His other question states: I live in a region of Yemen among a group that follows the Zaydi school, as they call it, and they claim that the one praying has the option to recite al-Fatihah in the last rak'ah of Maghrib or to replace it with saying: "In the name of Allah, and by Allah, and glory be to Allah, and praise be to Allah, and there is no god but Allah." They do the same in the last rak'ahs of Zuhr, 'Asr, and 'Isha.

The questioner : His other question states: I live in a region of Yemen among a group that follows the Zaydi school, as they call it, and they claim that the one praying has the option to recite al-Fatihah in the last rak'ah of Maghrib or to replace it with saying: "In the name of Allah, and by Allah, and glory be to Allah, and praise be to Allah, and there is no god but Allah." They do the same in the last rak'ahs of Zuhr, 'Asr, and 'Isha. Since the recitation in all these rak'ahs is done quietly, I do not know whether the imam is reciting al-Fatihah or these supplications. I also found it difficult to ask him in every instance what he recited quietly. I have learned that there is no prayer for one who does not recite al-Fatihah of the Book. So should I assume that he recited al-Fatihah and pray behind him so that I do not deprive myself of the reward of the congregation, or should I pray alone? Or is my prayer behind him valid whether he recited al-Fatihah of the Book or not? Yes?

The Shaykh : We say that your prayer behind this man, of whom you do not know whether he recites al-Fatihah or not, even though you know that in their school they hold that reciting al-Fatihah is not obligatory in the last rak'ah of the prayer, I say: your prayer behind these people is valid, because praying behind one who disagrees with you on a branch issue is valid, even if he commits what you consider an error. There is no obligation to refute in matters of independent legal reasoning that do not contradict an explicit text that does not admit figurative interpretation. However, if you find a person whom you know recites al-Fatihah in every rak'ah, it is better to pray with him and not with this one who does not recite al-Fatihah in the last rak'ah. As for their position that glorification suffices in the last rak'ah, I do not know any basis for it in the Sunnah. The Sunnah indicates that it is necessary to recite al-Fatihah in every rak'ah, because when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught the one who prayed incorrectly how to pray, he said to him: and among these is the recitation of al-Fatihah. So the recitation of al-Fatihah, just as it is obligatory in the first rak'ah, is obligatory in the rak'ahs following it until the end of the prayer, due to his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): In summary, the answer is that there is nothing wrong with praying behind one who disagrees with you on a branch issue of the religion in his prayer, meaning there is nothing wrong with praying behind him, because the Muslims have continued to do so. Yes.