A few questions about Salah

Asalam alaikom sisters

Does anyone know what exactly are the arkhan of salah?

After you make the 2nd prostration in the first or 3rd rakkas do you have to sit back on your feet again for a second or 2 before standing again or do you have to get right up to stand for the next rakka?

Does anyone know when or under what circumstances it is to permissible to join Dhuhr & Asr, and Maghrib & Isha without shortening them? Why?

Clare

Question #1: Does anyone know what exactly are the arkhan of salah?

There's a nice brief summary of this found online at http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/65847/.

It explains the terms ‘pillars’, ‘obligatory parts’ and ‘sunnah parts’, and it lists the actions of the prayer and where they fit in those three categories

Question #2: After you make the 2nd prostration in the first or 3rd rakkas do you have to sit back on your feet again for a second or 2 before standing again or do you have to get right up to stand for the next rakka?

In the book The Prophet's Prayer: from beginning to end as though you see it by Sheikh Al-Albaani, it says that after the second prostration,

"he [the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam] would sit straight [on his left foot, upright, until every bone returned to its position]."

This was reported by Bukhari and Abu Dawood. The footnote to this hadith says:

This sitting is known as jalsah al-istiraahah (the sitting of rest) by the scholars of fiqh. Shaafi`i supported it, as did Ahmad in Tahqeeq (111/1) and favoured it more strongly, as is well-known of him that he would insist on following a sunnah which had nothing to contradict it. Ibn Haani said in his Masaa'il of Imaam Ahmad (p. 42), "I saw Abu `Abdullaah (i.e. Imaam Ahmad) sometimes leaning on his hands when standing up for the next rak`ah, and sometimes sitting straight and then getting up." It was also the preference of Imaam Ishaaq bin Raahawaih, who said in Marwazi's Masaa'il (1/147/2), "The example was set by the Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam) of supporting himself with his hands when getting up, whether he was old or young." See also Irwaa' (2/82-3).

(http://www.qss.org/articles/salah/11.html#RTFToC18)

See also this short article about it:

“The scholars are agreed that for the worshipper to sit briefly after rising from the second sujood (prostration) of the first or third rak’ah and before standing up to do the following rak’ah is not one of the obligatory parts of prayer, not is it Sunnah mu’akkadah (a confirmed Sunnah). But after that they differed as to whether it is simply Sunnah or it is not one of the obligatory parts of prayer at all, or whether it should be done by those who need to do it because of old age, sickness or being heavy.”

Mustahabb (encouraged)

The view that it is mustahabb is supported by two things:
1 – The basic principle concerning the Prophet’s actions is that he did them in order to prescribe them and so that his example may be followed.
2 – This sitting is proven in the hadeeth of Abu Humayd al-Saa’idi which was narrated by Ahmad and Abu Dawood with a jayyid isnaad, in which he [Abu Humayd] described the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in the presence of ten of the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them), and they confirmed that.

(http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/21985/)

Question #3: Does anyone know when or under what circumstances it is to permissible to join Dhuhr & Asr, and Maghrib & Isha without shortening them? Why?

Here are some fatawa that will, insha’ Allah, give you a better understanding about this issue. When in doubt about joining prayers due to specific circumstances in your life, I advise you to consult with a scholar to get more help.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: If a female student enters the classroom at the time when Zuhr begins and the lesson goes on for two hours, what should she do?

He replied: The time for Zuhr does not end in two hours, because the time for Zuhr lasts from when the sun passes the meridian until the time for ‘Asr begins. This is longer than two hours, so it is possible to pray Zuhr after the lesson ends, because she will still have some time left. This applies if it is not possible for her to pray during the lesson time; if that is possible then it is more on the safe side. If it so happens that the lesson does not end before the time for ‘Asr begins and it will be too difficult for her to leave the lessons, then in that case it is permissible for her to join Zuhr and ‘Asr prayer and delay Zuhr until the time for ‘Asr, because of the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) which says that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) joined Zuhr and ‘Asr, and Maghrib and ‘Isha’, in Madeenah when there was no fear and no rain. He was asked about that and he (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: He (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not want to cause hardship for his ummah.

