إن الحمد لله نحمده ، من يهده الله فلا مضل له ومن يضلل فلا هادي له ، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له و (أشهد) أن محمدا عبده ورسوله. أما بعد فإن خير الحديث كتاب الله وخير الهدي هدي محمد ( صلى الله عليه وسلم ) وشر الأمور محدثاتها وكل بدعة ضلالة وقال صلى الله عليه وسلم : (وإياكم محدثات الأمور فإن كل محدثة بدعة وكل بدعة ضلالة.)
In the religion of Islam, after the declaration of the oneness of God (Kalima Tawheed), the second pillar is prayer (Salah). On the Day of Judgment, the first question asked from the Ummah of Muhammad (peace be upon him) will be about prayer. If the prayer is correct, the person will be successful, and if it is flawed, then disgrace and loss are destined.
It is mentioned in mutawatir (widely transmitted) hadiths that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Whoever does not recite Surah Al-Fatiha in prayer, his prayer is not valid.
This prophetic statement is general and includes men, women, the Imam, the follower, and the individual praying alone. Despite this, some people are determined day and night to oppose the recitation of Al-Fatiha behind the Imam, even though explicit and mutawatir hadiths exist regarding the follower, as proven in this book.
Opponents of reciting Al-Fatiha behind the Imam believe that Surah Al-Fatiha is not obligatory in the entire prayer for the Imam and the individual praying alone, but they are ashamed to declare this sect openly to the public.
The literature available in the Urdu market against reciting Al-Fatiha behind the Imam is divided into eight parts:
➊ Narrations of men and women
➋ Non-explicit and unrelated evidences in which reciting Al-Fatiha behind the Imam is not mentioned.
➌ Contradictions
➍ Betrayals
➎ Insults to hadith scholars
➏ Vulgar and low-class language
➐ Ignorance
➑ Lies
Men and Narrations
1 : كل صلوة لا يقرأ فيها بأم الكتاب فهي خداج الاوراء الإمام
Any prayer in which Umm al-Kitab (Surah Al-Fatiha) is not recited is incomplete, except when a person is behind the Imam.
However, this narration is rejected. There is severe criticism of it in Kitab al-Qira’at itself, and one of its main narrators Abu Saeed Muhammad bin Ja’far al-Khasib al-Harawi is unknown.
2 : عن ابن عباس قال : قال رسول الله صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم : كل صلوة لا يقرأ فيها : بفاتحة الكتاب فلا صلوة له إلا وراء الإمام
It is narrated from Ibn Abbas (RA) that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Any prayer in which the Fatiha al-Kitab is not recited is not a prayer, except for the one behind the Imam (the follower).
Although this narration is fabricated as mentioned at the end of the first chapter of this book
, its chain has four unknown narrators, and the narration from Sayyidna Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه from Fatiha Khalaf al-Imam is proven authentic with a sound chain.
3: عن بلال قال : أمرني رسول الله له أن لا أقرأ خلف الإمام
It is narrated from Bilal رضي الله عنه, he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded me not to recite behind the Imam.
This narration is also fabricated; Ismail bin al-Fadl is a liar. See the books of Rijal and the last part of the first chapter of the same book
.
4: The author of Khatmat al-Kalam, Faqir Allah Deobandi, has presented two statements in his book
with the chain of Ahmad bin al-Salt al-Hamani, and
with the chain of Ahmad bin Atiyah. Ahmad bin al-Salt and Ahmad bin Atiyah mentioned are the same person, and there is consensus on his being a liar and rejected narrator.
Implicit and Irrelevant Evidences
وإذا قرئ القرآن فاستمعوا له وأنصتوا لعلكم ترحمون
And when the Qur’an is recited, listen attentively and remain silent so that mercy may be shown to you.
Whereas in the above noble verse, neither the Imam nor the follower is mentioned, nor is Surah Al-Fatiha mentioned; rather, this verse was revealed in response to the polytheists.
