What to recite in each rakah?
Mu' meneen
Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
Assalaamualaikum
I have a few unrelated
questions.
1. Do we have to read surahs after surah fatiha in all 4 rakahs in 4 sunnahs (in duhrr for example)?
2. Do djinns
fast?
3. Should we accept
dinner invitations by hindus?
(There may be some
grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not
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Answer:
What to recite in each rakah?
In the
name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness.
Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray,
none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no
person, no grave, no prophet, no imam,
no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Q-1: Do we have to read surahs
after surah fatiha in all 4
rakahs in 4 sunnahs (in duhrr for example)?
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith
1.723 Narrated by Ubada bin As Samit
The Messenger of Allah (saws) said, "Whoever does not recite
Al-Fatiha in his prayer, his prayer is invalid."
The
reciting of Surah Fatehah
in every rakah of the prayer is an obligatory
condition of prayer, without which the prayer would be deemed invalid.
It is the
Sunnah or tradition of the Messenger of Allah (saws)
that he would recite a Surah or a part of it after
the recitation of Surah Fatehah
in the first two rakahs of all the ‘fard’ or obligatory prayers; and recite only Surah Fatehah alone in the 3rd
and/or 4th rakahs.
It is
also the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) to
recite a Surah or part of it after the recitation of Surah Fatehah in all the
voluntary (Sunnah or Nafl)
prayers; regardless of whether one prays two, four, ten or a hundred rakahs of the voluntary prayers.
If one
prays only Surah Fatehah
alone in the prayers, his prayer will still be deemed valid; but it would be
best to follow the Sunnah and pray a Surah or a part of it after the recitation of Surah Fatehah.
But if
one does not recite Surah Fatehah
in any rakah of the prayer, that prayer will be
deemed invalid.
Q-2: Do djinns fast?
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 72 Surah Jinn verses 1-2:
1 Say (O Mohamed): “It has been revealed to me that a company of Jinns listened (to the Qur'an). They say `We have really heard a wonderful
Recital!
2 It gives guidance to the Right, and we have believed therein: We
shall not join (in worship) any (gods) with our Lord.”
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 72 Surah Jinn verses 14-15:
14 (The Jinns
said): “Amongst us are some that submit their wills (to Allah) and
some that swerve from justice. Now those
who submit their wills they have sought out (the path) of right conduct:
15 But those who swerve, they are (but) fuel
for Hell Fire”
In light
of the above guidance from the Holy Quran, it is
evident that although the Jinns might follow a
different Shariah or Law, the basic belief of ‘Tauheed’ (Oneness of Allah) and the belief of the concept
of ‘Aakheraah’ (Hereafter) is exactly the same.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 183:O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed
to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint.
The Jinns and mankind are two creations of the Lord, who are
given a free will, and thus will have an accounting in the Court of Allah Subhanah on the Day of Judgement
according to their deeds.
The only
knowledge mankind has about the life of the Jinns is
what is mentioned in the Quran and the Sunnah. Fasting is a
form of worship which Allah says in the Glorious Quran
that it has been prescribed to those before us; thus it would be safe to assume
that fasting would have been prescribed to the Jinns
by Allah Subhanah in their Shariah. And Allah Alone Knows Best.
Q-3: Should we accept dinner
invitations by hindus?
There is
absolutely no harm if one accepts dinner or food of the people who are
polytheists (Hindus, Buddhists, etc.); provided the food in its essence is not
declared haraam by Allah and His Messenger
(saws).
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 3: Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of
swine, and that on which hath been invoked the name of other than Allah, that
which hath been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong
fall, or by being gored to death, that which hath been (partly) eaten by a wild
animal; unless ye are able to slaughter it (in due form); that which is sacrificed
on stone (altars); (forbidden) also is the division (of meat) by raffling with
arrows: that is impiety
Thus if a
polytheist or even a muslim
serves any of the above forbidden foods, it will be considered haraam for the believers.
But if
the polytheist serves vegetables, or fruits, or flesh of halaal
animals slaughtered by a believer, etc. then all such food would be considered halaal food for the believers to consume; even if it is
served or cooked by the polytheists.
Regarding
the permissibility of invitations from polytheists, there is absolutely no harm
in accepting invitations if one of them invites you socially, or invites you to
celebrate a personal or non-religious occasion like a job-promotions party, or
a graduation party, etc. The Messenger of Allah (saws) accepted invitations and
ate halaal food served by the non-muslims.
But if a
polytheist invites you to one of his religious ceremonies like Diwali, or Holi, or Dasera, etc. which would obviously consist of their acts of
‘shirk’; the believers should not accept such invitations, nor eat food served
at such gatherings;
for all such food would be considered haraam
in light of the above Aayah of the Glorious Quran: ‘Forbidden to you (for food) are: …..and that on which hath been
invoked the name of other than Allah.’
Whatever
written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance,
and whatever of error is of me. Allah
Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in Islam,
Wister