Prayer, questions and answers.
Times, conditions, mistakes, missed prayers, travel, Jumuah and congregation. 31 answers, Hanafi first, with the Quran and hadith behind each one.
- Can you pray Fajr after sunrise?Yes, but it is then a make-up (qada) prayer, not an on-time one. In the Hanafi school you wait until the sun has fully risen, roughly 15 to 20 minutes after sunrise, and then pray the two fard rakats. Do not pray during the sunrise itself.
- Is witr prayer mandatory?In the Hanafi school, yes: witr is wajib (necessary), one level below fard. You pray three rakats every night after Isha, and if you miss it you must make it up. The Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools hold that witr is a strongly emphasised sunnah, not an obligation.
- Is tahajjud sunnah or nafl?Tahajjud is a voluntary (nafl) prayer that is also a sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, so both words are right. It is not obligatory and you are not sinful for leaving it, but it is the best prayer after the fard. The four schools agree on this.
- Can you pray Isha after midnight?Yes. In the Hanafi school Isha time lasts until true dawn (the start of Fajr), so an Isha prayed after midnight is still on time and not qada. But delaying it past the Islamic midnight without a reason is makruh (disliked). The other schools treat the time after midnight as a time of need only.
- Is it okay to pray in your head?No, not for the recitation and words of salah. In the Hanafi school you must move your tongue and lips and pronounce the words, at least loud enough that you could hear yourself. Reading only in your mind does not count. Du'a outside salah may be made silently in the heart.
- How many rakats are in Jummah prayer?The Jumuah fard is two rakats prayed behind the imam after the khutbah. In the Hanafi school there are also four sunnah mu'akkadah rakats before it and four after, and many scholars add two more after, making 4, 2, 4 and 2. Other schools count the sunnah differently.
- What are the sunnah prayers for each salah?In the Hanafi school there are 12 confirmed sunnah rakats a day: 2 before Fajr, 4 before and 2 after Dhuhr, 2 after Maghrib and 2 after Isha. Four before Asr and four before Isha are non-confirmed sunnah. The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools count 10 confirmed rakats, with 2 before Dhuhr.
- Is Eid prayer fard or wajib?In the Hanafi school the Eid prayer is wajib (necessary), not fard, for every man who is obliged to attend Jumuah. The Shafi'i and Maliki schools hold it is a strongly emphasised sunnah, and the Hanbali school holds it is a communal obligation.
- When should you pray salat al-istikhara?You can pray istikhara at any time of day or night except the times when prayer is forbidden or disliked. Pray two rakats of nafl, then read the istikhara du'a. Many people prefer the night, before sleeping or at tahajjud, but that is not required, and you do not need to see a dream.
- Can you pray with shoes on?Yes, if the shoes are clean of najasah (impurity) and your toes can press toward the ground in sajdah. The Prophet ﷺ prayed in his sandals. But do not wear outdoor shoes on a masjid's carpet; that harms the masjid and its worshippers. The four schools agree it is permissible.
- Can you pray in shorts?Not if the shorts leave your knees or thighs uncovered. For men the awrah is from the navel to below the knee, and in the Hanafi school the knee is included, so shorts above the knee make the prayer invalid. Long shorts that cover the knees are valid but disliked.
- Can you pray with a picture on your clothes?The prayer is valid, but in the Hanafi school praying in clothes with a clear picture of a person or animal is makruh tahrimi (seriously disliked), and the prayer should be repeated within its time. Pictures of trees, cars, buildings, logos and plain text are not a problem.
- What if you forget the first tashahhud?If you stood up and were closer to standing, or fully upright, do not go back down. Carry on and do sajdah al-sahw (the prostration of forgetfulness) at the end, and the prayer is valid. If you were still closer to sitting, sit back down, and in the Hanafi school no sahw is needed.
- What if you are not sure how many rakats you prayed?In the Hanafi school it depends. If such doubt is rare for you, start the prayer again. If it happens often, go with what you think is most likely; if you have no leaning either way, take the lower number, then do sajdah al-sahw. Doubts after the salam are ignored.
- What if you forget a rakah or pray an extra one?If you gave salam after too few rakats and remember straight away, before talking or turning from the qibla, stand up, complete what you missed and do sajdah al-sahw. If you already spoke or left, repeat the prayer. If you added an extra rakah, the fix depends on whether you sat after the last real rakah.
- Does a mistake in recitation break the prayer?Usually not. In the Hanafi fatwa position, small mistakes in vowels or pronunciation, skipping a word, or repeating a verse do not break the prayer. It is broken only by a mistake that changes the meaning badly, such as turning a statement of faith into something false, and that you do not correct.
