What is the ruling on what some of the worshippers do, such as pronouncing the letter zay instead of dhal, the imam’s silence after reciting Surat al-Fatihah, and spreading the fingers during the tashahhud?
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The questioner : In another question, O Shaykh
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : It is that we were in Cairo yesterday, and I noticed among our Egyptian brothers in their prayer that I observed three points, and I even commented on them with the imam who led us at that time: The first is that in the recitation, for example, the dialect they use is the zay
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : The zay means they replace the letter dhal with zay, they recite it with zay, that is one. The second is: when the imam finishes reciting al-Fatihah, he waits for a moment, a period, and then he continues the recitation. When I asked him why he does that, he said: I give the ma'mum (those praying behind him) time to recite al-Fatihah. I said to him: The imam’s recitation is the recitation for the ma'mum, and this is established. So I said to him how? He said: I do not know, I found the predecessors doing this, so I followed them. And the third point is in the tashahhud, and the issue you spoke about a while ago regarding moving the finger. Our Egyptian brothers, may Allah guide us and them, their finger, this is a small observation I noticed. I said to him: How is it that you do not move your index finger in the tashahhud, and it is reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with authentic hadiths? He said: My brother, we do not move it except when we reach "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah," we raise it, and then we complete the testimony and put it down. And they open their hands like this, and the fingers face the qiblah. He said: So that everything in his body faces the qiblah. This is most...
The Shaykh : Do you say they open their fingers? Or do they close them?
The questioner : They do not close them
The Shaykh : They do not close them
The questioner : Yes, they leave them like this facing the qiblah, the fingers of the right and left hand. The left is known, but the right, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), is clenched. What is your opinion, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : This last issue is not clear to me. I mean, are you saying that in the state of sitting they direct their fingers to the qiblah, or do they not direct them?
The questioner : Sitting for the tashahhud, when they are in the tashahhud, their fingers are all facing, the fingers of the right and left hand are facing. And we, our fingers, we gather them.
The Shaykh : Okay, and the other hand?
The questioner : The other is facing, we leave it and it is like this.
Al-Halabi : His observation on the right hand is that it remains extended, they do not clench it. Fifty-three.
The Shaykh : This is understood, but he introduced a new factor into the subject.
Al-Halabi : This is your intention, may Allah know best.
The questioner : This is my intention, may Allah know best, like this. Then when he reaches the tashahhud, he raises his finger.
The Shaykh : Yes, my brother, the issue of the finger is understood, but the issue of facing the qiblah with the fingers, whether we say negatively or positively, this appears in the issue of the left hand. So are you taking them to task regarding the left hand, that they face the qiblah with the fingers of the left hand, or do they not face it?
The questioner : No, O Shaykh, allow me, O Shaykh. My observation is not that he leaves his left hand extended because the fingers face the qiblah - no - I saw this after I asked him. He told me the fingers must be facing. This is his opinion, not mine.
The Shaykh : I am asking you what you saw? Not what is your opinion.
The questioner : How do you mean, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : I mean here there are two hands, the right and the left. So I saw the right, they do not move it nor clench it, but they do it like this, is that so?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay, and the other?
The questioner : Extended.
The Shaykh : Extended, do you notice that it is extended toward the qiblah? Or not extended toward the qiblah? Or what? Because you mentioned the qiblah.
The questioner : Because when I asked him, he mentioned the qiblah to me. And when I read to you the book "The Description of the Prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)," I did not stop at this, the word qiblah for the fingers.
The Shaykh : This is it, do you see how? I mean there is another issue in the subject besides the issue of the finger. The important thing is to return to the images you presented, we discuss them one by one: So the other issue: the issue of pronouncing the letter dhal with zay. It appears that you were afflicted with an ignorant imam, or otherwise we always hear the recitation of Egyptian reciters via the radio, and they always pronounce the dhal, the correct Arabic dhal. So the imam you followed behind him appears to be a common man. And like this in Syria as well, they say about the dhal, those who replace the letter dhal with the letter zay, so this means a common error (lahn 'ammi), and this imam was not a reciter, so it is an error without any doubt absolutely. Do you have anything else, that you build upon this error?
The questioner : He is actually, as long as I want to know what is its ruling, and how, and what is your opinion in it?
The Shaykh : What is my opinion about?
