Masalat Butlan al-Salat bi-Taghyir al-Ayat fi al-Qiraa - ضمن "Athar al-Muallimi
- Author died
- 1386 AH
- Editions
- Dar Alam al-Fawa'id lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi'
Masalat Butlan al-Salat bi-Taghyir al-Ayat fi al-Qiraa ("The Issue of Whether Prayer Is Invalidated by Altering Verses in Recitation") is a legal treatise written by the Yemeni scholar Abd al-Rahman al-Muallimi al-Yamani (d. 1386 AH) on the legal validity of ritual prayer when an imam mistakenly mispronounces or substitutes a word while reciting the Quran .
Background and Context of Composition
The author did not originally assign a specific title to the work, which was preserved under manuscript number 4708 in the Library of the Holy Mosque in Mecca (Maktabat al-Haram al-Makki) . The composition arose from an incident during a Friday congregational prayer on 4 Shawwal 1339 AH . The presiding imam recited Surah al-A'la and Surah al-Ghashiyah, but mistakenly substituted the word al-Ghashiyah with al-Khashi'ah . Al-Muallimi attempted to prompt and correct the imam during the recitation, but the imam did not notice, after which al-Sayyid Salih ibn Muhsin al-Saylami prompted the imam repeatedly without success as the imam continued his recitation .
Upon the conclusion of the prayer, al-Saylami called on the congregants to repeat the prayer . Al-Sayyid al-Arabi Muhammad ibn Haydar al-Nu'ami contested this, stating that their school (the Zaydi madhhab) did not require repeating the prayer in such circumstances, and observed that the imam was a judge who followed the Shafi'i madhhab . When al-Muallimi was asked about the ruling according to the Shafi'i school, he ruled that the prayer remained valid . Al-Saylami subsequently asked him for the Shafi'i evidence for its non-invalidation, prompting al-Muallimi to author this treatise to elaborate the evidence and legal reasoning .
Arguments and Legal Analysis
Al-Muallimi established that the presumption of validity (istishab al-asl) applies to the prayer unless definitive proof establishes invalidity . He argued that the claim of invalidation could rest on either altering the composition of the Quranic text or uttering a word outside the Quran :
- Regarding the inadvertent alteration of Quranic wording, he cited the report of Ali ibn Abi Talib transmitted in the collections of Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, and al-Hakim, in which Ali led the Maghrib prayer prior to the prohibition of wine and mixed up his recitation in Surah al-Kafirun; the report does not mention any command to repeat the prayer . Al-Muallimi noted that unintentional mistakes in recitation beyond the obligatory portion (Surah al-Fatihah) do not invalidate the prayer .
- Regarding the utterance of extraneous speech, he observed that the word al-Khashi'ah is itself present in the Quran, and that inadvertent speech by one who is excused due to ignorance, forgetfulness, or error does not invalidate prayer . To support this, he cited the verse رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِنْ نَسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا ("Our Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or make a mistake"), the hadith of Mu'awiyah ibn al-Hakam al-Sulami speaking out of ignorance during prayer without being ordered to repeat it, and the hadith of Dhu al-Yadayn concerning speaking out of forgetfulness .
Al-Muallimi also discussed the Hadawi (Zaydi) position on correcting an imam only for necessary elements of the recitation, differences regarding reciting behind the imam in audible prayers, and Shafi'i positions concerning the limits of excused speech . He concluded the treatise by addressing whether blowing (al-nafh) or clearing one's throat (al-tahanhuh) constitutes speech that breaks the prayer, affirming the more correct view among Shafi'i scholars that it does .
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