When beginning namāz, men raise both hands. Tips of thumbs touch
earlobes. Palms must be turned towards the qibla. Saying Allahu akbar is begun as hands leave ears and
finished as they are folded under navel.
NIYYAT (intention) is made
while saying the takbīr of iftitāh (beginning). It is permissible to make
niyyat before that, too. In fact, it is permissible if a person who has left
his home in order to perform namāz in jamāat follows the imām without niyyat.
But on the way he mustnt do one of the things that would nullify namāz.
Walking or making ablution does not give harm.
To make niyyat for namāz means to pass through heart its name, time,
qibla, to wish to follow the imām (when performing namāz in jamāat), to mean
to perform namāz. Knowledge only, that is, knowing what is to be done will not
be niyyat. In Shafiī Madhhab it is necessary to remember the rukns (fard in
namāz) of namāz. If a person who arrives for the jamāat in the middle of namāz
cannot make out whether they are performing the fard of night prayer or the
tarāwīh, he makes niyyat for the fard and follows the imām. If the tarāwīh is
being performed, his namāz becomes nāfila (supererogatory) because it has been
performed before the fard. For the tarāwīh cannot be performed before the fard.
He performs the fard individually at once and then performs some of the tarāwīh
together with the jamāat. Next he performs the remaining rakats individually.
Then he performs the namāz of witr.
The niyyat made after the takbīr of iftitāh is not sahīh and that namāz
is not acceptable. When making niyyat for prayers that are fard or wājib, it is
necessary to know which fard or wājib they are. For example, it is necessary to
know the name of the fard and to say, for instance, To perform todays early
afternoon prayer, or, the times fard. When performing the namāz of Iyd,
witr, or nazr, it is necessary to think of its being wājib and its name. It is
not necessary to make niyyat for the number of rakats. When performing a
sunnat the niyyat To perform namāz will suffice. The niyyat for the namāz of
janāza is made as To perform namāz for Allahs sake and to pray for the
deceased. If a person makes niyyat for the fard of early afternoon prayer when
performing the first sunnat of early
afternoon prayer, he will have performed the fard
of early afternoon prayer. The namāz that he performs after that becomes
nāfila.
The imām does not have to make niyyat to be the imām for men. But (if
he does not) he will not get the thawāb of namāz in jamāat. If he makes niyyat
to be the imām he will get this thawāb, too. While a person is performing namāz
individually, it is permissible for someone else to come on and begin to follow
him. The jamāat must also make the niyyat as I follow the present imām. The
imām has to make the niyyat as To become the imām for women, (when he is to
conduct the jamāat of women). It is not necessary for the jamāat to know the
imām. As the imām says the takbīr they must make the niyyat to follow him and
begin the namāz immediately. It is good as well to make niyyat to follow the
imām when he takes his place and to begin the namāz together.
As one performs the namāz which one has started considering that it is
the present times namāz and with the intention to perform the times namāz, if
the time becomes over and one does not know (that it is over), the namāz will
not be sahīh. If one intended to perform todays fard, it would be sahīh and
it would be qadā. Namāz performed before its time comes is supererogatory. If
it has been performed after its time has been over, it becomes qadā. That is,
the person who makes his niyyat as To perform todays early afternoon prayer
will have made qadā of the early afternoon prayer if its time has been over.
Likewise, if he thinks that the time is over and makes his niyyat as To make
qadā of todays early afternoon prayer he will have made adā[1] of the early afternoon prayer when he finds out
(later) that its time was not over. In both cases he has made his niyyat for
the same prayer but has been wrong in the times being over. But the prayer
which he performs with the intention of making qadā of his last early afternoon
prayer does not stand for the present days early afternoon prayer. For he has
not made his niyyat for todays prayer. By the same token, (todays) early
afternoon prayer performed with the intention of adā does not stand for any
past early afternoon prayer that was omitted. Likewise, if a
---------------------------------
[1] To make adā of a certain daily prayer means to perform it
within I prescribed time. To make qadā of a certain daily prayer, on the other
hand, is to perform it afterwards. To leave a certain daily prayer to qadā
means to omit it, i.e. not to perform it within its prescribed time. It is one
of the gravest and worst sins to leave a fard prayer to qadā without one of the
good reasons (termed 'udhr) dictated by Islam.
