SECTION ON PRAYER · 135 – RECITATION IN THE MORNING PRAYER
817 – From ʿAmr ibn Ḥurayth (may Allah be pleased with him): It is as if I am listening to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) reciting the verse (falā uqsimu bil-khunnasi al-jawāri l-kunnasi) in the morning prayer. [504] (Sūrat al-Takwīr, verses 15–16)
EXPLANATION
The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) recited Sūrat al-Takwīr in the morning prayer in Mecca. This hadith indicates that Sūrat al-Takwīr can be recited in the morning prayer. In obligatory prayers of two units (rakʿas), in the first two units of four-unit obligatory prayers, and in the sunnah prayers, recitation (qirāʾa) is absolutely obligatory. Reciting Sūrat al-Fātiḥa is necessary (wājib), and it is also necessary to add a surah or three verses (āyāt), or a verse as long as three verses, to Sūrat al-Fātiḥa. According to Imām al-Aʿẓam (Abū Ḥanīfa), the congregation does not recite Sūrat al-Fātiḥa. According to Imām al-Shāfiʿī, however, it is necessary for the congregation to recite Sūrat al-Fātiḥa as well.