Question:

Asalaamu Alaykum,

If I may I would like to ask a few brief questions about salaat in the Shafi madhaab. As we have finally chosen the Shafi madhaab to follow, but there are some questions due to confusion as different Shafi people and different Shafi Imaams have been saying/telling different things. And we do not want to just follow what people say we wish to follow the strictest closest way to Imam Shafi as possible. So if you could please answer the few brief questions we would greatly appreciate it.

Q: When touching the opposite sex i know that this breaks ones wudhu.
Must there be sharwah/lust for this to break wudhu or does it break even if accidental (even between husband & wife?

Q: If one does not know the opening supplication before al-Fatiha can one recite the thana …
“Subhanaka allahumma wa bi hamdika wa tabara kasmuka wa ta’ala jadduka wa la ilaha ghairuka.”
in replacement until the learn the Allahuma bai`d baynee wa bayna … ?

Q: Although Hanafi do qunut in Witr & Shafi in Fajr…. In the Hanafi Fiqh if one does not know the qunut they can simply recite “Rabbana atina fid-dunya hasanatan wa fil ‘akhirati hasanatan waqina ‘adhaban-nar [2:201]” in replace ment of the qunut, or any supplication from Qur’an. Is this acceptable in Shafi fiqh to do this in replacement of the qunut in Fajir salaat until one learns the qunut?

Q: When coming up from ruku one raises the arms (rafa dayan), in Fajr salaat is this done before the qunut or after the qunut or both before and after?

Q: In Shafi Fiqh does the Muqtadi/follower only recite Fatiha and no Surah IN ALL RAKAAT’s or do the still recite Surah? And do they recite the supplication before Fatiha (mentioned above)

Q: In Shafi does one recite the Ta’awwudh before every Fatiha in every rakaat or only in the first before Fatiha?

Q: IN Shafi the basmallah is recite loud before Fatiha, do we also do this before the Surah after the the “Amiin”?

Q: When reciting the tashahdud , when one raise the finger they are to look at the finger. Do we remain looking at the shahadah finger for the remainder of the shahddah until raisin g again to the qiyam position and in final rakaat do we remain looking at the shaddah finger for the slata an-nabi/darud ibrahimi until taslim?

Answer:

`Alaykum salam,

1. In the Shafi`i it is the latter case (it breaks even accidental touch between husband and wife)

2. The bare minimum is A`udhu billah… So the Thana‘ is more than acceptable since it is a sahih riwaya.

3. Minimum of qunut is istighfar, and Rabbana Atina… fulfills that and more but must close with Salawat.

4. When coming up from ruku` one raises the arms (rafa` dayan), in Fajr salaat before the qunut. Then one brings them down by one’s sides as one recites the du`a of I`tidal (rabbana laka/walaka al-hamdu hamdan tayyiban kathiran etc.) Then one raises both hands palms up and recites the dua of qunut. Then one brings them down without wiping face and goes down into sajda.

5. Ta`awwudh is required only once, at the opening of Salat; thereafter it is optional.

6. Basmala outloud yes, if we are reciting a Sura from its beginning; because the Basmala is an integral part of every Sura except Bara`a in the Shafi`i madhhab.

7. Yes, in tashahhud one raises the index finger at the words “ill ‘Llah” and looks at it until the end. Allah knows best.

Hajj Gibril Haddad