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The Five Daily Prayers and Their Rak'ahs
Each prayer is made of units called rak'ahs. One rak'ah is standing and reciting, then bowing, rising, and two prostrations. The five daily prayers are Fajr (dawn) with 2 rak'ahs, Dhuhr (midday) with 4, 'Asr (afternoon) with 4, Maghrib (sunset) with 3 and 'Isha (night) with 4.
'A'ishah said that the prayer was first made obligatory as two rak'ahs, and that the prayer of the resident was later increased while the prayer of the traveller stayed as it was. Ibn 'Umar described the Prophet ﷺ praying three rak'ahs for Maghrib. The number of rak'ahs of each prayer has been passed on by the whole community, generation after generation, from the Prophet's ﷺ own practice.
In Fajr, and in the first two rak'ahs of Maghrib and 'Isha, the imam recites aloud; Companions reported hearing the Prophet ﷺ recite Surat Qaf in Fajr, al-Tur in Maghrib and al-Tin in 'Isha. In Dhuhr and 'Asr, and in the later rak'ahs of Maghrib and 'Isha, the recitation is quiet, though Abu Qatadah said a verse could sometimes be heard.
Ibn 'Abbas said that the Prophet ﷺ recited aloud where he was commanded to and quietly where he was commanded to. Someone praying alone may follow the same pattern; a quiet recitation still moves the tongue and lips, and is not only in the heart.
The four schools differ on some details. Show them
Each school's ruling, with the schools that share it named together.
Is it obligatory for the imam to recite aloud in Fajr, Maghrib and 'Isha?
3 of 4 schools agree. Differing: Hanafi.
Show each school
- Obligatory (wajib), not a pillarHanafi
- SunnahMaliki · Shafi'i · Hanbali
- Hanafi
- Reciting aloud where the sunnah is loud, and quietly where it is quiet, is wajib for the imam; one praying alone may choose in the loud prayers.
- Maliki
- Reciting aloud in its place is a sunnah of the prayer, for the imam and for one praying alone.
- Shafi'i
- Reciting aloud in its place is sunnah for the imam and for one praying alone; leaving it does not affect the prayer's validity.
- Hanbali
- Reciting aloud is sunnah for the imam; one praying alone may choose.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 350 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 685Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1092 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 457Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 765 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 767 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 759 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 774 Sahih · 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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