What is the ruling on one who consistently reads short surahs from al-Mufassal in the prayers?
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The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : By analogy to what?
The questioner : On specific surahs, I mean.
The Shaykh : By analogy to what?
The questioner : On specific surahs.
The Shaykh : I mean, they designate them always.
The questioner : They designate them always. Are these people...?
The Shaykh : I say, glory to Allah, people are at two extremes. Some of the imams never read the short surahs at all, and they do not read al-Mufassal; rather, they always read from the middle surahs or from the last ones. Some of them also make the prayer recitation consist of reading specific surahs, starting from the beginning of al-Baqarah to the end of the Qur'an. Yes, and these people are at two extremes. Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "It is not the way of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he reads from the middle of surahs or from the end of them, but rather he would read a surah in its entirety." And if you reflect, you will find that the wisdom is apparent in a person restricting himself to al-Mufassal in most cases, because if al-Mufassal is repeated to the people's ears, what happens? They memorize it, and in this there is a great benefit. But sometimes he brings them al-Baqarah, sometimes from al-Nisa, sometimes from al-Ma'idah, and the like, and they do not keep track of it, and this benefit is lost for them. Then, also, some people, if he starts with a verse from al-Baqarah, when a person has work to do, he comes to think about when this man will finish, perhaps... to[Al-Baqarah 2:286] and the person is busy, so his mind is preoccupied. But if it is a specific surah, he knows when it will end and he is at ease. Yes.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : By analogy to what?
The questioner : On specific surahs, I mean.
The Shaykh : By analogy to what?
The questioner : On specific surahs.
The Shaykh : I mean, they designate them always.
The questioner : They designate them always. Are these people...?
The Shaykh : I say, glory to Allah, people are at two extremes. Some of the imams never read the short surahs at all, and they do not read al-Mufassal; rather, they always read from the middle surahs or from the last ones. Some of them also make the prayer recitation consist of reading specific surahs, starting from the beginning of al-Baqarah to the end of the Qur'an. Yes, and these people are at two extremes. Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "It is not the way of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he reads from the middle of surahs or from the end of them, but rather he would read a surah in its entirety." And if you reflect, you will find that the wisdom is apparent in a person restricting himself to al-Mufassal in most cases, because if al-Mufassal is repeated to the people's ears, what happens? They memorize it, and in this there is a great benefit. But sometimes he brings them al-Baqarah, sometimes from al-Nisa, sometimes from al-Ma'idah, and the like, and they do not keep track of it, and this benefit is lost for them. Then, also, some people, if he starts with a verse from al-Baqarah, when a person has work to do, he comes to think about when this man will finish, perhaps... to