life of knowledge and death of ignorance. Their discernment informs you of their knowledge and their silence tells of the wisdom of their logic. They do not contradict the truth, nor do they disagree on it. They are the pillars of Islam and the associates of those who resort to them. Through them, the truth has come back to its rightful place and falsehood has been kept away from its position and its tongue has been severed from its root. They have understood the religion with reason and care, not with the understanding of hearing and narration because the narrators of knowledge are too many, but its caretakers are few.12

These passages quoted from Nahjul Balaghah and said by Imam Ali (a.s.) give us a real picture about the firm relation between the Prophet (S) and his progeny and make them the only continuity of his mission, and that they are the only ones who can inform of what he has announced for all mankind throughout ages and for all nations and cultures.

Imam Ali (a.s.) was not satisfied with showing of the high rank of the immaculate progeny and their position to Muslims only. He showed that he himself was the axis of the quern and chief of the immaculate progeny. He showed his role - that which he had been entrusted with by Allah and His messenger to manage people and not to let them go astray. He said:

…whereto do you go and how are you diverted while the banners are being raised, signs are clear and the light stands are set up? So to where do you go astray, or how are you blind when amongst you there are the progeny of your Prophet (S) who are the reins of truth, leaders of the religion, and the tongue of truthfulness? So observe them in the best positions of the Qur'an, and hasten to them as the hastening of extremely thirsty ones (to the drinking fountain).

O people take it from the Messenger of Allah (S), may Allah have blessing and peace on him and his progeny, he said that: ‘One of us dies, but he is not dead, and one of us is decomposing, but he is not decomposed.’ So, do not speak of what you do not know because most of the truth is in what you deny and excuse the one against whom you have no argument, and that person is me.

Did I not act among you according to the Major weighty thing (the Qur'an) and I left among you (after me) the Minor weighty thing (the Ahlul Bayt - at that time Imam al-Hasan and al-Husayn)? I fixed among you the banner of faith, showed you clearly the limits of the lawful and the unlawful, dressed you with soundness of my justice and spread to you the favor of my saying and doing. I showed to you the noblest of morals from myself. Therefore, do not use (your own) opinion in that whose insides cannot be perceived by the sight, nor can be penetrated by thinking.13

If you, dear reader, ponder on the saying of Imam Ali (a.s.), you shall find in it the interpretation of the tradition of Thaqalayn (the two weighty things) that has been narrated by the Sunni from the Messenger of Allah (S) who said:

I have left among you the two weighty things - the Book of Allah and my progeny. If you keep to them, you shall never go astray after me at all.

Imam Ali (a.s.) also said:

Did I not act among you according to the Major weighty thing (the Qur'an) and I left among you the Minor weighty thing (the Ahlul Bayt)?

This saying of Imam Ali (a.s.) is a clear proof that Imam Ali (a.s.) managed people according to the rulings of the Holy Qur'an, whose reality no one could understand except him. Also he left among them the Minor Weighty things, who were the infallible Imams from his progeny so that each one of them would carry out the same role that the Prophet (S) carried out in his nation.

If we ponder on the saying of the Prophet (S): “I am leaving among you the two weighty things” and the saying of Imam Ali (a.s.): “did I not act among you according to the Major weighty thing” - we understand that the role of the immaculate progeny is to explain and declare the Book of Allah to the nation lest they disagreed after the death of the Prophet (S).

What confirms this fact is this saying of the Prophet (S):

In every generation of my nation there are just men from my progeny who protect this religion from distortion of deviants, fabrication of liars, and misinterpretation of the ignorant. Surely, your Imams are your delegation to Allah, so be careful to whom you delegate.14

He also said:

Stars are security for the people of the earth from drowning and the people of my house are security for my nation from disagreement. If a tribe from the Arabs disagree with them (the Ahlul Bayt), they shall disagree among themselves and become the party of Iblis.15

He also said:

Surely, the example of my progeny among you is like the Ark of Noah; whoever rode on it would be rescued and whoever lagged behind it would drown.16

Through this brief study, the guidance becomes clearly distinguished from error to us, and we can say that the Twelver Shia is the true sect, because it is the only sect that has kept to the two weighty things, boarded the Ship of Rescue and clung to the Rope of Allah. The Shia neither precede the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) nor do they turn away from them, but they follow and imitate them. Therefore, they are guided by their guidance and they follow their path.

Imam Ali (a.s.) has said: “Here is the Qur'an that you can ask to speak out, and it shall not speak out but what I tell you about. It has the knowledge of what shall come; it speaks about the past, the healing of your ailments, and the managing of you.17

Keep to the Book of Allah, for it is a firm rope, clear light, advantageous cure, satiating drink, a resort for those who seek and a rescue for those who cling. It never bends to be set right, nor does it errs to be blamed. The much reciting and listening to it do not make it old. Whoever speaks with it is truthful, and whoever acts according to it wins.18

Prophet (S) left to you what other prophets had left for their nations so that they did not leave them to go astray without showing clear way or a raised banner.

The Book of your Lord is among you showing His lawful and unlawful things, obligations and favors, abrogating and abrogated things, permissions and necessities, special and general rulings, lessons and examples, absolutes and finites, clear and ambiguous things, interpreting its statements and explaining its obscurities.

There are some verses in Quran whose knowledge is obligatory and others whose ignorance by people is not forgivable. And there is that which is fixed as obligatory in the book, but its abrogation is known in the Prophet’s Sunna, or there are those which appear obligatory in the Sunna, but in the Book it is permitted to be given up.

And, there are other verses which were obligatory in its time but not so in future (with passing of its time). There are verses of His different prohibitions for major sins - for which He has threatened of His Fires, or minor - for which He has promised forgiveness, and there are those verses which are accepted in small portion (in reciting of the Qur'an) and permitted for leaving its big portion.”19

Notes

1. Sahih of al-Bukhari - Book of Rulings (Ahkam), Chapter of ‘The Emirs from Quraysh’; Sahih of Muslim - Book of Emirate, Chapter of ‘People are Followers of Quraysh and the Caliphate is in Quraysh’.

2. The Prophet (a.s.) meant a specific group of people from the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.). The Qur’anic verses and prophet’s traditions on different occasions confirm this fact. Otherwise could the Prophet (a.s.) mean some people whom the nation did not know or could not be led to? Could the nation get to these people who were not known - whether in names, description, or place? The Hashimites were too many and they had spread everywhere in the land so that no country or town was empty of them.

So, those whom the Prophet (a.s.) meant were the nine imams after Ali, al-Hasan, and al-Husayn (peace be on them) - they were the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) only on the basis of traditional and intellectual proofs. He declared them as the second weighty (important) thing beside the Qur’an, so that the nation would not miss a match to him in any age, and that the nation would not miss a guide with whom if they adhered, they would not go astray…

3. We have mentioned in brief some Qur’anic verses which the Sunni scholars acknowledge that they were revealed concerning the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.), whereas ibn Abbas said that one third of the Qur'an had been revealed to talk about their virtues.

4. It has also been mentioned in al-Bukhari’s Sahih, the book of Maghazi (battles), the Battle of Tabuk.

5. If I was allowed to judge among people…

6. Nahjul Balaghah, sermon 2.

7. Ibid, sermon 11.

8. Ibid, sermon 142.

9. Ibid, sermon 99.

10. Nahjul Balaghah, sermon 2.

11. Ibid, sermon 96.

12. Ibid, sermon 236.

13. Nahjul Balaghah, sermon 86.

14. As-Sawa’iq al-Muhriqah by ibn Hajar ash-Shafi’iy, p. 90, 148.

15. Mustadrak al-Hakim, vol. 3 p. 149.

16. Ibid, vol. 3 p. 151, as-Sawa’iq al-Muhriqah by ibn Hajar, p. 184.

17. Nahjul Balaghah, sermon 156.

18. Ibid, sermon 154.

19. Nahjul Balaghah, sermon 1.

Keeping to religion in the past and the present

It is well known that Islam, with which the Prophet Muhammad (S) had been sent by Allah, is the last of religions in the matter of Divine Legislation. Allah the Almighty says:

Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah (S) and the Last of the prophets… Qur'an, 33:40

Since Muhammad (S) is the last of the prophets and messengers and his Book is the last of the Books revealed by Allah, so there shall be no Divine Book after the Holy Qur'an. Islam is the basic religion to which all the divine religions have been fused. Allah says:

He it is Who sent His Messenger with the guidance and the true religion so that He may make it prevail over all the religions; and Allah is enough for a witness. Qur'an, 48:28

After the advent of Muhammad (S) as prophet, it has become obligatory on all human beings to turn from the previous religions whether Judaism, Christianity, or any other religion and embrace Islam to worship Allah the Almighty according to the Sharia of Muhammad (S), because Allah will not accept any religion other than Islam since then. Allah says:

And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter, he shall be one of the losers. Qur'an, 3:85

We understand from this that the Jews and the Christians however much they claim that their laws and legislations are true and that they follow the Prophet Moses (S) or the Prophet Jesus Christ (S), the reality requires that they must follow the Prophet Muhammad (S) since the moment Allah sent him as a messenger. A Christian has no right to say that he wants to remain on his religion, nor does a Jew.

The fact is that Muhammad (S) was sent as a prophet to all mankind and as a mercy to all people with their different races and beliefs. This does not mean that we condemn the previous divine religions, but Allah the Almighty knew that His people had distorted His laws. They made lawful what was unlawful and unlawful what was lawful for the sake of their own desires. Therefore, they went astray and made those who came after them go astray.

So the advent of Muhammad (S) the last of the prophets was a mercy to all mankind in order to allow them to restore themselves again and go back to the truth so that they would win the Paradise. However, most of people detest the truth. Desires, fancies and fanaticisms play with them and devils occupy them so that they become excessive in their deviation.

Allah says in this concern:

Those who disbelieved from among the followers of the Book and the polytheists could not have separated (from the faithful) until there had come to them the clear evidence; a messenger from Allah, reciting pure pages, wherein are all the right ordinances. And those who were given the Book did not become divided except after clear evidence had come to them. Quran 98:1-4

It is also not sufficient that a Jew or a Christian says, ‘I believe in Muhammad, but I will remain on my religion’, as I myself have heard from some Arab Christians. We say to such people that Allah does not accept from them except when they actually follow him. Allah says in this concern:

Those who follow the Messenger-Prophet, who can neither read nor write, whom they find written down with them in the Torah and the Gospel (who) enjoins them good and forbids them evil, and makes lawful to them the good things and makes unlawful to them impure things, and removes from them their burden and the shackles which were upon them; so (as for) those who believe in him and honor him and help him, and follow the light which has been sent down with him, these it is that are the successful. Quran 7:157

This invitation from Allah the Almighty was not limited to the Jews and the Christians, all of whom represented “the People of the Book”, but it included all human beings with no exception.

Allah the Almighty says:

Say: O people! surely I am the Messenger of Allah (S) to you all, of Him Whose is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, there is no god but He; He brings to life and causes to die; therefore believe in Allah and His messenger, the Prophet, who can neither read nor write, who believes in Allah and His words, and you follow him so that you may walk in the right way. Quran 7:158

The Holy Qur'an is too clear in stating the obligation of following the Prophet (S) and not just believing in his prophethood. This is the wisdom of Allah in sending the messengers. We have never heard in all the history of humankind that Allah has sent a messenger to say to people: remain on your religion which you have inherited from the messenger that had come before me.1

All of the prophets have called for belief in all the messengers of Allah, so that no one might harm their prophethood or be excessive about their real position and give them the position of a deity.

Allah the Almighty says:

The messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord and (so do) the believers; they all believe in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers; We make no difference between any of His messengers; and they say: We hear and obey, our Lord! Thy forgiveness (do we crave), and to Thee is the eventual course. Qur'an, 2:285

If we know that Islam is the last religion that Allah the Almighty has endowed His faithful people with, so its laws and rulings are valid for every time and every place, because there is no prophet to come after Prophet Muhammad (S) and no divine book to come after the Holy Qur'an according to this saying of Allah:

This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favor on you and chosen for you Islam as a religion. Qur'an, 5:3

However, some Muslims, if not most of them, do not abide by the laws and rulings of Islam. They claim that these are difficult to carry out and that most (ordinary) people are unable to carry them out.

Some others, who are learned people, say that it is necessary to develop the rulings according to the requirements of the modern life. They see ijtihad2 to be necessary in everything and claim that ijtihad is one of the virtues of Islam and one of its prides. These learned people may influence the minds of many young students, especially as they pretend that they love Islam too much and are too careful to apply its rulings.

These people justify the underdevelopment and deterioration of Muslims as they have not developed their religion from where it had been established fifteen centuries ago at a time where there was no means of transport except for mules and donkeys.

These people say that as for today we live in the age of rockets - whose speed exceeds the speed of sound, telephone, fax, and computer - through which man can contact with any place in the world within a few seconds. So we cannot remain looking at the Qur'an with that superficial sight where we judge against a thief by cutting his hand or a criminal by cutting his head by the sword…they often say so and have odd philosophies in this regard.

Once, I was talking with a university professor about this. In my talk with him, I said that the Messenger of Allah (S) has said:

There is no magnanimous young man except (like) Ali, and no sword except Dhul Faqar.”

He laughed at me and said, “O doctor, do not say like this again. It was valid at the time of the Prophet (S) when the sword had a role in winning the battles and it was the only weapon which the heroes had pride for in their poems. Now we are in the age of the machine guns that shoots seventy bullets in a second and the jet fighter that can destroy an entire city in few minutes. In fact, we are in the age of the atomic and nuclear bombs that can destroy a continent in some moments. Are you ignorant of all this and are you still talking about the sword and the courage of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib?”

