The wâjibs of namâz are to say (the sûra of) Fâtiha, to say one
additional sûra or âyat after the Fâtiha, to say the additional sûra in the
first and second rak’ats of the fard prayers and in every rak’at of the
sunnats, to make the (two) sajdas one right after the other, to sit as long as
the tashahhud in the second rak’at, to say the Attahiyyâtu
while sitting in the last rak’at, to make the ta’dîl-i arkân, i.e. to be still as long as to
say ‘Subhânallah’, [It is sunnat to be still longer than that.] to say
“essalâmu...” at the end of namâz, to say the qunût prayer, to say, for the
imâm, the âyats loudly in the prayers of morning, Friday, I’yd, Tarawih, Witr,
and in the first two rak’ats of evening and night prayers, and finally to
recite, for the imâm as well as for a person performing namâz by himself, the
âyats on the level of a whisper in the early and late afternoon prayers, in the
third rak’at of the evening prayer and in the third and fourth rak’ats of the
night prayer. It is written is Bezzâziyya that
it is not mekrûh for one’s recitation to be in a whisper to be heard by one or
two people and that ‘reciting loudly’ means having been heard by several
people.
It does not break namâz not to do one of the wâjibs of namâz knowingly.
Yet it is sinful. He who forgets or omits one of them must make the sajda-i sahw. He who forgets the zamm-i sûra in the first and second rak’ats of a
fard prayer of namâz says it in the third and fourth rak’ats, and he must make
the sajda-i sahw. If one remembers during the rukû’ that one has forgotten to
make the qirâat, one immediately straightens up, makes the qirâat and then
makes the rukû’. Also, a person who has made a fard or wâjib before or after
its prescribed time has to make the sajda-i sahw. For example, if a person says
one part of the additional sûra in the rukû’ or delays the third rak’at by
saying a small prayer after the attahiyyâtu, or if the imâm recites âyats very
softly instead of loudly or vice versa, the sajda-i sahw becomes necessary. The
sûras that are wâjib for the imâm to recite loudly are permissible for a person
who performs namâz by himself to recite loudly as well as softly. In case
several sajda-i sahws are necessary, making one will be enough. When the imâm
makes the sajda-i sahw, the jamâ’at also have to do it. If one person in the
jamâ’at makes a mistake he does not make the sajda-i sahw. A person who arrives
for the jamâ’at after the first rak’at makes the sajda-i sahw together with the
imâm, and then completes his namâz. When a person
forgets to sit and then remembers it while
standing up for the third rak’at, if his knees have already left the ground, he
does not sit down, but instead makes the sajda-i sahw. When a person stands up
instead of sitting in the last rak’at, if he remembers before prostrating, he
immediately sits down and (at the end) makes the sajda-i sahw because he has
delayed the sitting. If he remembers after prostrating (the extra part of) his
namâz which is fard becomes supererogatory. Making one more rak’at, he sits for
the sixth rak’at and then completes it. If he sits for the fourth rak’at as
long as the tashahhud and then stands up for the fifth rak’at instead of making
the salâm, and if he remembers this before going down for the sajda, he sits
down, recites what he has not recited of the tashahhud and then makes the salâm
and afterwards the sajda-i sahw. If he has already prostrated for the sajda, he
completes the sixth rak’at and makes the sajda-i sahw. Thus he has completed
the fard and has performed two rak’ats of the supererogatory. But, as declared
(by savants), these two rak’ats do not replace the final sunnats of the early
afternoon, evening or night prayer. For the sunnats are started with the takbîr
of tahrîma. It is permissible for a late comer to the mosque to begin following
the imâm even as the imâm makes the sajda-i sahw. It is wâjib for a person to
repeat the namâz in which he has knowingly omitted the sajda-i sahw, or has
knowingly omitted one of the wâjibs of the namâz, e.g. reciting the Fâtiha. If
he does not perform it again he becomes sinful. In Friday and ’Iyd prayers, the
imâm should not make the sajda-i sahw.
To make the sajda-i sahw, after making the salâm to one side, you make
two sajdas and then sit down to complete the namâz. It is also permissible to
make the sajda-i sahw after making the salâm to both sides as well as without
making the salâm at all.
If a person forgets how many rak’ats he has performed, and if this is
the first time it has happened, he must make the salâm and perform the namâz
again. If it is his habit to get confused, he thinks and performs it as he
strongly guesses to be correct. If he cannot guess strongly, he must judge from
the point of view that he has performed less of the namâz than he should have,
and complete it. If a person doubts whether he has performed a namâz, he
performs it if the time is not over yet. If the time is over, he does not
perform it.
