Qir'at (reciting the Surah Al-Hamd and other Surah of Holy Qur'an)

987. In the the daily obligatory prayers, one should recite Surah al-Hamd in the first and second Rak'ats, and thereafter one should, on the basis of precaution, recite one complete Surah. The Surah az Zuha and Surah Inshirah are treated as one Surah in namaz, and so are the Surah al-Fil and Quraysh.

988. If the time left for namaz is little, or if a person has to helplessly abandon the Surah because of fear that a thief, a beast, or anything else, may do him harm, or if he has an important work, he should not recite the other Surah. In fact, there are situations when he should avoid it, like when the namaz time at his disposal is limited, or when in fear.

989. If a person intentionally recites Surah before Hamd, his prayer is void, and if he does it by mistake, and realizes this while reciting it, he should abandon the Surah and recite Hamd first, and then the Surah.

990. If a person forgets to recite Hamd and Surah, or either of them and realises after reaching the Ruku, his prayers are in order.

991. If a person realizes before bowing for Ruku, that he has not recited Hamd and Surah, he should recite them, and if he realizes that he has not recited the Surah, he should recite the Surah only. But, if he realizes that he has not recited Hamd only, he should recite Hamd first and then recite the Surah again.
Moreover, if he bends but before reaching the Ruku realises that he has not recited Hamd and Surah, or only Surah, or only Hamd, he should stand up and act according to the foregoing rules.

992. If a person intentionally recites one of the four Surahs which contain verses of Wajib Sajdah, in namaz, he will perform an immediate Sajdah upon reciting the verse. And if he does so, as a precaution, his namaz will be void, and he will have to pray again. But if he does not go to Sajdah immediately, and continues to pray, it will be in order, though he will have committed a sin for not going to Sajdah immediately.

993. If a person begins reciting by mistake, a Surah which has verses of Wajib Sajdah and he realizes this before reaching the verse of Sajdah, he should abandon that Surah and recite some other Surah. But if he realizes this after reciting the verse of Sajdah, he should act as guided in the above rule (i.e. 992).

994. If during namaz a man listens to the verses making Sajdah obligatory, his prayer are in order, and on the basis of precaution, he should make a sign of Sajdah, and should also offer Sajdah after the prayers.

995. It is not necessary to recite a Surah after Hamd in Mustahab prayers, even if that prayers may have become obligatory due to Nazr. But, as for some Mustahab prayers like wahshat prayers, in which a particular Surah is recommended, if a person wishes to act according to the rules, he should recite the prescribed Surah.

996. While offering Friday prayers, or Zuhr prayers on Friday, it is Mustahab that after reciting Surah al-Hamd, Surah al-Jumu'ah should be recited in the first Rak'at, and Surah al-Munafiqun in the second Rak'at, and once a person begins reciting one of these Surahs he is not allowed as per obligatory precaution, to abandon it and recite another Surah in its place.

997. If after Hamd, somebody begins reciting the Surah Qul Huwallah or Qul ya ayyuhal Kafirun, he cannot abandon it and recite some other Surah. However, if in Friday prayers and in Zuhr prayers on Friday, he recites one of these Surahs forgetfully, instead of Surah Jumu'ah and Surah Munafiqun, he can abandon it and recite Surah Jumu'ah and Surah Munafiqun, but the precaution is that he should not abandon that Surah after having read more than half of it.

998. If a person recites intentionally Surah Qul Huwallah or Surah Qul ya ayyuhal Kafirun in Friday prayers or in Zuhr prayers on Friday, he cannot, as an obligatory precaution, abandon it to recite Surah Jumu'ah and Surah Munafiqun, even if he may not have reached half of it.

999. If in namaz, a person recites a Surah other than Surah Qul Huwallah and Surah Qul ya ayyuhal Kafirun he can abandon that Surah before reaching half of it, and recite some other Surah. But as a precaution, he should not abandon it after having reached half, and it is not permissible to resort to another Surah.

1000. If the person in namaz forgets a part of a Surah, or cannot complete it owing to helplessness, like very little time of namaz is left, or for some other reason, he can abandon that Surah and recite some other Surah, even if he may have reached half of it. This applies to Surah Qul Huwallah or Surah Qul ya ayyuhal Kafirun also.

1001. It is Wajib for a man to recite Surah al-Hamd and the other Surah loudly, while offering Fajr, Maghrib and Isha prayers, and it is Wajib for a man and a woman to recite Surah al-Hamd and the other Surah silently while offering Zuhr and Asr prayers.

