A man is praying a voluntary prayer and forgets some verses; is it permissible for him to take the mushaf if it is near him so that he can remember what he forgot?
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The questioner : Shaykh, may Allah reward you: If a person is in a voluntary prayer and is reciting through the surahs, and he forgets some verses, and there is a mushaf in front of him, is it permissible for him to take the mushaf to review what he missed in the recitation, or should he stop at the last recitation and bow?
The Shaykh : Yes, there is nothing wrong with either this or that, as long as he is praying alone in a voluntary prayer. If a verse becomes difficult for him and the mushaf is near him, there is nothing wrong with taking it and looking at it, because this is for a need, a need and a benefit related to the prayer. And there is nothing wrong with cutting off the recitation and bowing, because sometimes when he bows, he remembers the verse he forgot. So there is nothing wrong with bowing; then if he remembers it, that is what is desired, and if he does not remember it, he recites whatever is easy for him.
The questioner : Your Eminence, may Allah forgive you.
The Shaykh : Perhaps at this point we should mention the states of movements in prayer. The original ruling for movements in prayer is that they are disliked, because the person is standing before Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and Allah the Exalted is looking at him, knowing what is in his heart, and hearing what he says. So do not move; if you stood before a king of the kings, you would see that proper conduct is not to fidget much before him, how much more so when you are before Allah (Mighty and Majestic)? So the original ruling for movement is that it is disliked, but it is also divided into what is not disliked: it can be permissible, it can be obligatory, it can be a recommended practice, it can be forbidden. So these are five rulings: it becomes obligatory if the validity of the prayer depends on it. So movement becomes obligatory if the validity of the prayer depends on it. An example of that: a person comes to you while you are praying in a certain direction, and he is more knowledgeable about directions than you, and he says, "The qiblah is to your right." So the deviation here, what is the ruling on the deviation? It is obligatory, because the prayer is not valid except by facing the qiblah, and the one praying has now learned that he is not facing the qiblah, so he must deviate. For this reason, when the people of Quba were praying Fajr, a man came and informed them that the qiblah had been changed to the Ka'bah, so they turned around, and they turned their backs to what they had originally been facing. Okay, I mentioned that there is impurity on your ghutra (head covering) and you are praying. The movement here? It is obligatory; he must take it off. Because when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was informed by Jibril that there was dirt in his sandals, he took them off while he was praying. Did the itching distract you? Did it distract you? Do you scratch it to cool down and return to your prayer, or do you remain in conflict with it, a spiritual conflict, not a physical one, right? Which is better? The first: scratch it and cool down. This movement is either permissible or recommended, because it is for the perfection of the prayer.
If a gap opens up in front of you in the row, do you move forward to it or not? You move forward to it. This is a movement, but it is recommended because of what it contains of closing the gap and completing the rows.
Movement becomes disliked, yes, if it has no reason. For example: some people now, you find them praying, moving, adjusting the ghutra, adjusting the pen, adjusting the watch. Some of them look at the watch while praying, and some of them write while praying, perhaps to remember a need he mentioned in his prayer and he fears he will forget it a second time, so he writes it down so he does not forget. This is fiddling, fiddling with no need for it, so the movement in this is disliked. Okay, his ghutra fell off while he is praying. If he continued in his prayer, he would not be affected, but he likes to take it and put it on. He has that right, yes, he has that right, because this is permissible, meaning a permissible action, even though the prayer is complete without it, but he likes to be in the most complete state of clothing.
So movement is divided into five categories, and the more a person is still in heart and still in limbs, the more perfect his prayer is, yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, there is nothing wrong with either this or that, as long as he is praying alone in a voluntary prayer. If a verse becomes difficult for him and the mushaf is near him, there is nothing wrong with taking it and looking at it, because this is for a need, a need and a benefit related to the prayer. And there is nothing wrong with cutting off the recitation and bowing, because sometimes when he bows, he remembers the verse he forgot. So there is nothing wrong with bowing; then if he remembers it, that is what is desired, and if he does not remember it, he recites whatever is easy for him.
The questioner : Your Eminence, may Allah forgive you.
The Shaykh : Perhaps at this point we should mention the states of movements in prayer. The original ruling for movements in prayer is that they are disliked, because the person is standing before Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and Allah the Exalted is looking at him, knowing what is in his heart, and hearing what he says. So do not move; if you stood before a king of the kings, you would see that proper conduct is not to fidget much before him, how much more so when you are before Allah (Mighty and Majestic)? So the original ruling for movement is that it is disliked, but it is also divided into what is not disliked: it can be permissible, it can be obligatory, it can be a recommended practice, it can be forbidden. So these are five rulings: it becomes obligatory if the validity of the prayer depends on it. So movement becomes obligatory if the validity of the prayer depends on it. An example of that: a person comes to you while you are praying in a certain direction, and he is more knowledgeable about directions than you, and he says, "The qiblah is to your right." So the deviation here, what is the ruling on the deviation? It is obligatory, because the prayer is not valid except by facing the qiblah, and the one praying has now learned that he is not facing the qiblah, so he must deviate. For this reason, when the people of Quba were praying Fajr, a man came and informed them that the qiblah had been changed to the Ka'bah, so they turned around, and they turned their backs to what they had originally been facing. Okay, I mentioned that there is impurity on your ghutra (head covering) and you are praying. The movement here? It is obligatory; he must take it off. Because when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was informed by Jibril that there was dirt in his sandals, he took them off while he was praying. Did the itching distract you? Did it distract you? Do you scratch it to cool down and return to your prayer, or do you remain in conflict with it, a spiritual conflict, not a physical one, right? Which is better? The first: scratch it and cool down. This movement is either permissible or recommended, because it is for the perfection of the prayer.
If a gap opens up in front of you in the row, do you move forward to it or not? You move forward to it. This is a movement, but it is recommended because of what it contains of closing the gap and completing the rows.
Movement becomes disliked, yes, if it has no reason. For example: some people now, you find them praying, moving, adjusting the ghutra, adjusting the pen, adjusting the watch. Some of them look at the watch while praying, and some of them write while praying, perhaps to remember a need he mentioned in his prayer and he fears he will forget it a second time, so he writes it down so he does not forget. This is fiddling, fiddling with no need for it, so the movement in this is disliked. Okay, his ghutra fell off while he is praying. If he continued in his prayer, he would not be affected, but he likes to take it and put it on. He has that right, yes, he has that right, because this is permissible, meaning a permissible action, even though the prayer is complete without it, but he likes to be in the most complete state of clothing.
So movement is divided into five categories, and the more a person is still in heart and still in limbs, the more perfect his prayer is, yes.