Question
I have two questions. 1 – I asked you earlier about Bismillah in the beginning of Surah Fatiha. You gave a good answer but you didn’t clear my doubt about whether it is necessary to recite it in the beginning of a prayer! And whether the prayer is acceptable if Bismillah is not recited … since it is the part of Surah Fatiha.
2 – Suppose I went for the Isha’a Prayer and I missed one ” raka’at “. Now I will pray with the imam the three raka’ats. When I get up to pray my missed raka’at, will it be my first raka’at or last? Will I recite a surah in it with Fatiha or just the Surah Fatiha?
Answer
We believe that bismillah is not part of any surah except for surah al-naml where it also comes in the text of the surah forming its part. It is only an introductory formula, a du’a and a separator. Since it is not part of Surah al-Fatihah it does not nullify the prayer if one misses it.
When we join the prayer late and the imam finishes the prayer we get up and offer the missed raka’at. This means that the missed raka’at in your example would be the first one. It is better you started it just like we start the first raka’at with bismillah. However, if you miss it, it does not cancel the prayer. The reason of this difference of opinion is that bismillah was recited softly and not loudly and there is no conclusive argument for this view or that.
Answered by: Tariq Mahmood Hashmi
Date: 2015-02-20
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