Reciting al-Fātiḥah Behind the Imam in the Light of Authentic Hadiths
This excerpt is derived from Shaykh Zubair Ali Zai (رحمه الله)’s book Hadiyyat al-Muslimeen: Important Issues of Salah with the Complete Prophetic Prayer (ﷺ).
Fātiḥah Behind the Imam
«عن عبادة بن الصامت عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: هل تقرؤن معي؟ قالوا: نعم قال: لا تفعلوا إلا بأم القرآن فإنه لا صلوة لمن لم يقرأ بها»
Narration: It is reported from ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit (رضي الله عنه) that the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said to the noble Companions (رضي الله عنهم): “Do you recite with me (i.e., behind the imam)?” They replied, “Yes.” He (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “Do not do so, except with Umm al-Qur’ān (Sūrat al-Fātiḥah), for there is no prayer for the one who does not recite it.”
[Kitāb al-Qirāʾ by al-Bayhaqī, p. 64, ḥadīth no. 121, Beirut (Lebanon) edition]، وقال الیہقی بعیثہ اسناده صحیح روانہ ثقات
Apart from Imām al-Bayhaqī, Ḍiyāʾ al-Maqdisī graded it ṣaḥīḥ, and al-Dāraqutnī graded it ḥasan.
✦ فوائد (Benefits)
① From this authentic ḥadīth it is established that in both audible (جہرية) and silent (سريّة) prayers, the duty of the follower (muqtadī) is to recite al-Fātiḥah quietly behind the imam. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (رضي الله عنه) also commanded reciting al-Fātiḥah behind the imam in both audible and silent prayers.
[al-Mustadrak ʿala al-Ṣaḥīḥayn, vol. 1, p. 239, ḥadīth 873] — it was graded ṣaḥīḥ by al-Ḥākim, al-Dhahabī, and al-Dāraqutnī.
② According to the Deobandis and Barelvis, Sūrat al-Fātiḥah is not farḍ upon the imam or an individual praying alone; rather, it is wājib only in the first two rakʿahs. In the last two rakʿahs, if al-Fātiḥah is deliberately omitted, the prayer remains valid.
[See Qudūrī, pp. 22–23; al-Hidāyah (Awwalīn), vol. 1, p. 148; Fatḥ al-Qadīr by Ibn Humām, vol. 1, p. 395; Bahishtī Zewar, p. 163; Part 2, p. 19, Chapter Seven, Issue 17; Bahār-e-Sharīʿat, Part 3, p. 41]
If al-Fātiḥah is omitted inadvertently in the first two rakʿahs by the imam or an individual, then according to the Deobandis and Barelvis, sujūd al-sahw suffices and there is no need to repeat the rakʿah.
③ The report from Zayd ibn Thābit (رضي الله عنه), لا قراءة مع الإمام فى شيء (Muslim: 1/215, ḥadīth 577), is carried upon the recitation of the follower aloud (قراءة المقتدی بالجہر). Al-Fātiḥah is excluded from its generality. The phrase مع الإمام here means aloud with the imam. This is also the response concerning the athār of Ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنهما), من صلى وراء الإمام كفاه قراءة الإمام — i.e., the follower must recite al-Fātiḥah behind the imam, while for the rest of the recitation, the imam’s recitation suffices.
④ The report of Jābir (رضي الله عنه) is not acceptable due to its being in opposition to the marfūʿ ḥadīth. Ẓafar Aḥmad Thānvī (Deobandi) states:
ولا حجة فى قول الصحابي فى معارضة المرفوع
“The statement of a Companion is not a proof when it opposes a marfūʿ report.”
[Iʿlāʾ al-Sunan, 1/438, ḥadīth 432; see also p. 37]
Moreover, according to the Deobandis themselves, two rakʿahs are valid without al-Fātiḥah (as mentioned in no. ② above), whereas according to Jābir (رضي الله عنه), not even one rakʿah is valid without al-Fātiḥah. Therefore, the inference drawn by the Deobandis and Barelvis from this athar is invalid even according to their own methodology.
⑤ For other marfūʿ aḥādīth regarding Fātiḥah behind the imam, consult Taḥqīq al-Kalām, al-Kawākib al-Durriyyah, and others, and also see Ḥadīth no. 14.
