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Reciting Faatiha (A Second Du'aa) after the Sunan and Nawaafil salaahs PDF Print E-mail
SALAAH.. The Book of Prayer - Congregation and Imamah [leading the Salaah]

Reciting Faatiha (A Second Du'aa) after the Sunan and Nawaafil salaahs

Q: Salaah-99: There appears to be two manners of making du'aa after the Zuhr, Maghrib and Isha salaahs. The first is that the Imaam and followers recite (ALLAAHUMM ANTS?SALAAM?..) and other du'aas immediately after the Fardh salaah, after which they disperse, some performing their Sunan and Nawaafil salaahs in the Masjid and others performing them at home. The second manner is to recite only (ALAAHUMM ANTAS?SALAAM?.) after the Fardh salaah, after which the Imaam and Musallis perform their Sunan and Nawaafil salaahs in the Masjid. They then say "Al Faatiha" and congregate once again to make du'aa. This then disturbs other people performing salaah. They regard this manner of du'aa to be necessary and attach great importance to it. They never miss this and impose on the Imaam to ensure. that it is done. To substantiate this, they quote the verse of the Qur'aan in which Allaah says, "So when you have completed (with the salaah), then exert yourself (in du'aa) and turn to your Rabb (asking your needs only from Him) . They also cite the Hadith in which Rasulullaah SAW. said, "Du'aa is the essence of Ibaadah." They claim that those who practise the first manner are rejectors of du'aa, Wahhaabis, people with wrong beliefs and not members of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa'ah. They also do not perform salaah behind them. Which of the two manners of du'aa conform with the Sunnah?

Answer: The Masnoon manner is to make du'aa in Jamaa'ah when the salaah is performed in Jamaa'ah and to make du'aa individually when the salaah is performed individually.

Therefore, from the two manners mentioned in the question, the second manner conforms with the Sunnah while the second conflicts with the Sunnah. In fact, it has no basis because no Hadith of Rasulullaah SAW. supports the act congregating for du'aa after performing the Sunan and Nawaafil salaahs. In fact, it is not even proven from the words or deeds of the Sahabah RADI. the Taabi'een, those after them or from any of the Imaams of the past. The practice of all the pious predecessors has been for the Imaam and the followers to make du'aa immediately after the Fardh salaah, after which they would perform the Sunan and Nawaafil salaahs. After these salaahs, they would then make du'aa individually.

The Ahadeeth make it clear that Rasulullaah SAW. used to perform the Sunan and Nawaafil salaahs at home and would encourage the Sahabah RADI. do so as well. A narration states that after once performing salaah in the Masjid of Banu Abdul Ash'hal tribe. Rasulullaah SAW. noticed that the people were performing their Sunan and Nawaafil salaahs in the Masjid. To this, Rasulullaah SAW. remarked, "These are to be performed at home.

Since it has been established that Rasulullaah SAW. and the Sahabah RADI. performed the Sunan and Nawaafil salaahs at home, there arises no question of them congregating again to make du'aa collectively. Even when occasions arose that Rasulullaah SAW. performed the Sunan and Nawaafil salaahs in the Masjid for some reason, he still never assembled the Sahabah RADI. for du'aa. After performing their Sunan and Nawaafil salaahs in the Masjid on such occasions, the Sahabah RADI. would leave the Masjid even before Rasulullaah SAW. Hadhrat Abduilaah bin Abbaas RADI. says that Rasulullaah SAW. sometimes engaged in such long Rakaahs of salaah after Maghrib that he completed only after all the other Musallis had left.

Hadhrat Abdullaah bin Abbaas RADI. also says, "I was once with Rasulullaah SAW. when, after the Isha salaah, he continued performing salaah until there was none but him left in the Masjid. This also proves that there never existed the practice of congregating after the Sunan and Nawaafil salaahs to make du'aa collectively. Doing so therefore conflicts with the Sunnah and is a practice that must be shunned because the condition for any act to be acceptable to Allaah is that it should conform with the Sunnah of Rasulullaah SAW.

Commenting on the verse: "...to test which of you does the best of deeds", Hadhrat Fudhayl bin Ayaadh RAH. said, "The deed that is done with sincerity but incorrectly is unacceptable, just as the deed that is done correctly but without sincerity. Sincerity means that the deed be done solely to please Allaah and being correct means that it is done according to the Sunnah of Rasulullaah SAW.

