✍ Excerpt from: Shaykh Zubair Ali Zai رحمه الله’s book "Mas'alah Fātiḥah Khalfal Imām"
إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَ(أَشْهَدُ) أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
أما بعد: فإن خير الحديث كتاب الله، وخير الهدي هدي محمدٍ ﷺ، وشر الأمور محدثاتها، وكل بدعة ضلالة، وقال صلى الله عليه وسلم: "وإياكم ومحدثات الأمور فإن كل محدثة بدعة، وكل بدعة ضلالة".
After the testimony of Tawḥīd, the second pillar of Islam is Ṣalāh (prayer). On the Day of Judgement, the first question posed to the Ummah of Muḥammad ﷺ will be regarding Ṣalāh.
If the prayer is found sound, then the servant will succeed. But if it is invalid, then disgrace and loss will be his fate.
Mutawātir (mass-transmitted) aḥādīth prove that the Prophet ﷺ said:
"Whoever does not recite Sūrah al-Fātiḥah in his prayer, his prayer is invalid."
This command is general, and applies to men and women, imām, follower (muqtadī), and one praying alone (munfarid).
Despite this, some individuals persistently oppose reciting al-Fātiḥah behind the imām, even though explicit and mutawātir aḥādīth support this obligation — as established in this book.
Opponents of Fātiḥah Khalfal Imām (reciting Fātiḥah behind the imām) make misleading claims — some even deny the obligation of Fātiḥah for the imām and solitary worshipper, though they hesitate to admit this publicly.
Their existing Urdu literature falls into eight problematic categories:
① Fabricated & weak narrations
② Indirect or irrelevant evidences
③ Contradictions
④ Betrayals (intellectual dishonesty)
⑤ Disrespect of ḥadīth scholars
⑥ Vulgar and base language
⑦ Ignorance
⑧ Lies
❶ "Every prayer without Umm al-Kitāb (al-Fātiḥah) is incomplete, except when behind an imām."
◼ Status: Rejected narration — contains a majhūl (unknown) narrator: Abū Saʿīd Muḥammad bin Jaʿfar al-Khaṣīb al-Harawī. Even Bayhaqī himself criticized this chain.
❷ Ibn ʿAbbās narrated: “There is no prayer without al-Fātiḥah, except behind the imām.”
◼ Status: Fabricated — four narrators in the chain are unknown, and an authentic narration from Ibn ʿAbbās supports recitation behind the imām.
❸ Ḥadīth: “The Prophet ﷺ forbade me from reciting behind the imām.” – Narrated by Bilāl
◼ Status: Fabricated — contains Ismāʿīl bin al-Faḍl, a known liar.
❹ Ahmad bin al-Ṣalt and Ahmad bin ʿAṭiyyah are both cited by Faqīrullāh Deobandī, yet both names refer to the same person, who is a liar and rejected by consensus.
"When the Qur'an is recited, listen to it and remain silent."
[al-Aʿrāf: 204]
This verse is not specific to prayer, nor does it mention the imām or muqtadī, and certainly not Sūrah al-Fātiḥah. It was revealed in refutation of the polytheists.
Additionally, aḥādīth like Muslim 1/174, 62.404 do not contain any mention of prohibiting Fātiḥah behind the imām.
Even Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه, the narrator of some of these aḥādīth, was himself a practitioner and advocate of reciting Fātiḥah behind the imām — in both audible and silent prayers.
The author of Khātimah al-Kalām used a ṭabarānī narration as evidence on page 335, but declared it weak himself on page 1338. Such contradictions are frequent in anti-Fātiḥah literature.
Some scholars cut hadiths in half to hide the part affirming reciting al-Fātiḥah behind the imām. For example, Anas رضي الله عنه’s narration explicitly supports it, but only the first portion is quoted in anti-Fātiḥah books.
This is deliberate concealment — a grave betrayal of trust in ḥadīth transmission.
Opponents have shown sectarian bias by mocking imām al-Bayhaqī, who is unanimously regarded by scholars as:
“Al-Ḥāfiẓ, al-ʿAllāmah, al-Thabt, Shaykh al-Islām.”
Yet, Faqīrullāh Deobandī accused him of fabricating narrations. Others like ʿAbd al-Qadīr even wrote entire chapters attacking him.
Such hostility against ḥadīth scholars stems from partisanship, not scholarship.
