Prayer in Al-Insaf: Identifying the Mu'tamad Hanbali Positions

Al-Mardawi's analysis of salah in Al-Insaf is particularly valuable because prayer is an area where the Hanbali tradition accumulated a remarkable diversity of transmitted opinions from Imam Ahmad himself. Ahmad ibn Hanbal was known to have issued divergent opinions at different points in his life, and his students transmitted these without always resolving the contradiction. Al-Mardawi's task in identifying the mu'tamad on prayer-related questions was therefore especially complex and important.

On the obligation of congregational prayer (salah al-jama'ah), the Hanbali school's mu'tamad — as confirmed by al-Mardawi — holds that it is a fard kifayah (collective obligation), fulfilled when a sufficient number of Muslims in a community perform it. Some Hanbali scholars, including Ibn Taymiyyah, held it to be fard 'ayn (individual obligation) for male Muslims capable of attending the mosque. Al-Mardawi acknowledges this view but identifies the fard kifayah position as the mu'tamad of the school, while noting the significant weight of the opposing view.

On the audibility of recitation in prayer, the Hanbali school requires audible recitation in the fajr prayer and the first two raka'ahs of maghrib and isha'. In the remaining raka'ahs and the zuhr and 'asr prayers, recitation is silent. Al-Mardawi addresses the internal debate over whether a person praying alone may choose to recite audibly in the silent prayers or silently in the audible ones, confirming that following the sunnah practice is obligatory according to the mu'tamad.

The question of whether the Basmalah is part of al-Fatiha is answered differently in the Hanbali school than in the Shafi'i school. The Hanbali mu'tamad — confirmed by al-Mardawi — is that the Basmalah is not a verse of al-Fatiha and should not be recited aloud when al-Fatiha is recited audibly, though it may be recited silently before beginning al-Fatiha. This contrasts with the Shafi'i position that the Basmalah is the first verse of al-Fatiha.

Al-Mardawi addresses the Hanbali position on the Qunut supplication in the fajr prayer. The Hanbali school, following the majority of hadith evidence, does not regard the Qunut in fajr as an established sunnah in ordinary circumstances. Qunut al-nazilah — supplication during a calamity — is, however, permitted and sometimes encouraged across all obligatory prayers. Al-Mardawi presents these positions clearly, distinguishing them from the Shafi'i and Maliki practices.

On the prayer of the traveler, al-Mardawi confirms the Hanbali mu'tamad that shortening the four-raka'ah prayers to two is a sunnah, not merely a permissibility — a position stronger than that of most other schools, which generally treat it as permissible but not specifically recommended. This reflects the Hanbali tendency to follow the consistent prophetic practice as an indication of its preferred status.