Hadhrat Sufyaan Thowri RAH. said, "No statement, deed or intention is correct unless it conforms with the Sunnah of Rasulullaah SAW. Hadhrat Abdul Qaadir Jaylaani RAH. also said, "No deed is accepted without sincerity and conformance with the Sunnah. Hadhrat Ahmad bin Hawaari RAH. said, "A deed that does not conform with the Sunnah is wasted.

Imaam Ghazaali RAH. said, "When you do anything without the command of Rasulullaah SAW. it is a sin even though it may appear to be an act of worship.
Hadhrat Khwaja Muhammad Ma'soom Sarhindi RAH. writes in one of his letters, Good fortune in both worlds depends on following the Sunnah of the guide of both worlds Rasulullaah SAW. Safety from Jahannam and entry into Jannah hinges on obeying the guide of mankind Rasulullaah SAW. and the condition for attaining the pleasure of Allaah is following the Sunnah of Rasulullaah SAW. Without following the way shown by Rasulullaah SAW. even Taubah, abstinence, Taqwa and Tawakkul is not acceptable by Allaah, just as Dhikr, concern for Deen and the fervour to do good hold no value unless they are also linked to Rasulullaah SAW." He also writes that without the light of Rasulullaah SAW.'s Sunnah, treading the straight path is difficult and salvation will remain a mere dream without following the path shown by Rasulullaah SAW.
A poet says (the meaning of which is):

1. "Do every act of piety, abstinence and truthfulness, but never step ahead of Rasulullaah SAW. i.e. do every act of piety, but never in excess of what Rasulullaah SAW. did.
2. "The person who travels a path other than that of Rasulullaah SAW. will never reach his destination
3. Never deceive yourself into thinking that you will ever tread the straight path without following the footsteps of Rasulullaah SAW.
The eminent Taabi'ee Hadhrat Abul Aaliya RAH. said, "You must adhere to the path upon which people were before they started to fracture.

Imaam Awzaa'ee RAH. stated, "Keep yourself steadfast upon the Sunnah, adopt the standpoint of the Sahabah RADI. say what they said, abstain from what they abstained from and tread the path of the pious predecessors."

Allaam Ibnul Haaj RAH. said. "We are followers and not ones to start new innovations. We will therefore stop where our pious predecessors stopped.

The salaah for a solar eclipse will therefore be performed in Jamaa'ah because it is proven that Rasulullaah SAW. did so and the salaah for a lunar eclipse will be performed individually because it is proven that Rasulullaah SAW. did this. When proceeding to the place of the Eid salaah on the day of Eidul Adhaa, the Takbeer will be recited audibly because it is proven that Rasulullaah SAW. did so, whereas when proceeding to the place of the Eid salaah on the day of Eidul Fitr, the Takbeer will be recited silently because it is proven that Rasulullaah SAW. did so. Similarly, there will be two Adhaans and one Iqaamah for the Jumu'ah salaah and none for the Eid salaahs because this is proven from the Sahabah RADI. and Rasulullaah SAW.

By the same token, the Witr salaah is performed in Jamaa'ah as soon as the new moon for Ramadhaan is sighted and will then be performed individually as soon as the moon is sighted for Eidul Fitr. The same applies to the du'aa after the Fardh salaah when the Imaam and followers will make the du'aa also in Jamaa'ah and then after the Sunan and Nawaafil salaahs, they will make du'aa individually because making it in congregation is not proven from Rasulullaah SAW. What is wrong with this?

The gist of it all is that the second of the two manners of making du'aa conforms with the Sunnah and adding anything to the Deen is not permissible and sinful.

A person once arrived at the place of performing the Eid salaah on the day of Eid and was about to start performing salaah when Hadhrat Ali RADI. stopped him. "O Ameerul Mu'mineen!" the man said, "l know well that Allaah will not punish me for performing salaah (why are you then stopping me?)." Hadhrat Ali RADI. replied, "l know well that Allaah will not reward you for something unless Rasulullaah SAW. did it or encouraged it. (Since Rasulullaah SAW. did not perform any salaah before the Eid salaah) I fear that you act will be futile and (when it comes to worship) futile acts are Haraam. I therefore fear that Allaah may even punish you for it.
Hadhrat Imaam Maalik RAH. said, "The person who invents a new practice in Deen and regards it to be the better practice, he has (Allaah forbid!) indicated that Hadhrat Muhammad SAW. betrayed the responsibility of propagation of the Deen and had displayed a deficiency in doing so. Allaah has declared in the Qur'aan: "Today I have completed your religion for you." Therefore, whatever had not been part of the Deen at that time will not be a part of the Deen today.

