recite in the obligatory and naafil prayers?
Praise be to Allaah.
The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to recite
at length in Fajr and Zuhr prayer, a moderate amount in 'Asr and
'Isha', and briefly in Maghrib, in which he would recite short
soorahs.
He (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) would sometimes recite
longer passages than this or he would make it shorter, according to
the situation.
It was narrated from Sulaymaan ibn Yasaar from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah
be pleased with him) who said: I never prayed behind anyone whose
prayer was more like that of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) than So and so. Sulaymaan said: He would
make the first two rak'ahs of Zuhr lengthy, and the last two shorter;
he would make 'Asr brief; in Maghrib he would recite the short soorahs
from al-mufassal; in 'Isha' he would recite medium-length soorahs from
al-mufassal; and in Fajr he would recite long soorahs from
al-mufassal.
Narrated by an-Nasaa'i (972); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani inSaheeh
Sunan an-Nasaa'i.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The lengthy soorahs of al-mufassal are from Qaaf (50) to an-Naba'
(78); from an-Naba' to ad-Duha (93) they are medium length; and from
ad-Duha to the end they are short.
End quote fromash-Sharh al-Mumti', 3/75
Ibn Battaal (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The scholars are
unanimously agreed that the longest of the prayers is the recitation
in Fajr… Then he quoted a number of reports from the Sahaabah (may
Allah be pleased with them)… Then he said: This difference of opinion
among the early generation indicates that they understood from the
Messenger that it is permissible to make the recitation in Fajr prayer
long or short, and that there is no set limit in that beyond which it
is not permissible to go. It may be, and Allah knows best, that those
among the Sahaabah who recited at length knew that the people praying
behind them were eager to make the prayer lengthy. But nowadays it is
more appropriate to make the prayer brief, because among the people
are those who are sick or elderly or who need to go about their
business, as the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
said to Mu'aadh and as Maalik said there may be a man who wants to go
back to his work or who may be needed to help others when he is
praying Fajr and Zuhr, so it is recommended for the imam to recite a
short soorah. The same applies to the traveller; people praying behind
him may want him to keep it brief.
End quote fromSharh Saheeh al-Bukhaari, 2/385
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
It is best for the imam to seek to emulate the prayer of the Messenger
of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and the way in
which he led his Companions in prayer. Rather this is what is
prescribed and is what the Imams enjoined, as it is proven
inas-Saheehthat the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
said to Maalik ibn al-Huwayrith and his companion: "When the time for
prayer comes, give the adhaan (call to prayer) and the iqaamah (call
immediately preceding the prayer), let one of you lead the other in
prayer and pray as you have seen me praying." And it is proven
inas-Saheehthat he used to recite in Fajr prayer something between
sixty and one hundred verses, which is between approximately one third
and one half of a juz', of which there are thirty. So he would recite
the lengthy soorahs of al-mufassal such as Qaaf (50), "Alif-Laam-Meem
tanzeel", and al-Mulk (67); and he would recite Soorat al-Mu'minoon
(23), as-Saaffaat (37) and so on… And sometimes he would make it
brief, either because he was travelling or for some other reason, as
he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "I may start to
pray, intending to make it lengthy, then I hear the crying of a child
so I make it brief because of what I know of his mother's concern for
him." And it was narrated from him that he used to recite in Fajr
Soorat at-Takweer (81) and Soorat az-Zalzalah (99). So the imam should
usually do what the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
usually used to do, then if there is a purpose to be served by making
it longer than that or shorter than that, then he should do so, as the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) sometimes used to
do more than that or less than that.
And Allah knows best.
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