"There is no innovator in the world except that he hates the People of Ḥadīth."
Examples from their writings:
“The author drank this like a baby drinks milk…”
“It is more shocking that he became an infant in old age!”
Introduction
إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَ(أَشْهَدُ) أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
أما بعد: فإن خير الحديث كتاب الله، وخير الهدي هدي محمدٍ ﷺ، وشر الأمور محدثاتها، وكل بدعة ضلالة، وقال صلى الله عليه وسلم: "وإياكم ومحدثات الأمور فإن كل محدثة بدعة، وكل بدعة ضلالة".
After the testimony of Tawḥīd, the second pillar of Islam is Ṣalāh (prayer). On the Day of Judgement, the first question posed to the Ummah of Muḥammad ﷺ will be regarding Ṣalāh.
If the prayer is found sound, then the servant will succeed. But if it is invalid, then disgrace and loss will be his fate.
Reference: Abū Dāwūd: 866, Ibn Mājah: 1429, Ḥākim: 1/263, Musnad Aḥmad: 4/377, 5/10365, al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr of Ṭabarānī: 23
The Obligation of Reciting al-Fātiḥah in Prayer
Mutawātir (mass-transmitted) aḥādīth prove that the Prophet ﷺ said:
"Whoever does not recite Sūrah al-Fātiḥah in his prayer, his prayer is invalid."
Reference: Juzʾ al-Qirāʾah of al-Bukhārī: 2
This command is general, and applies to men and women, imām, follower (muqtadī), and one praying alone (munfarid).
Despite this, some individuals persistently oppose reciting al-Fātiḥah behind the imām, even though explicit and mutawātir aḥādīth support this obligation — as established in this book.
◈ False Arguments Against Reciting al-Fātiḥah Behind the Imām
Opponents of Fātiḥah Khalfal Imām (reciting Fātiḥah behind the imām) make misleading claims — some even deny the obligation of Fātiḥah for the imām and solitary worshipper, though they hesitate to admit this publicly.
Their existing Urdu literature falls into eight problematic categories:
① Fabricated & weak narrations
② Indirect or irrelevant evidences
③ Contradictions
④ Betrayals (intellectual dishonesty)
⑤ Disrespect of ḥadīth scholars
⑥ Vulgar and base language
⑦ Ignorance
⑧ Lies
① Fabricated & Weak Narrations
❶ "Every prayer without Umm al-Kitāb (al-Fātiḥah) is incomplete, except when behind an imām."
Reference: Kitāb al-Qirāʾah by al-Bayhaqī, p.136
◼ Status: Rejected narration — contains a majhūl (unknown) narrator: Abū Saʿīd Muḥammad bin Jaʿfar al-Khaṣīb al-Harawī. Even Bayhaqī himself criticized this chain.
❷ Ibn ʿAbbās narrated: “There is no prayer without al-Fātiḥah, except behind the imām.”
Reference: Kitāb al-Qirāʾah, p.147; Qirāʾah Khalfal Imām by Qārī Chan Muḥammad, p.20
◼ Status: Fabricated — four narrators in the chain are unknown, and an authentic narration from Ibn ʿAbbās supports recitation behind the imām.
❸ Ḥadīth: “The Prophet ﷺ forbade me from reciting behind the imām.” – Narrated by Bilāl
Reference: Kitāb al-Qirāʾah, p.135
◼ Status: Fabricated — contains Ismāʿīl bin al-Faḍl, a known liar.
❹ Ahmad bin al-Ṣalt and Ahmad bin ʿAṭiyyah are both cited by Faqīrullāh Deobandī, yet both names refer to the same person, who is a liar and rejected by consensus.
Reference: Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl: 1/140, Lisān al-Mīzān: 1/408
② Indirect or Irrelevant Evidences
"When the Qur'an is recited, listen to it and remain silent."
[al-Aʿrāf: 204]This verse is not specific to prayer, nor does it mention the imām or muqtadī, and certainly not Sūrah al-Fātiḥah. It was revealed in refutation of the polytheists.
Reference: Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī: 1/121
Additionally, aḥādīth like Muslim 1/174, 62.404 do not contain any mention of prohibiting Fātiḥah behind the imām.
Even Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه, the narrator of some of these aḥādīth, was himself a practitioner and advocate of reciting Fātiḥah behind the imām — in both audible and silent prayers.
