juristic questions

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JURISTICQUESTIONS

BySAYYID ABDUL HUSAYN SHARAFUDDEEN

Translated by

Abdullah Al-Shahin


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Juristic Questions Author: Sayyid Abdul Husayn Sharafuddeen

Translator: Abdullah al-ShahinPublisher: Ansariyan Publications Qum

First Edition 1381 1423Ofugh Press Pages: 112

Copies: 2000 Size: 143 x 205 mm

ISBN: 964-438-394-X

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED AND RECORDED FOR

THE PUBLISHER

Ansariyan Publications

P.B. Box 18722, Shohada Str.Qum, I.R.Iran

Tel: 0098 251 7741744 Fax 7742647Email: [email protected]

www.ansariyan.org &www.ansariyan.net

Sharafuddeen, Abdul Husayn, 1873 1958.

Juristic Questions/ by Abdul Husayn

Sharafuddeen; Translated by Abdullah al-Shahin. - Qum: Ansariyan, 2002.

111 P.ISBN: 964-43-394-XOriginal Title: 1. Islamic Law comparative. 2.

Shia custom and practice. I. Al-Shahin, Abdullah translator. II.Title.
mailto:[email protected]://opt/scribd/conversion/tmp/scratch7315/www.ansariyan.orgmailto:[email protected]://opt/scribd/conversion/tmp/scratch7315/www.ansariyan.org


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In The Name of

Allah,TheBeneficent, The

Merciful


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

JURISTICQUESTIONS..................................................1

BY................................................................1

SAYYID ABDUL HUSAYN SHARAFUDDEEN .. .1TRANSLATED BYABDULLAH AL-SHAHIN.................................1

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THEMERCIFUL .............................................................................. 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................... 5

THE PUBLISHERS FOREWORD .......................................... 7

PREFACE ................................................................................ 8

OFFERING TWO PRAYERS AT ONE TIME ......................... 11

IS BASSMALA A QURANIC VERSE?IS IT TO BE RECITED IN PRAYERS? ................................. 29

The excuse of our opponents .............................................................42

RECITING QURAN IN THE PRAYER .................................. 50

TAKBEERATUL IHRAM ...................................................... 63

TRAVELERS TAQSEER AND FAST BREAKING ................ 66

Legislat ing taqseer ...............................................................................66Legislating fast breaking ....................................................................68The conditions of taqseer ...................................................................69Our evidence ..........................................................................................70The excuse of ash-Shafiiy and those who consider taqseer asnot wajib .................................................................................................74The conditions of fast breaking .........................................................76The distance that determines taqseer and fast breaking ............ 80

TEMPORARY MARRIAGE ................................................... 85

1. The way of this marriage ................................................................852. The consensus of the umma on the legality of the temporarymarriage .................................................................................................88

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3. The evidences of the Quran .......................................................... 884. Temporary marriage in the Sunna ............................................... 905. Those who said it was annulled and their excuses about that................................................................................................................... 91

6. True traditions betraying the caliph ............................................ 957. The deniers of Omars decision ....................................................998. The Shias thought about temporary marriage ....................... 103

WIPING THE FEET OR WASHING THEM IN WUDU.. .. . 105

The evidence of the Shia ...................................................................106A look at the traditions of washing ................................................. 110A look at their excuse of approval ...................................................114Note ........................................................................................................115To the ankles ........................................................................................118

WIPING OVER SLIPPERS AND SOCKS ............................. 121

Wiping over the turban .....................................................................132Does wiping the head have a limit? ................................................ 135

SIX DISPUTABLE QUESTIONS ......................................... 136

1. Wiping the ears ...............................................................................1362. Does washing the head instead of wiping it suffice for wudu................................................................................................................. 137

3. Order in performing wudu..........................................................1384. Succession of acts of wudu.......................................................... 1395. The intention ...................................................................................1406. Performing wudu with juice ....................................................... 145

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THE PUBLISHERS FOREWORD

Sayyid Sharafuddeen (may Allah havemercy upon him) was a great figure of

jur isprudence, j ihad and Islamic unity. Hespent his blessed age in the way of that. He

produced a great scientific heritage andstrove in his jihad for the sake of thesolidarity of the umma. Neither his scientificworks nor his j ihad could ever be forgottenand they would serve the Islamic matter forever.

His style in writ ing was distinguished withclearness, accuracy, utmost objectivity and

respecting the others opinions; therefore thehearts of his friends and enemies togetherwere attracted to him.

He played a great role in achieving wide juristical cordiality among the differentIslamic sects through his wonderful writings,from among which we chose this valuablebooklet although it was small but we hoped to

achieve the same high aims the author hadachieved.

May Allah have mercy upon the greathonored jurisprudent Sharafuddeen and maythe all make use of his abundant knowledge!

Ansariyan Publications - Qum

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PREFACE

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These are juristic questions discussed in aclear and fi rm way. They depend upon thetrue evidences and follow the straight way. It

is enough for them to be a result of a highlearned mind and a wonderful pen dependingupon the accurate scientif ic theories so thatthey are directed easily towards the brightway of rightness and assisted by thoseaccurate theories.

This is a book among tens of books writtenby our honored great uncle ImamSharafuddeen, who has supplied the Arabic

l ibrary with what makes the seekers of thetruth ladle f rom this pure knowledge andmakes them appreciate his apposite thinking,truthfulness of evidences, impartial ity anddefending the rightness.

In th is valuable research you wi ll f ind acorrect knowledge depending upon the Bookof Allah and the Sunna of His messenger for

the author hasnt depended upon other thanthem. Al though the jurisprudential pointsdiscussed in this research are few, you wil lget a great benefit out of them.

Imam Sharafuddeen discussed these certainquestions especially and made them thesubject of h is short thesis because thesesecondary questions were the source of muchargument and disagreement. Much ado and

fierce attacks often and often aroused aboutthese points, hence Imam Sharafuddeen triedto ease the fierceness of the attackers and tolead the fair prudent ones towards the truth.On the other hand, he wanted to clear thatthe Shia wouldnt adopt any religious matter,unless they were certain and sure that it wasderived f rom the holy Quran and the trueSunna.

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Juristic Questions

These questions are true examples givingyou a clear image about the successfulconclusion and fair jurisprudential

investigation. You not ice in them the high justification for they dont care for other thanclear evidences and true excuses derivedfrom the holy Book of Al lah and the sacredSunna of the Prophet (s).

Nooruddeen Sharafuddeen

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OFFERING TWO PRAYERS AT ONE TIME

There was no disagreement among all theIslamic sects about the permissibility of offering Dhuhr prayer and Assr prayer at onet ime in Arafa.1 I t was cal led antecedence.2

The same was said about offering Maghrib andIsha prayers at one time in Muzdalifa.3 Thiswas called delaying.4 In fact there was no anydisagreement about preferring offering eachtwo prayers together and considering that asa part of the Prophets Sunna but the Muslimsdisagreed upon offering two prayers togetherin other than these two cases.

The point of the dispute was about thepermissibility of offering two prayers (whetherDhuhr and Assr or Maghrib and Isha) in thet ime of one of them l ike anteceding one of them as had been done in Arafa or delayingone as had been done in Muzdalifa.

1 Dhuhr means noon and Assr means afternoon. Arafa is a

place near Mecca visited by the pilgrims during the hajj.2 It means offering Assr prayer before its time by offering it

within the time of Dhuhr prayer but it must not be offered

before Dhuhr prayer.

3 Maghrib means sunset (time of sunset) and Isha meansevening. Muzdalifa is place in Mecca visited by the pilgrims

during the hajj.4 It means delaying Maghrib prayer until the time of Isha

prayer to be offered together.

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The infallible imams of the Prophetsprogeny had declared clearly that it waspermissible (to offer two prayers together) at

al l but offering each one in its certain t imewould be better. The Shia followed theirimams in th is concern in every age and inevery side of the earth. They often offeredDhuhr prayer and Assr prayer at one time andMaghrib and Isha at one time whether theywere in travel or not and whether there wasan excuse for that or not. It was not different

for them whether anteceding one of the firsttwo prayers or delaying one of the other twoprayers.

The Hanafites5 prohibi ted of fering twoprayers at one time at all except in Arafa andMuzdalifa in spite of that their Sihah 6 had truetraditions confirming the permissibility of thatbut they interpreted them according to their

own thoughts. We will show you the invalidityof their thoughts later on inshallah.