person makes his niyyat to follow the imām and
thinks that the imām is, let us say, Zayd, whereas the imām is not Zayd but
someone else, his namāz will be accepted. But if he makes his niyyat to follow
Zayd and if the imām is someone else, his namāz which he performs by following
him will not be accepted. If a person has performed early afternoon prayer
before its time has begun for many years and each time has made his niyyat as
To perform the early afternoon prayer which is fard for me without thinking
of the present days early afternoon prayer, each day he has performed the
previous days early afternoon prayer. He has to make qadā of the last days
early afternoon prayer only. If each day he has made his niyyat for the present
days early afternoon prayer, whether or not he has used the word adā in his
niyyāt, he has performed the present days early afternoon prayer, but because
he has performed them all before their time began, none of them has been the
fard of early afternoon prayer. They all have been nāfila. He has to make qadā
for them all. As it is seen, it is necessary to know the times of namāz and to
perform them in their prescribed times.
When beginning to worship, saying orally only is not called niyyat.
Worships done without the niyyat made by heart are not acceptable in the four
Madhhabs. No one heard Rasūlullah, the Sahāba, the Tābiīn, or even the four imāms,
make niyyat by tongue. [Please see chapter 2, par. 15.] Hadrat Imām-i Rabbānī
(rahmatullāhi alaih) says in the hundred and eighty-sixth letter of Mektūbāt, Niyyat is made by heart. It is bidat
to make niyyat orally. This bidat has been called hasana (good, useful). But
this bidat annihilates not only the sunnat but also the fard. For, many people
have been making niyyat only by tongue, without passing the niyyat through
their heart. Thus niyyat through heart, one of the fards (principles) of namāz,
has been neglected, and namāz has been nullified. This faqīr (hadrat Imām-i
Rabbanī means himself) do not recognize any bidat as Hasana. I see no beauty
in any bidat. It is sunnat to make niyyat orally in Shafiī and in Hanbalī
Madhhabs. It is stated in Ibni Ābidīn,
That it is fard to make niyyat when beginning namāz has been stated
unanimously. Niyyat is made only with the heart. It is bidat to make it only
in words. It is permissible for a person who makes niyyat with his heart to
make niyyat verbally also in order to be safe against doubts.
TAHRĪMA means to say Allahu akbar when beginning namāz, and is fard.
No other word to replace it is acceptable. See the chapter 21. This takbīr of
iftitāh is one of the conditions of namāz. It is not a rukn.
Women raise their both hands as high as their shoulders and say the
takbīr of iftitāh. Then they put their hands on their breasts, right hand on
top of the left. They do not grasp their wrist. If the takbīr is said too long,
like AAAllāhu in the beginning or akbaar at the end, namāz will not be
accepted. If akbar is said before the imām does, namāz will not have started.
When standing, it is sunnat (for men) to put right hand on left hand, to form a
ring around left wrist with the thumb and the small finger of right hand, to
say the Subhānaka and, when performing individually, to say the Aūdhu and the
Basmala after the Subhānaka. He who is late for the jamāat, (that is, who
arrives in the mosque after the congregational prayer has started), says the
Subhānaka if the īmām is not saying the appointed prayers loudly, and says the
Subhānaka again when he stands up after the imām finishes the namāz with the
salām.
He who performs namāz individually says the Fātiha. After the Fātiha it
is not necessary to say the Basmala. But it will be good if he does. Those
Hanafīs who imitate Shāfiī Madhhab have to say this Basmala. Then he says one
sūra or three āyats. After the Fātiha both the imām and the jamāat say Āmīn
silently. A person who performs namāz together with the imām does not say the
Fātiha or the sūra. Āmīn means Accept.
QIYĀM is the first of the
five rukns of namāz. Qiyām means to stand. He who is too ill to stand performs
namāz sitting, and if too ill to sit he lies down on his back and performs it
with his head (by moving, nodding, etc., his head). A pillow must be put under
his head so that his face will be towards the qibla instead of towards the sky.