I said, “This does not refute that or contradict it, and every occasion has its own context. Do you not see that when Allah talked about weapons, He included in one word all means of destruction when He said in brief:

And prepare against them what force you can and horses tied at the frontier. Qur'an, 8:60

Thus, the Qur'an connected what military means the people at the time of the Prophet (S) had to win battles with what the people of this time have. So, this statement of Qur’an -

‘And prepare against them what force you can.’,

can be understood by everyone according to the language of their time. The source and meaning of “force” is the same to the all, and this is like the saying of Allah:

…and We have made the iron, wherein is great violence and advantages to men… Qur'an, 57:25

Therefore, all weapons, whether the simple ones like the sword or spears or the developed ones like tanks, machine guns, and bombs are defined as means of “violence”. Similarly, all means of ease and comfort such as cars, airplanes, ships, televisions, and others are defined as “advantages to people”. Glory be to Allah Who has created iron and made it of use for people and taught them what they did not know.

Thus, the Holy Qur'an is in the hands of all kinds of people that every generation can understand it by the language of its age. And as for your saying “we cannot look at the Qur'an with a superficial view - that we judge against a thief by cutting his hand or a criminal by cutting his head by the sword”, if you try to replace the laws of Allah with manmade laws whose makers claim that they are more beneficent and merciful to people than their Creator is to them, then this can never be acceptable. It is undoubtedly clear disbelief.

And, if by “development” you mean the development of the means of execution against a criminal or the means of cutting a thief’s hand, this can be discussed, because these are minor things that the Islamic Legislation did not concentrate on. Rather it concentrated on abiding to laws by carrying out the sentences determined by Allah the Almighty concerning “retribution”. Allah says:

O you who believe! retaliation is prescribed for you…And there is life for you in (the law of) retaliation, O men of understanding, that you may guard yourselves against evil. Qur'an, 2:178-179

As for cutting the hand of a thief by a sword, a cleaver, or a modern tool, the legal ruler (judge) or the religious authority can give his opinion in the matter (by deriving it through the legal proofs).

What is important dear Sir, is that we do not replace the laws of Allah by the so-called positive laws that were agreed to by the European systems that have abrogated the death sentence against criminals however extreme their crimes were.

Allah says:

And there is life for you in (the law of) retaliation, O men of understanding… Qur'an, 2:178-179

The meaning of the saying of Allah here is that if we abrogate the laws of Allah and abolish the law of retaliation, our life shall be without safety and security and the criminals shall corrupt everything. Then, life shall become like hell with no goodness or peace.

This university professor debated saying, “Evil is not to be treated with evil. Statistics has proven that some of those who were sentenced to death for the accusation of a crime were innocent.”

I said, “With my respect to you professor, but by your saying “evil is not to be treated with evil” you have made yourself more aware than Allah the Creator of everything and this is not your right. And as for your saying that some of those, who were sentenced to death, were innocent, this is another matter. To your knowledge, I say that Islam does not punish just for suspicion or accusation, but after evidence, witnesses and confession.”

The debate came to no use, because each one of us clung to what we believed to be right.3

It would be better thus to end this section with what Imam Ali (a.s.) has said about the Prophet Muhammad (S) and about Islam. He said:

He (Allah) has sent him with the shining light, the clear proof, the right method, and the guiding Book. His family is the best of families and his tree is the best of trees; its branches are straight with its fruits hanging loose. His birth was in Mecca and his immigration was in the Good City where his mention was high and his call reached too far. He has sent him with a sufficient argument, curative breach and preventive invitation (that prevented every corruption of the pre-Islamic age).

He (Allah) has declared through him - the Prophet (S) - the unknown laws, suppressed through him the irrelevant heresies and explained through him the decisive judgments. So whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, his misery becomes certain, his firm hold is broken, his fall becomes great and his end comes to eternal sadness and severe torment…4

This is exactly as what has been declared by the Holy Qur'an:

And whoever desires a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers. Qur'an, 3:85

I think that after this explanation, no argument or excuse shall remain for those who flatter their Jewish and Christian friends and say to them: We and you are on the truth as long as we all believe in one God Who has sent Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad and if we are different as to the prophets, we have agreed on the One Who has sent them to us.

Allah says:

Say: Do you dispute with us about Allah, and He is our Lord and your Lord, and we shall have our deeds and you shall have your deed and we are sincere to Him. Nay! do you say that Abraham and Ishmael and Jacob and the Tribes were Jews or Christians? Say: Are you better knowing or Allah? And who is more unjust than he who conceals a testimony that he has from Allah? And Allah is not at all heedless of what you do. Qur'an, 2:139-140

Notes

1. Therefore, the Jews turned out to be racists by not accepting any as leader except those whose blood was Jewish. Thus, they gathered together their dispersed lot claiming that they were “the chosen people of Allah” and any other than them were not human. This was on the basis of Torah that was lost and ruined after the Babylonian Captivity at the hands of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar who occupied Jerusalem in the year 586 BC.

The Jews, who were not killed, remained captives in Babylon until the year 457 BC when they could go back to Palestine by the assistance of Cyrus the great king of Persia. After their returned to Palestine, a man called Ezra collected and reformed the books of the Old Testaments, which is the Torah of today.

From this, we know that between the loss of the Torah and its recollection, there were more than 125 years. During this period, most of the memorizers of the Torah had been killed or died in prison where they were forbidden to practice any religious activity. Therefore, the Torah had to have human interventions. So it is now full of fables, contradictions, untruths, distorted events and unrealities…etc.

The same thing happened to Christianity; the four Bibles were not written down at the time of Jesus Christ (a.s.). The oldest one, which is “The Gospel of Mark”, was written down forty years later in Rome. Therefore, it was subject to distortion like the Torah at the time of Augustine who mixed between idolatry and the statements of the Bible.

The idolatry on which the idolaters of India, China, and old Egypt agreed on such as, the belief in Trinity and the ascribing of vices to the prophets (a.s.) and even to Jesus Christ (a.s.) influenced this. Moreover, they annulled the main purpose of all religions, which is to guide the human beings, when they claimed that Jesus Christ (a.s.) had redeemed the criminals and sinners, so there was no necessity for any guidance after him or to send other prophets.

For more details, refer to “The School Journey” and “The Guidance to the Religion of al-Mustafa” by Sheikh Muhammad Jawad al-Balaghi.

2. Using of one’s (usually a mujtahid) effort to form a judgment on questions concerning the Sharia and religious affairs.

3. The likes of this professor are those who have westernized and live with the complex of the yielding before the masses of iron and bricks amassed even if by stealing and assassinating other people or even entire humankind.

The Nazis, for example, since they felt that they had some arms, adopted the slogan of “the Aryan race”. Under this banner of racism, they destroyed civilizations and killed tens and millions of people in two destructive wars within time frame of no more than a quarter of a century. And the allies were not better than them. They invaded the different nations as colonists and tore those nations into pieces in order to be able to rule them and control their treasures and resources. In this way, they built their false civilization on bloods, sweat, and efforts of the suppressed peoples.

In the same way as the Nazi model, the American tyranny succeeded in blackmailing different countries and adopting the illegitimate child “Israel”. It secretly and openly brought up and assisted it by all means until it became a pit of the worst criminals and blood-suckers in the world.

Whereas, Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) had come to enliven the humanity inside a man following the true Mohammedan Islam and saying, “A strong man is weak before me until I take the right from him, and the weak is strong to me until I take back the right for him.” He liberated man when he fought against the enemies of humanity. He said to Malik al-Ashtar when appointing him as the governor over Egypt, “…and do not be as predatory beast over them…for people are of two kinds; either your brother in religion or your equal in creation.” He also said, “Do not be a slave to another while Allah has created you free.”

So man whatever he is - black, poor, or weak - all walk under the banner of Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) that carries the high values of liberation and human rights. On the other hand some people become mean and weak before technology which is possessed by the traders of wars and the suckers of peoples’ bloods.

4. Nahjul Balaghah, sermon 159.

Is Islam difficult so that people cannot comply with it?

This is a false claim that has no basis in truth at all. Anyone who says so is ignorant and knows nothing about Islam. Or, he is biased intending to alienate people from their religion to give up its laws and rulings. Or, he is an excessive puritan who has no regard except for the opinions of the puritan clergymen who forbid people to worship Allah in any way other than their own way and make themselves the guardians of Allah’s religion. Therefore, they regard things lawful or unlawful according to their own reasons or the only traditions that have reached them.

The first thing that comes to mind in this concern is this saying of the Messenger of Allah (S):

Make it (the affairs of religion) easy and do not make it difficult! Bring good tidings and do not constrict (make people alienated) against yourselves, lest Allah constrict against you as He had done to the Children of Israel.

The Prophet (S) often said before his companions:

Allah has not sent me as a constrainer or obstinate, but He has sent me as a facilitating teacher.

It is well known that the Prophet (S) was not made to choose between two things, except that he chose the easier one.

The Prophet (S) was not a legislator as some people think incorrectly when they read this verse of Qur’an:

…and whatever the Messenger gives you, accept it, and from whatever he forbids you, abstain (from it). Qur'an, 59:7

The commanding and forbidding of the Prophet (S) does not come from him. He only conveys what was revealed to him by his Lord. He did not do anything except what Allah ordered him to do with not a bit more and not a bit less. Therefore, all the commands and prohibitions are from Allah the Almighty, though they are not recorded in the Holy Qur'an.

Allah says about the Prophet (S):

Nor does he speak out of desire. It is naught but revelation that is revealed. Qur'an, 53:3-4

Since it is so, let us come to the Qur'an to see if Islam is so difficult that people cannot comply with it - in order to see whether this claim is true or false, so that we can be on a clear proof as to our affairs.

Allah says in the Qur'an:

He has chosen you and has not laid upon you a hardship in religion. Qur'an, 22:78

Allah does not want to put on you any difficulty, but He wishes to purify you and that He may complete His favor on you, so that you may be grateful. Qur'an, 5:6

Allah wants ease for you and He does not want for you difficulty… Qur'an, 2:185

This concerns the Muslim nation that has embraced Islam and abides by its laws and rules in matters of worship and behaviors. Of course, the mercy of Allah has also included all His people with their different religions. Allah has been merciful to all of them imposing no any hardship on anyone.

Allah says:

Of a small seed; He created him, then He made him according to a measure. Then (as for) the way, He has made it easy (for him). Qur'an, 80:19-20

So, the way of Allah that man follows to return to his Lord is an easy way with no difficulties or hardships. Allah the Almighty has repeated this meaning five times in the Qur'an. He says:

Allah does not impose upon any soul a duty but to the extent of its ability. Qur'an, 2:286

We do not impose on any soul a duty except to the extent of its ability. Qur'an, 6:152

And (as for) those who believe and do good We do not impose on any soul a duty except to the extent of its ability. Qur'an, 7:42

And We do not lay on any soul a burden except to the extent of its ability, and with Us is a book which speaks the truth and they shall not be dealt with unjustly. Qur'an, 23:62

From all this, we understand that Allah the Almighty has not imposed anything on any man except that which is within his capacity since the time of our father Adam (a.s.). If there has been any difficulty or hardship in any one of the divine religions, it would be a result of those who interpreted the purpose of religion according to their personal opinions, or that there might be some people torturing themselves hard because of their many sins, looking forward to the forgiveness of Allah or in order to be nearer to Him. Therefore, they invented some things that were not from the religion and bound themselves to them, but they failed in bearing them.1

Allah the Almighty says:

…and monasticism they innovated - We did not prescribe it to them - only to seek Allah's pleasure, but they did not observe it with its due observance… Qur'an, 57:27

On this basis, we interpret this tradition of the Messenger of Allah (S):

Do not be strict (in religious affairs) to yourselves, lest Allah be strict to you as He was to the children of Israel.

And in the same way, we interpret this Qur’anic Verse concerning the Prophet Muhammad (S):

…he enjoins them good and forbids them evil, and makes lawful to them the good things and makes unlawful to them impure things, and removes from them their burden and the shackles which were upon them. Qur'an, 7:157

The burden and shackles, which were on them - were made and imposed by them, and they themselves had bound themselves.

We conclude from this analysis that Islam is a religion that has no difficulty, hardship, overburden or shackles. It is a religion of ease, mercy, and leniency where the weaknesses of man in all his psychological and bodily aspects are fully cared for. Allah says:

Allah wants that He should make light your burdens and man is created weak. Qur'an, 4:28

…this is alleviation from your Lord and a mercy. Qur'an, 2:178

We shall see inshallah, in the coming chapters that Islam, as known by the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.), is the religion that is without the opinions of opinion mongers, the excessiveness of the excessive, or the falsehood of fabricators. Then, we shall know that the Muslims of the present age can abide to the Sharia without any difficulty or hardship.

Notes

1. Monasticism comes true in two ways: First is a serious monasticism that runs by itself in order not to be touched by any harm and be saved by itself (Muhammad Baqir as-Sadr, The Historical Traditions in the Holy Qur'an, p. 103) And this is from the view that “Stopping on the hill is more safe”. Consequently, the way is cleared before different claims and excuses that a ruler gives or the fabricated traditions that assist his creed and rule.

Second is a false monasticism where one pretends he is from the ulema to warn people against the injustice of a tyrant. And soon the falseness of these untrue claims and pretenses is uncovered for example, the justification that “it is not permissible to disobey the ruler or turn away from congregation”, as they did to Imam Husayn (a.s.) when he offered himself and family to save the true religion and in the same way to the Alawid and Talibid revolutions that followed him.

Similar to that in our present time is the falseness of the monks of churches who serve the rulers and noblemen. They become a cause for ordinary people to disbelieve and turn away from religion where it is hardly tried to separate it from politics. And we still see many rulers and their mercenary (clergymen) preachers encourage the state of ignorance and underdevelopment among Muslims with their fatwas. These keep the Muslims away from modernity and from meeting and uniting with other Muslims.

