Answered by Shaykh Abdurrahman ibn Yusuf Mangera
I would like to know if it is permissible, when praying, to read surahs in any order e.g. surah Al-Nas in the first rakat and surah Al-Falaq in the second?
Assalamu alaykum
In the name of Allah, the Inspirer of truth,
It is considered blameworthy and disliked (makruh) in the Hanafi school to read a sura antecedent to the one recited in the first rak’ah. Allama Shurunbulali writes:
“(It is disliked) to recite a surah antecedent to one already recited. Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “Whoever recites the Qur’an in the opposite order will himself be treated that way Whoever recited Surat al-Nas in the first rak’a unintentionally should repeat it in the second rak’athere will not be any reprehensibility in thisin order to be saved from recited the Qur’an in backward order (Maraqi al-Falah 238).
Wassalam,