He bends his knees, so that he will not stretch his legs towards the qibla. It
is written in Ibni Ābidīn, According to
Imām-i azam, it is permissible for a healthy person to perform namāz sitting
on board a ship or on a train when it is in motion. But the Imāmayn said that
it would not be permissible when there is no udhr. And so is the fatwā.
[Please see the fifteenth and twenty-third chapters.] When standing, the two
feet must be four times a fingers width apart from each other. A person who is
too ill to stand, or who will feel dizzy or have a
headache or toothache or pain at some other part
of his body or cannot control his urination or wind-breaking or bleeding when
he stands, or who fears that his enemy may see him or his possessions may be
stolen when he stands, or whose fast will break or pronunciation will go bad or
awrat parts will open when he stands, performs namāz sitting. Also, if an ill
person infers from his own experiences or is told by a specialized Muslim
doctor that standing will make his illness worse or delay his healing, he
performs namāz sitting. But the doctor who tells him so has to be a person not
committing sins or harāms knowingly. Such people may sit on the floor in a
manner that comes easy to them; cross legged, or knees drawn up with arms
folded round the legs or in any other manner. For the rukū they bend forward a
little. For the sajda they put their head on the ground. A sick person who
cannot put his head on the ground puts his head on something hard and less than
QIRĀAT: Means to read
(recite) by mouth gently. Reading gently means here to read only as loud as one
can hear. The reading is called jahrī,
that is, loud if it is heard by people who stand on each side of the reader. It
is fard to say an āyat of the Qurān while standing at every rakat of sunnats
and of the witr and at two rakats of the fard when performing namāz
individually. It brings more thawāb to say a short sūra. As qirāat, it is wājib
to say the Fātiha sūra at these parts of prayers and to say also a sūra or
three āyats at every rakāt of sunnats and of witr prayer and at two rakats of
the fard.
In the fard (prayers of namāz that are
obligatory), it is wājib or sunnat to say the Fātiha and the (other) sūra at
the first two rakats. Additionally, it is wājib to say the Fātiha before the
sūra. Furthermore, it is wājib to say the Fātiha once at every rakat. If one
of these five wājibs is forgotten, it is necessary to make sajda-i shaw.
According to some more dependable information, at third and fourth rakats of
the fard, it is sunnat for the imām as well as for a person who performs namāz
individually to say the Fātiha. It will be all right whether he says the
additional sūra, too, or says nothing. (Ibnī Ābidīn,
page 343). Please see chapter
A settled person who follows a travelling one stands up when the imām
makes the salām after the second rakat, and performs two more rakats, but he
does not make the qirāat. That is, he does not say the Fātiha or the other
sūra. He does not say any prayer as if he were performing namāz behind the
imām. It is written on the seventy-third page of Jāmī-ur-rumūz[1] and on page 106 of Tātārhāniyya[2], According to some savants, a settled person who
performs namāz behind a travelling imām does not make the qirāat, does not say
any prayer in the third and fourth rakats. But according to Shams-ul-aimma
Abdulazīz Halwānī and other ulamā he has to make the qirāat. Then, he had
better be prudent and say them. Because the qiyām (standing in namāz) is the
place for qirāat, there is no harm in making the qirāat. It is written at the
end of Halabī-yi kebīr, If the medicine
which you have to use to diminish (your) toothache impedes (your) recital (of
the Qurān) and if it is nearly the end of the time of namāz, you follow an
imām. If you cannot find an imām you perform the namāz alone without reciting
anything. For, toothache is a difficulty that cannot be helped.
---------------------------------
[1] Written by Shams-ad-dīn Muhammad bin
Husām-ad-dīn 'rahmatullāhi ta'ālā 'alaih', (d.
962 [1555 A.D.], Bukhārā,) as a commentary
to the book Nikāya. which itself is an abridged version that
'Ubaydullah bin Mas'ūd bin Tāj-ush-sharī'a 'Umar 'rahmatullāhi ta'ālā 'alaih', (d. 750 [1349 A.D.],
Bukhārā,) wrote as a commentary to the book Vikāya, which
in turn had been written by his grandfather Burkhan-ush-sharī'a Mahmūd bin 'Ubaydullah
'rahmatullāhi ta'ālā 'alaih',
(martyred by the Mongolian hordes in
673 [1274 A.D.].)