As for the Shafi is, the Mal ik ites and theHanbalites,7 they permitted that in travel withsome disagreements among them in casewhen there were no excuses like ra ining,mud, illness or fear. Also they were in disputeabout the conditions of travel that mightpermit to offer two prayers together.8

5 The Hanafite was one of the main four Sunni sects.6 Sihah are the books of Hadith.7 Shafiis, Malikites and Hanbalites are the main Sunni

sects besides the Hanafites.8 Some of them said that only the religious travel like the

hajj, the minor hajj and the sacred war permitted offering

the prayers at one time and some said that it waspermissible except in the travel of disobedience (when

traveling to commit sins) while some put certain conditions

about special kinds of travels and others didnt put any

condition by saying that any kind of travel might permit

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b. Abu Bakr bin Abu Shayba narrated fromSufyan bin Oyayna from Amr bin Dinar fromAbush Shatha Jabir bin Zayd that ibn

Abbas had said: I offered prayers with theProphet (s) eight times, in which he offeredeach two prayers at one t ime. I think hedelayed Dhuhr prayer and preceded Assrprayer and delayed Maghrib prayer andpreceded Isha prayer. Muslim said: Ithink so too.11

11 This tradition was mentioned by Ahmed bin Hanbal in hisMusnad vol.1 p.221 and in the same page there was a

tradition narrated by ibn Abbas saying: The Prophet (s)

offered prayers together seven or eight times while he was

in Medina and not on travel.

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e. Ibn Abu Omayr narrated from Wakee fromImran bin Hadeer that Abdullah bin Shaqeeqal-Aqeeli had said: A man said to ibn

Abbas: The prayer! Ibn Abbas kept si lent. Then the man said: The prayer! He keptsilent. Then he said: The prayer! Ibn Abbassaid: Do you teach us the prayer?! Weoften offered the prayers together at thetime of the Prophet (s).An-Nassaiy mentioned a tradition narratedby Amr bin Harm from Abush Shatha that

ibn Abbas offered Dhuhr and Assr prayerswith no period of time separating betweenthem because of business. He justified thatby referring to the Prophet (s).14

f. Ahmed bin Younus and Oun bin Salamnarrated from Zuhayr from Abuz-Zubayrfrom Saeed bin Jubayr that ibn Abbas hadsaid: The Prophet (s) offered Dhuhr and

Assr prayers at one time in Medina withoutfear or travel.15 Abuz Zubayr said: I askedSaeed why the Prophet (s) did so. He said:I asked ibn Abbas the same question and hesaid: the Prophet (s) did so in order not toembarrass any one of his umma.16

14 It was also mentioned by az-Zarqani in his Sharh al-

Muwattavol.1 p.263.15 Also it was mentioned by Malik in his Muwatta and by

Ahmed in his Musnad.16 He didnt want to burden his umma with the obligations

that perhaps someone couldnt find enough time to offer

each prayer in its certain time because of the different

affairs of living.

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These t rue t raditions mentioned in theSihah were clear in showing the reasonbehind the legislation of offering two prayers

at one t ime. It was to let people have someease in offer ing the prayers and not to beburdened with them because separationbetween the prayers-offering each one in itscertain time-might be somehow diff icult forthe most of people, who would be busy withtheir works and affairs of l iving. The last twotradi tions were not restricted to travel or

other excuses l ike i llness, raining, fear orothers as they were by themselves but theyreferred to generality that the permissibilityof offering two prayers at one time wasabsolute and not l imited to special cases.

Therefore you found that Imam Muslim didntmention these traditions under the chapter ofoffering the prayers together where there

was no t ravel to be as evidences for theabsolute permissibility of that and thisshowed his prudence, knowledge and fairness.

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Offering Two Prayers at One Time

The traditions mentioned by Muslim wereaccording to the conditions depended by al-Bukhari in deciding the truthfulness of

traditions and the narrators also weredepended upon by al-Bukhari so what madehim (al-Bukhari) not mention all the traditionstalking about the subject? What led him to besatisfied with a few of them? And why didnthe assign a certain chapter about the truetraditions talking about offering prayers atone t ime whether in travel or not although

that most imams of the different sects hadacknowledged the permissibil ity of offeringtwo prayers at one time? And why did hechoose the weakest traditions in proving thesubject? I dont think that al-Bukhari was oneof those, who changed the words from their(right) places and concealed the truth whichthey themselves knew well!

Here is what he has chosen of traditions inhis Sahih talking about this subject:a. Abun Numan narrated from Hammad bin

Zayd from Amr bin Dinar from Jabir binZayd that ibn Abbas had said: The Prophet(s) offered Dhuhr and Assr prayers in thesame t ime and offered Maghrib and Ishaprayers in the same time in Medina sevenor eight t imes. Ayyoub said: Perhaps itwas in a rainy night. He said: Perhaps!(They follow but conjecture) as Allahsays!

b. Adam narrated from Shuba from Amr binDinar from Jabir bin Zayd that ibn Abbashad said: The Prophet (s) offered prayerstogether seven or eight time.

c. From ibn Omar, Abu Ayyoub and ibn Abbasthat the Prophet (s) offered Maghrib andIsha prayers (together) in the time of oneof them rather than the other.

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Mentioning this very few traditions fromamong much many true traditions evidencingthe subject was enough to confirm what we

said about al-Bukhari.Also it was confirmed by the saying of ibn

Massood: The Prophet (s) offered-in Medina-Dhuhr and Assr prayers together and offeredMaghrib and Isha prayers together. He wasasked about that and he said: I did so lest myumma would be embarrassed. It wasmentioned by at-Tabarani.17

I t was mentioned that Abdullah bin Omarwas asked: Why did the Prophet (s) of ferDhuhr and Assr prayers together and Maghriband Isha prayers together in Medina wherehe was not on travel? He said: He did so inorder that his umma not to beembarrassed. 18

Anyhow all the Sunni jurisprudents

acknowledged the permissibil ity of offeringthe prayers in one time and they were certainthat these traditions were true in evidencingthis matter.

You can refer to whatever you like of theircomments on these traditions talking aboutthe permissibility of offering two prayers inone time.19

17 Refer to Sharh al-Muwattaby az-Zarqani, vol.1 p.263.18Kanzul Ommal, vol.4 p.242.19 Refer to an-Nawawis book Sharh Sahih Muslim, az-

Zarqanis Sharh Muwatta Malik, al-Asqalani, al-Qastalani

and Zakariyya al-Ansari in their books when explaining al-

Bukharis Sahih and refer to everyone commenting on the

books of Hadith that included the tradition of ibn Abbas

talking about the matter of offering two prayers in onetime. They considered the tradition as true and they

became certain about the possibi lity of offering the

prayers together in residence (not in travel) just not to

embarrass the umma. I dont know, by Allah, what made

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Yes! They interpreted the traditionaccording to the doctrines of their sects;therefore they became in a dark confusion.

The comment of an-Nawawi on thesetraditions mentioned in his book Sharh SahihMuslim was enough to show you the truth. Hesaid, after considering the traditions as clearevidence confi rming the permiss ibil ity of offering the prayers together in residence:The ulema had different interpretations andthoughts. Some of them justified that by

saying that the Prophet (s) had offered theprayers together because of the rain. This wasthe thought of some of the first greatpersonalities. 20 But this was a weak

justification according to the second traditionof ibn Abbas when saying (without fear orrain). Some of them pretended that the skywas cloudy so the Prophet (s) offered the

Dhuhr prayer but when the clouds dispelled, itappeared that it was the time of Assr prayerthen the Prophet (s) offered the Assr prayer. 21

This was also vain because if it was possiblefor Dhuhr and Assr prayers, i t wouldnt bepossible for Maghrib ans Isha prayers.

them turn away from this possibility! It might be because

of their situation towards Ahlul Bayt (the Prophetsprogeny)!20 Like Imam Malik, ash-Shafiiy and some people of

Medina.21 This is just guess, falseness and divination.

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Ibn Abdul Birr, al-Khitabi and others deniedthis interpretation too. They said that offeringprayers together was a kind of authorization

and if it was formal, it would be so difficult toof fer each prayer in i ts time because thebeginnings and the ends of prayers t imescouldnt be perceived by most of the scholarsso how about the ordinary people! They saidthat ibn Abbas saying (he wanted not toembarrass his umma) was clear ev idenceproving the authorization of offering prayers

together. Offering prayers together, whichwas cleared by the true traditions, was eitherby preceding the second prayer to be offeredwith the fi rst one or by delaying the fi rstprayer to be of fered with the second one.

They said that it was this meaning, which wasunderstood from the wording of thesetradi tions. This was the very point of the

dispute.An-Nawawi said: and some of them

interpreted the traditions as if offeringprayers together was because of i llness orsomething l ike that. This was the thought ofAhmed bin Hanbal and the judge Husayn andit was adopted by our companions; al-Khitabi,al-Mutawall i and ar-Rawyani. This was theapparent meaning according to the wording ofthe traditions.

No evidence in the traditions showing whatthey said. Saying so was but fabrication as al-Qastalani had said in his book SharhSahih al-Bukhari.23

23 Refer to Irshad as-Sari fee Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari by al-

Qastalani, vol.2 p.293. The author said: Some of theminterpreted ibn Abbas tradition to mean that offering

prayers together was because of illness and an-Nawawi

confirmed this interpretation but he was criticized of being

contradicting the apparent meaning of the tradition and

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Some of the scholars cri ticized him (an-Nawawi) too by saying: It was said thatof fering prayers together was because of

illness. An-Nawawi confirmed this saying. Butthis justi fication was not correct because i f the Prophet (s) had offered the prayerstogether because of illness, then no onewould have offered prayers with him exceptthose who were i l l , whereas the Prophet (s)had offered the prayers with a group of hiscompanions as i t had been narrated by ibn

Abbas in a true tradition.24

that his limiting the tradition to this reason was

unjustified.24 Refer to Sharh Muwatta Malik by az-Zarqani, vol.1

p.263.