The aforementioned hadith
does not mention reciting Al-Fatiha behind the Imam. The narrator himself, Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), was a proponent and practitioner of reciting Al-Fatiha behind the Imam in both audible and silent prayers. (See the second chapter) Therefore, this hadith is either to be understood as excluding Al-Fatiha or abrogated. Presenting such ambiguous and unrelated evidences against reciting Al-Fatiha behind the Imam is a highly blameworthy act, because the specification of Al-Fatiha is established by explicit and correct evidences, and as a principle, the specific takes precedence over the general.
Contradictions
The author of Khatm al-Kalam argued from a narration of Tabarani
and then himself declared it weak on
. There are many such examples.
Betrayals
A narration from Sayyiduna Anas رضي الله عنه about Fatiha Khalf al-Imam is clearly established, while many opponents of Surah Fatiha Khalf al-Imam have tried to prove the prohibition of Fatiha by quoting only the first part of this hadith. See Majmu‘ah Rasa’il
. Although several trustworthy narrators have explicitly mentioned the exception of Fatiha Khalf al-Imam in this hadith, therefore quoting only half of the hadith is a great betrayal. The full hadith is coming ahead.
Insults to the Muhaddithin
The opponents of Fatiha Khalaf al-Imam have also committed the insult of the Muhaddithin due to sectarian bias. For example, there is consensus on the integrity, leadership, trustworthiness, and grandeur of Imam Bayhaqi. Hafiz Zahabi, may Allah have mercy on him, says:
هو الحافظ العلامة الثبت ، شيخ الإسلام
Faqir Allah Deobandi writes in Khatmat al-Kalam: “The hadith attributed to Hazrat Ubada, may Allah be pleased with him, on which Imam Bayhaqi fabricated this false story.”
See the ignorance of the mentioned Faqir Allah in “Jahalatain.”
Abdul Qadeer Sahib has dedicated a chapter against Imam Bayhaqi in Tadqiq al-Kalam
. Zakariya Sahib Tablighi Deobandi says:
ان محدثين كا ظلم سنو
All this enmity against the Muhaddithin is solely based on partisanship and sectarianism, whereas the status of the Muhaddithin is that of the guardians of the religion of Islam.
Imam Ahmad bin Sinan, may Allah have mercy on him, says:
ليس فى الدنيا مبتدع إلا وهو يبغض أهل الحديث
All the innovators in the world harbor enmity towards Ahl al-Hadith (Muhaddithin).
Vulgar and Crude Language
For example, Abdul Qadeer Sahib writes: The author has swallowed this matter thinking it to be the best speech, and it is even more surprising that he is an infant in his old age.
Sheikh al-Islam, Hujjat al-Islam, Sheikh al-Quran wal-Hadith, Al-Imam al-Thiqa al-Mutqin al-Hujjah al-Muhaddith, the jurist and usuli scholar Muhammad Gondalvi, may Allah have mercy on him, is indeed among the group of muhaddithin. The author of Tadqiq, about his own co-religionist (but moderate) brother Allama Sindhi, may Allah have mercy on him, says that he “made him blind and deaf.”
Meaning Allama Sindhi, may Allah have mercy on him, was blind and deaf. إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون
Ignorances
Hussain Ahmad (Madani) Tandvi, regarding the famous companion Sayyidna Ubada bin As-Samit رضي الله عنه, says: “Because some of the narrators are Ubada who are mudallis (those who practice tadlis).”
Calling Sayyidna Ubada رضي الله عنه a mudallis is a great ignorance. Faqir Allah Deobandi in Khatm al-Kalam refers to Sheikh Nasir al-Din al-Albani as deceased at several places.
Whereas Sheikh Albani, by the grace of Allah, is alive and it is possible to contact him in Jordan.
(This is from 1997; now Sheikh Albani, may Allah have mercy on him, has passed away. He died on 22 Jumada al-Thani 1420 AH corresponding to October 1999 in Amman, Jordan. May Allah have vast mercy on him.)