If a person, getting confused on how many rak’ats of namâz he
has performed, thinks and thus extends one rukn by
one additional rukn and thereby delays the next rukn, he has to make the
sajda-i sahw, even if he said some âyats or tesbîhs in the interim. The fard
(rules that must be fulfilled) in namâz are called rukn.
Saying one âyat, the rukû, the two sajdas, and sitting in the last rak’at are
each a rukn. Thinking, when it delays a fard or wâjib, necessitates a sajda-i
sahw. For instance, if a person sitting in the last rak’at thinks and delays
the salâm, the sajda-i sahw will be necessary. When the extra salawâts and duâs
which one says are not intended to be sunnats but are due to wandering thoughts
and reveries, delaying the wâjib becomes a guilt. If one wonders whether one
has performed some other prayer of namâz, or if one thinks of a worldly affair,
the sajda-i sahw will not be necessary, even if it delays one rukn. If after
finishing the namâz you have doubts as to how many rak’ats you have performed,
this state is called having doubts. Just ignore it. If, after you have finished
a namâz, an honest[1] Muslim says that you have performed it wrongly,
you had better perform it again. If two true Muslims witness the same, it is
wâjib for you to perform it again. If the Muslim is not a sincere one, you must
disregard what he says. If the imâm says that they performed the namâz
correctly while the jamâ’at says that they performed it wrongly, if the imâm
trusts himself or if he has a witness, the namâz does not have to be performed
again.
If it is doubtful whether doing something is wâjib or bid’at, it is
better to do it. If the doubt is on whether it is bid’at or sunnat, it must not
be done. [See chapter 1].
If you doubt whether you said the takbîr of iftitâh, whether you made
an ablution, whether your clothes are clean, or whether you have made masah on
your head, and if this doubt happens for the first time, you break the namâz
and perform it again. But you do not have to perform an ablution, nor do you
have to wash your clothes. However, if this happens all the time, you do not
break the namâz, but go on and complete it.
SALÂT-I WITR - It is written in Mawqûfât: “Imâm-i a’zam ‘rahmatullâhi ’alaih’
said that the namâz of witr is wâjib, but the two imâms said that it is sunnat.
[It is sunnat in the Mâlikî and Shâfi’î Madhhabs, too.] Neither the azân nor
the iqâmat is said before it. Before bowing for the rukû’ in the third rak’at,
it is, always, wâjib to say a certain Arabic prayer. He who does not perform it
---------------------------------
[1] Please
see chapter 10 for a definition of 'âdil Muslim.
during its appointed time has to make qadâ of it.
It is necessary to make its niyyat (intention) as ‘the Witr’. The namâz of witr
consists of three rak’ats. You make the salâm after the third rak’at is
finished. You say the Fâtiha and the additional sûra in all three rak’ats. In
the third rak’at, after saying the zamm-i sûra, you raise both hands up to your
ears without hanging them down along your sides, and say ‘Allahu akbar.’ Then,
after fastening your hands without hanging them down along your sides, you say
the two well-known prayers of Qunût,
performance of which is wâjib. A person who does not know these prayers of
Qunût recites the istighfâr three times. For instance, he says, ‘Allahummaghfir
lî.’ Or he says the âyat of ‘Rabbanâ âtinâ...’ up to the end once. Prayers of
Qunût are not said in any namâz other than the Witr namâz. Only in Ramadân, the
Witr namâz is performed in jamâ’at. In Ramadân, those who do not perform the
fard of the night prayer in jama’at may not perform the tarâwih and witr in jamâ’at.
For the tarâwih is performed with the same jamâ’at with whom the night prayer
is performed. It is written in Hindiyya,
“A person (who is late for the fard) performs the fard individually and joins
the jama’at performing the tarâwih. Later he completes those rak’ats of tarâwih
which he has missed. One who has not performed the tarâwih in jamâ’at may
perform the witr behind the imâm with whom he has performed the fard. According
to a report, it is sahîh for a person who goes to another mosque after performing
the witr in jamâ’at to follow another imâm by intending for the fard or tarâwih
while the imâm is performing the fard or tarâwih, respectively. If he sees that
the tarâwih is being performed, he performs the fard individually in one corner
and then follows the imâm. If the imâm quickly bows for the rukû’, you must
catch up with the imâm in the rukû’ by saying (the Subhânaka...) quickly or by
leaving them half-finished. He who forgets the qunût does not say it after the
rukû’, but makes the sajda-i sahw at the end of the namâz. If the imâm does not
say the qunût, the jamâ’at does not say it, either. When an imâm in the Shâfi’î
Madhhab says the qunût after straightening up from the rukû’ in the morning
prayer, a person in Hanafî Madhhab who has been following him does not say the
qunût, but waits standing. Though it is very blessed to perform the witr namâz
after midnight, he who will not be able to wake up must perform it early, after
the final sunnat
of night prayer together with the night prayer.”