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Since there was no interpretation acceptedby the ulema about the traditions ta lkingabout offering the prayers together, so some

of the Sunnis adopted the thought of the Shiaabout the matter unknowingly. An-Nawawimentioned them after he had refuted theirfalse interpretations. He said: Some of thescholars permitted offering prayers togetherin residence (in ones place of living-not beingin travel) i f i t was necessary for those, whowould not take i t as a habit. This was the

thought of ibn Seereen and Ashhab, who wereMaliks companions. So was the thought of al-Qaffaal ash-Shashi al-Kabeer, who was one ofash-Shafiiys companions as it was said by al-Khitabi. The same was thought by AbuIss~haq al-Mirwizi and some of the scholars ofHadith. Ibnul Munthir acknowledged thisthought when he said: The saying of ibn

Abbas confirmed this thought when he saidthat the Prophet (s) didnt want to embarrasshis umma where he didnt justify it by il lnessor anything else. Allah is the most aware!

This was his own saying.25 Some others of theSunni scholars26 had said the same.

25Sharh Sahih Muslim, vol.4 p.455.26 Like az-Zarqani in his book Sharh Muwatta Malik and

everyone, who had commented on the tradition of ibn

Abbas talking about offering prayers together like al-

Asqalani, al-Qastalani and others.

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We strove in researching for what he hadsaid that offering prayers together inresidence without an excuse wouldnt be

permissible but we, by Allah, couldnt findanything leading to it. Yes, the Prophet (s)offered prayers together when there was anexcuse but he also offered prayers togetherwhen there was no any excuse for that lest hewould embarrass his umma. We had no anyobjection that offer ing each prayer in itscertain t ime would be better; therefore theProphet (s) had preferred it except when

there was an excuse as he used to do withmustahabs. 30

30 Mustahab: A voluntary and meritorious act of worship.

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IS BASSMALA A QURANIC VERSE?IS IT TO BE RECITED IN PRAYERS?

The Muslim scholars disagreed on thismatter.31 Malik and al-Awzaiy thought that itwas not a part of the Quran and they

prohibited their fol lowers from reciting it inthe prayers whether it was in the beginning ofsura of Hamd32 or in the beginning of thesecond sura and whether it was recited loudlyor softly but they permitted to be recited innafila.33

Abu Haneefa, ath-Thawri and their followersrecited bassmala with sura of Hamd but they

said that it must be recited softly even in theloud-recited prayers.34 This showed that theyagreed with Malik and al-Awzaiy. We didntfind any evidence justifying that except thatthey didnt consider it as part of the Quran.

31

Basmalah

is saying (bissmillah~ir rahman~ir raheem

: inthe name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful).32 It is the first sura in the Quran that must be recited in

every prayer. It is also called al-Fatiha.33 Nafila means not wajib (obligatory) prayer. It is

(mustahab). Refer to ibn Rushd's Bidayetul Mujtahid, vol.1

p.96. Ar-Razi said in his at-Tafseer al-Kabeer, vol.1 p.100

about bassmala: "Malik and al-Awza'iy said that it was not

a part of the Quran except in sura of an-Naml (27) and that

it was not be recited whether loudly or softly except inmustahab prayers in Ramadan.34 In Fajr, Maghrib and Isha prayers sura of Hamd and the

second sura must be recited loudly and in Dhuhr and Assr

prayers the two suras must be recited softly.

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Is Bassmala A Quranic Verse?

As for us-the Shia-we agreed, according toour infallible imams, upon that bassmala wasa complete Quranic verse of every sura

except Baraa and whoever left recit ing it inthe prayer intendedly, his prayer would bevain whether the prayer was wajib(obligatory) or mustahab. It must be recitedloudly in loud-recited prayers and it wasdesirable (mustahab) to be recited loudly insoft-recited prayers.38It was a piece of a versein sura of an-Naml. The traditions of our

infal lible imams were clear in denying thesayings of their opponents. Imam Sadiq (s)said: What?! They attacked the greatestverse of the Book of Al lah the Almighty andthey pretended that it was a heresy and thenthey spread their heresy about the verse (Inthe name of Allah, the Beneficent, theMerciful).39

Our evidence from the Sunni s ide is thetraditions mentioned in their Sihah and howmany they are!

38 Imam ar-Razi, in his at-Tafseer al-Kabeer when talking

about bassmala, mentioned many evidences about reciting

bassmala loudly. In one of them he said that Imam Ali (s)

thought that bassmala was to be recited loudly in all theprayers. He said: This evidence is strong in my self and

deep-rooted in my mind. It will never be removed at all.39 Refer to Majmaul Bayan by at-Tabarsi when talking

about bassmala in vol.1.

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Juristic Questions

1. Ibn Jurayj narrated from his father fromSaeed bin Jubayr that ibn Abbas whentalking about the Quranic verse (And

certainly We have given you seven ofthe oft-repeated (verses) and the grandQuran 15:87)had said: It is the Fatiha40 ofthe Book; In the name of Allah, theBeneficent, the Merciful. All praise isdue to Al lah, the Lord of the Worldsetc.). Ibn Jurayj said: I asked my father:Did Saeed tell you that ibn Abbas had said

that (in the name of Allah, theBeneficent, the Merciful) was a Quranicverse? He said: Yes!41

2. Ibn Abbas said: The Prophet (s), wheneverGabriel came to him and reci ted in thename of Allah, the Beneficent, theMerciful , knew that it was a sura. 42

3. Ibn Abbas said: The Prophet (s) didnt

know that a sura was completed until a newin the name of Allah, the Beneficent, theMerciful was revealed to him.43

4. Ibn Abbas said: The Muslims didnt knowthat a sura was completed unti l in thename of Allah, the Beneficent, theMerciful was revealed. When it wasrevealed, they became certain that theprevious sura was completed.44

40 Sura of Hamd; the first sura of the Quran.41 Refer to al-Hakims Mustadrakwhen interpreting sura of

al-Fatiha and ath-Thahabis Talkhees, vol.2 p.257.42 Al-Hakims Mustadrak, vol.1 p.231.43 Al-Hakims Mustadrak and ath-Thahabis Talkhees, vol.1

p.231 (printed together as one book).

44 Al-Hakim in his Mustadrak, vol.1 p.232 mentioned thetradition and said: It was a true tradition according to the

two sheikhs; al-Bukhari and Muslim. Ath-Thahabi in his

Talkhees mentioned it and considered it true according to

the two sheikhs too.

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Abu Hurayra said: The Prophet (s) used torecite (in the name of Allah, theBeneficent, the Merciful) loudly in the

prayers.48

48 Al-Hakim mentioned this tradition in his Mustadrakafter

the previous tradition. Al-Bayhaqi mentioned it in his as-

Sunanal-Kabeera. Refer to ar-Razis Tafseer, vol.1 p.105.

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7. Anass bin Malik said: Once Moawiyaoffered a prayer in Medina and he recited(in the name of Allah, the Beneficent,

the Merciful) loudly for al-Fatiha but hedidnt recite it for the second sura. Whenhe finished the prayer, some of theMuhajireen and the Ansar,49 who heard him,shouted at him: O Moawiya! Did you stealthe prayer or forget? When he offered theprayer after that, he recited bassmala forthe second sura. Al-Hakim mentioned this

tradition in his Mustadrak and considered ittrue according to (Imam) Muslimsconditions. 50 The tradition was mentionedby others like Imam ash-Shaf iiy,51 whocommented on it. It would be better toquote his comment. He said: Moawiya wasa very powerful ruler, so unless recitingbassmala loudly was a certain verdict

among all the companions of theMuhajireen and the Ansar, they wouldntdare to object to him when he didnt recitebassmala. 52

49

Muhajireen; the first Muslims, who emigrated fromMecca to Medina. Ansar; the people of Medina, who

believed in the Prophet (s) and supported him and his

companions.50 Ath-Thahabi mentioned it in his Talkhees al-Mustadrak

and considered it true according to Muslims conditions. Al-

Hakim and ath-Thahabi considered this tradition to be the

contrary of the tradition narrated by Qatada that Anass

said: I offered prayers behind the Prophet (s), Abu Bakr,

Omar and Othman. I didnt hear any of them reciting inthe name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful. This

tradition is null as we shall explain that soon inshallah.51 Refer to his Musnad p.13.52 At-Tafseeral-Kabeerby ar-Razi, vol.1 p.105.

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I would like to comment on this tradition todraw the attention of every researcher tothe evidence this tradition had that

confirmed our thought (the Shias thought)about bassmala in the prayer and that i twas not permissible to recite bassmala withal-Fatiha only and not to recite it with thesecond sura, otherwise the companionswouldnt have objected to Moawiya unlessthe matter of bassmala had been l ike theShias thought.

8. It was narrated from another way thatAnass had said: I heard the Prophet (s)reciting (in the name of Allah, theBeneficent, the Merciful) loudly in theprayer.53

9. Muhammad bin as-Sariy al-Asqalani said: Ioffered Fajr and Maghrib prayers behind al-Mutamir bin Sulayman innumerable times.

