Answered by Shaykh Sohail Hanif, SunniPath Academy Teacher
1.) Skipping one sura In Nur-al-Idah it states that one should not skip one sura in between 2 consecutive Rakaats. Is this Makruh Tahrimi? Even by accident?
2.) Reading suras in order. Suppose one reads the sura in the rakaats out of order. Is this Makruh Tahrimi, even by accident? Suppose one accidentally starts with An-Nas. Can one continue in the next rakaat with Alif Lam Meem?
3.) Making the first rakaat longer than the second. Suppose one has one of the 3 situations. Is it always Makruh Tahrimi and wajib to repeat the salaat? Suppose in the first rakaat, one reads al-Ikhlas. Is the salaat automatically Makruh tahrimi since one must read al-Falaq which is a longer sura? Or if in the first rakaat one reads an-Nas?
Relax. “Verily, this deen is easy,” the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) told us. Things are not complicated.
Firstly, neither reversing the order of the suras nor skipping a short sura between two consecutive suras is disliked in supererogatory prayers, as mentioned by al-Haskafi in al-Durr al-Mukhtar.
As for skipping a short sura between two suras or reversing the order of the suras in an obligatory prayer, this isn’t disliked if done unintentionally as mentioned by Ibn Abidin.
In fact once one starts and then realizes ones mistake one should keep reading and not stop to start a different sura.
It is merely slightly disliked (makruh tanzihan) to repeat the same sura in the second raka of an obligatory prayer, unless one is forced to do so by ones having mistakenly read sura al-Nas in the first raka in which case one is expected to repeat the sura in the second raka to avoid the dislike of reversing the order of the suras. In such a circumstance, one shouldn’t read the beginning of Sura al-Baqarah in the next raka unless one is finishing the Qur’an.
As for intentionally reversing the order of the suras, this is prohibitively disliked.
As for lengthening the second raka over the first raka by more than two verses, this is only slightly disliked, as clarified by the 19th Century Egyptian faqih, Imam al-Tahtawi (Allah have mercy on him) in his Hashiyat Maraqi al-Falah.
And Allah knows best.
Sohail Hanif [& checked by Faraz Rabbani ]