Recitation of al-Fatiha obligatory? ┇Opinions discussed - Shaikh al Munajjid

Recitation of al-Fatiha obligatory in Salah?
The author (Shaikh Abdurrahman as-Sa'adi, may Allah have mercy upon him) said: al-Fatiha is to be read, and it is one of the obligations and pillars of the Salah. Salah is not correct without it, according to majority of the scholars. And its proof is what Ubaadah ibn Samit (radiyallahu anh) narrated from the messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying: “There is no prayer for the one who does not recite the Opening of the Book [i.e., al-Faatihah].” (Bukhari) And Abu Hurairah (radiyallahu anh) narrated from the prophet (ﷺ) saying: “Whoever offers a prayer in which he does not recite Umm al-Kitaab (i.e., al-Faatihah), it is defective.” and he repeated the word defective thrice, which means that it is incomplete. And 'khadeej' means premature infant. And this also proves that it specifically must be recited, and nothing other than it can replace it. And recitation of Fatiha is a pillar in all the Salah, be it obligatory or voluntary, loud or silent And similarly, it is a pillar for both: The individual and the Imam. As for the ma'moom (one who is praying behind the imam), the scholars have differed on him. The Madhab of Shafi'ee is that it is obligatory in every prayer, be it silent or loud. And this is the choice of Imam al Bukhari in his Saheeh, as he named a Chapter: Obligation of recitation of Fatiha for the Imam and ma'moom, in every Salah be it in the residence or on travel. Abu Hanifa (rahimahullah) viewed that one should not recite behind the Imam, unconditionally: Neither in Loud prayers nor in Silent ones. Imam Malik and Ahmad viewed not reciting in loud ones, but recommended in the silent ones. And this was the choice of Shaikh-ul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullah). And the choice of the permanent committee and Shaikh Ibn Baz and Ibn Al Uthaimeen (rahimahumullah) was the madhab of ash-Shafi'ee in this issue, which is obligation of recitation of Fatiha on the ma'moom. Fine, so what is the middle opinion? Obligation of recitation in the silent prayers, not in the loud. i.e., silence in the loud prayers, and recitation in the silent ones. On one side, there are those who view not to recite in neither in silent nor in loud prayers. And the other side who opined to recite in both silent and loud ones. Not talking about the correct opinion; but as you see, there are two sides and a middle one. And the middle opinion was of Shaikh-ul Islam to recite in the silent ones and not the loud. And said that this is what proofs point to. And this is a well known issue of difference. And everyone must widen his understanding and not to behave narrow minded in this issue. because many people get heated and separated when this issue comes up. Because people are in need of this issue everyday. So we must understand that this is a issue from the issues on which the understanding of scholars differed So upon us is to open-up to understand the issue. Allah did not make all the scholars agree in every issue. So, what should the ordinary man do? His madhab is the madhab of the Mufti. He blindly follows one of the recognised scholars. But the student of knowledge researches. An ordinary man for instance in this land may choose to follow shaikh Ibn Baz, or Ibn al Uthaimeen. He is his shaikh, so he goes and asks him: What do you say in this issue? So he chooses to recite. A student of knowledge researches and may conclude with Shaikh-ul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah's opinion. So, he recites in the silent prayers and not in the loud ones. So, this is not a issue to judge who has understanding of the deen, and who does not. And this behavior is not supported by neither ration, nor intelligence, nor knowledge. And what proves the obligation of recitation of Fatiha on the ma'moom is his statement: 'There is no prayer for the one who does not recite the Opening of the Book.' As this addresses to every worshipper. So this is the proof of those who view obligation of recitation of Fatiha on the ma'moom. And similarly what Abu Hurairah (radiyallahu anh) narrated from the prophet (ﷺ) saying: “Whoever offers a prayer in which he does not recite Umm al-Kitaab (i.e., al-Fatihah), it is defective” thrice. It was said to Abu Hurairah, (What if) we are behind the imam? He said, 'Recite it to yourself.' And the narration of Abu Dawood from ‘Ubaadah, that the Prophet (ﷺ) stumbled in his recitation in Fajr, and when he finished he said, “Perhaps you recite behind your imaam?” They said, “Yes,” He said, 'Do not do that, except for the al-Faithah, for there is no prayer for the one who does not recite it.' And it was graded Hassan by Daraqutni, al-Bayhaqi, al-Khattabi, al-Albani, and others. And this stipulates obligation of recitation by the ma'moom even in the loud prayers.