The questioner : I mean in this, is it counted against him, does he have to stop this?
The Shaykh : Without a doubt, it is not hidden from you that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Jami` at-Tirmidhi 235Sahih (Darussalam) to the end of the hadith. So he does not recite well, let alone being the best of the people in recitation. So therefore, may Allah know best, he is one of those employees, one of the imams who are employed only for the salary and pension. So after I alerted him, if he intended the fear of Allah the Exalted, he has to learn recitation anew; because this is a very serious error, to change the letter to another letter, this is a serious error, so he is responsible for the prayer of those who follow behind him. As for the second issue, which is that he was silent after al-Fatihah to allow the followers to recite al-Fatihah, this is also done here in this country, and it is the school of the Shafi'is. And there is no basis for this long pause after the imam recites al-Fatihah in the authentic Sunnah. So therefore, whoever wants to follow the Sunnah, when he finishes reciting al-Fatihah, he has to continue the recitation after al-Fatihah aloud, and not pause this long pause. Clear?
The questioner : May Allah reward you, our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Okay, what is left of the third question?
The questioner : The issue of the fingers?
The Shaykh : Also this is contrary to the Sunnah, as you explained to him. The clenching of the fingers and the circling with the middle and thumb, and the pointing with the index finger and moving it, is the authentic Sunnah which was established in the hadith of Wa'il ibn Hujr (may Allah be pleased with him). But as Allah the Exalted said:[Al-A'raf 7:187].
The questioner : Can we say that the fingers face the qiblah in this?
The Shaykh : No, rather we say the index finger faces the qiblah
The questioner : And that is all.
The Shaykh : And that is all, so it was confusing to me when you spoke in general terms, in the issue of facing the qiblah with the fingers. The Sunnah is facing the qiblah with the index finger.
The questioner : With the index finger and that is all
The Shaykh : With the index finger, unlike prostration
The questioner : Prostration is known.
The Shaykh : I say unlike prostration, and if it is known to you, then when he places his left hand here, so I chatted a little with you about the left here. It is not necessary to close his fingers, and it is not necessary to open them, but rather he places it on the natural disposition and the fitrah, he does not intend a specific form because there is no specific Sunnah in this issue.
The questioner : O our Shaykh, if he is in the tawruk position, he tucks it into the knee so the fingers become downward.
The Shaykh : This is correct, in the three-unit and four-unit prayers. Perhaps you remember with us that in tawruk he puts his left leg under his right shin and leans his left side to the left side and places his palm like this, tucks his palm into his knee, and leans on his left arm. So here in the tucking. But in the middle tashahhud and the odd tashahhud like the Fajr prayer, he places it as we mentioned, a natural position in which nothing is noticed. But in the tawruk, he clenches.
The questioner : His hand becomes like the witr.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : It is that we were in Cairo yesterday, and I noticed among our Egyptian brothers in their prayer that I observed three points, and I even commented on them with the imam who led us at that time: The first is that in the recitation, for example, the dialect they use is the zay
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : The zay means they replace the letter dhal with zay, they recite it with zay, that is one. The second is: when the imam finishes reciting al-Fatihah, he waits for a moment, a period, and then he continues the recitation. When I asked him why he does that, he said: I give the ma'mum (those praying behind him) time to recite al-Fatihah. I said to him: The imam’s recitation is the recitation for the ma'mum, and this is established. So I said to him how? He said: I do not know, I found the predecessors doing this, so I followed them. And the third point is in the tashahhud, and the issue you spoke about a while ago regarding moving the finger. Our Egyptian brothers, may Allah guide us and them, their finger, this is a small observation I noticed. I said to him: How is it that you do not move your index finger in the tashahhud, and it is reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with authentic hadiths? He said: My brother, we do not move it except when we reach "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah," we raise it, and then we complete the testimony and put it down. And they open their hands like this, and the fingers face the qiblah. He said: So that everything in his body faces the qiblah. This is most...
The Shaykh : Do you say they open their fingers? Or do they close them?
The questioner : They do not close them
The Shaykh : They do not close them
The questioner : Yes, they leave them like this facing the qiblah, the fingers of the right and left hand. The left is known, but the right, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), is clenched. What is your opinion, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : This last issue is not clear to me. I mean, are you saying that in the state of sitting they direct their fingers to the qiblah, or do they not direct them?