It is not sahîh to perform the namâz of witr before the fard of the night
prayer. To perform them in this order is wâjib according to Imâm-i a’zam. One
who performed it before the fard by mistake does not perform it again. But
according to the two Imâms, the namâz of witr follows the night prayer. It
should be performed again by the person who performed it before the fard of the
night prayer.
SAJDA-I TILÂWAT - There are âyats of sajda at fourteen places in the Qur’ân al-kerîm. For anyone who reads or hears one
of them, even if he does not understand its meaning, it is wâjib to make one
sajda (prostration). If a person is in a place where someone else is reading
it, but does not hear it, he does not make the sajda. A person who writes or
spells an âyat of sajda does not make the sajda. A person who hears or reads
its translation makes the sajda if he understands that it is an âyat of sajda.
It is wâjib for those people for whom it is fard to perform namâz to
make the sajda upon hearing a sajda-i tilâwat. For this reason, even a drunk or
junub person who hears the âyat of sajda has to make sajda when he performs an
ablution (later). If a person is so drunk that he is unconscious, it is not
wâjib for him to make the sajda neither when he himself says the âyat nor when
he hears it. According to (some) scholars, when a sleeping, unconscious or mad
person says the âyat, it is wâjib for those who hear him to make the sajda. But
it is more acceptable that when such people or birds recite the âyat, the sajda
should not be made. The reason for this is that their reading is not real,
correct reading. Real reading means the reading whereby you understand that you
are reading the Qur’ân al-kerîm. If a
child is old enough to realize what he is doing, those who hear his reciting
the âyat have to make the sajda. If he is smaller, it is not necessary. To be
exempted from performing namâz, a mad person must have been mad for (a duration
of time covering) at least six prayer times. To be exempted from fasting, he
must have been insane day and night for a month, and exemption from giving the
zakât requires him having been insane continuously for one year. Yet, no matter
what time, if he reads the âyat while he is insane, the sajda is not necessary.
If he says it while he is sane, the sajda is necessary. The sajda is not wâjib
for those who hear the echo of the âyat reflected from mountains, deserts or
other places or for those who hear it from birds. When the âyat of sajda is
read or written syllable by syllable, the sajda is not necessary. It is wâjib
for Muslims to make the sajda when they hear a
disbeliever read the âyat. It is written in Durr-ul-muntaqâ[1] that, “It must be a human voice.” The sound that
is heard on the radio, as it will be explained with more detail later, is not
human voice, but it is the reproduction of lifeless metal which sounds similar
to the voice of the person reading the Qur’ân. Therefore, it is written in Al-fiqh-u-alal-Madhhâhib-il-erba’a that “It is
not wâjib for a person hearing the âyat of sajda read on a phonograph
[gramophone, tape recorder or radio] to make the sajda of tilâwat.”
To make the sajda of tilâwat, with an ablution, you stand towards the
qibla, say Allahu akbar without lifting
your hands up to the ears, and prostrate for the sajda. In the sajda you say Subhâna rabbiyal-a’lâ three times. Then while
standing up you say Allahu akbar to
complete the sajda. It is necessary to make the niyyat first. Without the
niyyat it is not acceptable. In case you have to say (an âyat of tilâwat) while
performing namâz, you immediately make an additional rukû’ or sajda, and then
stand up and go on with your recitation (of the Qur’ân). If you bow for the
rukû’ of namâz after saying a couple of normal âyats after the âyat of sajda
and if you intend for the sajda of tilâwat while doing so, the rukû’ or the
sajdas of the namâz will stand for the sajda of tilâwat. When performing namâz
in jamâ’at, in the event that the imâm says an âyat of sajda, you make an
additional rukû’ and two sajdas together with the imâm, even if you did not
hear the imâm say the âyat. The jamâ’at must make niyyat in the rukû’. Outside
of namâz, the sajda of tilâwat may be postponed until some other time. Also, a
person who is junub or without an ablution or drunk has to make if after
purifying himself. When a woman in her monthly period hears the âyat it is not
wâjib for her to make the sajda. He who reads the same âyat of sajda several
times at one sitting, or who hears it read, makes one sajda for all the
readings. So is the case with saying the prayer of salawât upon saying or
hearing the blessed name of Hadrat Muhammad ‘sall-allâhu alaihi wa sallam’. If
two âyats of sajda are read in one gathering, two sajdas are necessary. A
person who hears an âyat of sajda being read while he is performing namâz makes
the sajda after namâz.