Rules of Salat (Part III of III)

Qir'at (Reciting the Surah Al-Hamd and Other Surah of Holy Qur'an)

Issue 987: * In the the daily obligatory prayers, one should recite Surah al-Hamd in the first and second Rak'ats, and thereafter one should, on the basis of precaution, recite one complete Surah. The Surah az Zuha and Surah Inshirah are treated as one Surah in Salat, and so are the Surah al-Fil and Quraysh.

Issue 988: If the time left for Salat is little, or if a person has to helplessly abandon the Surah because of fear that a thief, a beast, or anything else, may do him harm, or if he has an important work, he should not recite the other Surah. In fact, there are situations when he should avoid it, like when the Salat time at his disposal is limited, or when in fear.

Issue 989: If a person intentionally recites Surah before Hamd, his prayer is void, and if he does it by mistake, and realises this while reciting it, he should abandon the Surah and recite Hamd first, and then the Surah.

Issue 990: If a person forgets to recite Hamd and Surah, or either of them and realises after reaching the Ruku, his prayers are in order.

Issue 991: If a person realises before bowing for Ruku, that he has not recited Hamd and Surah, he should recite them, and if he realises that he has not recited the Surah, he should recite the Surah only. But, if he realises that he has not recited Hamd only, he should recite Hamd first and then recite the Surah again.

Moreover, if he bends but before reaching the Ruku realises that he has not recited Hamd and Surah, or only Surah, or only Hamd, he should stand up and act according to the foregoing rules.

Issue 992: * If a person intentionally recites one of the four Surahs which contain verses ofWajib Sajdah, in Salat, he will perform an immediate Sajdah upon reciting the verse. And if he does so, as a precaution, his Salat will be void, and he will have to pray again. But if he does not go to Sajdah immediately, and continues to pray, it will be in order, though he will have committed a sin for not going to Sajdah immediately.

Issue 993: * If a person begins reciting by mistake, a Surah which has verses ofWajib Sajdah and he realises this before reaching the verse of Sajdah, he should abandon that Surah and recite some other Surah. But if he realises this after reciting the verse of Sajdah, he should act as guided in the above rule (i.e. 992).

Issue 994: If during Salat a man listens to the verses making Sajdah obligatory, his prayer are in order, and on the basis of precaution, he should make a sign of Sajdah, and should also offer Sajdah after the prayers.

Issue 995: It is not necessary to recite a Surah after Hamd inMustahab prayers, even if that prayers may have become obligatory due to Nazr. But, as for someMustahab prayers like wahshat prayers, in which a particular Surah is recommended, if a person wishes to act according to the rules, he should recite the prescribed Surah.

Issue 996: While offering Friday prayers, or Zuhr prayers on Friday, it isMustahab that after reciting Surah al-Hamd, Surah al-Jumu'ah should be

recited in the first Rak'at, and Surah al-Munafiqun in the second Rak'at, and once a person begins reciting one of these Surahs he is not allowed as per obligatory precaution, to abandon it and recite another Surah in its place.

Issue 997: * If after Hamd, somebody begins reciting the Surah Qul Huwallah or Qul ya ayyuhal Kafirun, he cannot abandon it and recite some other Surah. However, if in Friday prayers and in Zuhr prayers on Friday, he recites one of these Surahs forgetfully, instead of Surah Jumu'ah and Surah Munafiqun, he can abandon it and recite Surah Jumu'ah and Surah Munafiqun, but the precaution is that he should not abandon that Surah after having read more than half of it.

Issue 998: If a person recites intentionally Surah Qul Huwallah or Surah Qul ya ayyuhal Kafirun in Friday prayers or in Zuhr prayers on Friday, he cannot, as an obligatory precaution, abandon it to recite Surah Jumu'ah and Surah Munafiqun, even if he may not have reached half of it.

Issue 999: * If in Salat, a person recites a Surah other than Surah Qul Huwallah and Surah Qul ya ayyuhal Kafirun he can abandon that Surah before reaching half of it, and recite some other Surah. But as a precaution, he should not abandon it after having reached half, and it is not permissible to resort to another Surah.

Issue 1000: * If the person in Salat forgets a part of a Surah, or cannot complete it owing to helplessness, like very little time of Salat is left, or for some other reason, he can abandon that Surah and recite some other Surah, even if he may have reached half of it. This applies to Surah Qul Huwallah or Surah Qul ya ayyuhal Kafirun also.

Issue 1001: * It isWajib for a man to recite Surah al-Hamd and the other Surah loudly, while offering Fajr, Maghrib and Isha prayers, and it isWajib for a man and a woman to recite Surah al-Hamd and the other Surah silently while offering Zuhr and Asr prayers.

Issue 1002: * As a precaution, men must take care to recite loudly every word of Surah al-Hamd and the other Surah, including their last letters, in the prayers of Fajr, Maghrib and Isha.

Issue 1003: * A woman can recite Surah al-Hamd and other Surah in Fajr, Maghrib and Isha prayers loudly or silently. But, if a na-Mahram hears her voice, she should, on the basis of precaution, recite them silently, especially if allowing him to listen is haraam.

Issue 1004: * If a person intentionally prays loudly where he should pray silently, and vice versa, his prayer is void. But, if, he does so owing to forgetfulness, or not knowing the rule, his prayer is in order. And if he realises that he is doing a mistake while reciting the Surah al-Hamd and the other Surah, it is not necessary to recite again what he has recited not following the rule.

Issue 1005: If a person raises his voice unusually high while reciting Surah al-Hamd and Surah, as if he were shouting, his prayer will be void.

Issue 1006: * A person should learn Surahs to be recited in Salat, so that he may not recite them incorrectly, and if one cannot by any means learn the whole of Surah al-Hamd, he should learn as much of it as he can and recite; but if that is a very small part, then as an obligatory precaution, he should add to it as many verses of Qur'an that he can remember. And if he cannot

do that, he should add some Tasbeeh to it. But if someone cannot recite Surah al-Hamd at all, then there is no necessary replacement for it. The recommended precaution for him is to join Salat al-Jamaat.

Issue 1007: * If a person does not know Surah al-Hamd well, but can learn it, he should do so if the time of Salat permits. And if the time does not permit, he should act as guided in the above rule, and his prayers will be valid. But wherever possible, such a person should join Salat al-Jamaat to relieve himself of the responsibility.

Issue 1008: * To take wages for teaching obligatory acts of prayers is haraam, as a precaution, and taking wages for teachingMustahab things is permissible.

Issue 1009: * If a person does not know a certain word of Surah al-Hamd or Surah, or does not utter it intentionally, or utters one letter for another like, Za for Zad, or changes the inflections, by giving movements of Fathah or Kasrah where not needed, or does not render tashdid properly, his prayer is void.

Issue 1010: If a person has learnt a word which he believes to be correct, and recites it that way in prayers, but comes to know later that he has been reciting it incorrectly, it is not necessary for him to offer the prayers again.

Issue 1011: * If a person does not know whether a particular word is to be read with Fathah or Kasrah, of if he does not know whether a particular word has a “seen” or a “swad” in it, he should take pains to learn that. But if he tries to recite in two or more ways, and if the wrong or incorrect recitation is neither from the Qur'an nor any Zikr, his prayers will be void. But if both the recitations are correct, like, reciting the 'S' of “Siratal” with “seen” and “swad”, then the prayers will not be affected.

Issue 1012: * The Ulama of Tajweed, that is, the art of reciting the Qur'an, have outlined several places where “Madd” (prolonging certain letters) is necessary. Wherever a vowel in a word precedes another vowel, say, 'alif' or 'hamza', it has to be prolonged, so that the utterances of each word is clear. But in Salat, its validity does not depend upon following these rules, so if one does not strictly follow them, his Salat will not be void. Except in “Wal-dhaalleen” (the last word of Surah al-Hamd) one should exercise certain care to prolong, so that tashdid is properly pronounced.

Issue 1013: * The recommended precaution is that while offering prayers, one should not recite the ending word of any Ayat with Waqf if one wishes to join it to the next Ayat. Nor should one render it without waqf and join. For example, if you recite “ar Rahmanir Rahimi” and then wait before starting the next, it is not proper. You should continue with no waiting. Similarly, in the same Ayat, that is, “ar Rahmanir Rahim”, if you read the last letter “mim” with sakin, you should not attach the “mim” to “Maliki Yawmi ddin”.

Issue 1014: * In the third and fourth Rak'ats of prayers, one may either read only Surah al-Hamd orTasbihat Arba'ah - Subhanallahi wal hamdu lillahi wa la ilaha illal lahu wallahu Akbar which may be said once, although it is better that it should be said three times. It is also permissible to recite Surah al-Hamd in one Rak'at, and Tasbihat Arba'ah in the other, but it is better to recite Tasbihat in both.

Issue 1015: * When time for Salat is short, one must recite Tasbihat Arba'ah once, and if even that much cannot be recited within time, then he must say only “Subhanallah” once.

Issue 1016: * It is obligatory for men and women that in the third and fourth Rak'ats, they should recite Surah al-Hamd or Tasbihat Arba'ah silently.

Issue 1017: * If a person recites Surah al-Hamd in the third and fourth Rak'ats, it is not obligatory for him to recite its “Bismilla” silently, except in the case of one who is following in congregational prayers, for whom, as an obligatory precaution, it is necessary that “Bismillah” is recited silently.

Issue 1018: A person who cannot learn Tasbihat Arba'ah, or cannot pronounce them correctly, should recite Surah al-Hamd in the third and fourth Rak'ats.

Issue 1019: If a person recites Tasbihat Arba'ah in the first two Rak'ats, thinking that they are the last two Rak'ats, and if he realises the error before Ruku, he should recite Surah al-Hamd and Surah. But if he realises this during or after the Ruku, his prayer is in order.

Issue 1020: If a person recites Surah al-Hamd in the last two Rak'ats, thinking that they are the first two Rak'ats, or recites Surah al-Hamd in the first two Raka'ts, thinking that they are the last two Rak'ats, his prayer is in order, whether he realises the mistake before or after Ruku.

Issue 1021: * If in the third or fourth Rak'at, a person wanted to recite Surah al-Hamd, but instead of that,Tasbihat Arba'ah came on his tongue, or if he wishes to recite Tasbihat Arba'ah but Surah al-Hamd comes on his tongue, he should abandon it and recite Tasbihat Arba'ah or Surah al-Hamd again with the intentions. However, if the recitation which came on his tongue was the one to which he was habituated, then he should complete it and his prayers will be valid.

Issue 1022: If a person who has the habit of reciting Tasbihat Arba'ah in the third and fourth Rak'ats, ignores his habit and begins reciting Hamd, with the intention of performing his obligation, it will be sufficient, and it will not be not necessary for him to recite Surah al-Hamd or Tasbihat Arba'ah again.

Issue 1023: In the third and fourth Rak'ats, it isMustahab to seek forgiveness from Allah after Tasbihat Arba'ah. That is, one should say, Astaghfirullaha Rabbi wa Atubu Illayhi, or one should say, Allahummaghfir li. And before bowing for Ruku, while he is uttering Istighfar or has finished it, if he doubts whether he has read al-Hamd or Tasbihat or not, he should read either of them.

Issue 1024: * If the person doubts while in Ruku of third or fourth Rak'at, whether or not he has recited Surah al-Hamd or Tasbihat Arba'ah, he should ignore his doubt. Similarly, he should ignore the doubt if it occurs while bowing for Ruku.

Issue 1025: If a person doubts whether he has pronounced a verse or a word correctly, like, whether he has uttered Qul Huwallahu Ahad correctly or not, he may ignore his doubt. However, if he repeats that verse or word correctly as a precautionary measure, there is no harm in it. And if he doubts often he may repeat as many times. However, if it becomes an obsession,

and he still goes on reading it again, as a recommended precaution, he should pray all over again.

Issue 1026: It isMustahab that in the first Rak'at one should say A'uzubillahi Minash shaytanir Rajim before reciting Surah al-Hamd, and in the first and second Rak'ats of Zuhr and Asr prayers one should say Bismillah loudly. It isMustahab also to recite Surah al-Hamd and other Surah distinctly, with a pause at the end of every verse i.e. not joining it with the next verse, and while reciting Surah al-Hamd and Surah, one should pay attention to the meanings of each verse. And it isMustahab to say, Alhamdulillahi Rabbil 'Alamin after the completion of Surah al-Hamd by the Imam in the congregation, and by himself, if he is praying alone. And after reciting Surah Qul huwallahu Ahad he should say, “Kazalikallahu Rabbi” once, twice or three times or “Kazalikallahu Rabbuna” three times. Similarly, it isMustahab to pause a little after reciting the Surah, then say Takbir, before going to Ruku or reciting Qunut.

Issue 1027: It isMustahab that in all the prayers, one should recite Surah Inna Anzalnahu in the first Rak'at, and Surah Qul huwallahu Ahad in the second Rak'at.

Issue 1028: It is Makrooh not to recite Surah Qul huwallahu Ahad even in one of the daily prayers.

Issue 1029: It is Makrooh to recite the whole ofSurah Qul huwallahu Ahad in one breath.

Issue 1030: It is Makrooh to recite in the second Rak'at the same Surah, which one has recited in the first Rak'at. However, if one recites Surah Qul huwallahu Ahad in both the Rak'ats, it is not Makrooh.

Ruku (Bowing)

Issue 1031: * In every Rak'at, a person offering prayers should, after reciting the Surahs (Qira'at), bow to an extent that he is able to rest his finger tips on his knees. This act is called Ruku.

Issue 1032: * If the person performs Ruku in an unusual manner, like, if he bends towards left or right, his Ruku is not correct even if his hands reach his knees.

Issue 1034: Bending should be with the niyyat of Ruku. If a person bends for some other purpose (e.g. to kill an insect), he cannot reckon it as Ruku. He will have to stand up and bend again for Ruku, and in so doing, he will not have added any Rukn, nor will his prayers be void.