As for those who view not to recite, they replied to their proofs and say that the statement of Allah ‘So, when the Qur’aan is recited, listen to it, and be silent.' [7:204] This is general, and does not refers to Fatiha. Meaning, you must keep quite at the recitation of the Qur'an except if you are performing Salah, even if you are behind the Imam, due to the proofs mentioned earlier. And we consider this aayah to be general: 'When the Qur'an is recited remain silent' And the specific is: 'Don't recite it except with the Fatiha of the Book.' 'Whoever offers a prayer in which he does not recite Umm al-Kitaab (i.e., al-Faatihah), it is defective.' And this is the specific one which we follow. And others told the opposite. They said the general is: 'There is no prayer for the one who does not recite the Opening of the Book [i.e., al-Faatihah].' And the aayah to be specific: 'So, when the Quran is recited, listen to it, and be silent.' [7:204] No doubt that most of the scholars view this addition to be weak. And among them are: Bukhari, Abu Dawood, Nisaa'i, Abu Ali an Naisapuri, Yahya ibn Ma'een, Abu Hatim ar Razi, ad-Daraqutni, and al Bayhaqi; as mentioned by Ibn Hajr in ad-Diraayah. An-Nawawi said: 'And agreement of all these huffaz on its weakness is to be given precedence over authentication of Imam Muslim.' So, its true that Muslim mentioned this in his Saheeh Muslim but these make the majority, and al-Bukhari is his teacher. And if this hadith is proved to be authentic, yet it is a general hadith not specifying al-Fatiha. So the followers should remain quite except for the recitation of al-Fatiha. Thirdly, the hadith narrated by Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) completed a prayer in which he he recited out loud, then he said: “Was one of you reciting with me just now?” A man said: Yes, O Messenger of Allah. He said: “I was saying to myself, what is wrong with me that someone is fighting to wrest the Qur’an from me.” So the people stopped reciting with the Messenger of Allah in prayers in which the Prophet (ﷺ) recited out loud, when they heard that from the Messenger of Allah. Okay, now what do you say about this hadith? You all who obligate recitation behind that Imam? What do you say about this hadith: 'What is wrong with me that someone is fighting to wrest the Qur’an from me.' And that the people stopped reciting behind the messenger of Allah (ﷺ). They said: This hadith is weak, and not authentic. And the statement: 'So the people stopped reciting behind the messenger of Allah' is proven, but no doubt that these are not the words of Abu Hurairah, but is an additional explanation by Az-Zuhri. An-Nawawi said: 'And there is no disagreement about this among them.' Okay, from what proof did those deduce who do not view recitation behind the Imam? Due to a hadith as well: 'The one who has an Imam, then the recitation of the Imam is his recitation.' This hadith was weakened by al-Bukhari, ad-Daraqutni, ibn al-Adi, al-Bayhaqi, Ibn al-Qayyim, etc. And Ibn Hajar said: 'All it's chains are defective.' Some of the contemporary ones like al-Albani graded it Hasan. And the same is viewed by Hanafi scholars. 'The one who has an Imam, then the recitation of the Imam is his recitation.' An-Nawawi said: 'The ahadith which those who view silence of the ma'moom are all weak. And there is nothing authentic from the prophet (ﷺ).' Alright. When we say that the ma'moom should recite it loud, it does not mean that he should be very loud. Rather only that he is to recite it to himself. So now we know the opinions regarding recitation of the ma'moom, as the Imam and the individual's case is clear. The issue is only with regards to the ma'moom. 1) Recitation is not obligatory, neither in silent prayers nor in loud ones, for Abu Hanifa. 2) To recite in the silent and the loud ones. 3) To recite in the silent and not the loud ones.

For more information:

For more info: https://islamqa.info/en/5410 https://islamqa.info/en/10995 https://islamqa.info/en/26746 https://islamqa.info/en/231217 https://islamqa.info/ar/115569