The Ahulbayt in Quran [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Prayer (Salat),According to Five Islamic Schools ofLa

(Part I)

By: 'Allamah Muhammad Jawad Maghniyya Translated from the Arabic by Mujahid Husayn

Salat (prayer) is either obligatory (wajib) or supererogatory (mandub).

The most important of prayers are the obligatory prayers performed daily five times, and there is consensus among Muslims that a person who denies or doubts their wujub is not a Muslim, even if he recites theshahadah, for these prayers are among the 'pillars' (arkan) of Islam. They are the established necessity of the faith (al-Din) that doesn't need any ijtihad or study, taqlid.

The Daily Supererogatory Prayers (Rawatib):

Supererogatory prayers are of various kinds, and among them are those

which are performed along with the obligatory daily prayers (fara'id).

Theschools differ regarding the number of their rak'ahs. The Shafi'is consider them to be eleven rak'ahs: two before the morning (subh) prayer, two before the noon (zuhr) prayer and two after it, two after the sunset(maghrib) prayer, two after the night ('isha') prayer and a single rak'ah called 'al-watirah'

The Hanbalis consider them to be ten rak'ahs; two rak'ahs before and after the noon prayer, two after the sunset and The night prayer, and two rak'ahs before The morning prayer.

According to the Malikis there is no fixed number for the supererogatory (nawafil) prayers performed with the obligatorysalat, Though it is best to offer four rak'ahs before the zuhr and six after the maghrib prayer.

The Hanafis classify the nawafil performed along with the fara'id into 'masnunah' and 'mandubah'.

(1) The 'masnunah' are five: two rak'ahs before the subh; four before the zuhr, and two after it, except on Friday;

two after the maghrib and two after the 'isha' prayer.

The 'mandubah' are four: four -or two- rak'ahs before the 'asr, six after the maghrib, and four before and after the 'isha' prayer.

The Imamis observe: The rawatib are 34 rak'ahs: eight before the zuhr, eight before the 'asr, four after the maghrib, two after the 'isha'

(recited while sitting and counted as a single rak'ah; it is called 'al watirah'), eight rak'ahs of the midnight prayer (salatal-layl), two rak'ahs of al-shaf', a single of al-watr,(2) and two rak'ahs before the morning prayer, called 'salat al-fajr'.

The time of Zuhr and 'Asr Prayers:

The fuqaha' begin with salat al-zuhr, because it was the first salat to be declared obligatory, followed by the 'asr, the maghrib, the 'isha' and the subh prayer, in that order.

All the five prayers were made obligatory on the night of Prophet's cosmic journey (al 'Isra'),

nine years after the beginning of his mission (bi'thah).

Those who hold

this opinion cite as proof verse 78 of the Surat al-'Isra' which

stipulates all the five prayers:

" Perform salat from the declining of the sun to the darkening of the

night and the recital of the dawn; surely the recital of the dawn is

witnessed.

" (17:78)

The schools concur that salat is not valid if performed before its

appointed time and that the time of the zuhr prayer sets in when the sun

passes the meridian.

They differ concerning its duration.

The Imamis say: The specific period of the zuhr prayer extends from

the moment the sun crosses the meridian up to a period required to perform

it, and the specific period of the 'asr prayer is the duration required to

perform it just before sunset.

The time between these two specific periods

is the common period for the two salats.

This is the reason they consider

it valid to perform both the prayers successively during their common

period.

(3) But if the time remaining for the end of the day is sufficient

only for performing the zuhr prayer, the 'asr prayer will be offered first

with the niyyah of ada' and later the zuhr prayer will be performed as

qada'.

The four Sunni schools observe: The time of the zuhr prayer begins

when the sun crosses the meridian and continues till the shadow of an

object becomes as long as its height; and when the length of the shadow

exceeds the height of the object, the time for the zuhr prayer comes to an

end.

Here the Shafi'is and the Malikis add: These limits are for an

unconstrained person (mukhtar), and for one who is constrained (mudarr),

the time for zuhr prayer extends even after an object's shadow equals its

height.