Issue 1035: If a person has abnormally long hands, so that if he bends a little they reach his knees, or if his knees are lower than usual, so that he has to bend himself lower to make his hands reach his knees, he should follow the normal bowing by the others.

Issue 1036: A person who performs Ruku in the sitting position, should bow down till his face is parallel to his knees. And it is better that he should bow down till his face reaches near the place of Sajdah.

Issue 1037: It is better that in normal situations one should say in Ruku, Subhanallah three times or Subhana Rabbiyal 'Azimi wa bi hamdih once. But actually, uttering any Zikr to this extent is sufficient. However, if Salat time is short, or if one is under any pressure, it will be sufficient to say Subhanallah once.

Issue 1038: The Zikr of Ruku should be uttered in succession, and in correct Arabic, and it isMustahab that it should be uttered 3, 5 or 7 times or more than that.

Issue 1039: * In Ruku, the body should be steady, and one should not purposely move or shake oneself. And as a precaution, one should not have any movement when reciting the obligatory Zikr.

Issue 1040: If at the time of uttering the obligatory Zikr of Ruku, he loses steadiness because of uncontrollable vigorous movement, it will be better that after his body resumes steadiness he repeats the Zikr. However, if the movement is so negligible that steadiness is not lost, or if he just moves his fingers, there is no harm in it.

Issue 1041: If a person intentionally recites the Zikr of Ruku before he has properly bowed down, and before his body becomes still, his prayers will be void.

Issue 1042: * If a person intentionally raises his head from Ruku before completing obligatory Zikr, his prayer is void. If he raises his head by mistake, and if he has not completely ceased to be in Ruku and he recollects that he has not completed the Zikr of Ruku, he should make himself steady and recite the Zikr. And if he recollects after he has arisen totally from Ruku, his prayers are in order.

Issue 1043: * If a person is unable to remain in the state of Ruku all the time while reciting the Zikr, then the recommended precaution is that he should complete the remainder while standing up from Ruku.

Issue 1044: If a person cannot remain steady during Ruku owing to some disease etc, his prayers are in order. But he should complete the obligatory part of Zikr, as explained, before totally rising from Ruku.

Issue 1045: * If a person cannot bow down for Ruku properly, he should lean on something and perform Ruku. And if he cannot perform Ruku even after he has leaned, he should bow down to the maximum extent he can, so that it could be customarily recognised as a Ruku. And if he cannot bend at all, he should make a sign for Ruku with his head.

Issue 1046: If a person supposed to make a sign with his head for Ruku is unable to do so, he should close his eyes with the niyyat of Ruku, and then recite Zikr. And for rising from Ruku, he should open his eyes. And if he is unable to do even that, he should, as a precaution, make a niyyat of Ruku in his mind, and then make a sign of Ruku with his hands and recite Zikr.

Issue 1047: If a person cannot perform Ruku while standing, but can bend for it while sitting, he should offer prayers standing and should make a sign with his head for Ruku. And the recommended precaution is that he should offer another prayers in which he would sit down at the time of Ruku, and bow down for it.

Issue 1048: * If some one raises his head after reaching Ruku, and bows down twice to the extent of Ruku, his prayer is void.

Issue 1049: After the completion of the Zikr of Ruku, one should stand straight, and proceed to Sajdah after the body has become steady. If one goes to Sajdah intentionally before standing erect, or before the body is steady, the prayers are void.

Issue 1050: * If a person forgets to perform Ruku, remembering it before Sajdah, he should stand up first, and then go into Ruku. It will not be proper for him to go into Ruku in a bent position.

Issue 1051: * If a person offering prayers remembers after his forehead reaches the earth, that he has not performed Ruku, it is necessary that he should return to standing position and then perform Ruku. But, if he remembers this in the second Sajdah, his prayers are void.

Issue 1052: It isMustahab that before going into Ruku, a person should say Takbir while he is standing erect, and in Ruku, he should push his knees back, keep his back flat, stretch forth his neck, keep it in line with his back, look between his two feet, say Salawat before or after Zikr. And when he rises after Ruku, it isMustahab to stand erect, and in a state of steadiness say Sami'allahu liman hamidah.

Issue 1053: It isMustahab for women that while performing Ruku, they should keep their hands higher than their knees, and should not push back their knees.

Sujood

Issue 1054: * A person offering prayers should perform two sajdahs after the Ruku, in each Rak'at of the obligatory as well asMustahab prayers. Sajdah means that one should place one's forehead on earth in a special manner, with the intention of humility (before Allah).

While performing Sajdahs during prayers, it is obligatory that both the palms and the knees, and both the big toes are placed on the ground.

Issue 1055: * Two Sajdahs together are a “Rukn” (elemental), and if a person omits to perform two Sajdah in one Rak'at of an obligatory prayers, whether intentionally or owing to forgetfulness, or adds two more Sajdahs, his prayers are void.

Issue 1056: If a person omits or adds one Sajdah intentionally, his prayers become void. And if he omits or adds one Sajdah forgetfully, the rules regarding it will be explained later.

Issue 1057: * If a person who can keep his forehead on the ground, does not do so whether intentionally or forgetfully, he has not performed Sajdah, even if other parts of his body may have touched the ground. But, if he places his forehead on the earth, but forgets to keep other parts of his body on the ground, or forgets to utter the Zikr, his Sajdah is in order.

Issue 1058: * It is better in normal situation to say Subahanallah three times, or Subhana Rabbiy al-A'la wa bi hamdhi once. And he should utter these words in succession and in correct Arabic. Actually, as an obligatory precaution, uttering any Zikr to this extent is sufficient. And it isMustahab that Subhana Rabbiyal A'la wa bi hamdhi should be said three, five or seven times, or more.

Issue 1059: * In the Sajdah, the body should be steady, and one should not move or shake oneself purposely, and as a precaution, one should be totally steady in Sajdah even while one is not engaged in any obligatory Zikr.

Issue 1060: If a person intentionally utters the Zikr of Sajdah before his forehead reaches the ground, and his body becomes steady, or if he raises

his head from Sajdah intentionally before the Zikr is completed, his prayers are void.

Issue 1061: * If a person utters the Zikr of Sajdah by mistake, before his forehead reaches the ground and realises his mistake before he raises his head from Sajdah, he should utter the Zikr again, when his body is steady.

Issue 1062: If after raising his head from Sajdah, a person realises that he has done so before the completion of the Zikr of Sajdah, his prayers are in order.

Issue 1063: * If at the time of uttering Zikr of Sajdah, a person intentionally lifts one of his seven limbs from the ground, his Salat will be void. But if he lifts the limbs, other than the forehead, when he is not reciting anything, and then places them back again, there will be no harm, unless that movement renders his body unsteady, in which case, Salat will be void.

Issue 1064: If a person raises his forehead from the ground by mistake, before the completion of the Zikr of Sajdah, he should not place it on the ground again, he should treat it as one Sajdah. However, if he raises other parts of the body from the ground by mistake, he should place them back on the ground and utter the Zikr.

Issue 1065: After the Zikr of the first Sajdah is completed, one should sit till the body is steady, and then perform Sajdah again.

Issue 1066: * The place where a person places his forehead for Sajdah should not be higher than four joined fingers, compared to where he places his knees and the tips of the toes. As a matter of obligatory precaution, the place of his forehead should not be more than four joined fingers lower or higher than the place where he stands.

Issue 1067: * If a person prays on a sloped ground, whose slant may not be known exactly, and if his forehead goes higher or lower than the place where he keeps his knees and tips of the toes by a span of four joined fingers, his Salat will be a matter ofIshkal .

Issue 1068: * If a person places his forehead by mistake, on a thing which is higher than the span of four joined fingers compared to the place where his knees and the toes are, and if it so high that it does not look like a normal Sajdah, he should raise his head and place on a thing which is not as high. And if the height does not change the appearance of the Sajdah, and his attention is drawn to it after completing the obligatory Zikr, he should raise his head and may complete the prayers. But if his attention is drawn to it before the obligatory Zikr, he should gradually push or move his forehead to a lower level, and recite the obligatory Zikr. And if that is not possible, he should recite the obligatory Zikr and complete his prayer. It would not be necessary for him to repeat the prayers.

Issue 1069: * It is necessary that there should be nothing between the forehead of the person offering prayers, and the thing on which he offers Sajdah. If the mohr (sajdagah) is so dirty that the forehead does not reach the mohr itself, the Sajdah is void. But if only the colour of mohr has changed, there is no harm.

Issue 1070: In Sajdah a person offering prayers should place his two palms on the ground. In a state of helplessness, there will be no harm in

placing the back of the hands on the ground, and if even this is not possible, he should, on the basis of precaution, place the wrists of hands on the ground. And if he cannot do even this, he should place any part of the body up to his elbow on the ground, and if even that is not possible it is sufficient to place the arms on the ground.

Issue 1071: * In Sajdah, a person should place his two big toes on the ground, but it is not necessary to place the tips of the toes. If he places the outer or the inner parts of the toes, it will be proper. But if he places, instead other smaller toes on the ground, or the outer part of his feet, or if his big toe does not rest on the ground due to very long nails, his Salat will be void. And if a person does not follow this rule due to ignorance or carelessness, he has to pray again.

Issue 1072: If a part of the big toe is cut off, one should place the remaining part of it on the ground, and if nothing of it has remained or what has remained is too short, he should, on the basis of precaution, place the other toes on the ground, but if he has no toes at all, he should place on the ground whatever part of the foot has remained.

Issue 1073: * If a person performs Sajdah in an unusual manner, like if he rests his chest and stomach on the ground, or stretches his feet, his Salat will be correct and valid if it still appears like a normal Sajdah. But if it appears more like sleeping on one's stomach, rather than a Sajdah, his Salat will be void.

Issue 1074: The mohr (sajdagah) or other thing on which a person performs Sajdah, should be Clean (tahir/pak ). If, he places the mohr on a najis carpet, or if one side of the mohr is najis, and he places his forehead on its Clean (tahir/pak ) part, there is no harm in it.

Issue 1075: * If there is a sore or a wound etc. in the forehead of a person, making him unable to rest his forehead on the ground, and if the sore or the wound has not covered the whole of the forehead, he should perform Sajdah with the unaffected part of the forehead. And if it becomes necessary to dig a hole, or a pit so that the part with the sore or the wound stays there, while the healthy part is on the ground, he should do so.

Issue 1076: * If the sore or the wound has covered the entire forehead, he should perform Sajdah with other parts of his face. As an obligatory precaution, he should perform Sajdah with his chin, and it that is not possible, with one of the two sides of the forehead. When it is not possible to perform Sajdah with the face in any way, he should perform Sajdah by sign.

Issue 1077: * If a person can sit but cannot make his forehead reach the ground, he should bow as much as he can, and should place the mohr or any other allowable thing on something high, and place his forehead on it in such a way that it may be said that he has performed Sajdah. But his palms, his knees, and toes should be on the ground as usual.

Issue 1078: * If a person cannot find something high on which he may place the mohr, or any other allowable thing, and if he cannot find any person who would raise the mohr etc. for him, then as precaution, he should raise it with his hand and do Sajdah on it.

Issue 1079: * If a person cannot perform Sajdah at all, he should make a sign for it with his head, and if he cannot do even that, he should make a sign with his eyes. And if he cannot make a sign even with his eyes he should, on the basis of obligatory precaution, make a sign for Sajdah with his hands etc. and should make a niyyat for Sajdah in his mind, and recite the obligatory Zikr.

Issue 1080: * If the forehead of a person is raised involuntarily from the place of Sajdah, he should not, if possible, allow it to reach the place of Sajdah again, and this will be treated as one Sajdah even if he may not have uttered the Zikr of Sajdah. And if he cannot control his head, and it reaches the place of Sajdah again involuntarily, both of them will be reckoned as one Sajdah, and if he has not uttered the Zikr, as a recommended precaution, he will do so with the niyyat of Qurbat.

Issue 1081: * At a place where a person has to observe taqayyah (concealing one's faith in dangerous situation) he can perform Sajdah on a carpet, or other similar things, and it is not necessary for him to go elsewhere, or delay the prayers so that he is able to pray freely at that place without taqayyah. But if he finds that he can perform Sajdah on a mat, or any other allowed objects, without any impediment, then he should not perform Sajdah on a carpet or things like it.

Issue 1082: If a person performs Sajdah on a mattress filled with feathers, or any other similar thing, his Sajdah will be void if his body cannot remain steady.

Issue 1083: If a person is obliged to offer prayers on a muddy ground, and if no hardship will be caused to him if his body and dress become soiled with mud, he should perform Sajdah and tashahhud as usual. If it is going to prove extremely hard for him, he should make a sign for Sajdah with his head while he is standing, and recite tashahhud in the standing position. His prayers will be in order.

Issue 1084: * The obligatory precaution is that in the first Rak'at and in the third Rak'at, which do not contain tashahhud (like the third Rak'at in Zuhr, Asr and Isha prayers) one should sit for a while after the second Sajdah before rising.

Things on which Sajdah is Allowed

Issue 1085: * Sajdah should be performed on earth, and on those things which are not edible nor worn, and on things which grow from earth (e.g. wood and leaves of trees).

It is not permissible to perform Sajdah on things which are used as food or dress (e.g. wheat, barley and cotton etc.), or on things which are not considered to be parts of the earth (e.g. gold, silver, etc.). And in the situation of helplessness, asphalt and tar will have preference over other non-allowable things.

Issue 1086: * Sajdah should not be performed on the vine leaves, when they are delicate and hence edible. Otherwise, there is no objection.

Issue 1087: It is in order to perform Sajdah on things which grow from the earth, and serve as fodder for animals (e.g. grass, hay etc.).

Issue 1088: * It is in order to perform Sajdah on flowers which are not edible, and also on medicinal herbs which grow from the earth.

Issue 1089: * Performing Sajdah on a grass which is eaten in some parts of the world, but not in the rest, but it is classified as edible, will not be permissible. Similarly, Sajdah on raw fruits is not allowed.