1002. As a precaution, men must take care to recite loudly every word of Surah al-Hamd and the other Surah, including their last letters, in the prayers of Fajr, Maghrib and Isha.

1003. A woman can recite Surah al-Hamd and other Surah in Fajr, Maghrib and Isha prayers loudly or silently. But, if a na-Mahram hears her voice, she should, on the basis of precaution, recite them silently, especially if allowing him to listen is haraam.

1004. If a person intentionally prays loudly where he should pray silently, and vice versa, his prayer is void. But, if, he does so owing to forgetfulness, or not knowing the rule, his prayer is in order. And if he realises that he is doing a mistake while reciting the Surah al-Hamd and the other Surah, it is not necessary to recite again what he has recited not following the rule.

1005. If a person raises his voice unusually high while reciting Surah al-Hamd and Surah, as if he were shouting, his prayer will be void.

1006. A person should learn Surahs to be recited in namaz, so that he may not recite them incorrectly, and if one cannot by any means learn the whole of Surah al-Hamd, he should learn as much of it as he can and recite; but if that is a very small part, then as an obligatory precaution, he should add to it as many verses of Qur'an that he can remember. And if he cannot do that, he should add some Tasbeeh to it. But if someone cannot recite Surah al-Hamd at all, then there is no necessary replacement for it. The recommended precaution for him is to join Namaz-e-Jamaat.

1007. If a person does not know Surah al-Hamd well, but can learn it, he should do so if the time of namaz permits. And if the time does not permit, he should act as guided in the above rule, and his prayers will be valid. But wherever possible, such a person should join Namaz-e-Jamaat to relieve himself of the responsibility.

1008. To take wages for teaching obligatory acts of prayers is haraam, as a precaution, and taking wages for teaching Mustahab things is permissible.

1009. If a person does not know a certain word of Surah al-Hamd or Surah, or does not utter it intentionally, or utters one letter for another like, Za for Zad, or changes the inflections, by giving movements of Fathah or Kasrah where not needed, or does not render tashdid properly, his prayer is void.

1010. If a person has learnt a word which he believes to be correct, and recites it that way in prayers, but comes to know later that he has been reciting it incorrectly, it is not necessary for him to offer the prayers again.

1011. If a person does not know whether a particular word is to be read with Fathah or Kasrah, of if he does not know whether a particular word has a "seen" or a "swad" in it, he should take pains to learn that. But if he tries to recite in two or more ways, and if the wrong or incorrect recitation is neither from the Qur'an nor any Zikr, his prayers will be void. But if both the recitations are correct, like, reciting the 'S' of "Siratal" with "seen" and "swad", then the prayers will not be affected.

1012. The Ulama of Tajweed, that is, the art of reciting the Qur'an, have outlined several places where "Madd" (prolonging certain letters) is necessary. Wherever a vowel in a word precedes another vowel, say, 'alif' or 'hamza', it has to be prolonged, so that the utterances of each word is clear.
But in namaz, its validity does not depend upon following these rules, so if one does not strictly follow them, his namaz will not be void. Except in "Wal-dhaalleen" (the last word of Surah al-Hamd) one should exercise certain care to prolong, so that tashdid is properly pronounced.

1013. The recommended precaution is that while offering prayers, one should not recite the ending word of any Ayat with Waqf if one wishes to join it to the next Ayat. Nor should one render it without waqf and join. For example, if you recite "ar Rahmanir Rahimi" and then wait before starting the next, it is not proper.
You should continue with no waiting. Similarly, in the same Ayat, that is, "ar Rahmanir Rahim", if you read the last letter "mim" with sakin, you should not attach the "mim" to "Maliki Yawmi ddin".

1014. In the third and fourth Rak'ats of prayers, one may either read only Surah al-Hamd orTasbihat Arba'ah - Subhanallahi wal hamdu lillahi wa la ilaha illal lahu wallahu Akbar which may be said once, although it is better that it should be said three times. It is also permissible to recite Surah al-Hamd in one Rak'at, and Tasbihat Arba'ah in the other, but it is better to recite Tasbihat in both.

1015. When time for namaz is short, one must recite Tasbihat Arba'ah once, and if even that much cannot be recited within time, then he must say only "Subhanallah" once.