[2] A book of fatwās written by 'Ālim bin 'Alā 'rahmatullāhi taālā 'alaih', (d. 688 [1289 A.D.].) The book is also known with the title Zād-ul-musāfīr.
When making the qirāat, it is not permissible to recite translations of
the Qurān.
As written in the three hundred and sixty-fourth page of Ibni Ābidīn, in every prayer of namāz except
Friday prayer and Iyd prayer, it is sunnat for the imām that the sūra he says
in the first rakat (after the Fātiha) be twice as long as the one he says in
the second rakat. A person who performs namāz individually may say a sūra of
the same length in each rakat. In every prayer of namāz, it is mekrūh to say a
sūra in the second rakat three ayāts longer than the sūra said in the first
rakat. It is mekrūh for the imām to form it a habit to say the same āyats in
the same rakats of the same prayer of namāz. It is said (by savants) that this
is so for those who perform namāz individually to do so in every prayer. From
time to time one ought to say some other āyats. It is tanzīhī mekrūh to say in
the second rakat the same āyats that you have said in the first rakat. If you
say the Qul aūzu bi-Rabbin-nās in the first rakat, you say it again in the
second rakat. For it would be worse to say the previous sūras. In the second
rakat it is best to say the āyat that is right after the one said in the first
rakat. In the second rakat it is mekrūh to skip the short sūra following the
sūra said in the first rakat, and say the one right after it. It is not mekrūh
to say several successive sūras in one rakat, yet it is best to say one sūra.
In the second rakat it is mekrūh to say the āyats or sūras that are before the
ones you have said in the first rakat. It is always wājib to read the Qurāns
sūras or āyats in the order as they are written in the Qurān. Only, when
making the hatm[1] it produces much
thawāb to begin reading the sūra of Baqara right
after reading the Qul-aūdhu. Saying three āyats as long as a short sūra each
is better than saying a long sūra. That is, there is more thawāb in it.
RUKŪ: After the sūra you
bend for the rukū saying the takbīr. In the rukū men open their fingers and
put them on their knees. They keep their back and head level. In the rukū you
say Subhāna rabbiyel-azīm at least
thrice. If the imām raises his head before you have said it three times you
must raise your
---------------------------------
[1] To
read the Qur'ān from beginning to end. There is much thawāb in it,
especially in the holy month of Ramadān. Imām-i A'zām Abū Hanīfa,
leader of Hanafī Madhhab, often made the hatm in one or two
rak'ats of namāz. That is, he recited the whole Qur'ān.
head, too. In the rukū your arms and legs must be
straight. Women do not open their fingers. They do not keep their head and back
level, nor their arms and legs straight. It is sunnat for the imām as well as
for a person who is performing namāz by himself to say Sami allahu liman hamideh while straightening up
from the rukū. The jamāat does not say it. Right after saying it, a person
who is performing namāz by himself, and the jamāat, upon hearing the imām
recite it, must say: Rabbanā lakal hamd,
and stand upright, and then, saying Allahu akbar
while kneeling down for the sajda, put first the right knee and then the left
knee, followed by the right and left hands, on the floor[1] . Finally, the nose
and the forehead bones are put on the ground.
