When a person prays alone, does he recite loudly or quietly in the prayers where loud recitation is prescribed?

The questioner : Does the person who prays alone recite loudly or quietly in the prayers where loud recitation is prescribed?

The Shaykh :

The questioner : If he recites quietly, meaning...

The Shaykh : Leave the question of loud or quiet recitation aside. Does the prayer of the person praying alone differ in the remaining rulings of prayer, or what is called the "forms" in the definition of some jurists? Or does it differ if he prays as an imam or if he prays as a follower?

The questioner : It does not differ.

The Shaykh : So what is said here is the same as what is said there.

The questioner : O Shaykh, may Allah reward you. This ruling is about following the Sunnah, but is the ruling one of obligation or recommendation?

The Shaykh : This is not the first issue on which such a question is raised. Recently, yesterday, we were inviting some of the brothers, and there was a large gathering, including some of our Saudi brothers. I touched on some disputed issues. Who was with us? Where is Sami? Do you remember the issue I mentioned, which I think was about how the worshipper descends into prostration?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : You know the disagreement among the schools of jurisprudence regarding how the praying person descends into prostration: does he place his knees before his hands, or the reverse? We also discussed the issue of concealing the tashahhud, so I gave a general statement. Here is the point: I said it does not concern us to speak with precision now about whether it is obligatory to place the knees before the hands when prostrating, or the exact reverse, placing the palms before the knees. It does not concern us to enter into this detail: is it a sunnah, and the sunnah is divided into confirmed and recommended, or is it obligatory? And the term "obligatory" is a technical term in some schools of jurisprudence, unlike the other schools, which recognize only "fard" (obligatory) and "sunnah." What concerns us is this detail for the general Muslim public. Here is the point: it is incumbent upon the callers to Islam, the guides, and the teachers to present to the general Muslim public the manner of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer without muddling the clarity of this explanation for the general people with jurisprudential classifications. We do not deny these classifications regarding the detailed evidence; as you know, they distinguish between a condition and a pillar, and between a pillar and an obligation, and so on. This is because the general praying public cannot comprehend and understand these details, nor can these details settle in their minds. Rather, it is upon us to explain to them that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray in this manner. So, regarding your last question: is this obligatory or a sunnah? The principle, as we said in that previous session, is to do everything that is established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did in prayer, and likewise in Hajj, based on his statement (peace be upon him): As for saying that this is a pillar, this is obligatory, and this is a sunnah, and if the obligatory is left, a blood sacrifice is due, and other details you know of—this is, first, from the jurisprudential perspective, at the utmost precision. This precise detail in prayer, and likewise in the rites of Hajj, is at the utmost precision. Therefore, you will find the long and wide disagreement among the jurists, let alone those below them. Therefore, we say: if it is established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), in a certain sunnah—or to use the Shafi'i term, in a certain form—used to do it sometimes and leave it sometimes, this is clear evidence that it is not obligatory.