Answered by: Alimah Habiba Akhtar
Question:
We have a question about the Quran recitation during Juma Fardh Salah. A person was appointed to lead Juma prayer on Friday where he mispronounced a few words in the recitation. He had not learned any sort of tajweed and was reciting without it. According to my mild understandings, these types of mistakes are called Lahn Al Jali.
As a Hafiz praying behind this person I, alongside many others, realized that he made mistakes pronouncing 4 different letters which he mixed up. These letters were س/ ث and ع / ا and قك and زذ
If we have made these mistakes in the Fardh Juma Prayer, is our salah valid or invalid based on these mistakes made? We are emailing you this to acquire a professional Fatwah from an honourable Mufti from your Fatwah Center. We would like to hear back from you as soon as possible. Jazakallah Khair.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
Allah SWT states in Surah Muzammil, verse 4:
“and recite the Qur’an clearly with tartil (in a distinct and well-measured tone)” (1)
The above verse is explained by understanding what the term tarteel refers to. Such a recitation with tarteel is the recitation demonstrated by the Prophet SAW. This is acknowledged in the following hadith:
It was narrated from Ya’la bin Mamlak that :
He asked Umm Salamah about the recitation and prayer of the Messenger of Allah () and she said: “Why do you want to know about his prayer?” Then she described his recitation as being so measured and clear that each letter could be distinguished. (2)
Thus, it’s very important that we seek to learn to recite in the correct manner and that is by reciting with Tajweed and fluency. The one who is selected for imamate should have appropriate recitation and pronunciation.
In regards to making errors in prayer as mentioned in your query, the conclusion will depend on the type of error. Consider the following:
-
If he recited a wrong letter and thus made an error which was such that didn’t alter the meaning of the verse to something else, the Salah doesn’t become invalid.
-
If the meaning is changed in such a way that the letters can easily be differentiated, then the Salah is rendered invalid
-
If the meaning is changed in such a way that the letters can be differentiated but with difficulty, then the Salah is valid according to most scholars (3)
Hence, in response to your query, depending on the errors made by the imam due to pronunciation and the effect it has on the meaning, your Salah will be affected accordingly. In one’s own prayer, it is easier to spot and change but in the case of an imam, this may be recurring, so, someone should intervene to create a dialogue and discuss the recitation.
Only Allah knows best
Written by Alimah Habiba Akhtar
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
(1)
أَوۡ زِدۡ عَلَیۡهِ وَرَتِّلِ ٱلۡقُرۡءَانَ تَرۡتِیلًا
[Surah Al-Muzzammil 4]
(2)
عَنْ يَعْلَى بْنِ مَمْلَكٍ، أَنَّهُ سَأَلَ أُمَّ سَلَمَةَ عَنْ قِرَاءَةِ، رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَصَلاَتِهِ قَالَتْ مَا لَكُمْ وَصَلاَتَهُ ثُمَّ نَعَتَتْ فَإِذَا هِيَ تَنْعَتُ قِرَاءَتَهُ مُفَسَّرَةً حَرْفًا حَرْفًا
Sunan an-Nasa’i 1022
(3)
ومنها ذكر حرف مكان حرف : إن ذكر حرفاً مكان حرف ولم يغير المعنى بان قرأ إن المسلمون إن الظالمون وما أشبه ذلك لم تفسد صلاته، وإن غير المعنى فإن أمكن الفصل بين الحرفين من غير مشقة كالماء مع الصاد فقرا الطالحات مكان الصالحات تفسد صلاته عند الكل، وإن كان لا يمكن الفصل بين الحرفين إلا بمشقة كالظاء مع الضاد والصاد مع السين والطاء مع ابناء اختلف المشايخ قال أكثرهم: لا نفسه صلاته هكذا في فتاوى قاضیخان، وكثير من المشايخ
(Fatawa Hindiyyah, Volume 1, Page 87, Darul Kutub Ilmiyyah)