SAJDA: In the sajda, fingers
must be closed, pointing towards the qibla in line with the ears, and the head
must be between hands. It is fard to put the forehead on something clean, such
as a stone, some earth, wood, cloth, and it is said (by savants) that it is
wājib to put the nose down, too. It is not permissible to put only the nose on
the ground without a good excuse. It is mekrūh to put only the forehead on the
ground. In the sajda you must say Subhāna rabbiyel-alā
at least thrice. The Shiīs say that it is better to make the sajda on a brick
made from the clay of Kerbelā[2] . It is either fard or
wājib to put two feet or at least one toe of each foot on the ground. There are
also some savants who say that it is sunnat. That is, if two feet are not put
on the ground, namāz will either not be accepted or it will become mekrūh. If,
during the sajda, the forehead, nose, or feet are raised from the ground for a
short while, it will cause no harm. In the sajda, it is sunnat to bend the toes
and turn them towards the qibla. It is written in Radd-ul-mukhtār
that those who say that it is fard or wājib are wrong. Men must keep their arms
and thighs away from their abdomen. It is sunnat to place the hands and the knees
on the ground. It is sunnat to keep the heels a four-finger-width away from
each other in the qiyām, but in the rukū, qawma and sajda they must be kept
together. It is written on the three hundred and fifteenth page of Halabī-yi kebīr and also in the book Durr-ul-mukhtār: One of the sunnats in the rukū
is to keep the heel-bones together. For doing this, when bending for the rukū,
the heel of the left foot is brought near the right foot.
---------------------------------
[1] Or on the ground, if they are performing it outdoors.
[2] The town of Kerbelā, Iraq.
They are separated
again when standing up for the qiyām after the sajda.
Although it is sahīh to prostrate on the winding cloth of ones turban,
or on the lowest parts of ones sleeves and skirts, or on ones hands, it is
tanzīhī mekrūh in the absence of an excuse. It will be sahīh to prostrate on a
carpet, a mat, some wheat or barley, throne, a sofa and on a vehicle which is
on the ground on condition that you will press on them until you feel their
hardness, that is, until your forehead cannot move downward any more. However,
prostrating on an animal, a see-saw made between two trees, or on rice and
millet that arent put in a sack is not sahīh. Because the clothes on oneself
is considered part of ones organs, the surfaces under them should be clean.
For this reason, as a person without an ablution is not permitted to hold the
Qurān with his hands, likewise, he is not permitted to hold it with the end of
his sleeves. He is permitted to hold it with things such as clothes he is not
wearing or with a towel or a handkerchief. Namāz can be performed on them when they
are spread on a najs place. Likewise, a janāza namāz should not be performed
while wearing shoes with najs soles or while stepping on a najs place. But it
is sahīh to perform it while stepping on the clean upper surface of the shoes
after taking them off.
It is written in Halabī: When
going into the sajda it is mekrūh to pull up the skirts of your loose long robe
or your trousers, and it is mekrūh to fold them before beginning namāz. It is
makrūh to perform namāz with folded [or short] sleeves, cuffs or skirt. It is
mekrūh to perform namāz with a bare head because of laziness or without
realizing the importance of performing namāz with a covered head. And it causes
disbelief to slight namāz. It is not mekrūh not to cover ones head in order to
show ones inferiority and incapability and because one fears Allahu taālā.
[That is, if a person who turns pale, trembles, forgets himself and everything
for fear of Allahu taālā and does not cover his head, it will not be mekrūh].
But even such people had better cover their heads. For, not to cover ones head
means to disobey the āyat: Take your ornamented
clothes and cover yourself for namāz! It is mustahab to wrap a
white turban round the head. The fact that Rasūlullah (sall-Allāhu alaihi wa
sallam) used even a black turban is written
in the book Marifatnāma[1] He would allow two spans from the end of his
turban hang down between his two shoulderblades.
A person who is too ill to prostrate for the sajda, or a healthy person
who cannot find an empty place in the mosque, must not prostrate on anything
higher than twenty-five centimetres. However, the person who cannot find an
empty place can make the sajda on the back of another person who is performing
the same prayer of namāz and who is making the sajda on the ground. But his
knees must be on the ground. But it is mustahab for a healthy person to perform
the namāz after the mosque is not crowded any more, or to go to another mosque
that is not crowded and perform his namāz there. It has been informed (by
savants) that it is permissible to make the sajda on something less than
twenty-five centimetres high when one is not ill and when there is no crowd,
but it is mekrūh. For Rasūlullah (sall-Allāhu alaihi wa sallam) never made the
sajda on anything a little higher than floor level. [Ibnī Ābidīn, page 338]. It is written on the right hand margin
of the sixty-ninth page of Jāmiur-rumūz
and in the annotation of Tabyīn by
Shalbī (rahmatullāhi taālā alaih) that it is not permissible to make the
sajda even on something which is only a little higher than floor level. [For
this reason, those who do not have a good excuse must not make the sajda even
on something a little higher than floor level. To say that we must make the
sajda on a high place and not on the ground means to change the (prescibed) way
of worshipping. He who wants to change worships becomes a disbeliever.
