Author: Abu Thāqib Muhammad Safdar Hazravi
“How many Fara’iḍ (obligations), Wājibāt (compulsory acts), and Sunnahs are there in prayer?”
سئل إسحق عن الواجب في الصلاة عندكم وعن مالا بد منه...
"Imām Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh was asked: 'What, according to you, is obligatory (wājib) in prayer, and what are the indispensable parts of it?'
He replied: 'As for what you asked concerning the obligatory aspects of prayer — then know that the entire prayer, from its beginning to its end, is obligatory.
Those people who go around saying to others that certain parts of the prayer are Sunnah and others are Fard are mistaken in their speech.
Rather, when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught the people how to perform the prayer, he included within it certain Sunnah acts — which we and others practice — such as saying Subḥāna Rabbiyal-ʿAẓīm three times or more in bowing (rukūʿ).
It is not permissible for anyone to say that if someone recited the tasbīḥ once or twice, then his prayer is invalid — for he has indeed said the tasbīḥ in bowing.
Similarly, if someone were to forget any takbīr other than the opening takbīr (takbīrat al-iḥrām), it does not invalidate the prayer, and the like of such examples.
Indeed, we have learned from the Prophet ﷺ that he instructed the worshippers to establish certain things in prayer, and if someone leaves them forgetfully (sahwan), he does not have to repeat the prayer. The Prophet ﷺ himself once forgot to sit for the first tashahhud and the like, but he did not repeat the prayer.
However, it is not permissible for anyone to divide the prayer into segmented parts and say: 'So many parts are fard, and so many are sunnah,' for such a statement is an innovation (bidʿah)."
Masā’il al-Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal wa Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh – narrated by Isḥāq ibn Manṣūr al-Kawsaj, 1/132–133, no. 189
Imām Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh al-Marwazī (d. 238 AH) was among the primary and reliable narrators of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Sunan al-Tirmidhī, and Sunan al-Nasā’ī. He was a trustworthy ḥāfiẓ and a mujtahid.
The claim that he later suffered from memory issues (ikhtilāṭ) is baseless and false.
Refer to: Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ (11/377) and Taḥrīr Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb (p. 332)
① The entire prayer, from start to finish, is an act of obligation and must be observed with full seriousness.
② It is a mistake to divide the prayer into categories like "this is fard" and "this is sunnah" and to treat them as fragmented components.
③ While the Prophet ﷺ taught certain Sunnah elements within prayer (such as reciting tasbīḥ in rukūʿ three times), omitting them forgetfully does not invalidate the prayer.
④ Saying someone’s prayer is invalid just because they missed a Sunnah act goes against the prophetic guidance.
⑤ Such categorization of prayer into segments of farā’iḍ and sunan, when taken beyond necessary jurisprudential teaching and turned into public rhetoric, is a reprehensible innovation (bidʿah).
❖ The Question Itself Is a Bidʿah:
“How many Fara’iḍ (obligations), Wājibāt (compulsory acts), and Sunnahs are there in prayer?”
✦ Statement of Imām Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh رحمه الله:
سئل إسحق عن الواجب في الصلاة عندكم وعن مالا بد منه...
"Imām Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh was asked: 'What, according to you, is obligatory (wājib) in prayer, and what are the indispensable parts of it?'
He replied: 'As for what you asked concerning the obligatory aspects of prayer — then know that the entire prayer, from its beginning to its end, is obligatory.
Those people who go around saying to others that certain parts of the prayer are Sunnah and others are Fard are mistaken in their speech.
Rather, when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught the people how to perform the prayer, he included within it certain Sunnah acts — which we and others practice — such as saying Subḥāna Rabbiyal-ʿAẓīm three times or more in bowing (rukūʿ).
It is not permissible for anyone to say that if someone recited the tasbīḥ once or twice, then his prayer is invalid — for he has indeed said the tasbīḥ in bowing.
Similarly, if someone were to forget any takbīr other than the opening takbīr (takbīrat al-iḥrām), it does not invalidate the prayer, and the like of such examples.
Indeed, we have learned from the Prophet ﷺ that he instructed the worshippers to establish certain things in prayer, and if someone leaves them forgetfully (sahwan), he does not have to repeat the prayer. The Prophet ﷺ himself once forgot to sit for the first tashahhud and the like, but he did not repeat the prayer.
However, it is not permissible for anyone to divide the prayer into segmented parts and say: 'So many parts are fard, and so many are sunnah,' for such a statement is an innovation (bidʿah)."
Masā’il al-Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal wa Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh – narrated by Isḥāq ibn Manṣūr al-Kawsaj, 1/132–133, no. 189❖ Clarification:
Imām Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh al-Marwazī (d. 238 AH) was among the primary and reliable narrators of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Sunan al-Tirmidhī, and Sunan al-Nasā’ī. He was a trustworthy ḥāfiẓ and a mujtahid.
The claim that he later suffered from memory issues (ikhtilāṭ) is baseless and false.
Refer to: Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ (11/377) and Taḥrīr Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb (p. 332)
Summary Points:
① The entire prayer, from start to finish, is an act of obligation and must be observed with full seriousness.
② It is a mistake to divide the prayer into categories like "this is fard" and "this is sunnah" and to treat them as fragmented components.
③ While the Prophet ﷺ taught certain Sunnah elements within prayer (such as reciting tasbīḥ in rukūʿ three times), omitting them forgetfully does not invalidate the prayer.
④ Saying someone’s prayer is invalid just because they missed a Sunnah act goes against the prophetic guidance.
⑤ Such categorization of prayer into segments of farā’iḍ and sunan, when taken beyond necessary jurisprudential teaching and turned into public rhetoric, is a reprehensible innovation (bidʿah).
