Lengthening the Prayer
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The second question of Fatwa No. ( 4582 )
Q2: I pray in a rural mosque, and when I lead the prayer, they tell me: "Shorten the prayer," because they know that I belong to an Islamic group. Should I shorten it or not, even though they are young men, with no old men or elderly among them? I pray with fewer than ten verses. What is the solution to this, and what is the Islamic ruling on it?
J2: It is a recommended practice (sunnah) for the one who leads the people in prayer to consider their circumstances and to follow the example of the weakest among them, within the limits of what the pure Sunnah has reported regarding the description of the prayer of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Praying with ten verses is not considered lengthening the prayer. In fact, it was the norm for him (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) in his recitation during prayer that he would recite from the long surahs of the final part of the Qur'an (al-Mufassal) in the Fajr prayer, and from the short ones in the Maghrib prayer, and he might recite from the long ones in it. In the 'Isha', Zuhr, and 'Asr prayers, he would recite from the medium-length ones, and he might lengthen the Zuhr prayer at times. Al-Mufassal begins with Surat Qaf and continues to the end of Surat al-Nas.
And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his companions.
Q2: I pray in a rural mosque, and when I lead the prayer, they tell me: "Shorten the prayer," because they know that I belong to an Islamic group. Should I shorten it or not, even though they are young men, with no old men or elderly among them? I pray with fewer than ten verses. What is the solution to this, and what is the Islamic ruling on it?
J2: It is a recommended practice (sunnah) for the one who leads the people in prayer to consider their circumstances and to follow the example of the weakest among them, within the limits of what the pure Sunnah has reported regarding the description of the prayer of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Praying with ten verses is not considered lengthening the prayer. In fact, it was the norm for him (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) in his recitation during prayer that he would recite from the long surahs of the final part of the Qur'an (al-Mufassal) in the Fajr prayer, and from the short ones in the Maghrib prayer, and he might recite from the long ones in it. In the 'Isha', Zuhr, and 'Asr prayers, he would recite from the medium-length ones, and he might lengthen the Zuhr prayer at times. Al-Mufassal begins with Surat Qaf and continues to the end of Surat al-Nas.
And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.