He recited (in the name of Allah, theBeneficent, the Merciful) loudly before al-Fatiha and before the second sura. I heardal-Mutamir saying: I havent failed toimitate my fathers prayer and my fathersaid: I havent failed to imitate Anassprayer and Anass said: I havent fai led toimitate the Prophets prayer.54

53 Al-Hakims Mustadrak and ath-Thahabis Talkhees. They

said that all the narrators of this tradition were reliable

and they considered it as contrary to the tradition narrated

by Qatada from Anass.

54 Al-Hakim in his Mustadrak and at-Thahabi in hisTalkhees mentioned this tradition and said that all its

narrators were reliable. They considered this tradition as

evidence to refute the vain tradition narrated by Qatada

from Anass.

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Ar-Razi mentioned in his at-Tafseer al-Kabeer58 that al-Bayhaqi had mentioned in hisSunan some traditions about reciting

bassmala loudly in the prayer narrated byOmar bin al-Khattab, ibn Abbas, ibn Omar andibn az-Zubayr. Then ar-Razi said: As for Alibin Abu Talib (may Allah be pleased withhim), it was proved recurrently that he recitedbassmala loudly in his prayers and whoeverimitated Ali bin Abu Talib in his religion,would be guided. The evidence for that was

the saying of the Prophet (s): O Allah! Turnthe rightness with Ali wherever he turns.

It would be a sufficient evidence forbassmala to be a Quranic verse in thebeginning of every sura except Baraa, thatall the companions, their successors and thesuccessors successors of every generation ofthe umma had agreed unanimously, since the

Quran had been written down until nowadays,upon writing down bassmala at the beginningof every sura except Baraa.

58 vol.1 p.105.

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They wrote i t down as they wrote everyother Quranic verse without any differencebetween them whereas they had agreed

unanimously upon not writ ing anything thatwas not of the holy Quran unless they wouldput a distinguishing mark in order not to bemixed up with the Quranic words. Didnt yousee how they distinguished the names of thesuras, the symbols of the sections, the partsetc. and put them out of the text of the Quranin order to be known that they were not of the

Quran so that the Quran would be protectedas it had been revealed? You knew well thatthe umma had never agreed unanimouslyupon any matter as it had agreed upon thismatter and this was enough evidence provingthat bassmala was independent Quranic versecoming at the beginning of every sura writtenby the ancestors and the successors.

It was mentioned that the Prophet (s) hadsaid: Every important task that doesnt beginwith (in the name of Allah, the Beneficent, theMerciful) will be amputated.59 and: Everyimportant task that doesnt begin with (in thename of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful)will be amputated or mutilated.60

59 Mentioned by Abdul Qadir ar-Rahawi in his Arbaeen

narrated by Abu Hurayra, mentioned by as-Sayooti in hisal-Jami as-Sagheer, vol.2 p.91 and al-Muttaqi al-Hindi in

his Kanzul Ommal, vol.1 p.193.60 Mentioned by ar-Razi in his Tafseer, vol.1 when talking

about bassmala.

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Juristic Questions

It is certain that the holy Quran is the bestof what Al lah, the Almighty has revealed toHis apostles and prophets and that every sura

in it is important and great that Allah haschallenged all the people, who failed toproduce a sura like the Quranic suras. Sowould it be possible for the Quran to beamputated? Allah, His Quran and its suras beexalted highly above any raving!

The prayer is the success and the best ofdoings as it is announced f rom above the

minbars and the minarets. It is known byeveryone. Nothing is to be compared with itafter believing in Allah, His prophets and theDay of Resurrection. Then is it possible forAllah to legislate the prayer so amputatedand mutilated? Neither a pious nor a dissoluteone dares to say so but the pious imamsMalik, al-Awzaiy and Abu Haneefa (may Allah

be pleased with them) were distracted fromthese necessities; and every mujtahid wouldbe rewarded and not to be blamed whetherbeing right or wrong when trying his best todeduce his conclusion from the legalevidences.

The excuse of our opponents They justified the matter with some

excuses:First: i f bassmala was a verse of al-Fatiha

and was a part of every sura of the Quran,then repeating (the Beneficent, theMerciful)61 would be necessary to berepeated one hundred and thi rteen times

throughout the Quran.

61 It was repeated in the third verse of al-Fatiha besides

the first verse (in the name of Allah, the Beneficent,

the Merciful).

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The answer: the situation might requirerepeating if it was to pay much attention tosome great affai rs in order to be taken in

consideration with much carefulness. The holyQuran had many examples of this thing; forexample in sura of ar-Rahman (55), al-Mursalat (77) and al-Kafiroon (109). Wasthere anything of the affairs of this l i fe andthe afterl ife deserving utmost attention andgreatest carefulness l ike the name of Allah,the Beneficent, the Merciful? Were the

prophets delegated, the angels sent down andthe Books revealed without in the name ofAllah, the beneficent, the merciful or Hisguidance? Were the heavens and the earthsconstructed but with in the name of Allah,the beneficent, the merciful?62

62 The faithful person begins all his/her works with in the

name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. If he/she

eats, drinks, stands up, sits down, comes in, goes out,

takes, gives, reads, writes, dictates, makes speech orslaughters a sacrifice, he/she will say: in the name of

Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. When the midwife

holds the new-born baby during its birth, she says: in the

name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. When the

faithful person is dying, he/she says: in the name of

Allah, the Beneficent the merciful and when he/she is

put into the tomb it is said: in the name of Allah, the

Beneficent the mercifuland when he/she is resurrected,

he/she says: in the name of Allah, the Beneficent themerciful and when he/she attends before Allah, he/she

says: in the name of Allah, the Beneficent the

merciful and is there a shelter or a resort then save

Allah?

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Their evidence in this tradition was that hedidnt mention (in the name of Al lah, theBeneficent, the Merciful) with the verses of

al-Fatiha. They said that if it was a verse ofal-Fatiha, he would mention it.

The answer: this tradition was contradictedby a tradition narrated by ibn Abbas whensaying: Allah says: I have divided the prayerbetween Me and My servant. I f the servantsays: in the name of Allah, the Beneficent,the Merciful. Allah says: My servant cal ls

meetc.63 The tradition was too long but ourevidence was that it included bassmala and soit contradicted Abu Hurayras tradition. In factAbu Hurayra himself narrated a tradition thatthe Prophet (s) used to recite bassmala loudlyin the prayer and that he himself used torecite it loudly in his prayer. He said: I amthe most of you in imitating the Prophets

prayer. This tradition was mentionedpreviously.

Third: the tradition narrated by Aaisha thatthe Prophet (s) began his prayer withtakbeer64 and reciting (al hamdu li l lahi rabbilaalameen).65

63Kanzul Ommal by al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, vol.1p.320.64 Saying (Allahu akbar; Allah is great).65All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.

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Juristic Questions

The answer: this couldnt be an evidencefor them because Aa isha made (al hamdul il lahi rabbi l aalameen) as a name for this

sura exactly as when one said: I recited (qulhuwal-lahu ahad)66to mean that he recitedsura of al-Ikhlass or when saying thatsomeone recited ( inna fatahna laka fathanmubeena)67 to mean that someone reci tedsura of al-Fat~h and so on. So the meaning ofthe tradition was that the Prophet (s) beganhis prayer with takbeer and reciting this sura,

whose beginning was in the name of Allah,the Beneficent, the Merciful.68

66Say: He is Allah, the One! 112:1.67Surely We have given to you a clear victory. 48:1.68 This was the summary of what Imam ash-Shafiiy had

said when refuting their justification out of this tradition.

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Fourth: the tradition narrated by ibnMughaffal when saying: My father heard mereciting in the name of Allah, the

Beneficent, the Merciful. He said to me: Omy son! Beware of changing the Sunna! Iof fered prayers with the Prophet (s) , AbuBakr, Omar and Othman. I didnt hear any ofthem reciting it (bassmala).69

The answer: the scholars of jarh andtadeel70 didnt know who ibn Mugaffal was.

They didnt mention any of his traditions. Ibn

Rushd mentioned him when talking aboutbassmala in his book Bidayatul Mujtahid71 andbrushed him away when quoting the saying ofAbu Omar bin Abdul Birr that ibn Mughaffalwas unknown man.

Fif th: Shuba narrated from Qatada thatAnass bin Malik had said: I offered prayerswith the Prophet (s) , Abu Bakr, Omar and

Othman. I didnt hear any of them reciting inthe name of Allah, the Beneficent, theMerciful .72 Another one narrated by Hameedat-Taweel that Anass said: I offered prayersbehind Abu Bakr, Omar and Othman. Al l of them didnt recite in the name of Allah, theBeneficent, the Merciful.73

69 Imam ar-Razi mentioned this tradition in his Tafseer,

vol.1 p.106 and then said: Anass and ibn Mughaffal

mentioned the three caliphs in their traditions and didnt

mention Ali. This showed that Ali recited bassmala loudly

in the prayers.70 Jarh means to prove that a narrator of a tradition is not

trusty. Tadeel means to prove that a narrator is trusty andreliable.71 Vol.1 p.97.72 mentioned by Muslim in his Sahih, chap. Of bassmala.73 Refer to Maliks Muwatta.