The questioner : Sitting for the tashahhud, when they are in the tashahhud, their fingers are all facing, the fingers of the right and left hand are facing. And we, our fingers, we gather them.
The Shaykh : Okay, and the other hand?
The questioner : The other is facing, we leave it and it is like this.
Al-Halabi : His observation on the right hand is that it remains extended, they do not clench it. Fifty-three.
The Shaykh : This is understood, but he introduced a new factor into the subject.
Al-Halabi : This is your intention, may Allah know best.
The questioner : This is my intention, may Allah know best, like this. Then when he reaches the tashahhud, he raises his finger.
The Shaykh : Yes, my brother, the issue of the finger is understood, but the issue of facing the qiblah with the fingers, whether we say negatively or positively, this appears in the issue of the left hand. So are you taking them to task regarding the left hand, that they face the qiblah with the fingers of the left hand, or do they not face it?
The questioner : No, O Shaykh, allow me, O Shaykh. My observation is not that he leaves his left hand extended because the fingers face the qiblah - no - I saw this after I asked him. He told me the fingers must be facing. This is his opinion, not mine.
The Shaykh : I am asking you what you saw? Not what is your opinion.
The questioner : How do you mean, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : I mean here there are two hands, the right and the left. So I saw the right, they do not move it nor clench it, but they do it like this, is that so?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay, and the other?
The questioner : Extended.
The Shaykh : Extended, do you notice that it is extended toward the qiblah? Or not extended toward the qiblah? Or what? Because you mentioned the qiblah.
The questioner : Because when I asked him, he mentioned the qiblah to me. And when I read to you the book "The Description of the Prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)," I did not stop at this, the word qiblah for the fingers.
The Shaykh : This is it, do you see how? I mean there is another issue in the subject besides the issue of the finger. The important thing is to return to the images you presented, we discuss them one by one: So the other issue: the issue of
The ones
الذينThe questioner : He is actually, as long as I want to know what is its ruling, and how, and what is your opinion in it?
The Shaykh : What is my opinion about?
The questioner : I mean in this, is it counted against him, does he have to stop this?
The Shaykh : Without a doubt, it is not hidden from you that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The one who recites most of the Book of Allah is to lead the people (in prayers). If they are equal in recitation, then the most knowledgeable in the Sunnah among them.
يؤم القوم أقرؤهم لكتاب الله ، فإن كانوا في القراءة سواء ، فأعلمهم بالسنة ..The questioner : May Allah reward you, our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Okay, what is left of the third question?
The questioner : The issue of the fingers?
The Shaykh : Also this is contrary to the Sunnah, as you explained to him. The clenching of the fingers and the circling with the middle and thumb, and the pointing with the index finger and moving it, is the authentic Sunnah which was established in the hadith of Wa'il ibn Hujr (may Allah be pleased with him). But as Allah the Exalted said:
but most of the people do not know."
ولكن أكثر الناس لا يعلمونThe questioner : Can we say that the fingers face the qiblah in this?
The Shaykh : No, rather we say the index finger faces the qiblah
The questioner : And that is all.
The Shaykh : And that is all, so it was confusing to me when you spoke in general terms, in the issue of facing the qiblah with the fingers. The Sunnah is facing the qiblah with the index finger.
The questioner : With the index finger and that is all
The Shaykh : With the index finger, unlike prostration
The questioner : Prostration is known.
The Shaykh : I say unlike prostration, and if it is known to you, then when he places his left hand here, so I chatted a little with you about the left here. It is not necessary to close his fingers, and it is not necessary to open them, but rather he places it on the natural disposition and the fitrah, he does not intend a specific form because there is no specific Sunnah in this issue.
The questioner : O our Shaykh, if he is in the tawruk position, he tucks it into the knee so the fingers become downward.
The Shaykh : This is correct, in the three-unit and four-unit prayers. Perhaps you remember with us that in tawruk he puts his left leg under his right shin and leans his left side to the left side and places his palm like this, tucks his palm into his knee, and leans on his left arm. So here in the tucking. But in the middle tashahhud and the odd tashahhud like the Fajr prayer, he places it as we mentioned, a natural position in which nothing is noticed. But in the tawruk, he clenches.
The questioner : His hand becomes like the witr.
The Shaykh: Yes.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.