✍ Excerpted from: “Ghair Masnoon Nafli Namazain” by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Ameenpuri
Some later scholars have deemed it recommended (mustaḥabb) for a victorious leader or commander to offer a specific “Prayer of Conquest” (Ṣalāt al-Fatḥ). However, there is no authentic evidence to support this view. Below is a detailed analysis of the narrations commonly presented in support:
Narrated by al-Shaʿbī رحمه الله:
لما فتح خالد الحيرة صلى صلاة الفتح ثماني ركعات لا يسلم فيهن، ثم انصرف
“When Khālid ibn al-Walīd رضي الله عنه conquered Ḥīrah, he offered eight rakʿahs of the Prayer of Conquest in one sitting without taslīm (salām), then departed.”
This narration is fabricated.
➊ Saif ibn ʿUmar al-Kūfī is unanimously agreed upon by hadith critics to be weak and rejected.
➋ Shuʿayb ibn Ibrāhīm al-Kūfī is unknown (majhūl).
❖ Imām Ibn ʿAdī رحمه الله said:
“He has some narrations and reports, but he is not well-known. His narrations are few and contain anomalies, and some include disparagement of the Salaf.”
❖ Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī رحمه الله said:
“He is majhūl (unknown).”
➌ The narrator ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad in the chain is not clearly identified.
It is claimed that Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ رضي الله عنه, upon entering the throne room of Kisrā (Chosroes) as a conqueror, offered eight rakʿahs of Ṣalāt al-Fatḥ with the Muslims.
This narration is also fabricated.
➊ Again, Saif ibn ʿUmar is the narrator—unanimously considered a liar (kadhdhāb) and rejected (matrūk).
➋ Shuʿayb ibn Ibrāhīm al-Rifāʿī al-Kūfī is unknown.
❖ A similar fabricated narration also appears in Futūḥ al-Shām by al-Wāqidī (2/187), a book which is:
➌ Based on Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar al-Wāqidī, who is himself a liar (kadhdhāb). Therefore, the book is unreliable.
➍ The chain of narration above al-Wāqidī is also missing or untraceable.
On the day of the Conquest of Makkah, the Prophet ﷺ offered eight rakʿahs in the home of Umm Hānī رضي الله عنها. However, these were Duḥā (forenoon) prayers, not a special "Prayer of Conquest."
❖ Ṣalāt al-Fatḥ – Is There a Prayer After Conquest?
Some later scholars have deemed it recommended (mustaḥabb) for a victorious leader or commander to offer a specific “Prayer of Conquest” (Ṣalāt al-Fatḥ). However, there is no authentic evidence to support this view. Below is a detailed analysis of the narrations commonly presented in support:
Evidence #1
Narrated by al-Shaʿbī رحمه الله:
لما فتح خالد الحيرة صلى صلاة الفتح ثماني ركعات لا يسلم فيهن، ثم انصرف
“When Khālid ibn al-Walīd رضي الله عنه conquered Ḥīrah, he offered eight rakʿahs of the Prayer of Conquest in one sitting without taslīm (salām), then departed.”
Reference: Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī: 3/366-367
,
Reference: Tārīkh Dimashq by Ibn ʿAsākir: 16/247
This narration is fabricated.
The chain of narration is weak due to the following reasons:
➊ Saif ibn ʿUmar al-Kūfī is unanimously agreed upon by hadith critics to be weak and rejected.
➋ Shuʿayb ibn Ibrāhīm al-Kūfī is unknown (majhūl).
❖ Imām Ibn ʿAdī رحمه الله said:
“He has some narrations and reports, but he is not well-known. His narrations are few and contain anomalies, and some include disparagement of the Salaf.”
Reference: al-Kāmil fī Ḍuʿafāʾ al-Rijāl: 5/7
❖ Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī رحمه الله said:
“He is majhūl (unknown).”
Reference: al-Mughnī fī al-Ḍuʿafāʾ: 1/298
➌ The narrator ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad in the chain is not clearly identified.
Evidence #2
It is claimed that Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ رضي الله عنه, upon entering the throne room of Kisrā (Chosroes) as a conqueror, offered eight rakʿahs of Ṣalāt al-Fatḥ with the Muslims.
Reference: Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī: 4/16
This narration is also fabricated.
Reasons for rejection:
➊ Again, Saif ibn ʿUmar is the narrator—unanimously considered a liar (kadhdhāb) and rejected (matrūk).
➋ Shuʿayb ibn Ibrāhīm al-Rifāʿī al-Kūfī is unknown.
❖ A similar fabricated narration also appears in Futūḥ al-Shām by al-Wāqidī (2/187), a book which is:
➌ Based on Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar al-Wāqidī, who is himself a liar (kadhdhāb). Therefore, the book is unreliable.
➍ The chain of narration above al-Wāqidī is also missing or untraceable.
❖ Important Note
On the day of the Conquest of Makkah, the Prophet ﷺ offered eight rakʿahs in the home of Umm Hānī رضي الله عنها. However, these were Duḥā (forenoon) prayers, not a special "Prayer of Conquest."
Conclusion
- There is no authentic hadith that proves the legislation of Ṣalāt al-Fatḥ (a specific prayer upon victory or conquest).
- The narrations used as evidence are either weak, fabricated, or based on unknown narrators.
- The only prayers that are acceptable to Allah are those which are proven from the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.
- Introducing new, self-invented acts of worship—even with good intention—holds no validity in Islam.