- Can you pray sitting on a chair?Yes, if you have a real need. In the Hanafi school you must stand for fard prayers if you can. If you cannot stand, or cannot do ruku and sujud on the floor, you may pray sitting, on the floor if you can and on a chair if you cannot, bowing your head lower for sujud than for ruku. Nafl may be prayed sitting even without a need.
- How do you pray on a plane, train or in a car?Try to pray fard standing and facing the qibla, in a galley or open space on a plane or a quiet spot on a train. If you truly cannot, pray in your seat as best you can so the time does not pass. Many Hanafi scholars then advise repeating it on land. Fard cannot be prayed in a moving car; stop to pray.
- Can you combine prayers in the Hanafi madhhab?No, not in the sense of praying two prayers in one prayer's time, except at Arafah and Muzdalifah during Hajj. What Hanafis may do is pray Dhuhr near the end of its time and Asr at the start of its time, back to back. The Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools allow real combining when travelling and in some other cases.
- How far do you have to travel to shorten your prayers?In the Hanafi school, about 48 miles (roughly 77 km) from your town, and you stay a traveller unless you intend to stay 15 days or more in one place. Qasr is wajib for Hanafis: Dhuhr, Asr and Isha become two rakats. The other schools use a similar distance but a four-day stay, and treat qasr as optional or sunnah.
- Do I have to make up years of missed prayers?Yes. In the Hanafi school, and in all four schools, every fard prayer (and for Hanafis every witr) missed since you reached puberty is a debt you must make up, along with sincere repentance if you missed them without excuse. Estimate the number on the safe side and pay it off steadily. Converts do not make up prayers from before Islam.
- What if you prayed in the wrong direction?If you made an honest effort to find the qibla, by asking someone or using a compass or app, and later learn you were wrong, your prayer is valid and you do not repeat it. If you did not try at all and it turns out wrong, repeat it. A small deviation, within 45 degrees either side, still counts.
- Who has to pray Jummah?Jumuah is fard on every adult, sane Muslim man who is resident (not travelling), healthy and able to get to the masjid in a town. It is not fard on women, children, travellers or the sick, though they may attend and it replaces their Dhuhr. Work is not an excuse in itself.
- What happens if you miss Jummah?Pray four rakats of Dhuhr in its place; Jumuah itself cannot be made up. If you missed it without a valid excuse, it is a serious sin, so repent and make sure it does not happen again. The Prophet ﷺ warned that whoever leaves three Jumuahs out of carelessness has a seal put on his heart.
- Can you talk or pray during the Friday khutbah?No. In the Hanafi school, once the imam comes out for the khutbah, both talking and praying are makruh tahrimi; you sit and listen in silence, even if you arrive late. The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools say a latecomer should pray two short rakats of greeting the mosque during the khutbah.
- Is it obligatory to pray in congregation?For men, praying the five daily prayers in congregation is a sunnah mu'akkadah so close to wajib that many Hanafi scholars call it wajib; leaving it habitually without excuse is sinful. Praying alone is still valid. For women it is not required. The Hanbali school holds it is fard on men.
- How do you make up rakats if you join the prayer late?Join the imam in whatever position he is in. You count a rakah if you reach ruku before he rises from it. After the imam's final salam, stand up without saying salam and complete what you missed. In the Hanafi school the rakats you make up are treated as the start of your prayer for recitation and the end for sitting.
- What are the forbidden times for prayer?In the Hanafi school there are three times when no prayer is valid: while the sun is rising, when it is at its zenith (zawal) and while it is setting, except that day's Asr. There are two more times, after the Fajr fard and after the Asr fard, when nafl is makruh but qada is allowed.
- Can you pray the Fajr sunnah after the fard?Not in the Hanafi school. Do not pray the two sunnah rakats between the Fajr fard and sunrise. If you missed them, pray them after the sun has fully risen and before zawal. If you arrive as the congregation starts, pray the sunnah first away from the rows if you can still catch the imam. The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools allow praying them right after the fard.
- What are the conditions and fard acts of salah?In the Hanafi school salah has six conditions before you start: purity of the body, purity of clothes and place, covering the awrah, facing the qibla, the time having begun, and intention. Inside the prayer there are six fard acts: the opening takbir, standing, recitation, ruku, the two sajdahs and the final sitting.
- Can you pray salah in English?No. The Quran recitation in salah must be in Arabic, and a translation does not count as Quran; the four schools agree on this. New Muslims should learn al-Fatihah and a short surah, and until then say simple dhikr such as "subhanallah" in their prayer. Du'a outside salah can be in any language.