Therefore, obedience entails doing all congregational and individual acts just as Rasulullaah SAW. did them and the closer it resembles the manner of Rasulullaah SAW. the more virtue will it carry and the more perfect will it be. By the same token, the further they depart from the way in which Rasulullaah SAW. did them. the more incomplete will they become. Eventually, when they are completely unlike anything that Rasulullaah SAW. said or did, they are classified as acts of Bid'ah.
Although the Ishraaq and Chaast salaahs hold tremendous value, Rasulullaah SAW. performed them in his room. If these salaahs were to be performed in Jamaa'ah, a person as ardent about following the Sunnah of Rasulullaah SAW. as Hadhrat Abdullaah bin Umar RADI. would not have termed it as a Bid'ah.

A narration states that Hadhrat Abdullaah bin Mas'ood RADI. once heard about some people who sat in groups after the Maghrib salaah. One of them would then tell the others to recite Subhaanallaah a certain number of times. Alhamdulillaah a certain number of times and Allaahu Akbar a certain number of times. The people would then do as bidden, when Hadhrat Abdullaah bin Mas'ood RADI. heard about this and saw what they were doing, he remarked, "I swear by Allaah that you people are either involved in a very dark Bid'ah or you have more knowledge than the sahabah RADI. Rasulullaah SAW. He then had them removed from the Masjid.

Notice that while there is no harm in reciting these Tasbeehaat, it was the manner of reciting them and the importance given to it that conflicted with the Sunnah, thereby leading to Hadhrat Abdullaah bin Mas'ood RADI. referring to it as an act of Bid'ah.

Imaam Shaatbi RAH. said. "It is an act of Bid'ah to specify methods and times for acts of Ibaadah when these have not been specified by the Shari'ah. Shah Abdul Azeez Muhaddith Dehlawi RAH. said, "To encourage an act that Rasulullaah SAW. did not encourage and to specify a time for that which Rasulullaah SAW. did not specify a time translates into opposition for the Sunnah of Rasulullaah SAW. and opposing the Sunnah is Haraam.

Imaam Qurtubi RAH. states, "It is forbidden to specify a time or a place for an act of Ibaadah when these have not been specified by any Hadith of Rasulullaah SAW. Having faith in this is Haraam."

Therefore, although the Fuqahaa have stated that it is Mustahab to stay awake during the nights of the two Eids, in the night of Baraa'ah, the last ten nights of Ramadhaan and the first ten nights of Dhul Hijjah, they have also stated that it is Makrooh congretate for these salaahs in the Masaajid because such an act has not been proven from Rasulullaah SAW. and the sahabah RADI.

Hadhrat Mujaddid Alf Thaani RAH. says: It is sad indeed to note that acts of Bid'ah that are unheard of in the other schools of Tasawwuf have now surfaced (amongst the Naqshbandiyyah school). Assembling the people to perform the Tahajjud salaah with a large Jamaa'ah is a Makrooh Tahreemi act.

It is sheer ignorance to prove the act of making collective du'aa from the verse: "So when you have completed (with the salaah), then exert yourself (in du'aa) and turn to your Rabb (asking your needs only from Him) and the Hadith in which Rasulullaah SAW. said Du'aa is the essence of Ibaadah." No one refutes making du'aa after salaah. The problem lies with making du'aa collectively after the Sunan and Nawaafil salaahs. There are neither any verses of the Qur'aan nor any authentic or weak narration of Hadith that prove this. If the verse they quote proves their point, then why did Rasulullaah SAW. perform his Sunan and Nawaafil salaahs at home?

It is not at all justified to say this act which contradicts the Sunnah is a sign of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa'ah and to claim that people who do not subscribe to this baseless act are rejectors of du'aa, Wahhaabis, people with wrong beliefs and non-members of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa'ah.

There is no doubt that the time has come about which Hadhrat Abdullaah bin Mas'ood RADI. prophesied thirteen hundred years ago when he said that a time will come when acts of Bid'ah will be regarded as acts of Sunnah and when anyone alters any of these acts of Bid'ah, people will object, saying that acts of Sunnah have been altered.
Such 'people will then be regarded as people who alter the Sunnah.