Issue 1090: It is allowed to perform Sajdah on limestone and gypsum, but the recommended precaution is that Sajdah should not be optionally performed on baked gypsum, lime, brick and baked earthenware etc.

Issue 1091: * It is in order to perform Sajdah on paper, if it is manufactured from allowed sources like wood or grass, and also if it is made from cotton or flax. But if it is made from silk etc., Sajdah on it will not be permissible.

Issue 1092: Turbatul Husayn is the best thing for performing Sajdah. After it, there are earth, stone and grass, in order of priority.

Issue 1093: * If a person does not possess anything on which it is allowed to perform Sajdah, or, even if he possesses such a thing, he cannot perform Sajdah on it due to severe heat or cold, he should perform Sajdah on asphalt or tar, and if that is not possible, on his dress or the back of his hand, or on any thing on which it is not permissible to perform Sajdah optionally. However, in such a situation, the recommended precaution is that as long as it is possible to perform Sajdah on his dress he should not do Sajdah on any other thing.

Issue 1094: The Sajdah performed on mud, and on soft clay on which one's forehead cannot rest steadily, is void.

Issue 1095: If the mohr sticks to the forehead in the first Sajdah, it should be removed from the forehead for the second Sajdah.

Issue 1096: * If a thing on which a person performs Sajdah gets lost while he is offering prayers, and he does not possess any other thing on which Sajdah is allowed, he can act as explained in rule 1093, irrespective of whether the time for Salat is limited or ample.

Issue 1097: * If a person realises in the state of Sajdah that he has placed his forehead on a thing on which Sajdah is void, and if he becomes aware of it after completing the obligatory Zikr, he can raise his head and continue with his prayers. But if he becomes aware of it before reciting the obligatory Zikr, he should gradually slide or move his head onto an allowed object, and recite the Zikr. But if that is not possible, he should recite the obligatory Zikr and continue with his Salat. His prayers in both cases will be valid.

Issue 1098: * If a person realises after Sajdah, that he had placed his forehead on a thing which is not permissible for Sajdah, there is no objection.

Issue 1099: It is haraam to perform Sajdah for anyone other than Almighty Allah. Some people place their foreheads on earth before the graves of the holy Imams. If this is done to thank Allah, there is no harm in it, but otherwise it is haraam.

TheMustahab and Makrooh Things in Sajdah

Issue 1100: Certain things areMustahab in Sajdah:

• It isMustahab to say Takbir before going to Sajdah. A person who prays standing, will do so after having stood up from Ruku, and a person who prays sitting will do so after having sat properly.

• While going into Sajdah, a man should first place his hands on the ground, and woman should first place her knees on the ground.

• The person offering prayers should place his nose on a mohr, or on any other thing on which Sajdah is allowed.

• While performing Sajdah, fingers should be kept close to each other, parallel to the ears, with their tips towards Qibla.

• While in Sajdah one should pray to Allah, and express his wishes, and should recite this supplication: Ya Khayral Mas'ulin wa Ya Khayral Mu'tin, Urzuqni warzuq 'Ayali Min Fazlika Fa Innaka Zulfazlil 'Azim - O You Who are the best from whom people seek their needs, and O You, Who are the best bestower of gifts! Give me and the members of my family sustenance with Your grace. Undoubtedly You possess the greatest grace).

• After performing Sajdah, one should sit on his left thigh, placing the instep of the right foot on the sole of the left foot.

• After every Sajdah, when a person has sat down and his body is composed, one should say takbir.

• When his body is steady after the first Sajdah, he should say:”Astaghfirullaha Rabbi wa Atubu Ilayhi”.

• He should say Allahu Akbar for going into second Sajdah, when his body is steady.

• It isMustahab to prolong the Sajdah, and when sitting after the Sajdah, to place one's hands on the thighs.

• He should recite Salawat while in prostrations.

• At the time of rising, he should raise his hands from the ground, after raising his knees.

• Men should not make their elbows and stomach touch the ground; they should keep their arms separated from their sides. And women should place their elbows and stomachs on the ground, and should join their limbs with one another.

• OtherMustahab acts of Sajdah have been mentioned in detailed books.

Issue 1101: * It is Makrooh to recite the holy Qur'an in Sajdah. It is also Makrooh to blow off the dust from the place of Sajdah, and if, by so doing, one utters anything intentionally, the prayers will be, as a precaution, void. Besides these, there are other Makrooh acts, which are given in detailed books.

Obligatory Sajdahs in the Holy Qur'an

Issue 1102: Upon reciting or hearing any of the following verses of the holy Qur'an, the performance of Sajdah becomes obligatory:

• Surah as-Sajdah, 32:15

• Surah Ha Mim Sajdah, 41:38

• Surah an-Najm, 53:62

• Surah al-'Alaq, 96:19

Whenever a person recites the verse or hears it when recited by someone else, he should perform Sajdah immediately when the verse ends, and if he forgets to perform it, he should do it as and when he remembers. If one hears the verse without any expectation, in an involuntary situation, the Sajdah is not obligatory, though it is better to perform it.

Issue 1103: * If a person hears the Sajdah verse, and recites it himself also, he should perform two Sajdahs.

Issue 1104: If a person hears a verse of Sajdah, while he is in Sajdah other than that of Salat, or recites it himself, he should raise his head from that Sajdah, and perform another one.

Issue 1105: * If a person hears the verse of obligatory Sajdah from a person who is asleep, or one who is insane, or from a child who knows nothing of the Qur'an, it will be obligatory upon him to perform Sajdah. But if he hears from a gramophone or a tape recorder, Sajdah will not be obligatory. Similarly, the Sajdah will not beWajib if he listens to a taped recitation from radio. But if there is a person reciting from the radio station, and he recites the verse of Sajdah, it will be obligatory to perform Sajdah.

Issue 1106: * As an obligatory precaution, the place where a person performs an obligatory Sajdah upon hearing the verse, should not be a usurped one, and, as a recommended precaution, the place where he places his forehead, should not be higher or lower than a span of four joined fingers than the place where his knees and tips of the toes rest. However, it is not necessary to be in Wudhu or Ghusl, or to face Qibla, nor is it necessary to conceal one's private parts or to ensure that the body and the place where he has to place his forehead are Clean (tahir/pak ). Moreover, the conditions for dress in Salat do not apply to the performance of these obligatory Sajdah.

Issue 1107: * The obligatory precaution is that in the obligatory Sajdah caused by the Qur'anic verse, a person should place his forehead on a mohr, or any other thing on which Sajdah is allowed, and also one should keep other parts of one's body on the ground, as required in a Sajdah of prayers.

Issue 1108: When a person performs the obligatory Sajdah upon hearing the relevant verse, it will be sufficient even if he does not recite any Zikr. However, it isMustahab to recite Zikr, preferably the following: La ilaha illal lahu haqqan haqqa; La ilaha illal lahu imanan wa tasdiqa; la ilaha illal lahu 'ubudiyyatan wa riqqa; Sajadtu laka ya Rabbi ta'abbudan wa riqqa la mustankifan wa la mustak biran bal ana 'abdun zalilun za'ifun kha'ifun mustajir.

Tashahhud

Issue 1109: * In the second unit of all obligatory prayers, and in the third unit of Maghrib prayers and in the fourth unit of Zuhr, Asr and Isha prayers, one should sit after the second prostration with a tranquil body, and recite tashahhud thus: “Ash hadu an la ilaha illal lahu wahdahu la sharika lah, wa ash hadu anna Muhammadan 'Abduhu wa Rasuluh, Alla humma salli 'ala Muhammadin wa Ali Muhammad”. And it will be sufficient if one recited the tashahhud this way: Ash hadu an la ilaha illal lahu was ash hadu anna Muhammadan Sallal lahu Alayhi Wa Aalihi Abduhu Wa rasuluh.

It is also necessary to recite tashahhud while offering Witr (in Salat al-Shab) prayers.

Issue 1110: The words of tashahhud should be recited in correct Arabic, and in usual succession.

Issue 1111: * If a person forgets tashahhud, and rises and remembers before Ruku, he should sit down to recite it, and then stand up again. He

will then continue with his prayers. After the prayers, it is a recommended precaution that he should perform two Sajda al-Sahv for the additional standing. But if he remembers this in Ruku or thereafter, he should complete the prayers and after the salam of prayers, should, as a recommended precaution, perform the qadha of tashahhud. He should perform two sajdatus sahv for the forgotten tashahhud.

Issue 1112: It isMustahab to sit on the left thigh during tashahhud, and to place the upper part of the right foot on the sole of the left foot and to say: 'Al-hamdu lillah' or 'Bismillahi wa billahi wal-hamdu lillahi wa khayrul asma'i lillah' before reciting tashahhud.

It is alsoMustahab to place one's hands on one's thighs, with joined fingers, and to look at one's laps, and to say this after tashahhud and salawat: Wa taqabbal shafa'atahu warfa' darajatahu.

Issue 1113: It isMustahab for women to keep their thighs close to each other when reciting tashahhud.

Salam in the Prayers

Issue 1114: While a person sits after reciting tashahhud in the last Rak'at, and his body is tranquil, it isMustahab to say: Assalamu 'alayka ayyuhan Nabiyyu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Then he should say: Assalamu Alaykum and as a recommended precaution add to it Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh. Alternatively, he can say: Assalamu Alayna Wa Ala Ibadi llahis Salihin. But if he recites this Salam, then as per obligatory precaution, he must follow it up with saying: Assalamu Alaykum.

Issue 1115: If a person forgets the salam of prayers, and remembers when the form of Salat has not be disrupted, nor has he performed any act, which if done intentionally or forgetfully, invalidates the prayers (e.g. turning away from Qibla), he should recite the salam and his prayers will be valid.

Issue 1116: * If a person forgets the salam of prayers, and remembers after the form of prayers has been disrupted, or after he has performed an act which if done intentionally or forgetfully, invalidates the prayers (e.g. turning away from Qibla), his prayers are in order.

Tartib (Sequence)

Issue 1117: If a person intentionally changes the sequence of the prayers, for example, if he recites the other surah before reciting Surah al-Hamd, or performs the two Sajdah before Ruku, his prayers are void.

Issue 1118: * If a person forgets a rukn (elemental part) of the prayers, and performs the next rukn, like, before performing Ruku if he performs the two Sajdah, his prayers would become void, as a measure of precaution.

Issue 1119: If a person forgets a rukn, and performs an act after it which is not a rukn, like, if he recites tashahhud without performing the two Sajdah, he should perform the rukn and should recite again the part which he performed erroneously, earlier than the rukn.

Issue 1120: If a person forgets a thing which is not a rukn, and performs a rukn which comes after it, like, if he forgets Surah al-Hamd and begins performing Ruku, his prayers is in order.

Issue 1121: If a person forgets an act which is not a rukn, and performs the next act which too, is not a rukn, like, if he forgets Surah al-Hamd and recites the other Surah, he should perform what he has forgotten, and then recite again the thing which he mistakenly recited earlier.

Issue 1122: If a person performs the first Sajdah thinking that it is the second one, or performs the second one under the impression that it is the first Sajdah, his prayer is in order; his first Sajdah will be treated as the first one, and his second Sajdah will be treated as the second one.

Muwalat (Maintenance of Succession)

Issue 1123: A person should maintain continuity during prayers, that is he should perform various acts of prayers, like, Ruku, two Sajdah and tashahhud, in continuous succession, and he should recite the Zikr etc. also in usual succession. If he allows an undue interval between different acts, till it becomes difficult to visualise that he is praying, his prayers will be void.

Issue 1124: If a person in Salat forgetfully allows a gap between letters, or words, and if the gap is not big enough so that the form of the prayers is disrupted, he should repeat those letters or words in the usual manner, provided that he has not proceeded to the ensuing rukn. And he will repeat those lines which were read in continuation. But if he has already got into the ensuing rukn, then his prayers are in order.

Issue 1125: * Prolonging Ruku and Sajdah, or reciting long Surahs, does not break Muwalat.

Qunut

Issue 1126: It isMustahab that qunut be recited in all obligatory andMustahab prayers before the Ruku of the second Rak'at, and it is alsoMustahab that qunut be recited in the Witr (Salat al-Shab) prayers before Ruku, (although that prayer is of one Rak'at only).

In Friday Prayers there is one qunut in every Rak'at. In Salat al-Ayaat, there are five qunut, and in Eid Prayers there are five qunut in the first Rak'at, and four in the second Rak'at. In the prayers of Shafa',which is a part of Salat al-Shab, qunut is to be performed with the niyyat of Raja'.

Issue 1127: It is alsoMustahab that while reciting qunut, a person keeps his hands in front of his face, turning the palms facing the sky, and keeping both, the hands and the fingers, close together. It isMustahab to look at the palms in qunut.

Issue 1128: Any Zikr in qunut is sufficient, even if he says, 'Subhanallah' only once. It is, however, better to make the following supplication: La ilaha illallahul Halimul Karim, La ilaha illallahul 'Aliyyul 'Azim, Subhanallahi Rabbis samawatis sab', wa Rabbil 'arazinas sab', wama fi hinna wama bayna hunna, wa Rabbil 'arshil 'azim, wal hamdu lillahi Rabbil'alamin.

Issue 1129: It isMustahab that qunut is recited loudly. However, if a person is offering prayers in congregation, and if the Imam can hear his voice, it will not beMustahab for him to recite qunut loudly.

Issue 1130: If a person does not recite qunut intentionally, there is no qadha for it. And if he forgets it, and remembers before reaching Ruku, it isMustahab that he should stand up and recite it. And if he remembers while

performing Ruku, it isMustahab that he should perform its qadha after Ruku. And if he remembers it while performing Sajdah, it isMustahab that he should perform its qadha after Salam.

