Is it permissible to combine more than one recitation in the prayer?

The questioner : Your Eminence, we find that some people recite the Qur'an in the prayer and they make a clear error, like saying "Malik" instead of "Malik" in "Malik yawm al-din."

The Shaykh : This is not an error; this is a recitation.

The questioner : A recitation?

The Shaykh : Two recitations, "Malik" and "Malik"?

The questioner : And is it permissible to use different recitations in the prayer, for example, the recitation of Hafs and another recitation?

The Shaykh : Any established recitation is permissible to recite, but it is not permissible to combine two recitations in a single verse or in a single recitation. However, if one recites it this way one time and that way another time, or recites it this way in one rak'ah and that way in another, that is the Sunnah.

The questioner : What if one does it?

The Shaykh : What does one do?

The questioner : I mean changing the recitations within the same prayer?

The Shaykh : That would be an innovation.

The questioner : An innovation?

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : Is the prayer invalid?

The Shaykh: No.

The questioner : It does not invalidate it.