On Salah
Q. Some people
seem to recite words used in Salah without moving their lips. What is
the correct method?
A. Well, reciting words verbally is necessary in salah, no matter
how low the voice is. But, the movement of the tongue, and the movement
of lips in the required words, is necessary. Now, if a person stands in
salah and recites everything within his heart, his salah will remain simply
unperformed.
Q. Some people
look here and there while in salah. Is this permissible?
A. For a person who stands to perform his salah, the masnun method
is to set his eyes on the spot where he is to perform his sajdah; and
if his eyes are not on that spot and he is looking towards that is in
front of him, his act is of his contrary to sunnah, but the salah will
still be valid. Now, if a person is looking towards his right or left
and he has done it in a manner that his neck has not turned towards either
side, his salah will be valid, although doing so unnecessarily is makrooh
(reprehensible). and if he intentionally looks towards his right and left
having turned his neck then, this is outright impermissible ; and if anyone
does this in a way that the average onlooker finds it totally foreign
to salah, then, the salah
itself will become invalid.
Q. When we
follow the Imam in salah, we are supposed to make an intention that we
are doing so. Do we make this intention verbally, or in the heart, or
just stand which will become the symbol of our intention to follow the
Imam?
A. A lot of misunderstanding seems to be concerning niyyah or intention
in salah. People think if they do not actually say the set words of niyyah
before starting to offer their salah, their salah will not be valid. This
is not correct. Niyyah means the intention of the heart. When a person
is going to offer his salah in a congregation behind an Imam, it is not
necessary that he should say this in words. The formal set of words used
'to form' an intention should not be taken to mean that salah will not
be established if these are not repeated verbally. This notion is incorrect.
Think of a person who joins the congregation
with the Imam going for Ruku' (bending position) and while he is still
standing and struggling with the formalized words of intention, the Imam
rises from the 'Ruku'. So, as I said earlier, this formal verbalization
of the words of intention is not necessary at all.
The same is true about the intention (niyyah) of keeping a fast. I get
a lot of telephone calls at the time of suhur (sehri : pre dawn snacks
in Ramadan) telling me that something terrible has happened to the caller.
When I ask him as to what it could be at this hour, he would say that
he has eaten his suhur but forgot to make the intention to keep the fast.
When I ask, "Why did you eat your suhur on this dawn of Ramadan?"
the answer is, "To fast" . I ask, "How is it that you made
no intention then?" The answer is, "Well, Sir, I did not say
the words of intention," that is, "
I intend to keep the fast of the month of Ramadan for tomorrow" .
So, all this formalism is wrong. Niyyah is the intention of the heart.
Therefore, anyone standing behind an Imam to offer his salah, for all
practical purposes, intends in his heart that he is going to follow the
Imam.
Q. It is common
observation these days that a late joiner of congregation would join in
by saying the takbir (Allahu-Akbar) and go for Ruku' (bending position)
without making it a point to observe Qiyam (standing position). At times,
the essential takbir, because of this hurry, is dragged into the Ruku',
where it does not belong.given this situation, will the salah be valid?
A. This rakah will not be counted as valid. Standing, even if it
be for a while, and saying Allahu-Akbar in that standing position is necessary.
One goes for Ruku' after having done that.
Q. A person
joins the congregation after the Imam has performed the Ruku' and he stands
in the row and waits for the Imam to rise for the next rakah since he
knows that he has lost the Ruku' and therefore, the rakah too. Is this
correct?
A. No. He should go for sajdah after the Imam immediately. He should
not wait for the Imam to rise for the next rakah. This has been explicitly
prohibited in Hadith.
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