Rules of Salat (Part III of III)

Qir'at (Reciting the Surah Al-Hamd and Other Surah of Holy Qur'an)

Issue 987: * In the the daily obligatory prayers, one should recite Surah al-Hamd in the first and second Rak'ats, and thereafter one should, on the basis of precaution, recite one complete Surah. The Surah az Zuha and Surah Inshirah are treated as one Surah in Salat, and so are the Surah al-Fil and Quraysh.

Issue 988: If the time left for Salat is little, or if a person has to helplessly abandon the Surah because of fear that a thief, a beast, or anything else, may do him harm, or if he has an important work, he should not recite the other Surah. In fact, there are situations when he should avoid it, like when the Salat time at his disposal is limited, or when in fear.

Issue 989: If a person intentionally recites Surah before Hamd, his prayer is void, and if he does it by mistake, and realises this while reciting it, he should abandon the Surah and recite Hamd first, and then the Surah.

Issue 990: If a person forgets to recite Hamd and Surah, or either of them and realises after reaching the Ruku, his prayers are in order.

Issue 991: If a person realises before bowing for Ruku, that he has not recited Hamd and Surah, he should recite them, and if he realises that he has not recited the Surah, he should recite the Surah only. But, if he realises that he has not recited Hamd only, he should recite Hamd first and then recite the Surah again.

Moreover, if he bends but before reaching the Ruku realises that he has not recited Hamd and Surah, or only Surah, or only Hamd, he should stand up and act according to the foregoing rules.

Issue 992: * If a person intentionally recites one of the four Surahs which contain verses ofWajib Sajdah, in Salat, he will perform an immediate Sajdah upon reciting the verse. And if he does so, as a precaution, his Salat will be void, and he will have to pray again. But if he does not go to Sajdah immediately, and continues to pray, it will be in order, though he will have committed a sin for not going to Sajdah immediately.

Issue 993: * If a person begins reciting by mistake, a Surah which has verses ofWajib Sajdah and he realises this before reaching the verse of Sajdah, he should abandon that Surah and recite some other Surah. But if he realises this after reciting the verse of Sajdah, he should act as guided in the above rule (i.e. 992).

Issue 994: If during Salat a man listens to the verses making Sajdah obligatory, his prayer are in order, and on the basis of precaution, he should make a sign of Sajdah, and should also offer Sajdah after the prayers.

Issue 995: It is not necessary to recite a Surah after Hamd inMustahab prayers, even if that prayers may have become obligatory due to Nazr. But, as for someMustahab prayers like wahshat prayers, in which a particular Surah is recommended, if a person wishes to act according to the rules, he should recite the prescribed Surah.

Issue 996: While offering Friday prayers, or Zuhr prayers on Friday, it isMustahab that after reciting Surah al-Hamd, Surah al-Jumu'ah should be

recited in the first Rak'at, and Surah al-Munafiqun in the second Rak'at, and once a person begins reciting one of these Surahs he is not allowed as per obligatory precaution, to abandon it and recite another Surah in its place.

Issue 997: * If after Hamd, somebody begins reciting the Surah Qul Huwallah or Qul ya ayyuhal Kafirun, he cannot abandon it and recite some other Surah. However, if in Friday prayers and in Zuhr prayers on Friday, he recites one of these Surahs forgetfully, instead of Surah Jumu'ah and Surah Munafiqun, he can abandon it and recite Surah Jumu'ah and Surah Munafiqun, but the precaution is that he should not abandon that Surah after having read more than half of it.

Issue 998: If a person recites intentionally Surah Qul Huwallah or Surah Qul ya ayyuhal Kafirun in Friday prayers or in Zuhr prayers on Friday, he cannot, as an obligatory precaution, abandon it to recite Surah Jumu'ah and Surah Munafiqun, even if he may not have reached half of it.

Issue 999: * If in Salat, a person recites a Surah other than Surah Qul Huwallah and Surah Qul ya ayyuhal Kafirun he can abandon that Surah before reaching half of it, and recite some other Surah. But as a precaution, he should not abandon it after having reached half, and it is not permissible to resort to another Surah.

Issue 1000: * If the person in Salat forgets a part of a Surah, or cannot complete it owing to helplessness, like very little time of Salat is left, or for some other reason, he can abandon that Surah and recite some other Surah, even if he may have reached half of it. This applies to Surah Qul Huwallah or Surah Qul ya ayyuhal Kafirun also.

Issue 1001: * It isWajib for a man to recite Surah al-Hamd and the other Surah loudly, while offering Fajr, Maghrib and Isha prayers, and it isWajib for a man and a woman to recite Surah al-Hamd and the other Surah silently while offering Zuhr and Asr prayers.

Issue 1002: * As a precaution, men must take care to recite loudly every word of Surah al-Hamd and the other Surah, including their last letters, in the prayers of Fajr, Maghrib and Isha.

Issue 1003: * A woman can recite Surah al-Hamd and other Surah in Fajr, Maghrib and Isha prayers loudly or silently. But, if a na-Mahram hears her voice, she should, on the basis of precaution, recite them silently, especially if allowing him to listen is haraam.

Issue 1004: * If a person intentionally prays loudly where he should pray silently, and vice versa, his prayer is void. But, if, he does so owing to forgetfulness, or not knowing the rule, his prayer is in order. And if he realises that he is doing a mistake while reciting the Surah al-Hamd and the other Surah, it is not necessary to recite again what he has recited not following the rule.

Issue 1005: If a person raises his voice unusually high while reciting Surah al-Hamd and Surah, as if he were shouting, his prayer will be void.

Issue 1006: * A person should learn Surahs to be recited in Salat, so that he may not recite them incorrectly, and if one cannot by any means learn the whole of Surah al-Hamd, he should learn as much of it as he can and recite; but if that is a very small part, then as an obligatory precaution, he should add to it as many verses of Qur'an that he can remember. And if he cannot

do that, he should add some Tasbeeh to it. But if someone cannot recite Surah al-Hamd at all, then there is no necessary replacement for it. The recommended precaution for him is to join Salat al-Jamaat.

Issue 1007: * If a person does not know Surah al-Hamd well, but can learn it, he should do so if the time of Salat permits. And if the time does not permit, he should act as guided in the above rule, and his prayers will be valid. But wherever possible, such a person should join Salat al-Jamaat to relieve himself of the responsibility.

Issue 1008: * To take wages for teaching obligatory acts of prayers is haraam, as a precaution, and taking wages for teachingMustahab things is permissible.

Issue 1009: * If a person does not know a certain word of Surah al-Hamd or Surah, or does not utter it intentionally, or utters one letter for another like, Za for Zad, or changes the inflections, by giving movements of Fathah or Kasrah where not needed, or does not render tashdid properly, his prayer is void.

Issue 1010: If a person has learnt a word which he believes to be correct, and recites it that way in prayers, but comes to know later that he has been reciting it incorrectly, it is not necessary for him to offer the prayers again.

Issue 1011: * If a person does not know whether a particular word is to be read with Fathah or Kasrah, of if he does not know whether a particular word has a “seen” or a “swad” in it, he should take pains to learn that. But if he tries to recite in two or more ways, and if the wrong or incorrect recitation is neither from the Qur'an nor any Zikr, his prayers will be void. But if both the recitations are correct, like, reciting the 'S' of “Siratal” with “seen” and “swad”, then the prayers will not be affected.

Issue 1012: * The Ulama of Tajweed, that is, the art of reciting the Qur'an, have outlined several places where “Madd” (prolonging certain letters) is necessary. Wherever a vowel in a word precedes another vowel, say, 'alif' or 'hamza', it has to be prolonged, so that the utterances of each word is clear. But in Salat, its validity does not depend upon following these rules, so if one does not strictly follow them, his Salat will not be void. Except in “Wal-dhaalleen” (the last word of Surah al-Hamd) one should exercise certain care to prolong, so that tashdid is properly pronounced.

Issue 1013: * The recommended precaution is that while offering prayers, one should not recite the ending word of any Ayat with Waqf if one wishes to join it to the next Ayat. Nor should one render it without waqf and join. For example, if you recite “ar Rahmanir Rahimi” and then wait before starting the next, it is not proper. You should continue with no waiting. Similarly, in the same Ayat, that is, “ar Rahmanir Rahim”, if you read the last letter “mim” with sakin, you should not attach the “mim” to “Maliki Yawmi ddin”.

Issue 1014: * In the third and fourth Rak'ats of prayers, one may either read only Surah al-Hamd orTasbihat Arba'ah - Subhanallahi wal hamdu lillahi wa la ilaha illal lahu wallahu Akbar which may be said once, although it is better that it should be said three times. It is also permissible to recite Surah al-Hamd in one Rak'at, and Tasbihat Arba'ah in the other, but it is better to recite Tasbihat in both.

Issue 1015: * When time for Salat is short, one must recite Tasbihat Arba'ah once, and if even that much cannot be recited within time, then he must say only “Subhanallah” once.

Issue 1016: * It is obligatory for men and women that in the third and fourth Rak'ats, they should recite Surah al-Hamd or Tasbihat Arba'ah silently.

Issue 1017: * If a person recites Surah al-Hamd in the third and fourth Rak'ats, it is not obligatory for him to recite its “Bismilla” silently, except in the case of one who is following in congregational prayers, for whom, as an obligatory precaution, it is necessary that “Bismillah” is recited silently.

Issue 1018: A person who cannot learn Tasbihat Arba'ah, or cannot pronounce them correctly, should recite Surah al-Hamd in the third and fourth Rak'ats.

Issue 1019: If a person recites Tasbihat Arba'ah in the first two Rak'ats, thinking that they are the last two Rak'ats, and if he realises the error before Ruku, he should recite Surah al-Hamd and Surah. But if he realises this during or after the Ruku, his prayer is in order.

Issue 1020: If a person recites Surah al-Hamd in the last two Rak'ats, thinking that they are the first two Rak'ats, or recites Surah al-Hamd in the first two Raka'ts, thinking that they are the last two Rak'ats, his prayer is in order, whether he realises the mistake before or after Ruku.

Issue 1021: * If in the third or fourth Rak'at, a person wanted to recite Surah al-Hamd, but instead of that,Tasbihat Arba'ah came on his tongue, or if he wishes to recite Tasbihat Arba'ah but Surah al-Hamd comes on his tongue, he should abandon it and recite Tasbihat Arba'ah or Surah al-Hamd again with the intentions. However, if the recitation which came on his tongue was the one to which he was habituated, then he should complete it and his prayers will be valid.

Issue 1022: If a person who has the habit of reciting Tasbihat Arba'ah in the third and fourth Rak'ats, ignores his habit and begins reciting Hamd, with the intention of performing his obligation, it will be sufficient, and it will not be not necessary for him to recite Surah al-Hamd or Tasbihat Arba'ah again.

Issue 1023: In the third and fourth Rak'ats, it isMustahab to seek forgiveness from Allah after Tasbihat Arba'ah. That is, one should say, Astaghfirullaha Rabbi wa Atubu Illayhi, or one should say, Allahummaghfir li. And before bowing for Ruku, while he is uttering Istighfar or has finished it, if he doubts whether he has read al-Hamd or Tasbihat or not, he should read either of them.

Issue 1024: * If the person doubts while in Ruku of third or fourth Rak'at, whether or not he has recited Surah al-Hamd or Tasbihat Arba'ah, he should ignore his doubt. Similarly, he should ignore the doubt if it occurs while bowing for Ruku.

Issue 1025: If a person doubts whether he has pronounced a verse or a word correctly, like, whether he has uttered Qul Huwallahu Ahad correctly or not, he may ignore his doubt. However, if he repeats that verse or word correctly as a precautionary measure, there is no harm in it. And if he doubts often he may repeat as many times. However, if it becomes an obsession,

and he still goes on reading it again, as a recommended precaution, he should pray all over again.

Issue 1026: It isMustahab that in the first Rak'at one should say A'uzubillahi Minash shaytanir Rajim before reciting Surah al-Hamd, and in the first and second Rak'ats of Zuhr and Asr prayers one should say Bismillah loudly. It isMustahab also to recite Surah al-Hamd and other Surah distinctly, with a pause at the end of every verse i.e. not joining it with the next verse, and while reciting Surah al-Hamd and Surah, one should pay attention to the meanings of each verse. And it isMustahab to say, Alhamdulillahi Rabbil 'Alamin after the completion of Surah al-Hamd by the Imam in the congregation, and by himself, if he is praying alone. And after reciting Surah Qul huwallahu Ahad he should say, “Kazalikallahu Rabbi” once, twice or three times or “Kazalikallahu Rabbuna” three times. Similarly, it isMustahab to pause a little after reciting the Surah, then say Takbir, before going to Ruku or reciting Qunut.

Issue 1027: It isMustahab that in all the prayers, one should recite Surah Inna Anzalnahu in the first Rak'at, and Surah Qul huwallahu Ahad in the second Rak'at.

Issue 1028: It is Makrooh not to recite Surah Qul huwallahu Ahad even in one of the daily prayers.

Issue 1029: It is Makrooh to recite the whole ofSurah Qul huwallahu Ahad in one breath.

Issue 1030: It is Makrooh to recite in the second Rak'at the same Surah, which one has recited in the first Rak'at. However, if one recites Surah Qul huwallahu Ahad in both the Rak'ats, it is not Makrooh.

Ruku (Bowing)

Issue 1031: * In every Rak'at, a person offering prayers should, after reciting the Surahs (Qira'at), bow to an extent that he is able to rest his finger tips on his knees. This act is called Ruku.

Issue 1032: * If the person performs Ruku in an unusual manner, like, if he bends towards left or right, his Ruku is not correct even if his hands reach his knees.

Issue 1034: Bending should be with the niyyat of Ruku. If a person bends for some other purpose (e.g. to kill an insect), he cannot reckon it as Ruku. He will have to stand up and bend again for Ruku, and in so doing, he will not have added any Rukn, nor will his prayers be void.

