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The Opening Takbir (takbirat al-ihram)
The prayer is entered by saying "Allahu akbar", Allah is the Greatest. It is called takbirat al-ihram, the takbir of consecration, because from this moment the things that were allowed outside the prayer, such as speaking, eating or turning away, are no longer allowed until the prayer ends.
When the Prophet ﷺ taught the man who prayed badly, the first thing he told him after facing the qiblah was to say the takbir. 'Ali reported that the Prophet ﷺ said the key to the prayer is purification, its entry is the takbir and its exit is the salam.
The one praying says it while standing, raising the hands as the Prophet ﷺ did: to the shoulders in one report, and level with the ears in another. The imam says it aloud so that those behind him can follow.
اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ
Allahu akbar
Allah is the Greatest.
The four schools differ on some details. Show them
Each school's ruling, with the schools that share it named together.
Is the opening takbir a pillar of the prayer or a condition for it?
3 of 4 schools agree. Differing: Hanafi.
Show each school
- Condition (shart)Hanafi
- Pillar (rukn)Maliki · Shafi'i · Hanbali
- Hanafi
- It is obligatory (fard), but in the relied-upon view it is a condition, the doorway into the prayer rather than part of it; some Hanafis counted it a pillar.
- Maliki
- It is a pillar, and the prayer is not valid without it.
- Shafi'i
- It is a pillar, said while standing in an obligatory prayer.
- Hanbali
- It is a pillar, said while standing in an obligatory prayer.
Must the opening be said with the exact words "Allahu akbar"?
2 of 4 schools agree. Differing: Hanafi, Shafi'i.
Show each school
- Other words of glorification sufficeHanafi
- Only "Allahu akbar"Maliki · Hanbali
- "Allahu akbar" or "Allahu al-akbar"Shafi'i
- Hanafi
- Abu Hanifah and Muhammad held that any phrase purely glorifying Allah, such as "Allahu ajall", opens the prayer, though leaving "Allahu akbar" is disliked because saying it is wajib; Abu Yusuf limited it to forms of the takbir.
- Maliki
- Only "Allahu akbar" opens the prayer, as the Prophet ﷺ did, and no other wording takes its place.
- Shafi'i
- The takbir must be said, though adding the definite article ("Allahu al-akbar") does not spoil it since the meaning is kept; it is better to say "Allahu akbar".
- Hanbali
- Only "Allahu akbar" opens the prayer, following the Prophet's ﷺ practice.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 6251 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 397Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sunan Abi Dawud 61 Graded by Al-Albani: Hasan Sahih · Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid: Hasan Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: HasanSahih
- Jami' al-Tirmidhi 3 Graded by Ahmad Muhammad Shakir: Hasan Sahih · Al-Albani: Hasan Sahih · Bashar Awad Maarouf: Hasan · Zubair Ali Zai: HasanSahih
- Sahih al-Bukhari 735 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 391Sahih · in the two Sahihs
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
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