Disbelievers, enemies of Islam, enemies of Rasūlullah want to turn mosques into
churches. Like in churches, they are trying to get people to sit at tables and
put their heads on tables in the name of sajda, and also to initiate music and
musical instruments in mosques. Knowing that they could not accomplish this all
at once, they are accustoming people to making the place of sajda a little higher
and to performing the worships with loud-speakers.] Ibn-i Ābidin (rahmatullāhi
alaih) says: Istikbāl-i qibla is fard
for namāz. That is, namāz is performed by turning towards the direction of the
Kaba. Namāz is performed for Allah. Sajda is done for Allāhu taālā only. It
is performed towards the direction of Kaba, but not for the Kaba. One who
makes sajda for the Kaba becomes a disbeliever.
QADA-I ĀKHIRA: In the last rakat it is fard to sit as long
---------------------------------
[1] Written by Ibrahīm Haqqi 'rahmatullāhi ta'ālā 'alaih', (d.
1195 [1751] A.D.], Si'rid-Tillo.) This
great Islamic scholar is one of those great Awliyā and scholars called Sōfiyya-i-aliyya.
as it takes to say the tahiyyāt. It is written in Durr-ul-mukhtār: You do not make a sign with
your fingers while sitting. The fatwā says so. When sitting, men put their
left foot flat on the ground with its toes pointing towards the right. They sit
on this foot. The right foot should be upright, with the toes touching the
ground and pointing towards the qibla. It is sunnat to sit in this manner.
Women sit by Tawarruk. That is, they sit
with their buttocks on the ground. Their thighs should be close to each other.
Their feet should jut out from their right.
While explaining the nature of ezkār, it is written in Marāq-il-falāh and in the explanation of Tahtāwī: It is sunnat in the Hanafī Madhhab to
stand up and perform the sunnat right after the fard without saying anything in
between. After performing the fard, our Prophet
used to sit as long as it took him to say Allahumma
antas-salām wa minkas-salām tabārakta yā zal jalāli wal ikrām;
then, he began to perform the sunnat right away. He would not say the
Āyat-al-kursī or the tesbīhs between the fard and the sunnat. Saying them after
the sunnat produces the same thawāb as would be produced by saying them after
the fard. The same rule is valid for the sunnat before the fard; saying any
prayers between the fard and the sunnat diminishes the thawāb of namāz. It is
mekrūh for the imām to perform the final sunnat in the same place where he
performed the fard. It is not mekrūh for the jamāat, but it is mustahab for
them to perform it at some other place (in the mosque). The namāz of a person
who neglects the mustahab will not be deficient, but he will be deprived of its
thawāb. After performing the fard if there is no final sunnat after the fard,
or after the final sunnat, it is mustahab for the imām to turn right or left or
towards the jamāat. He may as well leave the mosque at once if he has some
work to do. It is stated in a hadīth-i-sherīf, If a person says, Astaghfirullāh-alazīm allazī lā ilāha
illā huw-al-hayy-al-qayyūma wa atūbu ilayh, after every prayer of namāz, all
his sins will be forgiven. Also it is mustahab (for the imām and
for the jamāat) to say the Āyat-al-kursī, to say the tesbīhs, and then to
raise their hands as high as their chest and pray for themselves and for all
Muslims. A hadīth declares, Prayers sent after the
five daily fard namāz will be
accepted. But the prayers must be done with a vigilant
heart and silently. It is mekrūh to make your prayers only after namāz or at
certain times or to memorize certain prayers and say them repetitively like
poems. After making your prayers, it is sunnat to rub the hands gently on the
face. Rasūlullah (sall-Allāhu alaihi wa sallam) used to say prayers during
namāz, after the duā said after the namāz, during the tawāf (visiting the
Kaba), after meals, and when going to bed. In these prayers of his he would
not raise his arms, nor would he rub his hands on his face. Prayers and any
dhikr are best when they are done silently. According to the unanimity (of
savants), it is harām to do as some men of tarīqat do, such as to dance or
whirl, to clap hands, to play stringed instruments, tambourines, small drums,
flutes. As it is seen, it is best if the jamāat and the imām pray together
silently. Also it is permissible for them to pray separately or to leave the
mosque without praying. After praying, the (sūra) Ikhlās is said eleven times
and the two sūras called Qul-aūdhu are
said once. Muhammad Mathūm rahmatullāhi alaih stated in the eightieth letter
of the second volume that after this prayer he said only Astaghfirullah sixty-seven times. Finally, the
āyat beginning as Subhāna Rabbika...
