Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
I have sometimes seen people come and pray extremely quick such that they cannot be saying even the fatiha fully and their actions follow one another in quick succession. I have seen this when someone is close to missing fajr or even at other times. Is this a valid type of Prayer? If so then what are its conditions to be valid and when can it be done and in what conditions?
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
I pray that this finds you well, and in the best of health and spirits. May Allah grant you all good and success in this life and the next.
The validity of prayer rests on fulfilling its conditions and integrals, both of which are obligatory (fard); and the soundness of prayer rests on fulfilling the necessary (wajib) elements of prayer. The minimum outward perfection of prayer rests on performing the confirmed sunnas; and the outward perfection of the prayer is complete by performing its recommended actions. With this, one should fulfill the inward sunna of turning to Allah Most High, which is the heart and soul of the prayer.
The details of the outward aspects of prayer can be found in reliable manuals of fiqh; and those of the inward aspect in works such as Imam Ghazali’s “Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship.”
When people pray improperly, one should follow the fiqh of commanding the good and forbidding the wrong. You can find answers related to this in the SunniPath QA (http://qa.sunnipath.com).
And Allah alone gives success.
Faraz Rabbani