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:

If i select one big sura in faraz prayer, for example: Sura Yasiin, if i start reading from the 1st ayath, till which ayath i will end for 1st rakath, how i will decide that? and is there any way to know where i will start and where i will end the sura during fara preyer?

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Answer:

How many aayahs read in prayer?

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.

Beloved Brother, the recitation of the other verses of the Quran in any rakah of prayer is not an obligatory condition of prayer like the recitation of Surah Fatehah, but rather it is a preferred Sunnah or a preferred voluntary act of prayer. If one, for some reason, forgets to recite other verses of the Quran after the recitation of Surah Fatehah in a rakah of prayer, his prayer will still be regarded as absolutely valid in the sight of Shariah.

Your Question: If i select one big sura in faraz prayer, for example: Sura Yasiin, if i start reading from the 1st ayath, till which ayath i will end for 1st rakath, how i will decide that?

Since the recitation of the other verses of the Quran after the recitation of Surah Fatehah are a voluntary act of prayer, one may recite as few or as many verses as is easy for one to recite. If one wishes to recite only three Aayahs in each rakah, that would be sufficient; and if one wishes to recite the whole of Surah Yaa-Seen in one rakah, that would be excellent.

Please do bear in mind that the Messenger of Allah (saws) permitted and encouraged the recitation of long Surahs only in one’s individual prayers; but if one is leading a congregation prayer as an ‘imaam’, then it would be best to recite small Surahs.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 1.671 Narrated by Abu Huraira

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "If anyone of you leads the people in the prayer, he should shorten it for amongst them are the weak, the sick and the old; and if anyone among you prays alone then he may prolong (the prayer) as much as he wishes."

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