is said.
The book Durr-ul-mukhtār, after
explaining the Namāz of Tahiyyat-ul-masjid,
says: Talking between the sunnat and the fard does not nullify the sunnat, but
it diminishes the thawābs. Such is the case when saying any prayer. According
to some savants, the sunnat will not be accepted and it will be necessary to
perform the sunnat again. After explaining that it is permissible for a person
to follow an imām who is conducting the namāz while sitting, the book states:
When the imāms voice does not reach everywhere, it is permissible for
muazzins to repeat loudly so the jamaat can hear, but shouting too loudly
nullifies their own namāz. Saying the prayers too loudly resembles a worldly conversation.
The imāms saying the prayers too loudly in a namāz does not nullify the namāz,
yet it is harām. It is a bidat, which in turn lessens the thawāb, for
muazzins to recite the sūra of Ikhlās or to say other prayers. Also, it is
harām to distract the other worshippers by shouting too loudly. It is written
in the book Maārij-un-nubuwwa:[1] Hadrat Awzāī was asked about what prayers were
offered in order to make tawba after making the salām. Say
---------------------------------
[1] Written by Molla Miskīn Muhammad Mu'īn, (d. 954.)
estagfirullah three times, he said. [The fact
that it is bidat to say prayers loudly is written on the fifty-ninth page of
the 1375 (1956) edition of the book Al-ibdā,
by Shaikh Alī Mahfūz, a member of the assembly of Kibār-i-ulamā in Egypt]. Our Prophet (sallallāhu alaihi wa sallam) declared: Say the Āyat-al-kursī also when going to bed.
He also declared that we should say prayers after namāz.
Prayers after namāz: When saying duās (prayers after namāz), men raise their arms up to the
level of their chest. The arms should not be bent at the elbows. After saying
their prayers, they should recite the āyat, Subhāna rabbika......, and rub
their hands gently on their faces. A person who cannot lift his hands because
of an illness or cold weather, makes a sign with his pointing finger. Fingers
are turned towards the qibla. Arms are not opened apart in the right-left
direction. They are held close to each other, forward.
[After each fard namāz, it is mustahab for the imām and the jamāat to
say the istighfār completely three times, to recite the Āyat al-kursī, to make
the tesbīh ninety-nine times, then to say prayers and then to recite the (sūra
called) Ikhlās eleven times and the two sūras called Qul-aūdhu and to say
Astaghfirullah sixty-seven times. The hadīth-i-sherīf
commanding to recite the Ikhlās eleven times is on the last page of the first
volume of Berīqa. It is stated in a hadīth-i-sherīf that a person who says the following
prayer ten times after morning prayer will be given much thawāb: Lā ilāha illā-Allah wahdahu lā sherīka leh lehul-mulku wa
lehul-hamdu yuhyī wa yumīt wa huwa alā kulli sheyin qadīr. (Imdād)[1]. The Āyat-al-kursī and the tesbīhs must never be
omitted, especially when there is a janāza (a dead Muslim that must be interred
according to prescribed Islamic ceremony). Cannot a janāza that is delayed for
hours for various reasons be delayed a few minutes longer in order to say these
prayers? Those who prevent the jamāat from saying these prayers must fear very
much being placed among those cruel people who are declared in the one hundred
and fourteenth āyat of Baqāra sūra to be those who will be tormented bitterly
in Hell. How lucky for those pious imāms
---------------------------------
[1] Abul-Ikhlās Hasan bin Ammār Shernblālī
'rahmatullāhi ta'ālā 'alaih', (994-1069 [1658
A.D.], Egypt,) wrote a book entitled Nūr-ul-īdhāh, and another book,
entitled 'Marāqilfalāh', which was a commentary to the former, and which is also known with the title Imdād-(ul-Fattāh).