③ Contradictions
The author of Khātimah al-Kalām used a ṭabarānī narration as evidence on page 335, but declared it weak himself on page 1338. Such contradictions are frequent in anti-Fātiḥah literature.
④ Betrayals
Some scholars cut hadiths in half to hide the part affirming reciting al-Fātiḥah behind the imām. For example, Anas رضي الله عنه’s narration explicitly supports it, but only the first portion is quoted in anti-Fātiḥah books.
This is deliberate concealment — a grave betrayal of trust in ḥadīth transmission.
⑤ Disrespecting Ḥadīth Scholars
Opponents have shown sectarian bias by mocking imām al-Bayhaqī, who is unanimously regarded by scholars as:
“Al-Ḥāfiẓ, al-ʿAllāmah, al-Thabt, Shaykh al-Islām.”
Reference: Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ: 18/163
Yet, Faqīrullāh Deobandī accused him of fabricating narrations. Others like ʿAbd al-Qadīr even wrote entire chapters attacking him.
Such hostility against ḥadīth scholars stems from partisanship, not scholarship.
"There is no innovator in the world except that he hates the People of Ḥadīth."
Reference: ʿAqīdah al-Salaf by Shaykh al-Islām al-Ṣābūnī, p.102 — with authentic chain
⑥ Vulgar Language
Examples from their writings:
“The author drank this like a baby drinks milk…”
“It is more shocking that he became an infant in old age!”
Reference: Tadqīq al-Kalām 1/170 by ʿAbd al-Qadīr]
Some even accused ʿAllāmah Sindhī of being “blind and deaf”, and referred to Muḥammad Gondalwī رحمه الله—a major ḥadīth authority—as "just another claimant." This reveals their level of academic ethics.
Statements like:
“ʿUbādah bin al-Ṣāmit رضي الله عنه was a mudallis.”
This is a major blunder, as ʿUbādah was a well-known companion, and never accused of tadlīs by any classical authority.
Other errors include calling Shaykh al-Albānī رحمه الله "deceased" repeatedly while he was still alive in 1997!
Numerous fabricated attributions and citations:
These are detailed refuted in “Nūr al-Ẓalām fī Mas’alat al-Fātiḥah Khalfa al-Imām”, an unpublished manuscript authored by the writer himself.
Most books written against reciting Fātiḥah behind the imām are filled with:
By contrast, this short book only uses aḥādīth that are ṣaḥīḥ or ḥasan in all respects.
May Allah keep us firm upon the Book and Sunnah, and cause our end to be upon them. Āmīn.
وَمَا عَلَيْنَا إِلَّا الْبَلَاغُ
(1997)
Some even accused ʿAllāmah Sindhī of being “blind and deaf”, and referred to Muḥammad Gondalwī رحمه الله—a major ḥadīth authority—as "just another claimant." This reveals their level of academic ethics.
⑦ Ignorance
Statements like:
“ʿUbādah bin al-Ṣāmit رضي الله عنه was a mudallis.”
Reference: Tawḍīḥ al-Tirmidhī: 436–437
This is a major blunder, as ʿUbādah was a well-known companion, and never accused of tadlīs by any classical authority.
Other errors include calling Shaykh al-Albānī رحمه الله "deceased" repeatedly while he was still alive in 1997!
⑧ Lies
Numerous fabricated attributions and citations:
- Citing non-existent narrations in Muwaṭṭaʾ Imām Mālik
- Inventing a narration from Abū Dāwūd (118) with non-existent words
- Inserting phrases into ḥadīths that don’t exist in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
- Misquoting grading from Taqrīb
- Fabricated references to al-Sunan al-Kubrā
- Invented ḥadīths from Jābir رضي الله عنه and others
These are detailed refuted in “Nūr al-Ẓalām fī Mas’alat al-Fātiḥah Khalfa al-Imām”, an unpublished manuscript authored by the writer himself.
Conclusion
Most books written against reciting Fātiḥah behind the imām are filled with:
- Lies
- Fabrications
- Contradictions
- Sectarian bias
- Disrespect for scholars
- Academic dishonesty
By contrast, this short book only uses aḥādīth that are ṣaḥīḥ or ḥasan in all respects.
May Allah keep us firm upon the Book and Sunnah, and cause our end to be upon them. Āmīn.
وَمَا عَلَيْنَا إِلَّا الْبَلَاغُ
(1997)