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The third one: that Anass was asked aboutreciting bassmala loudly or softly and heanswered: I dont know about this matter.

Ar-Razi said: It was clear that Anasstraditions about this matter became soconfused and contradictory and hence we hadto depend upon other evidencesand alsothere was another suspicion in his traditionsthat Ali (s) exaggerated in reciting bassmalaloudly but when the Umayyads seized therule, they exaggerated in forbidding from

reciting bassmala loudly in order to removeeverything referring to Ali (s).75 Anass mightbe afraid of the Umayyads; therefore hissayings became confused.

Whatever we doubted about something, wewould never doubt about that if there was acontradiction between the sayings of personslike Anass and ibn al-Mughaffal and the

sayings of Ali bin Abu Talib (s), who kept onthat until the end of his life, certainlydepending upon the sayings of Al i would bebetter. This was a final answerand whoevertook Ali as the imam of his rel ig ion, wouldcertainly lay hold on the f irmest handle of religion and lifeetc.76

All praise is due to Allah Who guided usto this, and we would not have found theway had it not been that Allah had guided

us.

All of them recited bassmala loudly.75 Such was the conduct of the Umayyads towards Imam Ali

and his progeny in many of the divine laws until therightness and falseness were confused. There is no power

save in Allah, the Almighty!76 Refer to at-Tafseer al-Kabeer by ar-Razi, vol.1 p.106-

107.

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RECITING QURAN IN THE PRAYER

The jurisprudents disagreed upon recitingQuranic suras in the prayer. Abu Bakr al-Assamm, Ismaeel bin Olya, Sufyan binOyayna and al-Hasan bin Sal ih thought that

reciting Quran in the prayer was not wajib butit was mustahab. This was irregularity in thinking,

contradicting the evidences and violating theconsensus of the umma.

They depended upon a tradition narrated byAbu Salama and Muhammad bin Ali that onceOmar bin al-Khattab had offered the maghrib

prayer and he didnt recite the suras in it. Hewas asked about that. He said: How aboutthe ruku and sujood?77 They said: Alright.He said: Never mind then!

This was Omars own thought and he didntascribe it to the Prophet (s). He might thinkthat leaving reciting the suras inattentivelywouldnt inval idate the prayer. Allah is the

most aware.Al-Hasan al-Basri and others thought that

recit ing suras was obl igatory (wajib) in oneraka.78 This was like the previous thought inits irregularity and violating the consensus.

77 Ruku : bowing in prayer. Sujood: prostration.78 One unit of the prayer.

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Juristic Questions

Abu Haneefa permitted translating theQuran that was to be recited in the prayerinto any foreign language for those, who

couldnt speak Arabic wel l,80 but his twocompanions permitted translating just forthose, who were unable to speak Arabic, notfor those, who could speak bad Arabic.

Reciting the Quran in the prayer was wajibaccording to their doctrine in the two rakas-prayers like Fajr prayer, Friday prayer and thetravelers prayers (Qasr)81 but as for three or

four-rakas prayers, recit ing the Quran waswajib in any two rakas of the prayer. Theprayer had the option to choose between thefirst two rakas, the last two rakas, the firstand the third, the f irst and the fourth, thesecond and the third or the second and thefourth. I f a prayer recited the Quran in thefirst two rakas, he would be free in the last

two rakas whether to recite the Quran, recitetasbeeh82 or to be si lent as long as the timeof one tasbeeh.

80 Refer to at-Tafseeral-Kabeerby ar-Razi, vol.1 p.108. Ar-

Razi said: Know that the thought of Abu Haneefa about

this matter was so odd; therefore the jurisprudent Abul

Layth as-Samarqandi and the judge Abu Zayd ad-Daboosi

declared to avoid his doctrine.81 Qasr: is a shortened form of prayer. The traveler is to

offer two rakas instead of four in Dhuhr, Assr and Isha

prayers.82 Tasbeeh means glorifying Allah with certain wordings.

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Reciting Quran in the Prayer

They depended upon a tradition narrated byAbu Hurayra when saying: One day theProphet (s) entered the mosque. A man came

in, offered the prayer and then came to greetthe Prophet (s). The Prophet (s) replied hisgreeting and said to him: Go back and offeryour prayer because you didnt offer it(correctly). The man came back and offeredhis prayer as same as the first one. Then hecame to the Prophet (s) and greeted him. TheProphet (s) repl ied his greeting and said to

him: Go back and offer your prayer becauseyou didnt offer it. He did that for threetimes. The man said to the Prophet (s) : Iswear by Him, Who has sent you withrightness! I dont know more than this. Pleaseteach me! The Prophet (s) said: When youstand up to offer the prayer, say Takbeer thenrecite what is easy of the Quran as possible

as you can, then bow then stand erect thenprostrate yourself then sit. Do this throughoutyour prayer.

They depended upon the Prophets saying(recite what is easy of the Quran as possibleas you can) as their evidence in this matter.

Neither Abu Hurayra nor his traditions hadany value near us. He was not trusted orreliable. We detailed all the facts about him ina book called (Abu Hurayra). Whoever liked toknow the shiny truth, let refer to it.

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Juristic Questions

This tradition might be not true because itwas confused and not clear. We examined thetradition and didnt find any clear explanation

that might f it the prophets (s). The traditionlacked many necessary things that the ummahad agreed upon unanimously. It didntmention anything about the intention of theprayer, sitting during the last tashahhud83,saying (blessing and peace be uponMuhammad and his progeny), tasleem84 andother things. It didnt fit the Prophet (s) with

his high morals to let that man offer invalidprayer for three times and that might not bepermissible for him (s).

Abu Dawood mentioned this story narratedby Rifaa bin Rafi al-Ansari85 that the Prophet(s) had said to the man, who didnt offer hisprayer correctly: When you stand up towardsthe Qibla, say takbeer and then reci te a l-

Fatiha and whatever you like to recite.Ahmad bin Hanbal and ibn Habban

mentioned this story narrated by Rifaa thatthe Prophet (s) had said to the man, whodidnt offer his prayer correctly: thenrecite al-Fatiha and then recite whatever youlike.86

83 Saying shahada.84 Tasleem: saying (as-salaamu alaykum) at the end of

the prayer.85 He fought with the Prophet (s) in the battle of Badr,

Uhud and all the other battles. His two brothers Khalladand Malik fought with him in Badr. He fought with Imam Ali

(s) in the battles of al-Jamal and Seffeen. He was one of

the best supporters of Imam Ali (s).86Irshad as-Sari fee Sharh Sahih al Bukhari, vol.2 p.441.

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It was certain that Abu Hurayra would neverequal Rifaa whether in his doings or sayings.When there was any contradiction, the

traditions of Rifaa would certainly bepreferred to the traditions narrated by AbuHurayra. Therefore we found that al-Qastlaniwhen explaining the tradition of Abu Hurayrain his book Fat~hul Bari tried his best tointerpret the tradition to be in accordancewith the tradition of Rifaa.

Whoever looked for the sayings of the

ancestors and the successors when talkingabout Abu Hurayras tradi tion, would findthem all, except the Hanafites, eitherrefuting87 or interpreting88 the tradition to bein accordance with their thoughts. Refer toSharh Sahih al-Bukhari and Sharh SahihMuslim to see their sayings about AbuHurayras tradition in details.89

87 like some of the Mutazilites and all the Shia.88 The scholars of the Sunni sects other than the Hanafites.89 Imam an-Nawawi said in Sharh Sahih Muslim: and as

for his saying: (recite what is easy of the Quran as possible

as you can), it referred to al-Fatiha or something besides

al-Fatiha because it was possible for the ordinary people.

Imam as-Sindi said in his Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari: his

saying: (recite what is easy of the Quran as possible asyou can) was because what was possible for people like

that man was al-Fatiha. It was mentioned in other

traditions that the Prophet (s) had specified al-Fatiha for

that man.

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Juristic Questions

Abu Hurayra himself contradicted histradition when he narrated other traditionssaying: I heard the Prophet (s) saying: The

prayer wont be correct unless al-Fatiha isrecited in it.90 Abu Hurayra also said: TheProphet (s) ordered me to announce in Medinathat no prayer (would be correct) without(reciting some of the) Quran, even if it was al-Fatiha and something more.91 He also said: Iheard the Prophet (s) saying: Whoever offersa prayer without reciting al-Fatiha, his prayer

is aborted, his prayer is aborted, his prayer isaborted, his prayer is aborted.92

Then why did the Hanafites depend uponthe outward meaning of the saying (recitewhat is easy of the Quran as possible as youcan) mentioned in Abu Hurayras tradition andgive up the clear and true prophetic traditionstalking about the prayer? In fact they

depended upon what contradicted the manytrue traditions and objected to all the othersects of the Muslims and what they gave upwas confirmed by the true prophetic traditionsand by all the other sects of the Muslims.