---------------------------------
[1] Written by 'Alâ'uddîn Haskafî 'rahmatullâhi ta'âlâ 'alaih', (1021, Haskaf- 1088 [1677 A.D.].)
It is written at the end of the chapters concerning the sajda-i tilâwat
in the books Durr-ul-mukhtâr and Nûr-ul-îzâh: “Imâm-i Nasafî (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’alaih) says in his book Kâfî that if a
person, in order to relieve himself from sorrow and distress, entreats Allahu
ta’âlâ by heart, recites the fourteen âyats of sajda [standing], and prostrates
for the sajda after reciting each, Allâhu ta’âlâ will protect him against
troubles and disasters.” When standing up after the last sajda, he holds out
his hands, and prays so that he himself and all Muslims will be rescued and
protected from the disasters and troubles falling upon their world and upon
Islam.
The Sajda of Shukr (gratitude)
is like the sajda of tilâwat. It is mustahab for a person who has been given a
blessing or who has been rescued from a calamity to make the sajda of shukr for
Allâhu ta’âlâ. In the sajda he first says, “Al-hamd-u-lillâh.”
Then he says the tesbîhs of sajda. It is mekrûh to make the sajda of shukr
after namâz. It is written in the hundred and twenty-fourth letter of the first
volume of Mektûbât-i Ma’thûmiyya. Also,
it is tahrîmî mekrûh to do those mubâhs (things, actions permitted by Islam)
which the ignorant may think sunnat or wâjib. It causes further invention of bid’ats.
While describing the namâz of Witr, the book Radd-ul-mukhtâr states: “Commandments that are fard (necessary, compulsory) both to believe and
to do are called fard. He who disbelieves a fard becomes a disbeliever. He who
does not perform it will be tormented in Hell if he does not repent and make
his tawba. Those commandments that are not fard but wâjib
(necessary) to believe and fard to do are called wâjib. He who disbelieves the
fact that something is wâjib does not become a disbeliever. He who does not do
a wâjib will be tormented in Hell, too, if he does not make his tawba. He who
disbelieves the fact that the wâjib is an act of worship and necessary to
perform, becomes a disbeliever. For it has been declared unanimously (by
savants) and indispensably that it is wâjib. Those commandments that are
declared in the Qur’ân al-kerîm clearly
and which have been understood unanimously are called fard. Those commandments
that are declared unclearly in the Qur’ân or which have been communicated by
only one Sahâbî are called wâjib.
There are four groups of witnesses and documents teaching
the Sharî’at. The first group are those whose
proof and specific meaning are certain. In this group are those âyats that are
understood clearly and those hadîths that have been communicated by tawâtur, that is, unanimously, and which are
clearly understood. The second group are those with a certain proof and an
inferred meaning. Those âyats that cannot be understood clearly are in this
category. The third group are those with an inferred proof but a certain
meaning. Those clear hadîths reported by only one Sahâbî are in this group.
Both the proof and the meaning of the fourth group are inferred. In this group
are hadîths that are reported by one Sahâbî and which cannot be understood
clearly. The first group includes the fards and the harâms; the second and the
third groups include the wâjibs and the tahrîmî mekrûhs, and the fourth group
includes the sunnats, the mustahabs and tenzîhî mekrûhs. It is bid’at to refuse a report from one Sahâbî, or
qiyâs, without a sound explanation.”
Come on, let's make namâz, and wipe the
rust off our hearts;
There's no approach to Allah, unless namâz is performed!
Where namâz is performed, sins are all
dumped;
Man can never be perfect, unless namâz is performed!
Allâhu ta'âlâ praises namâz much in Qur'ân
al-kerîm;
"I won't love thee," He says, "unless namâz is performed!
A hadîth-i-sherîf reads: Symptom of îmân
will not
Manifest itself on man, unless namâz is performed!
To omit one single namâz is a sin, a
gravest one;
Tawba will not absolve thee, unless qadâ is performed!
He who slights namâz will lose his îmân,
outright;
One cannot be a Muslim, unless namâz is performed!
Namâz'll purify thine heart, and keep
thee from evils;
Thou canst never be enlightened, unless namâz is performed!