Issue 1035: If a person has abnormally long hands, so that if he bends a little they reach his knees, or if his knees are lower than usual, so that he has to bend himself lower to make his hands reach his knees, he should follow the normal bowing by the others.

Issue 1036: A person who performs Ruku in the sitting position, should bow down till his face is parallel to his knees. And it is better that he should bow down till his face reaches near the place of Sajdah.

Issue 1037: It is better that in normal situations one should say in Ruku, Subhanallah three times or Subhana Rabbiyal 'Azimi wa bi hamdih once. But actually, uttering any Zikr to this extent is sufficient. However, if Salat time is short, or if one is under any pressure, it will be sufficient to say Subhanallah once.

Issue 1038: The Zikr of Ruku should be uttered in succession, and in correct Arabic, and it isMustahab that it should be uttered 3, 5 or 7 times or more than that.

Issue 1039: * In Ruku, the body should be steady, and one should not purposely move or shake oneself. And as a precaution, one should not have any movement when reciting the obligatory Zikr.

Issue 1040: If at the time of uttering the obligatory Zikr of Ruku, he loses steadiness because of uncontrollable vigorous movement, it will be better that after his body resumes steadiness he repeats the Zikr. However, if the movement is so negligible that steadiness is not lost, or if he just moves his fingers, there is no harm in it.

Issue 1041: If a person intentionally recites the Zikr of Ruku before he has properly bowed down, and before his body becomes still, his prayers will be void.

Issue 1042: * If a person intentionally raises his head from Ruku before completing obligatory Zikr, his prayer is void. If he raises his head by mistake, and if he has not completely ceased to be in Ruku and he recollects that he has not completed the Zikr of Ruku, he should make himself steady and recite the Zikr. And if he recollects after he has arisen totally from Ruku, his prayers are in order.

Issue 1043: * If a person is unable to remain in the state of Ruku all the time while reciting the Zikr, then the recommended precaution is that he should complete the remainder while standing up from Ruku.

Issue 1044: If a person cannot remain steady during Ruku owing to some disease etc, his prayers are in order. But he should complete the obligatory part of Zikr, as explained, before totally rising from Ruku.

Issue 1045: * If a person cannot bow down for Ruku properly, he should lean on something and perform Ruku. And if he cannot perform Ruku even after he has leaned, he should bow down to the maximum extent he can, so that it could be customarily recognised as a Ruku. And if he cannot bend at all, he should make a sign for Ruku with his head.

Issue 1046: If a person supposed to make a sign with his head for Ruku is unable to do so, he should close his eyes with the niyyat of Ruku, and then recite Zikr. And for rising from Ruku, he should open his eyes. And if he is unable to do even that, he should, as a precaution, make a niyyat of Ruku in his mind, and then make a sign of Ruku with his hands and recite Zikr.

Issue 1047: If a person cannot perform Ruku while standing, but can bend for it while sitting, he should offer prayers standing and should make a sign with his head for Ruku. And the recommended precaution is that he should offer another prayers in which he would sit down at the time of Ruku, and bow down for it.

Issue 1048: * If some one raises his head after reaching Ruku, and bows down twice to the extent of Ruku, his prayer is void.

Issue 1049: After the completion of the Zikr of Ruku, one should stand straight, and proceed to Sajdah after the body has become steady. If one goes to Sajdah intentionally before standing erect, or before the body is steady, the prayers are void.

Issue 1050: * If a person forgets to perform Ruku, remembering it before Sajdah, he should stand up first, and then go into Ruku. It will not be proper for him to go into Ruku in a bent position.

Issue 1051: * If a person offering prayers remembers after his forehead reaches the earth, that he has not performed Ruku, it is necessary that he should return to standing position and then perform Ruku. But, if he remembers this in the second Sajdah, his prayers are void.

Issue 1052: It isMustahab that before going into Ruku, a person should say Takbir while he is standing erect, and in Ruku, he should push his knees back, keep his back flat, stretch forth his neck, keep it in line with his back, look between his two feet, say Salawat before or after Zikr. And when he rises after Ruku, it isMustahab to stand erect, and in a state of steadiness say Sami'allahu liman hamidah.

Issue 1053: It isMustahab for women that while performing Ruku, they should keep their hands higher than their knees, and should not push back their knees.

Sujood

Issue 1054: * A person offering prayers should perform two sajdahs after the Ruku, in each Rak'at of the obligatory as well asMustahab prayers. Sajdah means that one should place one's forehead on earth in a special manner, with the intention of humility (before Allah).

While performing Sajdahs during prayers, it is obligatory that both the palms and the knees, and both the big toes are placed on the ground.

Issue 1055: * Two Sajdahs together are a “Rukn” (elemental), and if a person omits to perform two Sajdah in one Rak'at of an obligatory prayers, whether intentionally or owing to forgetfulness, or adds two more Sajdahs, his prayers are void.

Issue 1056: If a person omits or adds one Sajdah intentionally, his prayers become void. And if he omits or adds one Sajdah forgetfully, the rules regarding it will be explained later.

Issue 1057: * If a person who can keep his forehead on the ground, does not do so whether intentionally or forgetfully, he has not performed Sajdah, even if other parts of his body may have touched the ground. But, if he places his forehead on the earth, but forgets to keep other parts of his body on the ground, or forgets to utter the Zikr, his Sajdah is in order.

Issue 1058: * It is better in normal situation to say Subahanallah three times, or Subhana Rabbiy al-A'la wa bi hamdhi once. And he should utter these words in succession and in correct Arabic. Actually, as an obligatory precaution, uttering any Zikr to this extent is sufficient. And it isMustahab that Subhana Rabbiyal A'la wa bi hamdhi should be said three, five or seven times, or more.

Issue 1059: * In the Sajdah, the body should be steady, and one should not move or shake oneself purposely, and as a precaution, one should be totally steady in Sajdah even while one is not engaged in any obligatory Zikr.

Issue 1060: If a person intentionally utters the Zikr of Sajdah before his forehead reaches the ground, and his body becomes steady, or if he raises

his head from Sajdah intentionally before the Zikr is completed, his prayers are void.

Issue 1061: * If a person utters the Zikr of Sajdah by mistake, before his forehead reaches the ground and realises his mistake before he raises his head from Sajdah, he should utter the Zikr again, when his body is steady.

Issue 1062: If after raising his head from Sajdah, a person realises that he has done so before the completion of the Zikr of Sajdah, his prayers are in order.

Issue 1063: * If at the time of uttering Zikr of Sajdah, a person intentionally lifts one of his seven limbs from the ground, his Salat will be void. But if he lifts the limbs, other than the forehead, when he is not reciting anything, and then places them back again, there will be no harm, unless that movement renders his body unsteady, in which case, Salat will be void.

Issue 1064: If a person raises his forehead from the ground by mistake, before the completion of the Zikr of Sajdah, he should not place it on the ground again, he should treat it as one Sajdah. However, if he raises other parts of the body from the ground by mistake, he should place them back on the ground and utter the Zikr.

Issue 1065: After the Zikr of the first Sajdah is completed, one should sit till the body is steady, and then perform Sajdah again.

Issue 1066: * The place where a person places his forehead for Sajdah should not be higher than four joined fingers, compared to where he places his knees and the tips of the toes. As a matter of obligatory precaution, the place of his forehead should not be more than four joined fingers lower or higher than the place where he stands.

Issue 1067: * If a person prays on a sloped ground, whose slant may not be known exactly, and if his forehead goes higher or lower than the place where he keeps his knees and tips of the toes by a span of four joined fingers, his Salat will be a matter ofIshkal .

Issue 1068: * If a person places his forehead by mistake, on a thing which is higher than the span of four joined fingers compared to the place where his knees and the toes are, and if it so high that it does not look like a normal Sajdah, he should raise his head and place on a thing which is not as high. And if the height does not change the appearance of the Sajdah, and his attention is drawn to it after completing the obligatory Zikr, he should raise his head and may complete the prayers. But if his attention is drawn to it before the obligatory Zikr, he should gradually push or move his forehead to a lower level, and recite the obligatory Zikr. And if that is not possible, he should recite the obligatory Zikr and complete his prayer. It would not be necessary for him to repeat the prayers.

Issue 1069: * It is necessary that there should be nothing between the forehead of the person offering prayers, and the thing on which he offers Sajdah. If the mohr (sajdagah) is so dirty that the forehead does not reach the mohr itself, the Sajdah is void. But if only the colour of mohr has changed, there is no harm.

Issue 1070: In Sajdah a person offering prayers should place his two palms on the ground. In a state of helplessness, there will be no harm in

placing the back of the hands on the ground, and if even this is not possible, he should, on the basis of precaution, place the wrists of hands on the ground. And if he cannot do even this, he should place any part of the body up to his elbow on the ground, and if even that is not possible it is sufficient to place the arms on the ground.

Issue 1071: * In Sajdah, a person should place his two big toes on the ground, but it is not necessary to place the tips of the toes. If he places the outer or the inner parts of the toes, it will be proper. But if he places, instead other smaller toes on the ground, or the outer part of his feet, or if his big toe does not rest on the ground due to very long nails, his Salat will be void. And if a person does not follow this rule due to ignorance or carelessness, he has to pray again.

Issue 1072: If a part of the big toe is cut off, one should place the remaining part of it on the ground, and if nothing of it has remained or what has remained is too short, he should, on the basis of precaution, place the other toes on the ground, but if he has no toes at all, he should place on the ground whatever part of the foot has remained.

Issue 1073: * If a person performs Sajdah in an unusual manner, like if he rests his chest and stomach on the ground, or stretches his feet, his Salat will be correct and valid if it still appears like a normal Sajdah. But if it appears more like sleeping on one's stomach, rather than a Sajdah, his Salat will be void.

Issue 1074: The mohr (sajdagah) or other thing on which a person performs Sajdah, should be Clean (tahir/pak ). If, he places the mohr on a najis carpet, or if one side of the mohr is najis, and he places his forehead on its Clean (tahir/pak ) part, there is no harm in it.

Issue 1075: * If there is a sore or a wound etc. in the forehead of a person, making him unable to rest his forehead on the ground, and if the sore or the wound has not covered the whole of the forehead, he should perform Sajdah with the unaffected part of the forehead. And if it becomes necessary to dig a hole, or a pit so that the part with the sore or the wound stays there, while the healthy part is on the ground, he should do so.

Issue 1076: * If the sore or the wound has covered the entire forehead, he should perform Sajdah with other parts of his face. As an obligatory precaution, he should perform Sajdah with his chin, and it that is not possible, with one of the two sides of the forehead. When it is not possible to perform Sajdah with the face in any way, he should perform Sajdah by sign.

Issue 1077: * If a person can sit but cannot make his forehead reach the ground, he should bow as much as he can, and should place the mohr or any other allowable thing on something high, and place his forehead on it in such a way that it may be said that he has performed Sajdah. But his palms, his knees, and toes should be on the ground as usual.

Issue 1078: * If a person cannot find something high on which he may place the mohr, or any other allowable thing, and if he cannot find any person who would raise the mohr etc. for him, then as precaution, he should raise it with his hand and do Sajdah on it.

Issue 1079: * If a person cannot perform Sajdah at all, he should make a sign for it with his head, and if he cannot do even that, he should make a sign with his eyes. And if he cannot make a sign even with his eyes he should, on the basis of obligatory precaution, make a sign for Sajdah with his hands etc. and should make a niyyat for Sajdah in his mind, and recite the obligatory Zikr.

Issue 1080: * If the forehead of a person is raised involuntarily from the place of Sajdah, he should not, if possible, allow it to reach the place of Sajdah again, and this will be treated as one Sajdah even if he may not have uttered the Zikr of Sajdah. And if he cannot control his head, and it reaches the place of Sajdah again involuntarily, both of them will be reckoned as one Sajdah, and if he has not uttered the Zikr, as a recommended precaution, he will do so with the niyyat of Qurbat.

Issue 1081: * At a place where a person has to observe taqayyah (concealing one's faith in dangerous situation) he can perform Sajdah on a carpet, or other similar things, and it is not necessary for him to go elsewhere, or delay the prayers so that he is able to pray freely at that place without taqayyah. But if he finds that he can perform Sajdah on a mat, or any other allowed objects, without any impediment, then he should not perform Sajdah on a carpet or things like it.

Issue 1082: If a person performs Sajdah on a mattress filled with feathers, or any other similar thing, his Sajdah will be void if his body cannot remain steady.

Issue 1083: If a person is obliged to offer prayers on a muddy ground, and if no hardship will be caused to him if his body and dress become soiled with mud, he should perform Sajdah and tashahhud as usual. If it is going to prove extremely hard for him, he should make a sign for Sajdah with his head while he is standing, and recite tashahhud in the standing position. His prayers will be in order.

Issue 1084: * The obligatory precaution is that in the first Rak'at and in the third Rak'at, which do not contain tashahhud (like the third Rak'at in Zuhr, Asr and Isha prayers) one should sit for a while after the second Sajdah before rising.

Things on which Sajdah is Allowed

Issue 1085: * Sajdah should be performed on earth, and on those things which are not edible nor worn, and on things which grow from earth (e.g. wood and leaves of trees).

It is not permissible to perform Sajdah on things which are used as food or dress (e.g. wheat, barley and cotton etc.), or on things which are not considered to be parts of the earth (e.g. gold, silver, etc.). And in the situation of helplessness, asphalt and tar will have preference over other non-allowable things.

Issue 1086: * Sajdah should not be performed on the vine leaves, when they are delicate and hence edible. Otherwise, there is no objection.

Issue 1087: It is in order to perform Sajdah on things which grow from the earth, and serve as fodder for animals (e.g. grass, hay etc.).

Issue 1088: * It is in order to perform Sajdah on flowers which are not edible, and also on medicinal herbs which grow from the earth.

