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:

i was told by someone that when u r praying 4 farz rakaats alone, you dont need to recite ayaats in the last two rakaats? i was always suspicious of this being not true. can you tell me if this is infact true? 

(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:

What to recite in prayer when alone?

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.

There are several authentic narrations from the Messenger of Allah (saws) which state that it is obligatory to recite Surah Al-Fatihah in every rakah.

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (saws) said, "Whoever prays a prayer and does not recite the opening chapter of the Qur'an has not prayed correctly."

Related by Ahmad, Bukhari and Muslim.

Said Abu Sa'eed, "We were ordered to recite the opening chapter of the Qur'an in every rak'ah, and what (else) was easy (for us)."

Related by Abu Dawud. Al-Hafez and Ibn Sayyid an-Nass.

If one is praying any ‘salaat’ alone, be it two, or three, or four rakahs; or be it fard (obligatory) or nafl (voluntary), it is an obligatory condition of prayer to recite Surah Al-Fatehah in each and every rakah of the prayer. If one is praying alone, and does not recite the Surah Al-Fatehah in any rakah, his prayer will not be considered valid.

Ibadah ibn as-Samit related that the Prophet (saws) said, "There is no prayer for one who does not recite the opening of the Book. (Al-Fatihah)."

Related by Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, and others.

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