Specific du'aas have been reported for:

1. sleeping and waking up

2. entering and leaving the home

3. entering and leaving the Masjid

4. before and after eating

5. the morning and evening

6. before. during and after wudhu

7. seeing the moon and for solar and lunar eclipses

8. wearing clothes

9. leaving and returning from a journey

10. bidding farewell

There are also du'aa for congratulating people, for nursing people, for consoling people and even du'aas to recite before and after intercourse and when entering and leaving the toilet.

The point is that although hundred of du'aas have been reported as acts of Sunnah, people neither learn them. recite them nor even bother about them. What people do bother about, however, is to forsake what is Sunnah to practice their own fabricated acts and du'aas that conflict with the Sunnah and then go a step ahead and place so much emphasis on these that they will give all they have for them.

It is sad that the time has already come about which Hadhrat Abdullaah bin Abbaas RADI. prophesied, "A time will certainly come when people will kill the acts of Sunnah to give life to acts of Bid'ah.

Amongst the most important advices that Rasulullaah SAW. gave the Ummah before leaving this world was that he said, "There shall arise after me many differences. You must therefore adhere to my way of life and the ways of life of the rightly guided Khulafaa (Khulat'aa Raashideen) after me. Bite firmly on this with your back teeth (never let go of it). Beware of newly invented acts and stay far from them because every newly invented act is an act of Bid'ah and every act of Bid'ah leads one astray.

It is because of all of this that the Sahabah RADI. and the pious Predecessors who followed them could never tolerate anything that opposed the Sunnah of Rasulullaah SAW. even though it seemed very trivial. Therefore, when Hadhrat Umaarah bin Ruwaybah RADI. saw Bishr bin Marwaan raise his hands in du'aa as he delivered a sermon, he made du'aa that Allaah destroy Bishr's hands because he never saw Rasulullaah SAW. raise his hands in that manner during the sermon. When necessary, all Rasulullaah SAW. did was to point with the index finger.

When the son of Hadhrat Abdullaah bin Mughaffal RADI. recited Bismillaah loudly in salaah before Surah Faatiha, his father said, "Dear son! That is an act of Bid'ah. Abstain from acts of Bid'ah. I have not seen anything more detestable to the Sahabah RADI. of Rasulullaah SAW. than acts of Bid'ah. I have performed salaah behind Hadhrat Abu Bakr RADI. Hadhrat Umar RADI. and Hadhrat Uthmaan RADI. and have never heard any of the them recite it (loudly), so do not do so.

Hadhrat Naafi RAH. reports that Hadhrat Abdullaah bin Umar RADI. once heard a person sneeze and say, "Alhamdulillaah was Salaamu alaa Rasulullaah. To this, Hadhrat Abdullaah bin Umar RADI. remarked "Although I also say "Alhamdulillaah was Salaamu alaa Rasulillaah" (on other occasions as separate phrases), Rasulullaah SAW. did not teach us this (to recite this when sneezing). What Rasulullaah SAW. did teach us was to recite "Alhamdulillaah alaa Kulli Haal.

Hadhrat Abu Maalik Ashja'ee RADI. reports that he once asked his father Hadhrat Taariq RADI. "You have performed salaah behind Rasulullaah SAW. Hadhrat Abu Bakr RADI. , Hadhrat Umar RADI., Hadhrat Uthmaan RADI. and now for five years here in Kufa behind Hadhrat Ali RADI. they recite the Qunoot?" "Dear son!" he replied, "That is a Bid'ah.

A PRINCIPLE THAT SHOULD NEVER BE FORGOTTEN

The Sahabah RADI. were yardsticks and touchstones by which we can judge what is right and what is not. Their inclinations and feelings were? markings and illustrations of the right path because even Allaah declares that they are rightly guided. These were the selected people whose hearts Allaah imbued and embellished with Imaan and to whose hearts Allaah had made kufr and sin abhorrent. Allaah also declares that He had made them steadfast in righteousness and stuck Taqwa and the Kalimah to them because they were most deserving to it.

Now whose testimony can be superior to that of Allaah? Study the many testimonials that Allaah gives about the Sahabah RADI. and then think that if these pure souls so much detested anything that opposed the Sunnah, how can it behave a person with Imaan to adopt any act of Bid'ah and actually make it a customary practice in his life? The truth is that abhorrence for acts of Bid'ah is sign of love for the Sahabah RADI. and the more love a person has for them, the more will he detest acts of Bid'ah.
Through the medium of Rasulullaah SAW. may Allaah grant us proper understanding as well as true love for the Sunnah and true hatred for all acts of Bid'ah. Aameen.

Fatawa Rahimiyyah vol.2