The Hanafites might depend upon theQuranic verse (therefore read what is easyof the Quran 73:20) as their evidence forthis matter.

The answer: this verse had nothing to dowith the subject of recit ing Quranic suras inthe prayer at all. The interpreters hadexplained this verse c lear ly. Let him, whowants to see its real meaning, refer theinterpretations of the Quran.

90 Refer to Sahih of Abu Bakr bin Khuzayma and an-Nawawis Sharh Sahih Muslim.91Sunan of Abu Dawood.92 Mentioned by Abu Dawood in his Sunan and Muslim in

his Sahih.

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The Hanafites justified the permissibility ofrecit ing the translation of the Quran in theprayer according to some sayings;

First: Ibn Massood recited to someforeigners: (Surely the tree of the Zaqqumis (taam al-atheem) the food of the sinful44:43-4). One of the foreigners recited (taamal-atheem) as (taam al-yateem; the orphan).Ibn Masood said to him: Say: Taam al-fajir).93 Then ibn Massood said: It is nomistake to recite (al-hakeem; wise) instead of

(al -aleem; aware). The mistake is to put averse of mercy instead of a verse of torment.

The answer: this was too far from oursubject and i f the saying was true, i t would

just show ibn Massoods own thought and itwould never be taken as evidence.

Second: the Quranic verses ( And mostsurely the same is in the scriptures of the

ancients 26:196) and (Most surely this is inthe earlier scriptures; the scriptures ofIbrahim and Musa 87:18-9).

Their evidence out of these verses was thatthe umma agreed upon that the Quran hadnot been in its Arabic wordings whether in thescriptures of the ancients or the scriptures ofAbraham and Moses but it was its meaningsthat had been mentioned in those scripturesin Hebrew and Syriac.

The answer: this was like the previous justification in not having anything to do withthe subject. In fact it was much farther thanthat one.

93 Fajir and atheem nearly have the same meaning; fajir

means dissolute and atheem means sinful.

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Juristic Questions

Third: the Quranic verse (and this Quranhas been revealed to me that with it I maywarn you. 6:19) and the foreigners didnt

understand Arabic unless the meaning wouldbe translated to them into their language;therefore the warning was to be in theirlanguage.

The answer: this would be possible asevidence for the permissibility of translatingthe holy Quran into the foreigners languagesso that they could make use of i ts maxims,

morals, orders and prohibi tions. This wassomething and jargoning in the prayer wouldbe something else. Would any Arab orfore igner not understand that reci ting al-Fatiha did mean to recite the sura as it hadbeen revealed with its original wordingwritten down in the holy Quran? Would anyone of good tact not feel that the spirit of the

Quran would be deprived of if it was recited ina foreign language whether eastern orwestern?

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I didnt think that Imam Abu Haneefa wouldfai l in his just i f ications to a degree that hemight fall down to the bottom! It was because

he relied upon analogy and approval indeducing the legal verdicts. Hence he foundthat it would be nice for the foreigners if theQuran was translated into their languages inorder to be recited in their prayers. He foundthat it would be easier for them to understandthe meanings and to be more submissive intheir prayers. He compared the foreigners

reciting the Quran in his language with hisl istening to the sermons and learning thelessons in his language. This was the theoryof Atatrk in offering the prayer. He didnttake it from Abu Haneefa but it was justtelepathy! What helped Atatrk with th istheory that he didn t appreciate the legalevidences; in fact he didnt know them and

didnt want to know them. He determinedwhat he approved. If the Sharia hadsomething leading to the permissibil ity of acting according to the approval, they would

justify their thought but how far!Ash-Shafiiy, Malik, Ahmed and others

thought that reciting al-Fatiha in all wajib andmustahab prayers in Arabic was obl igatory.

Their evidence for that was Abu Hurayrastradition talking about the story of thenomad, who couldnt offer his prayer correctlyand then the Prophet (s) taught him how tooffer the prayer, ordered him to recite someof the Quran in his prayer and then said tohim: Do this in all of your prayers.94

94 Imam an-Nawawi ash-Shafiiy said in his book SharhSahih Muslim when talking about the obligation of reciting

al-Fatiha in the prayer: All the ulema-the ancestors and

the successors-agreed upon the obligation of reciting al-

Fatiha in every raka according to the Prophets saying to

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Juristic Questions

You already knew our thought about thistradition when we said that we had brushed itaside and that it had no value near us.

The Shia believed, according to theirinfal lible imams, that reciting al-Fatiha incorrect Arabic was obligatory in the first tworakas of every wajib and mustahab prayer95

for the single prayer (one, who offers a prayeralone) and for the imam (one who leads theothers in offering the prayer).

the nomad, who couldnt offer his prayer correctly: Do

this in all of your prayers. An-Nawawi, ash-Shafiiy and

others, who thought that al-Fatiha must be recited in every

raka of the prayers, couldnt justify Abu Hurayras

tradition unless by considering the Prophets sayingRecite what is easy of the Quran as possible as you can

to refer to al-Fatiha especially.95 It is obligatory among the Shia to recite a complete sura

after al-Fatiha in the first two rakas of the five wajib

prayers. This had been confirmed by the Prophet (s)

according to the tradition narrated by Abu Qatada and

mentioned by al-Bukhari in his Sahih and by others. It is

possible among the Shia not to recite the second sura in

some cases. Not reciting the second sura becomesobligatory when the time left for the prayer is very short or

in some necessary cases. As for mustahab prayer, al-

Fatiha only is obligatory. This means that reciting al-Fatiha

is a condition determining the validity of the prayer.

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As for the mamoom,96 he didnt have torecite al-Fatiha because the imam97 wouldundertake that instead of him. As for the last

two rakas, i t would be obl igatory for themamoom either to recite the sura or to recitetassbeeh.98 The imam was not to undertakerecit ing the sura or tassbeeh instead of themamoom in the last two rakas.

Our evidence (the Shias evidence) in all ofthat was the sayings of our infall ible imams,who were the equal of the Quran.

96 Mamoom is one, who offers the prayer behind an imam.97 According to the Prophets saying: Who offers the

prayer behind an imam, the imams reciting (of the Quran)

will suffice him. This tradition was mentioned in thejurisprudential books of the four Sunni sects. There was a

saying related to Imam Ali and eighty of the great

companions mentioned in the same books that the

mamoom was forbidden from reciting (Quran) in the

prayer. In fact there was another saying showing that the

prayer of the mamoom would be invalid if he recited of

the Quran after his imam. Among the Shia the strongest

choice for the mamoom is not to recite the Quranic surasin the first two rakas of the soft-recited prayer and in the

first two rakas of the loud-recited prayers if the mamoom

can hear the reciting of the imam or even the humming of

his reciting according to the Quranic verse (And when

the Quran is recited, then listen to it and remain

silent, that mercy may be shown to you) 7:204. When

the mamoom cant hear the sound of his imam, he may

recite the suras. In fact it will be mustahab for the

mamoom to recite them.98 Tassbeeh is saying (subhanal-lah-glory be to Allah- wel

hamdu lillah-(and) praise be to Allah- wela ilaha illallahu-

(and) there is no god but Allah- wellahu akbar-(and) Allah

is great).

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TAKBEERATUL IHRAM

The Shia agreed, according to their pureimams, unanimously upon that takbeeratulihram100 was a necessary pillar of every wajiband mustahab prayer. Without takbeeratul

ihram the prayer would be invalid. The onlyform of takbeeratul ihram was (Allahu akbar).If the prayer began his prayer with anythingelse than Allahu akbar even if it had the samemeaning, his prayer would be inval id. Alsosaying it in any language other than Arabicwould invalidate the prayer. It was enough forus that takbeeratul ihram was obligatory that

the Prophet (s) had never begun any of hisprayers except with it. You already knew thatthe Prophet (s) had said: Offer the prayer asyou saw me offering it.

10 0 Saying (Allahu akbar). It is the necessary (key) for the

prayer to be valid.

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Juristic Questions

The obl igation of takbeeratul ihram wasconfirmed by the Quran, the Sunna and theconsensus of the umma. Al lah said: (And

your Lord do magnify 74:3).101 Theconsensus of the umma agreed upon that theverse referred to takbeeratul ihram and theorders of Allah were to be obeyed obligatorily.According to the consensus of the umma toothat other than saying (Allahu akbar) at thebeginning of the prayer was not obl igatory.

The Prophet (s) said: The key of the prayer is

the tahoor,102 its tahreem103 is saying Allahuakbar and its tahleel104 is by sayingtasleem.105 This tradition was mentioned byAbu Dawood in his Sunan.

10 1 The verse in Arabic is (wa (and) rabbaka (your god) fa-

kabbir (say: Allahu akbar; Allah is great).10 2 Tahoor is either pure water used for wudu or pure soil

used for tayammum. Tayammum is ablution with soil when

there is no water.10 3 Tahreem is making the prayer as a sacred sanctum that

saying or doing anything else than the prayers parts

during offering the prayer will be haram.10 4 Tahleel means making one free from the restrictions of

the prayer.10 5 Tasleem is saying (as-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi

wa barakatuh) to end the prayer.

