Question: If I am afraid that I have passed gas, does that invalidate my prayers? I’m always leaving salah and doing wudu because I fear I my prayer to be invalid.

Answer: Your wuduu’ does not break unless you are sure that gas actually came out. If you are in prayer, you do not interrupt praying unless you actually hear yourself passing gas or smell it. This is because satan has the ability to make you feel as if you passed gas even if you did not.

>>  Answered by Abu Adam Al-Naruujiy ( The Shafi’i school says so too )

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

Q: Was is the ruling according to the Shafi’i school concerning Salat al Khayr ( 100 rakaats with 10 ikhlas in each rakaat ) since some consider it to be baseless.

A: “There are three qawls [positions] in the school concerning the one performing Salat Laylat Nisf Sha’ban:

1. The Asl [original ruling] is that it is Makruh according to Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah be pleased with him!) and others, because it is a “Bid’a Qabiha” [blameworthy innovation]; and under this Tafsil only one qawl says it is Haram. (This position is, for example, mentioned in the text of the Fath al-Mu’in [I'anat, 1:270]; al-Nawawi’s position, for instance, is in the Majmu’ [4:61]; the qawl that it is Haram is in the Irshad al-’Ibad (which is not, note, a fiqh work) [al-Mallibari, Irshad, 24] (who is also the same author of the Fath al-Mu’in)).

2. The Asl is Mandub/Sunna according to Imam al-Ghazali (may Allah be pleased with him!) and others. (This position is also related in the fiqh manual I’anat al-Talibin (the commentary to the Fath al-Mu’in above) [I'anat, 1:271-2]; al-Ghazali’s own position is in the Ihya’ (which is not, note, a fiqh work) [Ihya', 1:203-4]) and this position is not brought up in his furu’ fiqhi works; the Wajiz or the Wasit.

3. The Asl is Jawaz/Mubah according to a SOLUTION provided by Imam Ibn Hajar (may Allah be pleased with him!) in the Tuhfa and others. This solution is by making a Qiyas to Imam Ibn Hajar’s own solution for the “Ishraq” prayer, which in the view of the Imam himself – like the Nisf Sha’ban prayer – has no legal status, or in other words, is Makruh to perform. (It goes without saying that although the Asl is Mubah for this qawl, and because if carried out using this method the act itself brings a reward, this can therefore be treated as a Fadila ‘Amal, making it Mandub in the end – since the hukm of the Nafl Mutlaq prayer is itself Mandub). (See below for details of the solution; technically however, this solution no longer makes it a “Salat Laylat Nisf Sha’ban”.)

>>For more details 

Our scholars have divided Salat al-Nafl into two types.

1. Those which are recommended to be performed in a group [jama'a], such as the prayers of the two ‘Ids, the two Kusuf and Khusuf, the Istisqa’, and the Tarawih.

2. Those which are sufficient when performed indivdually [munfarid], such as the Rawatib, the Witr, the Duha, the Tahiyyat al-Masjid, the Istikhara, the prayers done in Mecca (Tawaf and Ihram), the Wudu’, the Awwabin between Maghrib and ‘Isha’, the Tasbih, the Tahajjud and the like.

All of the Nafila which are recommended to be performed in a jama’a are considered Mu’akkada [confirmed sunna], while all of the munfarid Nafila except for the Witr, a number of the Rawatibs, the Tahajjud, and the Duha, for example, are not Mu’akkada.

The Rawatib prayers (as they are originally called, “al-Sunan al-Ratiba ma’a al-fara’id”) are Nafila prayers that accompany the Fard prayers, whether offered before or after them. They are further divided into two types: the Rawatib Mu’akkada and the Rawatib Ghayr Mu’akkada.

>> More here

A’la Hadrat Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Brailwi Rahmatullah Alaih, have written about this matter in his book “ Nahju’s Salamah fi Hukmi Taqbili’l Ibhamayni fi’l Iqamah.” I present here the answer according to the Shafi’i school. Taqbil al-unbulatayn is amongst the fada’il al a’mal due the fact that its legal basis is  da’if hadith.

Al Hafidh al Daylami have reported, “Whenever he [Abu Bakr] heard the Mu’addhin say: “I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”, he would repeat this [phrase as it is the Mandub of Adhan] and would kiss the tip of the index fingers [or thumbs] and wipe his eyes. The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him!) said: whosoever does what my friend [i.e., Abu Bakr] did, my intercession will come down upon him.“

>>More here

Answered by Shaykh Hamza Karamali, SunniPath Academy Teacher

Sometimes I oversleep and miss fajr, waking up at sunrise. I have heard that it is not permissible to pray at sunrise. What is the best time to make up this missed prayer. Can I pray as soon as I wake up or must I wait upto zuhr prayer then pray before the zuhr?

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

assalamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh

If someone accidentally misses fajr by oversleeping, the missed prayer is best made up as soon as one wakes up, even if this is one of the times when it is normally unlawful to pray, such as sunrise or shortly after. The prayers that are unlawful to pray at these times are some kinds of non-obligatory prayers. The Shafi`i scholars explain that is permissible and valid to perform obligatory make up prayers at these times.

And Allah Most High knows best.Sunnipath

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, SunniPath Academy Teacher

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

Imam Nawawi stated in his al-Majmu` Sharh al-Muhadhdhab (3.86):

“There is consensus (ijma`) of the scholars whose opinion counts that whoever leaves a prayer intentionally must make it up. Abu Muhammad Ali Ibn Hazm ( 994–1064, Cordoba Spain, Zahiri madhhab ) differed with them on this, saying that such an individual cannot ever make them up and it is not at all valid to make them up. Rather, he said, one must do much good works and voluntary prayer in order that one’s scales be heavied on the day of judgement and one must seek Allah’s forgiveness and repent. This position of his, along with being in opposition to scholarly consensus (ijma`), is invalid in terms of the proof…

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