What Should a Person Do if He Recites Sūrah Fātiḥah and Forgets To Read a Sūrah After?

Answered by: Maulana Yūsuf Badāt

Question:

What should a person do if he recites sūrah fātiḥah and forgets to read a sūrah after? Will ṣalāh be valid, or must it be repeated?

In the name of Allāh, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Answer:

In the Ḥanafī school, recitation of passages or a sūrah of the Qur’ān after Al-Fātiḥah is wājib (necessary). If one forgets to recite that, and are still in the ṣalāh, they may compensate for such a mistake by making sujūd al-sahw (prostrations to rectify errors) at the conclusion of the prayer. If they are no longer in the ṣalāh, they must redo their ṣalāh. – (See: Rad-Al-Muḥtār, Page 149, Volume 2, Dār Al-Ālam Al-Kutub¹, Badā’i Al-Sanā’i, Page 524, Volume 1, Dār Al-Kutub Al-‘Ilmiyyah²)

The Prophet Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “One is not credited with having observed the prayer without the recitation.” – (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 396)³

Only Allāh knows best.

Written by Maulana Yūsuf Badāt

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

1 وَضَمُّ أَقْصَرِ سُورَةٍ كَالْكَوْثَرِ أَوْ مَا قَامَ مَقَامَهَا، هُوَ ثَلَاثُ آيَاتٍ قِصَارٍ، نَحْوُ ثُمَّ نَظَرَ [المدثر: ٢١] ثُمَّ عَبَسَ وَبَسَرَ [المدثر: ٢٢] ثُمَّ أَدْبَرَ وَاسْتَكْبَرَ [المدثر: ٢٣] وَكَذَا لَوْ كَانَتْ الْآيَةُ أَوْ الْآيَتَانِ تَعْدِلُ ثَلَاثًا قِصَارًا ذَكَرَهُ الْحَلَبِيُّ – رد المحتار ج٢/ص١٤٩

سُجُودِ السَّهْوِ لِإِصْلَاحِ مَا فَاتَ وَهُوَ وَالنِّسْيَانُ وَالشَّكُّ – رد المحتار ج٢/ص ٧٧ دار الفكر

2 الْمَفْرُوضُ هُوَ أَصْلُ الْقِرَاءَةِ عِنْدَنَا مِنْ غَيْرِ تَعْيِينٍ، فَأَمَّا قِرَاءَةُ الْفَاتِحَةِ وَالسُّورَةِ عَيْنًا فِي الْأُولَيَيْنِ فَلَيْسَتْ بِفَرِيضَةٍ وَلَكِنَّهَا وَاجِبَةٌ عَلَى مَا يُذْكَرُ فِي بَيَانِ وَاجِبَاتِ الصَّلَاةِ – بدايع الصنايع ج١/ص٥٢٤

3 عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ ‏ لاَ صَلاَةَ إِلاَّ بِقِرَاءَةٍ ‏ – مسلم ٣٩٦‏