and muazzins who do not prevent the jamāat from
saying these prayers! At each prayer of namāz they get the blessings for a
hundred martyrs. For our Prophet declared: He who recovers one of my forgotten sunnats will get the
blessings for a hundred martyrs. In order to be safe against
bidats, muazzins should say the azān loudly on minarets and the iqāmat inside
the mosques, and they should say the takbīrs of namāz loudly only when
necessary, without using loud-speakers. The Āyat al-kursī, the tesbīhs and the
Kelima-i-tehlīl should be said silently, after the final sunnat in the Hanafī
Madhhab and immediately after the farz in the Shāfiī and Mālikī Madhhabs.
While saying the duā, the fact that it is mustahab to say salāt and salām for
Rasūlullah (sall-Allāhu taālā alaihi wa sallam) is written in the chapter
about Witr prayer in Tahtāwī, an
explanation of the book Imdāt.
The fact that it is harām (forbidden) to prostrate (to make sajda)
after namāz is written in the book Durr-ul-mukhtār,
in its chapter about the sajda of tilāwat. It is bidat for the imām and the
jamāat to greet each other by putting their hands on their chests. Islam does
not recognize any kind of greeting done by moving the hands or the body. Ibni
Nujaym Zaynal Ābidīn Misrī rahmatullāhi taālā alaih states that such
greetings are sinful. Please read the final part of the fifteenth chapter of
the fifth fascicle of Endless Bliss.
It is written in the explanation of Shirat-ul-islām:
A hadīth-i sherīf declares: Any duā made at the time of dawn and after the prayers of
namāz, will be accepted. It is sunnat to begin the duā with hamd-u-thanā[1] and salawāt[2]
and to rub both palms gently on the face after the duā. It is written in the
fifth chapter of Fatāwā-i Hindiyya:
While praying, both hands should be opened towards the sky, apart from each
other, and on a level with the chest. It is written in Bezzāziyya that performing a namāz which is
sunnat is better than saying prayers. [Shiites and Wahhabīs make duā by raising
their hands as high as the chest turning the palms towards the face, bringing
them together with their fingers closed.]
---------------------------------
[1] Thank,
pray and laud Allāhu ta'ālā.
[2] Prescribed blessing invoked on the Prophet's blessed soul.
It is written in Nimat-i Islām:[1] When beginning to perform namāz, a woman raises
both hands up to the level of her shoulders. While standing she puts her right
hand on the left hand. But she does not grasp her left wrist with the fingers
of her right hand. She puts her hands on her breast. While making rukū, her
hands are placed on the knees, but she does not grasp them. She keeps her
fingers closed together. She does not keep her legs straight, nor her back
level. While making sajda, she lowers herself, bringing her arms to her sides
while she keeps her abdomen placed over her thighs. She sits on the buttocks,
her legs inclined towards right. A woman cannot be an imām for men. It is
mekrūh for a woman to be an imām for other women. If they follow a man as imām,
they should be in the last line of the jamāat. If a woman is kissed (while
performing namāz), her namāz will be nullified. While performing namāz in
jamāat, if a woman stands beside or in front of a man, the mans namāz will be
fāsid (nullified). The man should signal to the woman to move behind. If she
does not do as she is beckoned, in that case, only the womans namāz will
become fāsid. In case of a baby crying or of food boiling over the fire,
leaving the namāz is permissible for a woman. A woman does not strecth her
hands forward while making duā, but she keeps them inclined towards her face.
---------------------------------
[1] Written by Hādji Muhammad Zihnī 'rahmatullāhi ta'ālā 'alaih'
(1262-1332 [1914 A.D.], Beylerbeyi,