Issue 1089: * Performing Sajdah on a grass which is eaten in some parts of the world, but not in the rest, but it is classified as edible, will not be permissible. Similarly, Sajdah on raw fruits is not allowed.

Issue 1090: It is allowed to perform Sajdah on limestone and gypsum, but the recommended precaution is that Sajdah should not be optionally performed on baked gypsum, lime, brick and baked earthenware etc.

Issue 1091: * It is in order to perform Sajdah on paper, if it is manufactured from allowed sources like wood or grass, and also if it is made from cotton or flax. But if it is made from silk etc., Sajdah on it will not be permissible.

Issue 1092: Turbatul Husayn is the best thing for performing Sajdah. After it, there are earth, stone and grass, in order of priority.

Issue 1093: * If a person does not possess anything on which it is allowed to perform Sajdah, or, even if he possesses such a thing, he cannot perform Sajdah on it due to severe heat or cold, he should perform Sajdah on asphalt or tar, and if that is not possible, on his dress or the back of his hand, or on any thing on which it is not permissible to perform Sajdah optionally. However, in such a situation, the recommended precaution is that as long as it is possible to perform Sajdah on his dress he should not do Sajdah on any other thing.

Issue 1094: The Sajdah performed on mud, and on soft clay on which one's forehead cannot rest steadily, is void.

Issue 1095: If the mohr sticks to the forehead in the first Sajdah, it should be removed from the forehead for the second Sajdah.

Issue 1096: * If a thing on which a person performs Sajdah gets lost while he is offering prayers, and he does not possess any other thing on which Sajdah is allowed, he can act as explained in rule 1093, irrespective of whether the time for Salat is limited or ample.

Issue 1097: * If a person realises in the state of Sajdah that he has placed his forehead on a thing on which Sajdah is void, and if he becomes aware of it after completing the obligatory Zikr, he can raise his head and continue with his prayers. But if he becomes aware of it before reciting the obligatory Zikr, he should gradually slide or move his head onto an allowed object, and recite the Zikr. But if that is not possible, he should recite the obligatory Zikr and continue with his Salat. His prayers in both cases will be valid.

Issue 1098: * If a person realises after Sajdah, that he had placed his forehead on a thing which is not permissible for Sajdah, there is no objection.

Issue 1099: It is haraam to perform Sajdah for anyone other than Almighty Allah. Some people place their foreheads on earth before the graves of the holy Imams. If this is done to thank Allah, there is no harm in it, but otherwise it is haraam.

TheMustahab and Makrooh Things in Sajdah

Issue 1100: Certain things areMustahab in Sajdah:

• It isMustahab to say Takbir before going to Sajdah. A person who prays standing, will do so after having stood up from Ruku, and a person who prays sitting will do so after having sat properly.

• While going into Sajdah, a man should first place his hands on the ground, and woman should first place her knees on the ground.

• The person offering prayers should place his nose on a mohr, or on any other thing on which Sajdah is allowed.

• While performing Sajdah, fingers should be kept close to each other, parallel to the ears, with their tips towards Qibla.

• While in Sajdah one should pray to Allah, and express his wishes, and should recite this supplication: Ya Khayral Mas'ulin wa Ya Khayral Mu'tin, Urzuqni warzuq 'Ayali Min Fazlika Fa Innaka Zulfazlil 'Azim - O You Who are the best from whom people seek their needs, and O You, Who are the best bestower of gifts! Give me and the members of my family sustenance with Your grace. Undoubtedly You possess the greatest grace).

• After performing Sajdah, one should sit on his left thigh, placing the instep of the right foot on the sole of the left foot.

• After every Sajdah, when a person has sat down and his body is composed, one should say takbir.

• When his body is steady after the first Sajdah, he should say:”Astaghfirullaha Rabbi wa Atubu Ilayhi”.

• He should say Allahu Akbar for going into second Sajdah, when his body is steady.

• It isMustahab to prolong the Sajdah, and when sitting after the Sajdah, to place one's hands on the thighs.

• He should recite Salawat while in prostrations.

• At the time of rising, he should raise his hands from the ground, after raising his knees.

• Men should not make their elbows and stomach touch the ground; they should keep their arms separated from their sides. And women should place their elbows and stomachs on the ground, and should join their limbs with one another.

• OtherMustahab acts of Sajdah have been mentioned in detailed books.

Issue 1101: * It is Makrooh to recite the holy Qur'an in Sajdah. It is also Makrooh to blow off the dust from the place of Sajdah, and if, by so doing, one utters anything intentionally, the prayers will be, as a precaution, void. Besides these, there are other Makrooh acts, which are given in detailed books.

Obligatory Sajdahs in the Holy Qur'an

Issue 1102: Upon reciting or hearing any of the following verses of the holy Qur'an, the performance of Sajdah becomes obligatory:

• Surah as-Sajdah, 32:15

• Surah Ha Mim Sajdah, 41:38

• Surah an-Najm, 53:62

• Surah al-'Alaq, 96:19

Whenever a person recites the verse or hears it when recited by someone else, he should perform Sajdah immediately when the verse ends, and if he forgets to perform it, he should do it as and when he remembers. If one hears the verse without any expectation, in an involuntary situation, the Sajdah is not obligatory, though it is better to perform it.

Issue 1103: * If a person hears the Sajdah verse, and recites it himself also, he should perform two Sajdahs.

Issue 1104: If a person hears a verse of Sajdah, while he is in Sajdah other than that of Salat, or recites it himself, he should raise his head from that Sajdah, and perform another one.

Issue 1105: * If a person hears the verse of obligatory Sajdah from a person who is asleep, or one who is insane, or from a child who knows nothing of the Qur'an, it will be obligatory upon him to perform Sajdah. But if he hears from a gramophone or a tape recorder, Sajdah will not be obligatory. Similarly, the Sajdah will not beWajib if he listens to a taped recitation from radio. But if there is a person reciting from the radio station, and he recites the verse of Sajdah, it will be obligatory to perform Sajdah.

Issue 1106: * As an obligatory precaution, the place where a person performs an obligatory Sajdah upon hearing the verse, should not be a usurped one, and, as a recommended precaution, the place where he places his forehead, should not be higher or lower than a span of four joined fingers than the place where his knees and tips of the toes rest. However, it is not necessary to be in Wudhu or Ghusl, or to face Qibla, nor is it necessary to conceal one's private parts or to ensure that the body and the place where he has to place his forehead are Clean (tahir/pak ). Moreover, the conditions for dress in Salat do not apply to the performance of these obligatory Sajdah.

Issue 1107: * The obligatory precaution is that in the obligatory Sajdah caused by the Qur'anic verse, a person should place his forehead on a mohr, or any other thing on which Sajdah is allowed, and also one should keep other parts of one's body on the ground, as required in a Sajdah of prayers.

Issue 1108: When a person performs the obligatory Sajdah upon hearing the relevant verse, it will be sufficient even if he does not recite any Zikr. However, it isMustahab to recite Zikr, preferably the following: La ilaha illal lahu haqqan haqqa; La ilaha illal lahu imanan wa tasdiqa; la ilaha illal lahu 'ubudiyyatan wa riqqa; Sajadtu laka ya Rabbi ta'abbudan wa riqqa la mustankifan wa la mustak biran bal ana 'abdun zalilun za'ifun kha'ifun mustajir.

Tashahhud

Issue 1109: * In the second unit of all obligatory prayers, and in the third unit of Maghrib prayers and in the fourth unit of Zuhr, Asr and Isha prayers, one should sit after the second prostration with a tranquil body, and recite tashahhud thus: “Ash hadu an la ilaha illal lahu wahdahu la sharika lah, wa ash hadu anna Muhammadan 'Abduhu wa Rasuluh, Alla humma salli 'ala Muhammadin wa Ali Muhammad”. And it will be sufficient if one recited the tashahhud this way: Ash hadu an la ilaha illal lahu was ash hadu anna Muhammadan Sallal lahu Alayhi Wa Aalihi Abduhu Wa rasuluh.

It is also necessary to recite tashahhud while offering Witr (in Salat al-Shab) prayers.

Issue 1110: The words of tashahhud should be recited in correct Arabic, and in usual succession.

Issue 1111: * If a person forgets tashahhud, and rises and remembers before Ruku, he should sit down to recite it, and then stand up again. He

will then continue with his prayers. After the prayers, it is a recommended precaution that he should perform two Sajda al-Sahv for the additional standing. But if he remembers this in Ruku or thereafter, he should complete the prayers and after the salam of prayers, should, as a recommended precaution, perform the qadha of tashahhud. He should perform two sajdatus sahv for the forgotten tashahhud.

Issue 1112: It isMustahab to sit on the left thigh during tashahhud, and to place the upper part of the right foot on the sole of the left foot and to say: 'Al-hamdu lillah' or 'Bismillahi wa billahi wal-hamdu lillahi wa khayrul asma'i lillah' before reciting tashahhud.

It is alsoMustahab to place one's hands on one's thighs, with joined fingers, and to look at one's laps, and to say this after tashahhud and salawat: Wa taqabbal shafa'atahu warfa' darajatahu.

Issue 1113: It isMustahab for women to keep their thighs close to each other when reciting tashahhud.

Salam in the Prayers

Issue 1114: While a person sits after reciting tashahhud in the last Rak'at, and his body is tranquil, it isMustahab to say: Assalamu 'alayka ayyuhan Nabiyyu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Then he should say: Assalamu Alaykum and as a recommended precaution add to it Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh. Alternatively, he can say: Assalamu Alayna Wa Ala Ibadi llahis Salihin. But if he recites this Salam, then as per obligatory precaution, he must follow it up with saying: Assalamu Alaykum.

Issue 1115: If a person forgets the salam of prayers, and remembers when the form of Salat has not be disrupted, nor has he performed any act, which if done intentionally or forgetfully, invalidates the prayers (e.g. turning away from Qibla), he should recite the salam and his prayers will be valid.

Issue 1116: * If a person forgets the salam of prayers, and remembers after the form of prayers has been disrupted, or after he has performed an act which if done intentionally or forgetfully, invalidates the prayers (e.g. turning away from Qibla), his prayers are in order.

Tartib (Sequence)

Issue 1117: If a person intentionally changes the sequence of the prayers, for example, if he recites the other surah before reciting Surah al-Hamd, or performs the two Sajdah before Ruku, his prayers are void.

Issue 1118: * If a person forgets a rukn (elemental part) of the prayers, and performs the next rukn, like, before performing Ruku if he performs the two Sajdah, his prayers would become void, as a measure of precaution.

Issue 1119: If a person forgets a rukn, and performs an act after it which is not a rukn, like, if he recites tashahhud without performing the two Sajdah, he should perform the rukn and should recite again the part which he performed erroneously, earlier than the rukn.

Issue 1120: If a person forgets a thing which is not a rukn, and performs a rukn which comes after it, like, if he forgets Surah al-Hamd and begins performing Ruku, his prayers is in order.

Issue 1121: If a person forgets an act which is not a rukn, and performs the next act which too, is not a rukn, like, if he forgets Surah al-Hamd and recites the other Surah, he should perform what he has forgotten, and then recite again the thing which he mistakenly recited earlier.

Issue 1122: If a person performs the first Sajdah thinking that it is the second one, or performs the second one under the impression that it is the first Sajdah, his prayer is in order; his first Sajdah will be treated as the first one, and his second Sajdah will be treated as the second one.

Muwalat (Maintenance of Succession)

Issue 1123: A person should maintain continuity during prayers, that is he should perform various acts of prayers, like, Ruku, two Sajdah and tashahhud, in continuous succession, and he should recite the Zikr etc. also in usual succession. If he allows an undue interval between different acts, till it becomes difficult to visualise that he is praying, his prayers will be void.

Issue 1124: If a person in Salat forgetfully allows a gap between letters, or words, and if the gap is not big enough so that the form of the prayers is disrupted, he should repeat those letters or words in the usual manner, provided that he has not proceeded to the ensuing rukn. And he will repeat those lines which were read in continuation. But if he has already got into the ensuing rukn, then his prayers are in order.

Issue 1125: * Prolonging Ruku and Sajdah, or reciting long Surahs, does not break Muwalat.

Qunut

Issue 1126: It isMustahab that qunut be recited in all obligatory andMustahab prayers before the Ruku of the second Rak'at, and it is alsoMustahab that qunut be recited in the Witr (Salat al-Shab) prayers before Ruku, (although that prayer is of one Rak'at only).

In Friday Prayers there is one qunut in every Rak'at. In Salat al-Ayaat, there are five qunut, and in Eid Prayers there are five qunut in the first Rak'at, and four in the second Rak'at. In the prayers of Shafa',which is a part of Salat al-Shab, qunut is to be performed with the niyyat of Raja'.

Issue 1127: It is alsoMustahab that while reciting qunut, a person keeps his hands in front of his face, turning the palms facing the sky, and keeping both, the hands and the fingers, close together. It isMustahab to look at the palms in qunut.

Issue 1128: Any Zikr in qunut is sufficient, even if he says, 'Subhanallah' only once. It is, however, better to make the following supplication: La ilaha illallahul Halimul Karim, La ilaha illallahul 'Aliyyul 'Azim, Subhanallahi Rabbis samawatis sab', wa Rabbil 'arazinas sab', wama fi hinna wama bayna hunna, wa Rabbil 'arshil 'azim, wal hamdu lillahi Rabbil'alamin.

Issue 1129: It isMustahab that qunut is recited loudly. However, if a person is offering prayers in congregation, and if the Imam can hear his voice, it will not beMustahab for him to recite qunut loudly.

Issue 1130: If a person does not recite qunut intentionally, there is no qadha for it. And if he forgets it, and remembers before reaching Ruku, it isMustahab that he should stand up and recite it. And if he remembers while

performing Ruku, it isMustahab that he should perform its qadha after Ruku. And if he remembers it while performing Sajdah, it isMustahab that he should perform its qadha after Salam.


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