1016. It is obligatory for men and women that in the third and fourth Rak'ats, they should recite Surah al-Hamd or Tasbihat Arba'ah silently.

1017. If a person recites Surah al-Hamd in the third and fourth Rak'ats, it is not obligatory for him to recite its "Bismilla" silently, except in the case of one who is following in congregational prayers, for whom, as an obligatory precaution, it is necessary that "Bismillah" is recited silently.

1018. A person who cannot learn Tasbihat Arba'ah, or cannot pronounce them correctly, should recite Surah al-Hamd in the third and fourth Rak'ats.

1019. If a person recites Tasbihat Arba'ah in the first two Rak'ats, thinking that they are the last two Rak'ats, and if he realises the error before Ruku, he should recite Surah al-Hamd and Surah. But if he realises this during or after the Ruku, his prayer is in order.

1020. If a person recites Surah al-Hamd in the last two Rak'ats, thinking that they are the first two Rak'ats, or recites Surah al-Hamd in the first two Raka'ts, thinking that they are the last two Rak'ats, his prayer is in order, whether he realises the mistake before or after Ruku.

1021. If in the third or fourth Rak'at, a person wanted to recite Surah al-Hamd, but instead of that,Tasbihat Arba'ah came on his tongue, or if he wishes to recite Tasbihat Arba'ah but Surah al-Hamd comes on his tongue, he should abandon it and recite Tasbihat Arba'ah or Surah al-Hamd again with the intentions. However, if the recitation which came on his tongue was the one to which he was habituated, then he should complete it and his prayers will be valid.

1022. If a person who has the habit of reciting Tasbihat Arba'ah in the third and fourth Rak'ats, ignores his habit and begins reciting Hamd, with the intention of performing his obligation, it will be sufficient, and it will not be not necessary for him to recite Surah al-Hamd or Tasbihat Arba'ah again.

1023. In the third and fourth Rak'ats, it is Mustahab to seek forgiveness from Allah after Tasbihat Arba'ah. That is, one should say, Astaghfirullaha Rabbi wa Atubu Illayhi, or one should say, Allahummaghfir li. And before bowing for Ruku, while he is uttering Istighfar or has finished it, if he doubts whether he has read al-Hamd or Tasbihat or not, he should read either of them.

1024. If the person doubts while in Ruku of third or fourth Rak'at, whether or not he has recited Surah al-Hamd or Tasbihat Arba'ah, he should ignore his doubt. Similarly, he should ignore the doubt if it occurs while bowing for Ruku.

1025. If a person doubts whether he has pronounced a verse or a word correctly, like, whether he has uttered Qul Huwallahu Ahad correctly or not, he may ignore his doubt. However, if he repeats that verse or word correctly as a precautionary measure, there is no harm in it. And if he doubts often he may repeat as many times. However, if it becomes an obsession, and he still goes on reading it again, as a recommended precaution, he should pray all over again.

1026. It is Mustahab that in the first Rak'at one should say A'uzubillahi Minash shaytanir Rajim before reciting Surah al-Hamd, and in the first and second Rak'ats of Zuhr and Asr prayers one should say Bismillah loudly. It is Mustahab also to recite Surah al-Hamd and other Surah distinctly, with a pause at the end of every verse i.e. not joining it with the next verse, and while reciting Surah al-Hamd and Surah, one should pay attention to the meanings of each verse.
And it is Mustahab to say, Alhamdulillahi Rabbil 'Alamin after the completion of Surah al-Hamd by the Imam in the congregation, and by himself, if he is praying alone. And after reciting Surah Qul huwallahu Ahad he should say, "Kazalikallahu Rabbi" once, twice or three times or "Kazalikallahu Rabbuna" three times. Similarly, it is Mustahab to pause a little after reciting the Surah, then say Takbir, before going to Ruku or reciting Qunut.

1027. It is Mustahab that in all the prayers, one should recite Surah Inna Anzalnahu in the first Rak'at, and Surah Qul huwallahu Ahad in the second Rak'at.

1028. It is Makrooh not to recite Surah Qul huwallahu Ahad even in one of the daily prayers.

1029. It is Makrooh to recite the whole ofSurah Qul huwallahu Ahad in one breath.

1030. It is Makrooh to recite in the second Rak'at the same Surah, which one has recited in the first Rak'at. However, if one recites Surah Qul huwallahu Ahad in both the Rak'ats, it is not Makrooh.