Falsehoods
A large part of the books against Fatiha Khalaf al-Imam consists of lies and fabrications. For example:
1: Sarfaraz Khan Safdar Sahib writes under the sixteenth hadith in Ahsan al-Kalam:
“Imam Muhammad narrates from us that Isra’il said that he narrates from Musa bin Abi Aisha, who narrates from Abdullah bin Shaddad, who narrates from Hazrat Jabir.”
Whereas in the mentioned Muwatta, there is no chain involving Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him).
2: Sarfaraz Khan Safdar Sahib writes about Imam Muhammad bin Ishaq bin Yasar: But about ninety-five percent of the scholars of hadith criticism and evaluation agree that his narration in hadith, especially in Sunan and Ahkam, cannot be considered authoritative in any way, and in this regard, the presence or absence of his narration is equal.
The entire above statement is based on lies and slander. The majority have declared Muhammad bin Ishaq (may Allah have mercy on him) trustworthy and truthful.
This acknowledgment has also been made by Hanafi Imams like ‘Ayni, etc. See also Noor al-Aynayn fi Mas’alah Raf’ al-Yadayn, Karachi edition.
3: Habib ur Rahman Siddiqi Kandhlawi writes in his treatise Fatiha Khalaf al-Imam:
Imam Bayhaqi narrated from Hazrat Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:
من ادرك الركوع مع الإمام فقد ادرك الركعة
Whoever finds the Imam bowing, he has completed the rak’ah.
However, this hadith with these words is neither present in Sunan al-Kubra nor in any other hadith book.
The researcher of Ahl al-Hadith, Maulana Khawaja Muhammad Qasim (may Allah have mercy on him), comments on this:
In fact, this hadith does not exist at all.
Therefore, it is clear that Kandhlawi himself is accused of fabricating this hadith.
4: Several opponents of Fatiha Khalaf al-Imam have included the words وإذا قرأ فأنصتوا in the text of the long hadith of Abu Musa al-Ash’ari (may Allah be pleased with him) from Sahih Muslim
and presented it before the Urdu-speaking audience, for example see:
Whereas these words are absolutely not included in the original text but are written as a separate piece with a different chain.
5: Abdul Qadeer Deobandi Sahib writes:
قال فى التقريب نافع بن محمود بن الربيع مجهول من الثالثة
Only Allah knows the time of this statement, however, the word “Majhul” (unknown) is definitely not present in the Taqreeb.
6: Qari Chan Muhammad Sahib claims that because the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
من كان له امام فقراة الإمام له قراة
Whereas this narration is absolutely not present in Muwatta Imam Malik. In response to Qari Sahib’s treatise, the writer of these lines wrote an article titled Noor al-Zalam. Afterwards, correspondence between the two parties continued for some time, in which Qari Sahib insisted on the authenticity of the above reference and also claimed that there was no mistake. When respected Nisar Ahmad Sahib and respected Tariq al-Shafi’i met him regarding this matter, he verbally admitted in front of both that this reference is incorrect. All this correspondence is preserved in our records.
7: Chan Muhammad Sahib further writes:
❀ Hazrat Abu Sa’id al-Khudri says:
لا صلوة الابفاتحة الكتاب وما تيسر
That without Fatiha and Ma Tassar, the prayer is not valid.
This narration with these words is absolutely not present in Sunan Abi Dawood. Qari Sahib has written many other incorrect references of this kind, details of which are recorded in “Noor al-Zalam.”
The writer of these lines has written a detailed reply to Qari Sahib’s treatise titled نورا الظلام فى مسئلة الفاتحة خلف الإمام, which is still unpublished, يسر الله لنا طبعه.
In short, many such lies and fabrications are present in the books written against Fatiha Khalaf al-Imam, whereas lying is a major sin, and the prohibition of it is agreed upon by other religions of the world as well. This brief book of ours is free from these eight evils mentioned above. Alhamdulillah, in this book, only those hadiths are taken as proof which are authentic or Hasan in every respect. May Allah keep us steadfast on the Book and Sunnah and may our end be on the Book and Sunnah. آمين يارب العالمين وما علينا إلا البلاغ
