The Evidence for the Pillar Status of Reciting al-Fatihah in Prayer

The questioner : What is the evidence, O brother 'Abd al-Rahman, for the pillar status of reciting al-Fatihah? The saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) al-Fatihah is Umm al-Qur'an.

The Shaykh : Yes, "hadaj" means defective. This is the hadith of Abu Hurayrah. The hadith of 'Ubadah: "There is no prayer." Welcome, O long-lived one. Now, if someone were to say that this negates perfection, citing the saying of Allah the Exalted and the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith of the one who prays poorly, then O 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ibrahim.

The questioner : Yes, first, it is said that this is refuted by the Sunnah. It is said that this is refuted from two angles. The first is the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): "There is no prayer in which one does not recite Umm al-Qur'an." The second is that when a negation is stated absolutely, it refers to the negation of validity. If it is not accompanied by a negation of existence, then if it is not a negation of validity, then if it is not, it is a negation. Here, it is possible that the negation is interpreted as referring to existence, so it would be on...

The Shaykh : One may pray without al-Fatihah. Yes.

The questioner : It is applied, meaning in terms of validity, and one does not move away from it except for evidence.

The Shaykh : He says: I have evidence: "Recite whatever is easy for you of the Qur'an." This is in the Qur'an This is in the Sunnah.

The questioner : Yes, indeed, one should look at the hadith, so that his prayer does not become bad, he does not recite in one of them.

The Shaykh : Yes, fine, yes, Fawzi.

The questioner : I say that this hadith is general, and the hadith of 'Ubadah regarding prayer specifies al-Fatihah only?

The Shaykh : Yes, we answer by saying that this is general and this is specific. Then we also say what my brother 'Abd al-Rahman referred to: "There is no prayer," and the hadith of Abu Hurayrah: "It is hadaj," meaning defective. "Hadaj" is the defective thing. Then we also say that generally, the easiest thing from the Qur'an for Muslims is al-Fatihah, because they recite it frequently.