Answered by Sidi Moustafa Elqabbany
Is it haram to not pray sunna prayers(2 before fajr,4 or 2 before zuhr,etc.) and only pray fard prayers in the shafii madhhab?and how does one place his hands in prayer in shaafi’i madhab,on chest,below chest ,below navel?
thank you 🙂
One is only required to offer the fard prayers. Missing the sunna prayers is not sinful. However, sunna prayers guard the fard prayers and carry a tremendous reward.
The optimal way to place one’s hands while standing in prayer is to use the palm of one’s right hand to grip the back of the left hand, wrist, and a part of the left forearm. The hands should be placed above the navel and below the chest, slightly to the left.
Note that a common problem that modern readers of fiqh books face is that the word koo` has changed meaning. In the fiqh books, koo` means the part of the forearm that is next to the thumb. In modern spoken Arabic, koo` means, “elbow”. This is why we find a number of people grasping their elbows in prayer. Fiqh needs to be learned from its teachers.