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:

aswk brother. This is the second time I am posting this ques. why such delay? I also don`t recv any of your mails. Infact your name of the site is also changed. There r several questions regarding salah: Firstly,wht if we do not pray two rakah sunnah (prayed before fard) of fajr prayer?

Secondly, When is our fard (attn: not Salah) said to be nullified? Wht if while praying we happen to see any insect passing by, Or wht if we happen to see accidently things out of ‘massalla’ ?

Thirdly wht one shud recite after Adhan and before Iqamah in all the prayers if one is not praying sunnah? Please clear these ques. with the help of Qur’an.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Fard and Sunnah prayers questions

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: This is the second time I am posting this ques. why such delay?

We sincerely and humbly apologize to you and to Allah Subhanah for the delay in replying to you and to all our brothers and sisters on the forum who post their questions in search for the Knowledge of Truth. Allah is our witness, we try our level best, within our limited capacities to answer your questions on a first come first served basis, unless of course something is extremely urgent. All the answers are formed by only one person, and being a human being he too has some duties and responsibilities towards his livelihood and family.

We sincerely hope and pray that you will accept our apologies and we assure you that we will do our very best to answer your questions as soon as humanly possible. May Allah Subhanah forgive us our shortcomings, and accept this humble service of ours in His Cause.

Q-2: I also don`t recv any of your mails.

All Praise is due to Allah Subhanah Alone, Who blessed this humble service to reach tens of thousands of believers. Due to the heavy load, we had to change the main servers; and unfortunately that may have resulted in some email addresses being deleted without our knowledge.

We assure you that we will re-activate your email address on our server, and if Allah Wills, you should get regular emails from us on your address.

Q-3: Infact your name of the site is also changed.

We started this humble service to help the brothers and sisters from a particular sect; but in time, due only to the Mercy of Allah Subhanah, we got a lot of inquires from muslims and non-muslims alike; and the moderators of this forum decided to expand our forum to serve the general Ummah, which resulted in changing our site name to ‘islamhelpline.com’.

Q-4: Firstly,wht if we do not pray two rakah sunnah (prayed before fard) of fajr prayer?

Abu Hurairah (r.a.) reports that the Prophet (saws) said: "Do not leave the two (Sunnah) rak'at of the fajr, even if you are being attacked by a cavalry."

Related by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, al-Baihaqi, and at-Tahawi.

Aishah (r.a.) says: "The Messenger of Allah (saws) was not so particular about observing any voluntary prayer as he was in observing the two rak'at before salatul fajr."

Related by al-Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad, and Abu Dawud.

Aishah (r.a.) reported that the Prophet said: "The two rak'at of the fajr are better than this world and all it contains."

Related by Ahmad, Muslim, at-Tirmidhi, and an-Nasa'i.

Abu Hurairah (r.a.) reports that the Prophet (saws) said: "Whoever fails to pray the two [sunnah] rak'at of the fajr until the sun rises, [he should then] pray them."

Related by al-Baihaqi.

The two rakahs of prayer before the Fajr obligatory prayer is a Preffered Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws). And as for the one who missed any voluntary (Sunnah or Nafl) prayers, the most one can say is that the person lost the opportunity to gain a huge reward from Allah Subhanah.

Q-5: Secondly, When is our fard (attn: not Salah) said to be nullified?

Prayer whether obligatory or voluntary will be broken or nullified if one of the following is done:

One who is in prayer intends to break his prayer and walk away.

Passes wind while in prayer.

Vocally talks about anything other than what is to be recited in prayer.

Behaves or moves or looks around in a way, where one observing him would think the person is not in prayer.

Q-6: Wht if while praying we happen to see any insect passing by, Or wht if we happen to see accidently things out of ‘massalla’ ?

If one happens to glance or sees an insect or anything else, it will not effect the validity of the prayer.

But if one sees any insect or animal which might harm him like a scorpion, or a snake, etc.; one may kill the poisonous insect or animal and continue his prayer.

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 2.83

Killing a snake, scorpion or other harmful animals

If killing these would only require a small action on the part of the person in salah, then there is no harm in doing it. Abu Hurairah (r.a.) reported that the Prophet (saws) said: "Kill the snake and the scorpion during the salah."

Related by Ahmad, at-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, an-Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah.

Q-7: Thirdly wht one shud recite after Adhan and before Iqamah in all the prayers if one is not praying sunnah?

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 6.243 Narrated by Jabir bin Abdullah

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said, "Whoever, after listening to the Adhan (for the prayer) says, 'O Allah, the Lord of this complete call and of this prayer, which is going to be established! Give Muhammad Al-Wasila and Al-Fadila and raise him to Al-Maqam-al-Mahmud which You have promised him,' will be granted my intercession for him on the Day of Resurrection."

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 1.100

After the adhan, one should make individual supplications, as that is the time when they will most likely be accepted. Anas (r.a.) reported that the Prophet (saws) said, "A supplication made between the adhan and the iqamah is not rejected." Related by Abu Dawud, an-Nasa'i, and at-Tirmidhi, who called it hassan sahih, and added "They (the companions) asked, 'What should we say, O Messenger of Allah (saws)?' He (saws) responded, 'Ask Allah for forgiveness and well-being in this world and the Hereafter." 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr related that a man said, "O Messenger of Allah (saws), the callers to prayer get more virtues than us." He (saws) said, "Say what they say and when they finish, ask and it shall be given." (Related by Abu Dawud.)

On the same subject, reported Umm Salamah, "The Prophet (saws), taught me to say (after) the sunset call to prayer, 'O Allah, this is the beginning of Your night and the end of Your day. I have supplicated to You, so forgive me."

One may pray two rakah voluntary prayers between the Adhaan and the Iqaamah, or recite the Quran, or remember Allah Subhanah and make sincere supplications to Him.

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,

Burhan