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TRAVELERS TAQSEER AND FAST BREAKING

Legislating taqseer106

The four raka-prayers are shortened intotwo rakas in travel whether it is in the caseof fright or safety. All the umma agree upon

this unanimously. Allah says: (And when youjourney in the earth, there is no blame onyou if you shorten the prayer, if you fearthat those who disbelieve wil l cause youdistress 4:101).

Yala bin Umayya said: I asked Omar binal-Khattab: is (there is no blame on you ifyou shorten the prayer, i f you fear that

those who disbelieve will cause youdistress) while the people are safe now? Hesaid: I wondered at what you have wonderedat and asked the Prophet (s) about that. Hesaid: It is a charity that Allah has granted toyou. You are to accept His charity. I t wasmentioned in Muslims Sahih.

10 6 Qasr is a shortened form of prayer. Taqseer (infinitive)

is offering the shortened form of prayer (two rakas

instead of four) by a traveler.

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Ibn Abu Shayba narrated that the Prophet(s) had said: The best of my umma are those,who witness that there is no god but Allah and

Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, becomehappy when doing benevolence, ask forforgiveness when doing badly and shorten theprayer when traveling.

Anass bin Malik said: I offered the Dhuhrprayer with the Prophet (s) in Medina in fourrakas and of fered the Assr prayer in ThilHulayfa in two rakas as a traveler.111

There were many other true traditionsconfirming that Allah the Almighty hadlegislated shortening the prayer in travel.

Legislating fast breaking There was no doubt that Allah had

legislated fast breaking in Ramadan forwhoever traveled to a distance that madehim/her shorten his/her prayer. The ummaagreed upon this unanimously and the Quranand the Sunna confirmed it clearly.

Allah said: (The month of Ramadan isthat in which the Quran was revealed, aguidance to men and clear proofs of theguidance and the distinction; thereforewhoever of you is present in the month, heshall fast therein, and whoever is sick orupon a journey, then (he shall fast) a (like)number of other days; Allah desires easefor you, and He does not desire for youdifficulty, and(He desires) that you shouldcomplete the number) 2:185.

11 1 Muslims Sahih.

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Some scholars thought that both qasr andtamam (complete) prayers were optional forthe traveler like the optionality of kaffara. 114

This was the bel ief of some companions of ash-Shafiiy.

Some thought that qasr prayer was acertain rubric of the Prophet (s). This was thebelief of Malik according to the most famoussaying narrated from him.

Some thought that taqseer was aconcession (granted by Allah) and offering

tamam prayer would be better. Ash-Shafi iythought so according to his most famoussayings. So it seemed to his companions.

The Hanbalites said that qasr waspermissible and was better than tamam buttamam prayer was not makrooh.115

Our evidence The Shia believed that qasr was wajib

depending upon true prophetic t raditionsmentioned in the Sunni books of Hadith andupon the certain traditions of the infal libleimams of Ahlul Bayt (s).

11 4 Atonement or expiation: making repayment for some

failure to act, harm done to another, etc.11 5 Makrooh means undesirable act.

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Muslim mentioned Aaishas tradition fromanother way that she said: Allah hadlegislated the prayer as two rakas and then

He made i t tamam in residence and i t wasfixed in travel as it had been legislatedfirstly.

If th is tradition was true so it would benaturally that the prayer of the traveler whenit was offered in four rakas wouldnt be validif there was no divine order about that. Fromthe first, Allah had legislated the prayer to be

two rakas and then He fixed it for thetraveler, so i f the traveler offered it in fourrakas, he would be heretic exactly as i f hehad offered the Fajr prayer in four rakas oroffered the four-raka prayer in residence intwo rakas.

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Travelers Taqseer and Fast Breaking

From among the sayings of the infal libleimams was this tradition narrated by Zurarabin Ayun and Muhammad bin Muslim. They

asked Imam Baqir (s): What do you say aboutthe prayer in travel? How and how many(rakas) is i t? He said: Allah says: (Andwhen you journey in the earth, there is noblame on you if you shorten the prayer4:101) so taqseer is wajib in travel as tamamis wajib in residence. They said: We said tohim: Allah says: (there is no blame on you if

you shorten the prayer) and doesnt say:(Shorten the prayer!) So how does it becomewajib l ike tamam prayer? He said: DoesntAllah say: (Surely the Safa and the Marwaare among the signs appointed by Allah;so whoever makes a pilgrimage to theHouse or pays a visit (to it ), there is noblame on him if he goes round them

both2:158) Dont you see that tawaf118 isobligatory because Allah has mentioned it inHis book and the Prophet (s) has done it? Sois about taqseer in travel. Allah hasmentioned it in His book and the Prophet (s)has done i t . They said: Then did he, whooffered four rakas in travel, have to offer hisprayer again (in two rakas)? He said: If theQuranic verse of taqseer had been recited andinterpreted to him and he offered four rakas,then he had to offer his prayer again but i f the verse hadnt been recited to him and hehadnt known about it, then he didnt have tooffer his prayer again. Imam Baqir (s) added:All the prayers in travel are to be two rakasexcept Maghrib prayer, which is three rakasand has no taqseer, because the Prophet (s)

11 8 Tawaf is circumambulation; turning seven times around

the Kaaba.

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has left i t three rakas whether in travel orresidence.

Imam at-Tabarsi said in Majmaul Bayan

after mentioning this tradition: In thistradition there is a certain evidence showingthat the prayer of the traveler is not like theprayer of the resident. The entire sect (theShia) agreed upon this and agreed upon thatthe prayer of the traveler was not qasr. It wasmentioned that the Prophet (s) had said: Theprayer of the traveler is two rakas but not

qasr.The author of al-Kashshaf said when talking

about the verse of taqseer: Abu Haneefaconsidered taqseer in travel as obligatory andnot concession and doing other than it wasnot permissible. Omar bin al-Khattab said:

The prayer in travel is two rakas. It is tamamand not qasr according to the Prophet (s).119

The excuse of ash-Shafiiy andthose who consider taqseer asnot wajib

They justified their belief in some ways:First: the apparent meaning of the Quranic

verse (there is no blame on you if you

shorten the prayer) showed permissibilityand not obligation.

11 9 If the prayer of the traveler was two rakas and thistwo-raka prayer was tamam and not qasr and that was

said by the Prophet (s) as Omar witnessed, then how would

it be valid when it was offered in four rakas? Would

worship be valid if it was opposite to the law of Allah?

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The answer: the previous saying of ImamBaqir (s) was sufficient to refute this excuse.Imam az-Zamakhshari said in his Kashshaf:

As if people at those days got used to tamamprayers so in order not to think that therewould be a defect in their prayers i f theyoffered them in shortened form, the versedenied that they might be blamed so thatthey were to feel assured and satisfied whenoffering qasr prayers.

Second: Othman and Aaisha used to offer

tamam prayers in travel. The answer: Othman and Aaisha

interpreted the evidences of taqseer and theymistook.

Some Sunni scholars justified that bysaying: Othman was ameerul momineen (thecommander of the believers) and Aaisha wasthe mother of the believers so they both were

in continuous residence because whereverthey traveled they would be among theirfamily and in their home and country.

What a funny justif ication it was! Did theyconsider the Prophet (s) as a stranger to theworld of the believers? No one had narratedthat the Prophet (s) offered tamam prayers inhis travels. Neither did Abu Bakr, Omar or Ali.So all of them were strangers according tothis justification. Might Allah be with them!

Third: famous traditions mentioned byMuslim in his Sahih showing that thecompanions often traveled with the Prophet(s). Some of them offered qasr prayers andsome offered tamam prayers. Some of themremained fasting and some broke theirfasting. They didnt criticize each other.

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The answer: nothing of these traditions wasproved by the Shia besides that they objectedto the certain traditions narrated from our

infallible imams, who were equal to theQuran. In fact these traditions contradictedthemselves. You wil l see the details sooninshallah.

No doubt that the traditions of the infallibleimams of the Prophets progeny would bepreferred to the others traditions when therewas any objection between them especially

when they were confirmed by some traditionsnarrated by the Sunni.

The conditions of fast breaking The Muslim jurisprudents disagreed upon

the conditions of fast breaking in travel. TheSunni jurisprudents thought that fast breakingin travel was a concession and if the travelerkept on his fasting, his fasting would be valid.

They depended upon some traditionsmentioned by Muslim in his Sahih;

Abu Saeed al-Khidri said: We went to fightwith the Prophet (s) in one of the battles onthe sixteenth of Ramadan. Some of us kept onfasting and some broke fasting. Neither thefaster crit icized that, who broke his fasting,nor that who broke fasting criticized thefaster.

From another way that Abu Saeed said:We traveled with the Prophet (s) inRamadan. Neither the faster crit icized that,who broke fasting, nor that, who brokefasting, criticized the faster.

The answer: these traditions, if wesupposed that they were true, were annulledby traditions narrated by the Sunni and othertraditions narrated by the Shia from theinfallible imams (s).

