A discussion of some of the abandoned sunnahs in the opening of the prayer.

The Shaykh : Regarding some of the abandoned, indeed unknown, sunnahs at the beginning of the prayer: It is established in "Sahih Muslim" from the hadith of the Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would begin the prayer with: Allahu Akbar." Many of us today contradict this sunnah, and we do not need to repeat the reason for that, which is ignorance of the sunnah, and people living by the traditions of sons following fathers and fathers following grandfathers, and the absence of people of knowledge who teach them knowledge. And I do not think you are not remembering with me what knowledge is?
"Knowledge is what Allah said, what His Messenger said, and what the Companions said," and so on.
You do not need me to remind you of this painful reality either; it is rare that you find someone who teaches you knowledge, someone who tells you: Allah said, the Messenger of Allah said, the Messenger of Allah did such and such, he commanded such and such. This is almost nonexistent, not just in your country here, but in the entire Islamic world! It is a calamity of the age. Therefore, it is my duty to seize every opportunity that presents itself to remind you of some of these sunnahs that have passed with time due to the scarcity of people of knowledge, as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us in a hadith in al-Bukhari and Muslim, saying: .
Among these sunnahs that people have killed due to their ignorance and the absence of those who teach them the affairs of their religion is beginning the prayer with the takbirat al-ihram. This may be confusing to some listeners, because everyone says: Allahu Akbar. But he does not begin the prayer with: Allahu Akbar. He begins it with words for which Allah has not sent down any authority. He says: "I intend to pray four rak'ahs of the obligatory 'Isha' prayer, following this imam," and perhaps he adds to that some other words for which Allah has not sent down any authority. Allahu Akbar. Where did the takbir go? In the back? What was in the front? "I intend to pray," and so on. This intention, my brothers, has no basis, neither in the Shari'ah nor in reason. As for the Shari'ah, we have mentioned to you the hadith from Aisha: "That the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) would begin the prayer with: Allahu Akbar." So when you stand to pray and stand before Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to worship Him, you must begin the prayer with: Allahu Akbar, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ; meaning: The first thing the Muslim does when entering the prayer is to begin it with his saying: Allahu Akbar, and when he exits it, he says: As-salamu alaykum.
This introduction, or rather this cliché that has passed its time, is contrary to the sunnah, and contrary to what the four imams and others agreed upon; they agreed that the place of the intention is in the heart, not in the words, and they derived some rulings from that. They said: If a man stands to pray and intends in his heart to pray the prayer of the time... May Allah have mercy on you.Another questioner : May Allah guide you and rectify your affairs.

The Shaykh : He intended in his heart to pray the prayer of the time. We have now prayed 'Isha'; he intended in his heart to pray the 'Isha' prayer, but he said with his words: the Maghrib prayer. Is his prayer valid or not? His prayer is valid, because the words have no significance. The significance lies in what settles in the heart. His intention in his heart was in accordance with the reality, the 'Isha' prayer, but with his words he said: the Maghrib prayer, which has no value. Then they posited another scenario opposite to this; he stood to pray the prayer of...