Question:
How is it to make a minor listener stand in the first row during Taraweeh prayer?
Answer:
It is permissible.
Question:
How is it to spread a prayer mat to designate a place for the listener during Taraweeh?
Answer:
It is necessary, because the listener stands in a place where he can hear the recitation of the reciter perfectly and can easily correct any mistake. Therefore, spreading a prayer mat to designate the listener’s place is correct.
Question:
Can the Taraweeh congregation be held outside the mosque?
Answer:
Taraweeh prayer can be held anywhere.
Question:
How is it for a person who shaves his beard to lead the Taraweeh prayer?
Answer:
Shaving the beard is openly a major sin; such a person is a disobedient one (fasiq), and a fasiq should not be made an imam of any prayer, neither voluntary nor obligatory.
Question:
How is it to lead the prayer by looking at the Mushaf?
Answer:
If one is unable to recite verbally in prayer, then reciting by holding the Quran in hand is permissible; the hadith scholars considered it permissible. Similarly, if the listener is not a hafiz, he can also do so. The evidences are as follows:
➊ It is about Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her):
يؤمها عبدها ذكوان من المصحف
“Their servant Zakwān used to make them lead the prayer by looking at the Quran.”
Hafiz Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him)
declared the chain authentic, and Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him)
also declared the narration authentic.
➋ Imam Shu’bah (may Allah have mercy on him) states:
في الرجل يؤم في رمضان يقرأ في المصحف رخص فيه
“Hakam bin Utaybah (may Allah have mercy on him) permitted reciting from the Quran by looking during the blessed month of Ramadan.”
➌ Imam Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) and Imam Muhammad bin Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him) say:
“There is no harm in reciting the Quran by holding it in prayer.”
➍ Ata bin Abi Rabah (may Allah have mercy on him) says:
“There is no harm in reciting from the Quran by looking during prayer.”
➎ Imam Yahya bin Saeed Ansari (may Allah have mercy on him) says:
لا أرى بالقراءة من المصحف في رمضان بأسا يريد القرآن
“There is no harm in reciting from the Quran by looking during the blessed month of Ramadan.”
➏ Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Muslim (may Allah have mercy on him) states:
سألت ابن شهاب عن القراءة في المصحف يؤم الناس فقال لم يزل الناس منذ كان الإسلام يفعلون ذلك
“I asked Imam Zahri (may Allah have mercy on him) that people hold the Quran in their hands while leading the prayer? He said: Since the beginning of Islam, Muslims of every era have done so.”
➐ Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked that a person leads the prayer holding the Quran in his hand? He said:
لا بأس بذلك إذا اضطروا
“If there is a necessity, then there is no harm.”
➑ Thabit Banani (may Allah have mercy on him) states:
كان أنس يصلي وغلامه يمسك المصحف خلفه فإذا تعايا في آية فتح عليه
“When our master Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) used to pray, his servant would stand behind him holding the Quran. When he would stop at a verse, he would feed him a morsel.”
It is established that reciting by holding the Quran does not invalidate the prayer. Nothing from the Salaf contradicts this.
Shaykh Abdul Aziz Ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) also, in the research of Fath al-Bari (2/185), has declared it permissible when necessary.
Refutation of Doubts:
Those who say that holding the Quran in hand and reciting in prayer invalidates the prayer present this argument:
❀ It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas رضي الله عنهما:
نهانا أمير المؤمنين عمر رضي الله عنه أن يؤم الناس في المصحف
“Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab رضي الله عنه forbade us from leading the prayer while holding the Quran in hand.”
The chain is very weak:
➊ Nahshal bin Saeed is “abandoned and a liar.”
➋ Dhahak bin Muzahim was not heard directly from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas رضي الله عنهما.
➌ It is about Saleem bin Hanzalah Bakri رحمه الله:
إنه مر على رجل يؤم قوما في مصحف فضربه برجله
“He passed by a person who was leading the prayer by looking at the Mushaf, so he kicked him with his foot.”
The chain is weak.
① Saleem bin Hanzalah Bakri is unknown; only Imam Ibn Hibban رحمه الله mentioned him among the trustworthy (4/332).
② Sufyan al-Thawri is a mudallis (one who conceals a weak link in the chain), and there is no explicit mention of hearing.
Note:
In the manuscript of “Al-Masahif,” it is Suwaid bin Hanzalah instead of Salim bin Hanzalah, and he is trustworthy. Imam Bukhari
, Imam Abu Hatim
, Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him (4/332), and others consider it to be Salim bin Hanzalah. Ayash Amri is among the students of Salim, not Suwaid bin Hanzalah.
Statements of some Imams:
In this regard, statements from some Imams have also been reported, in which there is a prohibition on holding the Mushaf in the hand during prayer. A brief review of these statements is as follows:
➊ The statement of Saeed bin Musayyib
and Hasan Basri (also) is weak due to the chain of narration from Qatadah.
➋ The statement of Mujahid, may Allah have mercy on him
, is weak due to the chain from Laith bin Abi Sulaym.
➌ The statement of Imam Shu’bi, may Allah have mercy on him
, is weak due to the chain from Jabir Ja’fi.
➍ The statement of Rabi’ bin Anas, may Allah have mercy on him
, is also weak because the narration from Abu Ja’far ‘Isa bin Abi ‘Isa from Rabi’ bin Anas is weak.
Hammad bin Abi Sulayman, Qatadah, and Ibrahim Nakha’i, may Allah have mercy on them, consider reciting from the Mushaf during prayer as disliked (makruh). The statements of these two elders should be understood as applying to non-emergency situations, that is, when the Qur’an is memorized and yet one holds it in the hand to recite, it is disliked. Thus, all statements can be reconciled. This is also supported by the above statement of Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, that “if there is compulsion, then there is no harm in doing so.” Hence, Imam Zahiri’s claim of consensus is proven correct. We also consider holding the Qur’an in the hand and reciting during prayer as disliked without valid reason, but it is permissible in emergency situations.
Summary:
In prayer, it is permissible to hold the Quran in hand and recite when necessary; similarly, it is also permissible for the Imam to look at the Quran to give cues for the next portion.
Question:
How is it to give cues by looking at the Quran?
Answer:
It is permissible without any dislike.
❀ Thabit Banani, may Allah have mercy on him, states:
كان أنس يصلي وغلامه يمسك المصحف خلفه فإذا تعايا في آية فتح عليه
“Our master Anas bin Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, when he prayed, his servant would stand behind him holding the Quran. When he stopped at a verse, he would give him a cue.”
Giving cues by looking at the Mushaf does not invalidate the prayer. Nothing from the Salaf is proven against this.