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Here are some of the traditions narrated bythe Sunni;

Muslim mentioned in his Sahih that Jabir bin

Abdullah had said: The Prophet (s) went toMecca in Ramadan of (Aamul Fat~h; the yearof conquest). He fasted until he reachedKiraul Ghameem and the people fasted withhim. Then he asked for a cup of water . Helifted the cup until the people saw it and thenhe drank of the water . Then i t was said tohim: Some people are stil l fasting. He said:

They are disobedient. They are disobedient.Muslim mentioned another tradition

narrated by Jabir saying: Once the Prophet(s) was in travel when he saw a mansurrounded by some people and it wasshadowed over him. The Prophet (s) asked:Whats the matter of him? They said: He isfasting. The Prophet (s) said: It is not

righteousness to fast in travel. These traditions annulled those ones

because these traditions came after thoseones according to the witness of the Sunni.What confirmed this was a traditionmentioned by Muslim in his Sahih and byothers that Obaydillah bin Abdullah bin Otbasaid that ibn Abbas had told him that theProphet (s) traveled (to Mecca) in the year ofconquest. He fasted until he reached al-Qadeed and then he broke his fasting. Thenhe said: The Prophets companions followedthe most recent of his affairs.

Muslim mentioned in his Sahih that az-Zuhrihad said: Fast breaking was the most recentact of the two acts and certainly the mostrecent and the most recent of the Prophetsacts would be followed.

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Muslim mentioned in his Sahih that ibnShihab had said: The Muslims fol lowed themost recent of the Prophets acts and

bel ieved that they annul led the previousones.

If it was supposed that the fasting of someof the Prophets companions in travel wasval id, certainly that would be before theirsubmission to fast breaking and before hissaying it is not righteousness to fast intravel and his saying about the fasting ones

they are disobedient! They are disobedient!As for the Shia, they agreed upon that fast

breaking in travel was obl igatory. This wasthe bel ief of Dawood bin Ali al- Isfahani andhis companions. So was the belief of a numberof the Prophets companions like Omar bin al-Khattab, his son Abdullah, Abdullah binAbbas, Abdur Rahman bin Ouff, Abu Hurayra,

Orwa bin az-Zubayr and the infall ible imamsof the Prophets progeny (s).

It was mentioned that Omar bin al-Khattabhad ordered a man, who had fasted in travel,to fast again (in residence because fasting intravel wouldnt be valid). So were the belief ofthe Shia and the belief of Dawood.

Yousuf bin al-Hakam said: I asked ibnOmar about fasting in travel. He said: If yougive a man an alms and he returns it to you,wont you become angry? It is an alms fromAllah to you. Dont return it!

Abdur Rahman bin Ouff said: The Prophet(s) said: He, who fasts in travel, is l ike him,who breaks his fasting in residence.

Ibn Abbas said: Fast breaking in travel isobl igatory. Imam Sadiq (s) said: He, whofasts during Ramadan in travel, is l ike that,who breaks fasting during Ramadan inresidence.

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Second: what is understood from Allahssaying (therefore whoever of you is present in the month, he shall fast

therein) is that whoever is not present (in hisresidence) doesnt have to fast. So the verseshows clearly that fasting in travel is notobligatory at all.

Third: the saying of Allah (and whoever issick or upon a journey, then (he shall fast)a (like) number of other days) shows thathe, who is sick or upon a journey, has to fast

other days as equal as the days of hissickness or travel. This requires to breakfasting during travel because no one says thatthe traveler has to gather between fastingduring travel and later on to fast in lieu of thedays he spends in travel. This contradicts theease that Allah desires for His peopleaccording to the verse ( Allah desires easefor you, and He does not desire for youdifficulty).

Fourth: Allahs saying ( Allah desires easefor you, and He does not desire for youdifficulty). Ease here refers to fast breakingand diff iculty refers to fasting during travel.Hence the meaning of the verse is that Allahwants from you to break fasting ( in travel)and He doesnt want from you to fast (intravel).

The distance that determinestaqseer and fast breaking

The Muslim scholars disagreed upon thedistance that made it obligatory for a traveler

to shorten the prayer and to break thefasting.

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I f i t is so, then taqseer and fast breakingwill be wherever hardship is. According to AbuHaneefa hardship doesnt happen except after

passing three stages (three-day travel) andaccording to ash-Shafiiy, Malik and Ahmad ithappens after passing sixteen farsakhs. As forthose, who didnt care but to the wording likethe Zahirites, they said: The Prophet (s) saidthat Allah had made the traveler free fromfasting and halved the prayer for him. Hencewhoever is called a traveler may shorten the

prayer and break fasting. They evidencedtheir thought by a tradition mentioned byMuslim that Omar bin al-Khattab had said thatthe Prophet (s) used to shorten the prayerafter about seventeen miles.

Hence the imams of the four Sunni sectsdidnt depend, when specifying the distance,upon an evidence out of the Prophets sayings

or doings but they depended upon aphilosophy called the reasonable meaning.

This would satisfy neither the infallible imamsof the Prophets progeny nor the Shia indeducing the legal laws.

When the people of Mecca, during the ageof the Prophet (s), Abu Bakr and Omar, wentout of Mecca towards Arafat, they offeredqasr prayer in Arafat, al-Muzdalifa andMina.123 This was confirmed by the all with nodoubt.

12 3 Arafat, Muzdalifa and Mina are names of places near

Mecca.

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The Shia says that the traveler has to offerqasr prayer after passing eight farsakhs126

whether going or four farsakhs going and four

farsakhs coming back like the distancebetween Mecca and Arafat. I t was the leastdistance, in which the Prophet (s) had offeredqasr prayer and this was the most certainevidence. Praise be to Allah.

12 6 The distance of eight farsakhs is about forty-four

kilometers.

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TEMPORARY MARRIAGE

1. The way of this marriage The way of this marriage is that a free127

adult Muslim or kitabi128 woman accepts tomarry herself to a Musl im man on condit ion

that there is no any legal objection to thismarriage according to Islam such as kinship(ones mother, grandmother or upward, sister,niece or nieces daughter, daughter,granddaughter or downward and aunt;fathers sister or mothers sister), suckl ingmilk ( if both the man and the woman, whowant to get married, have suckled milk from a

same woman in their chi ldhood), marriage(that the woman has another husband), iddah(a prescribed period, which a woman has topass after her divorce or her husbands deathbefore her remarr iage) or any other legalprohibit ions such as i f the woman has beenengaged by one of the mans sons or she wasthe mans wifes sister or other reasons.

12 7 Not slave.12 8 Kitabi means a Jew or a Christian.

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Such a woman accepts to marry herself witha specified dower to a definite periodaccording to a legal bond including all the

conditions required to make the marriagevalid. After agreement and consent, thewoman says to the man: I marry myself to youwith a dower of so and so and for a day, twodays, a month, two months, a year or twoyears for example. She may mention a morespecified period. The man says to herimmediately: I accept. Agency is permitted in

this bond for both of the man and the womanexactly as any other bond. When the bond isconcluded, the woman becomes the manswife unti l the end of the period specif ied inthe bond. As soon as the period ends, the wifeseparates from the husband without divorce.

The husband has the right to separate fromthe wife before the end of the period specified

in the bond as a matter of granting theremained period to the wife and not a matterof divorce. The wife has, if the husband sleepswith her in the bed,129 to undergo iddah afterthe end of the temporary marriage. Her iddahis equal to a period of two menstruations i f she sti ll menstruates otherwise it will beforty-f ive days as the iddah of a bondmaidaccording to special conditions concerning thesubject.

12 9 If she doesnt undergo menopause yet.

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Temporary Marriage

If the husband grants his wife the period ofthe temporary marriage or the period endswithout sleeping with her, then she doesnt

have to undergo the iddah just like thedivorced wife of the ordinary (cont inuous)marriage if her husband hasnt s lept withher.130

The iddah of the pregnant wife of temporary marriage lasts until she gives birthto her child like the iddah of the divorced wifeof the ordinary marriage. The iddah of the

wife, whose husbands dies before the periodof the temporary marriage ends, is l ike theiddah of the wife, whose husband dies, in thecontinuous marriage.131

The child of the temporary marriagewhether boy or gir l is to be ascribed to thefather as the other offspring of the continuousmarriage. There is no difference between the

child of the temporary marriage and that ofthe continuous marriage in the legal verdictssuch as inheritance ( Allah enjoins youconcerning your children: The male shallhave the equal of the portion of twofemales 4:11), the relationship with thesisters and brothers and their chi ldren, theuncles and aunts and their ch ildren (andthose who are akin are nearer one toanother in the ordinance of Allah 8:75)andall the other legal laws.

13 0 And there is no iddah for the woman undergoing

menopause.13 1 Whether she is slept with or not, whether undergoes

menopause or not, whether pregnant or not. The iddah ofthe pregnant wife when her husband dies in both kinds of

marriage is the longest of the two periods; either by giving

birth to her child or after passing four months and ten days

since the death of the husband.

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The very temporary marriage itself doesntdetermine the obligation of inheritancebetween the spouses and the wi fe has no

right of getting spending from her husbandaccording to special laws concerning thesubject.

This is the temporary marriage as it is andthis is

juristic questions

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