Al Minah Al `Aliyyah (14)

Isti’adhah (seeking Allah’s refuge): It is from the Sunnah and also recommended to implement different formulae from time to time. Among the formulae is the following:

“I seek refuge with Allah against the cursed devil.”  This is the formula that most scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) chose and Allah, the Almighty, said the following about it,

ﮋ ﮝ  ﮞ  ﮟ   ﮠ  ﮡ  ﮢ  ﮣ  ﮤ  ژ

“So when you want to recite the Qur’an, seek refuge with Allah from Shaitan (Satan), the outcast (the cursed one).” (16:98)

                  أعوذ بالله السميع العليم من الشيطان الرجيم

“I seek refuge with Allah, the All-Hearer, the All-Knower, against the cursed devil,” and Allah, the Almighty says the following about it,

ﮋ ﮩ  ﮪ  ﮫ  ﮬ    ﮭ        ﮮ  ﮯﮰ  ﮱ    ﯓ    ﯔ  ﯕژ

“And if an evil whisper from Shaitan (Satan) tries to turn you away (O Muhammad) (from doing good, etc.), then seek refuge in Allah. Verily, He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.”                                                 (41:36)

Basmalah (i.e. to say, بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ “In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.”): It is Sunnah to say it after seeking Allah’s refuge and one should say, “In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.” Nu’aim al-Mujmir t narrated, “I prayed behind Abu Hurairah and he recited: ‘In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,’ then he recited Umm Al-Qur’an (Al- Fatihah), and when he reached: ‘not (the way) of those who earned Your anger, nor of those who went astray,’ he said: ‘Ameen’ and the people said ‘Ameen.’ And every time he prostrated he said, ‘Allahu Akbar’ and when he stood up from sitting after two rak’ahs he said: ‘Allahu Akbar.’ And after he had said the Salam he said: ‘By the One in Whose Hand is my soul! My prayer most closely remembers the prayer of the Messenger of Allah.’”^[1] 

What this shows is that it is not obligatory as when the Prophet r taught the man who was making some mistakes in his prayer and as is narrated by Abu Hurairah t. ^[2]

To say “Ameen” when the Imam finishes reciting Al-Fatihah: It is Sunnah to say it when the Imam finishes Al-Fatihah in the loud prayers. Abu Hurairah t narrated that the Prophet r said,

“Say Ameen when the Imam says it and if your Ameen coincides with that of the angels, then all the past sins will be forgiven.”^[3]

 The meaning of this word is: O Allah! Respond to our supplication.

 Reciting a chapter after al Fatihah: Reading it is Sunnah in the first two rak’ahs as agreed by the majority of scholars  (may Allah have mercy on them all). Abu Qatadaht narrated, “The Messenger of Allah r led us in prayer and recited Surat al-Fatihah in the first two rak’ahs of the noon and afternoon prayers and then prayed two other chapters.  Sometimes he would recite the verses loud enough for us to hear them and would prolong the first rak’ah more than the second.  He did the same in the morning prayer.”^[4] Moreover, there is the saying of Allah’s Messenger r,

“There is no (valid) prayer for the person who does not recite Surat-al Fatihah.”^[5] It can be concluded from this hadith, that it is valid just to recite Al-Fatihah with no other surah thereafter. As for the follower of the Imam, he does not need to read the second Surah after Al-Fatihah in the loud prayers, he just listens to the recitation of the Imam. Ibn Qudamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said, “There is no disagreement among the scholars with regards to reciting a chapter after Al-Fatihah in the first and second rak’ahs in every prayer.” ^[6]