A few Masa’il Related to Fard and Wajib Salaats

1. The mudrik does not have to make any qira’at. The qira’at of the imam is sufficient for all the muqtadis. According to the Hanafee school of thought, it is makruh for the muqtadis to make qira’at behind the imam.

2. It is fard on the masbuq to make qira’at for the rakaats which he missed.

3. In other words, the muqtadi should not make qira’at in the presence of the imam. However, the masbuq has to make qira’at because the imam is not present for the rakaats which he missed.

4. The spot on which sajdah will be made should not be higher than half metre than the spot at which the feet are placed. If sajdah is made at a spot that is higher than half metre, this will not be permissible. However, if there is a need to do this, it will be permissible. For example, the congregation is very large and the people are standing so close to each other that it is not possible to make sajdah on the ground. It will be permissible to make sajdah on the backs of those offering salaat. This is on condition that the person on whose back sajdah is being made is also offering the same salaat as the person making the sajdah.

5. It is wajib to offer six extra takbeers apart from the normal takbeers in the eid salaats.

6. It is wajib for the imam to make qira’at in a loud voice in the following salaats: both the rakaats of fajr, the first two rakaats of maghrib and esha irrespective of whether it is a qada or an adaa salaat, jumu’ah, eid, taraweeh, and the witr of Ramadaan.

7. The munfarid has the choice of reciting the two rakaats of fajr and the first two rakaats of maghrib and esha, in a loud or soft voice. In order to differentiate between loud and soft, the jurists have written that “loud” will mean that someone else can hear the recitation, and “soft” will mean that only the person reciting can hear his own voice.

8. It is wajib on the imam and the munfarid to make the qira’at softly in all the rakaats of zuhr and asr, and the latter rakaats of maghrib and esha.

9. The nafl salaats that are offered during the day should be offered softly. As for those at night, one has a choice between reciting loudly or softly.

10. If a munfarid offers qada salaat of fajr, maghrib, and esha during the day, it will also be wajib to make the qira’at softly in them. But if he makes qada of them at night, he has a choice.

11. If a person forgets to recite another Surah after the Surah Faatihah in the first two rakaats of maghrib or esha, he will have to recite it in the third and fourth rakaats after Surah Faatihah. It will be wajib to make the qira’at loudly in these rakaats as well. At the end of the salaat, sajdah-e-sahw will also be wajib.