When should the Imaam Terminate the. Qiraa'ah to Proceed into Ruku when he gets Stuck Print
SALAAH.. The Book of Prayer - Congregation and Imamah [leading the Salaah]

When should the Imaam Terminate the. Qiraa'ah to Proceed into Ruku when he gets Stuck

Q: Salaah-708: While reciting some verses of the 17th para in the first Rakaah of the Fajr salaah, the Imaam got stuck. Although he tried to repeat the last verse, he still could not get going, so he proceeded to recite Surah A'laa from the Ammaa Para. Since the Imaam had already recited the Waajib (compulsory) duration of Qiraa'ah before starting Surah A'laa, is there any cause for complaint? Was the salaah affected? Some people have objected by saying that since the Qiraa'ah had already been completed at that stage, there was no need to recite Surah A'laa. The Imaam however reasoned that had he not recited Surah A'laa, the Qiraa'ah would have been very brief. He would then have had to recite a brief Qiraa'ah in the second Rakaah as well because it conflicts with the Mustahab practice to have the second Rakaah longer than the first. The Muqtadis are however not satisfied with this reasoning. Could you please inform us whether the Imaam is right.

Answer: What the Imaam did was right and the salaah was valid without being Makrooh in any way. Proceeding into Ruku when sufficient Qiraa'ah has been recited refers not to the Waajib (compulsory) Qiraa'ah, but to the Mustahab Qiraa'ah. And Allaah knows best what is most correct.

Fatawa Rahimiyyah vol.2