These words of Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) indicate that the hardship and difficulty that a person may face make it permissible for him to join the two prayers which may be joined together at the time of either of them. This comes under the heading of Allaah making religion easy for this ummah, the basis of which is seen in the verses (interpretation of the meaning):

“Allaah intends for you ease, and He does not want to make things difficult for you” [al-Baqarah 2:185]

“Allaah does not want to place you in difficulty” [al-Maa’idah 5:6]

“and has not laid upon you in religion any hardship” [al-Hajj 22:78]

And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Religion is easy”. And there are many other texts which indicate that this religion is easy.

End quote, from Majmoo’ah Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (12/216).

[the above is found online here: http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/110904]


Question: What is the ruling on joining and shortening prayers for a pregnant woman in the last months of pregnancy?.

Praise be to Allaah.

It is obligatory for the Muslim to offer every prayer at the time stipulated by sharee‘ah, because Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily, As Salaah (the prayer) is enjoined on the believers at fixed hours” [al-Nisa’ 4:103].

The Sunnah indicates that it is permissible to join two prayers for a sick person for whom it is too difficult to offer every prayer at its own time. This is the view of the Maalikis and Hanbalis.

Al-Nawawi said: This view is very strong. End quote.

Al-Majmoo‘, 4/263

See: al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah, 15/288

Al-Tirmidhi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his Sunan (1/259): Some of the Taabi‘i scholars granted a concession allowing a sick person to join two prayers. This is the view of Ahmad and Ishaaq. End quote.

If it is too difficult for a pregnant woman to offer every prayer at its own time, it is permissible for her to join Zuhr and ‘Asr, and Maghrib and ‘Isha’. She comes under the same rulings as one who is sick in that case.

With regard to shortening the prayers, that is only permissible for one who is travelling. So if a pregnant woman is travelling, it is permissible for her to join and shorten the prayers. But if she is at home, it is permissible for her to join the prayers, but she must offer the four-rak‘ah prayers in full, and not shorten them.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

Every time there is hardship or difficulty, it is permissible to join the prayers, whether one is at home or travelling, because of sickness, rain, a strong cold wind, and so on. So if it is too difficult for a pregnant woman to offer every prayer at its own time, she may join the prayers. And if it is too difficult for a breastfeeding woman to offer each prayer at its own time, because her baby urinates on her and the like, then she may put the prayers together. End quote.

Liqa’ al-Baab al-Maftooh, 201/4

He also said:

The reason for putting prayers together is difficulty; if hardship results from not putting prayers together, then it is permissible to put the prayers together for whatever reason. The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) even said that it is permissible for a pregnant woman to put two prayers together if it is too difficult for her to offer each prayer at its own time. So to sum up, there is only one reason for putting prayers together and that is hardship, but there are many kinds of hardship. As for shortening the prayers, that is only allowed in the case of travel. If we assume that a person is sick in the hospital, he may put two prayers together if it is too difficult for him to offer each one at its own time, but he is not allowed to shorten them because he is in his own city. But if he is in a hospital in another city, then it is permissible for him to join and shorten the prayers, because he is a traveller. End quote.

Fataawa Noor ‘ala al-Darb, 185/16

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The reason for shortening prayers is travel in particular, and it is not permissible to shorten prayers when not travelling. As for joining prayers together, the reason for that is need and reasons. If he needs to he may put prayers together when travelling, whether long or short distances. You may also put prayers together because of rain and the like, or because of sickness and the like, and for other reasons. The aim behind it is to spare the ummah from hardship. End quote.

Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa, 22/293

And Allah knows best.

http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/143720

Masha Allah MMF

You should be in charge of the Library. Jezach Allah Khair and please consider becoming our official librarian.

Love
Carima

Asalam alaikom sisters

MMF - ??

As-salaamu aleikum Dear Sister Carima and other Sisters,

I'm still here! I've just been busy with my family. My baby girl is a handful, as babies usually are, and we just got our oldest off to college this week, so I was out of town for that for 4 days.

Sister, I'd rather not be your librarian, as I am afraid I would let you down. I just have so much else already on my plate at the moment. I do go through all the posts here on the forum, but I am not always able to answer them in the timeliest of fashions, as you can see.

Asalam alaikom

Don't worry about it MMF - you have your hands full and I appreciate your input no matter what time it arrives.

Carima