Surah (a chapter of the Qur'an) and its recitation in prayer

السُّورة

In language surah means rank or height; the technical sense is a distinct portion of the Qur'an with a beginning and an end, not fewer than three verses, and with its own name. ¹ Most jurists recommend reciting surahs in the order of the codex; they dislike reversing their order. The Fatiha is a pillar of each unit of prayer for the majority and an obligation for the Hanafis, who require only what is easy of the Qur'an. Most jurists allow joining two surahs in one unit, and repeating a surah. ² ³ ⁴ In the funeral prayer the Hanafis and Malikis recite nothing, while the Shafi'is and Hanbalis require the Fatiha. ⁴ ⁵

Definition

In language surah means rank or height; the technical sense is a distinct portion of the Qur'an with a beginning and an end. ¹ A surah must have its own name and be not less than three verses; a verse may or may not have a name, as with the Throne verse, and the usual case is no name. ¹

Related term

The Qur'an is the revelation to the Prophet ﷺ, written in the codices and transmitted from him by unbroken mass transmission. ¹

Reversing the order of surahs

Most jurists recommend reciting surahs in the order of the codex, and they dislike a reciter in prayer or outside it reversing their order. Some jurists allow reversal for teaching or remembrance; the Malikis hold it less preferable. ¹ ²

The Fatiha in prayer

The majority (Malikis, Shafi'is, Hanbalis) hold that the Fatiha is a pillar in every unit, on the hadith of Ubada ibn al-Samit (may God be pleased with him): there is no prayer for one who does not recite the opening of the Book. The Shafi'is hold it a pillar absolutely; the Malikis hold it an obligation for one not following an imam in a loud prayer. ² The Hanafis hold the Fatiha not a pillar; the obligation for them is to recite what is easy of the Qur'an, on the verse in al-Muzzammil (20) directing that. ³

Leaving the surah after the Fatiha

The jurists agree that a surah after the Fatiha is sunna; they differ on one who leaves it through forgetting or deliberately. See the entries on forgetfulness and prayer. ³ The majority of the Malikis and Hanbalis and the preferred Shafi'i view hold that no surah is recommended in the last two units, since the Prophet usually recited nothing in them. The Hanafis hold that in the third unit one may keep silent, recite or glorify God. ³

Repeating a surah and joining two in one unit

Most Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold it lawful to repeat in the second unit a surah recited in the first, on the report of a man of Juhayna hearing the Prophet recite the same surah in both units of the dawn prayer; a report tells of a man who led the people and recited the surah of sincerity before each surah. The Malikis dislike repetition. ³ ⁴ Most jurists allow joining two surahs in one unit, citing a report that the Prophet recited the Cow, the Women and the Family of Imran in one unit. The Hanbalis allow it in voluntary prayer, prefer one surah in obligatory prayer, and some hold it disliked there, as the Malikis do. ⁴

Recitation in the funeral prayer

The Hanafis and Malikis hold there is no recitation in the funeral prayer; what is reported was praise, not recitation. The Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold the Fatiha obligatory in it, on the report of Umm Sharik (may God be pleased with her) that they were ordered to recite the Fatiha over the dead, which Ibn Hajar weakens. ⁴ ⁵ Most jurists hold no surah is recited after it, since the funeral prayer is shortened. See the entry on the funeral. ⁵

Sources

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.9860

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.9861

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.9862

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.9863

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.9864

Command, prohibition and capacity

The duty of complying with prohibitions by avoidance, and with commands according to one's capacity; in Abu Hurayra's hadith 'what I forbid you, avoid, and what I command you, do of it what you can' — its occasion, per Ibn Rajab, being the questioner who asked when hajj was imposed 'every year?' until he said it three times and was told 'had I said yes it would have been obligatory and you could not have managed'; Ibn Rajab derives from it the prohibition of asking about what is not needed, of asking out of obstinacy, frivolity or mockery, of asking about what God has hidden from His servants, and of questions on the lawful and unlawful that might draw stricter rulings, noting that licence to ask was for bedouins and delegations, not the residents of Medina; and in Abu Sa'id al-Khudri's hadith — the thirty-fourth — the three grades of changing evil by hand, then tongue, then heart, according to capacity, that being the weakest of faith, corroborated by Ibn Masud's report that whoever struggles against the successors who say what they do not do with hand, tongue or heart is a believer, and beyond the heart there is not a mustard-seed of faith (pp. 218–222, 698–699).