The Imamis consider the time when an object's shadow equals its

height as the end of the time of fadilah (honor) for the zuhr, and when it

equals twice the height of the object as the time of fadilah for the 'asr

prayer.

The Hanafis and the Shafi'is state: The time of 'asr prayer begins

when the length of an object's shadow exceeds its height and continues up

to sunset.

The Malikis say: For the 'asr prayer there are two times, the first

for ordinary circumstances and the second for exigencies.

The former

begins with an object's shadow exceeding its height and lasts until the

sun turns pale.

The latter begins from when the sun turns pale and

continues until sunset.

The Hanbalis observe: One who delays offering the 'asr prayer till

after an object's shadow exceeds twice its height, his salat will be

considered ada' if performed before sunset, though he will have sinned

because it is haram to delay it until this time.

They are alone in all the

schools in holding this opinion.

The Time of Maghrib and 'Isha' Prayers:

The Shafi'i and the Hanbali schools (in accordance with the view of

their respective Imams) state: The time for the maghrib prayer begins when

the sun sets and ends when there radish after glow on the western horizon

vanishes.

The Malikis say: The duration for the maghrib prayer is narrow

and confined to the time required after sunset to perform the maghrib

prayer along with its preliminaries of taharah and adhan, and it is not

permissible to delay it voluntarily.

But in an emergency, the time for the

maghrib prayer extends until dawn.

The Malikis are alone in considering it

impermissible to delay the maghrib prayer beyond its initial time.

The Imamis observe: The period specific to the maghrib prayer extends

from sunset(4) for a duration required to perform it, and the specific

period of the 'isha' prayer is the duration required to finish it before

midnight.

The time between these two specific periods is the common time

for both maghrib and 'isha' prayers.

Hence they allow the joint

performance of these two salats during this common time.

That was with respect to someone who is in a position to act out of

free choice (mukhtar), but as to a person constrained by sleep or

forgetfulness, the time for these two salats extend until dawn, with the

period specific for the 'isha' prayer becoming the time required to

perform it just before dawn and the specific period for the maghrib prayer

becoming the time required to perform it just after midnight.

The Time of subh Prayer:

There is consensus among The schools, with the exception of the

Maliki, that the time for the morning prayer begins at day-break (al fajr

al-sadiq) and lasts until sunrise.

The Malikis say: The subh prayer has

two times: for one in a position to act out of free choice it begins with

daybreak and lasts until there is enough twilight for faces to be

recognized; for one in constrained circumstances it begins from the time

when faces are recognizable and continues up to sunrise.

_____ NOTE: THE NUMBERS FOLLOWING SOME TERMS ARE MARKS FOR FOOTNOTES THAT WILL

BE APPENDED IN SHAA ALLAH IN THE NEXT PART.

**************************************************************************

Prayer (Salat),

According to Five Islamic Schools of Law

(Part II)

By: 'Allamah Muhammad Jawad Maghniyyah

Ignorance of the Qiblah (direction):

It is wajib for a person ignorant of the qiblah to inquire and

strive to determine its exact or approximate direction, and in case

neither of the two is possible, the four Sunni schools and a group from

among the Imamis say: He may perform salat in any direction; his salat

will be valid and it will not be wajib for him to repeat it except in the

opinion of the Shafi'is.

Most Imamis observe: He will perform Salat in

four directions to comply with the command for salat and to ascertain its

proper performance.

But if there isn't sufficient time for performing

salat four times or if one is incapable of performing it in four

directions, he may perform, salat in the directions that he can.

A Subsidiary Issue:

If a person prays not facing the qiblah and comes to know about

his mistake, the Imamis state: If the error is known during the salat and

the correct qiblah lies between his two hands, the part of the salat

already performed will be valid and he will have to correct his direction

for the remaining part of the salat.

But if it is known that he has been

praying facing the right or the left (90 degree off the direction) or his

back towards the qiblah (180 degree off the direction), the salat will be

invalid and he will perform it anew.

If the error is known after