Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed

If I do my wudu and want to pray two rak’ahs that are recommended after wudu, do I have to pray them immediately after wudu, or can I delay them? If delaying them is permissible, how long can I delay them for?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيمالحمد لله رب العالمين و صلى الله على سيدنا محمد و على آله و صحبه و سلم أما بعد

You can delay as long as the delay is not considered “long” by common acknowledgment (‘urf). Otherwise, it’s time expires and it can’t be made up. The delay is considered “long” if it is longer than the time to pray two brief rak‘ahs after having read the sunnah dhikr [m: after wudu] and Surah Al-Qadr [m: surah 97] three times. (Bughya Al-Mustarshideen, p. 24)

Shaykh Amjad Rasheed
Amman, Jordan
(Translated by Shaykh Moustafa Elqabbany and Shaykh Hamza Karamali)

السؤال :إذا توضأتُ وأردت أن أصلي الركعتين التي هي سنةُ الوضوء هل عليَّ أن أصلي تلك الركعتين فوراً بعد الوضوء أم يجوز لي أن أأخرهما ، وإن كان التأخير جائزاً فما هي المدة التي يجوز التأخير له ؟ الجواب : يجوز لك التأخيرُ ما لم يكن طويلاً عرفاً ، وإلا فاتت ولا تُقضى ، وضابطُ طولِ الفصل هنا : أن يزيد الفصلُ على الذكر المأثور وقراءة ( إنا أنزلناه في ليلة القدر ) ثلاثاً بقدر ركعتين خفيفتين . كما في “بغية المسترشدين” ( ص 24 )

Q&A, Sunnipath

Answered by Shaykh Hamza Karamali, SunniPath Academy Teacher

Should I perform Witr in congregation if I haven’t completed all 20 rakats of Tarawih prayers? Can Tarawih be completed after Witr has been prayed?

Answered by Sidi Hamza Karamali

wa `alaykum as salam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh Sidi

I pray all is well with you. Here are the answers to your questions:

(1) It is sunna to pray witr is congregation (during Ramadan) even if

one hasn’t prayed tarawih yet (although best, if possible to pray

witr in congregation after having prayed tarawih).

(2) It is valid to complete one’s tarawih after praying witr. The

time for tarawih is the same as the time for the witr prayer, meaning

that it enters after praying isha and exits at dawn.

Q&A, Sunnipath

Answered by Shaykh Hamza Karamali, SunniPath Academy Teacher
I have a few doubts concerning the sajdah tilawat (prostration of recital)
1. What are the criteria to determine that a verse of the Quran requires sajda when recited (sajda tilawat)?
2. Why do we (the Shafi’is) consider the verse in surah al-Hajj to be of this kind and others such as the Hanafis do not?
3. Why do we not consider the verse in surah Saad to be of sajda tilawat and others such as the Hanafis do?
4. During this Ramadhan, I prayed behind an Imam who missed or omitted deliberately (I’m not sure) quite a few sajdas of tilawat. He just carried on past the verse and went into ruku’ as normal after some verses. What should I do in such a situation? Do I make the sajdah tilawat after the taslim?

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

assalamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh

Whether or not prostrations of Quran recital are legislated after certain verses–as you note in your question–are matters of scholarly disagreement. In this response, I will address your questions according to the Shafi`i school while acknowledging that those who disagree with the Shafi`is have their own proofs that lead them to different conclusions. All four schools of Sunni Islam have been accepted as valid and acceptable for Muslims to follow for centuries and intolerance of their scholarly disagreement is a blameworthy innovation (bid`a) of recent times.

According to the Shafi`is, the prostration of Quran recital is recommended, not obligatory. ( Imam al ) Bukhari relates from our master the Companion Ibn `Umar that he said, “We were commanded to prostrate [i.e. for Quran recital]: whoever prostrates has done the right thing, and whoever does not prostrate has not committed any sin.” So if your imam recites a verse of Quran recital and does not prostrate, your should continue to follow the imam in his prayer and your prayer remains completely valid.

There are fourteen verses of the Quran whose recital calls for a prostration. Most copies of the Quran mark fifteen verses as calling for prostrations.

Two of these fifteen are in Sura al-Hajj, and the Shafi`is hold both of these verses to call for a prostration. Abu Dawud and Hakim both relate that our master the Companion `Amr b. al-`As (Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) taught him to prostrate at fifteen places in the Quran, two of them in Sura al-Hajj. al-Khatib al-Shirbini classes this hadith as well-authenticated (hasan) in his Mughni al-Muhtaj.

One of these fifteen verses is in Sura al-Saad. According to the Shafi`is, this verse does not call for a prostration of Quran recital based on the statement of our master the Companion Ibn `Abbas that “[The prostration of Sura] Saad is not one of the emphasized prostrations.” (Bukhari) Because of this hadith and other evidences, the Shafi`is hold that the prostration that is legislated at this verse is a prostration of thanks, not a prostration of Quran recital. For more detail on this particular prostration, and what to do if an imam of another school prostrates when it is recited, please see the following answer:

Sura Sad: Prostration, Hanafis and Aqida

And Allah Most High knows best.

Shaykh Hamza.

Reference: al-Khatib al-Shirbini, Mughni al-Muhtaj, 1.326, Dar al-Ma`rifa, 1997.

 Q&A, Sunnipath

Answered by Shaykh Hamza Karamali, SunniPath Academy Teacher

Is it permissible to suffice with the forgetfulness prostrations when one forgets how many rakaats they have performed in prayer or does the prayer itself have to be repeated?

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

wa `alaykum as salam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh

Forgetting the number of rak`ahs that one has prayed does not automatically invalidate one’s prayer.

Rather, if one forgets how many rak`ahs one has prayed, one goes on the assumption that he has prayed the least number that he is certain of. For example, if I’m unsure whether I’ve prayed two or three rak`ahs, then I assume that I’ve only prayed two and then complete my prayer based on that assumption.

If one’s doubt persists until the end of the prayer, then it would be recommended (but not obligatory) to perform two prostrations of forgetfulness at the end of the prayer.

If one remembers the correct number of rak`ahs before the end of the prayer, then in certain cases, it would be recommended to perform the forgetfulness prostration whereas in other cases it would be forbidden to perform it. Because the rulings can get a bit complicated here, I would suggest that you not perform the forgetfulness prostration in this case unless you are sure that you understand exactly when it is recommended to perform it.

And Allah knows best.

Shaykh Hamza.

Q&A, Sunnipath