Prayer in Al-Iqna: The Hanbali School's Salah Rulings

Al-Hajjawi's prayer sections in Al-Iqna present the Hanbali school's salah law with the clarity appropriate for an authoritative intermediate text. The Hanbali school's distinctive prayer practices — grounded in rigorous adherence to authenticated prophetic hadith — are presented as settled positions suitable for practice.

The Hanbali school holds that raising the hands (raf' al-yadayn) is sunnah at four points in the prayer: the opening takbir, going into ruku', rising from ruku', and standing up for the third rak'ah after the first tashahhud. Al-Hajjawi presents this as the established Hanbali practice, based on the authenticated hadith of Ibn Umar. This is one of the most visible characteristics of Hanbali prayer practice.

The recitation of al-Fatiha is obligatory in every rak'ah, including for the person praying behind an imam. In loud prayers, the Hanbali school's preferred position requires the follower to recite al-Fatiha in the silence following the imam's recitation. Al-Hajjawi presents this as the position his reader should follow, noting the prophetic basis for individual recitation.

The Hanbali school classifies witr prayer as wajib (necessary). Al-Hajjawi presents this as the school's position, noting the evidential basis in prophetic statements commanding the witr. The witr prayer in the Hanbali school consists of an odd number of rak'ahs (minimum one, maximum eleven). In the second half of Ramadan, the qunut supplication is prescribed after the ruku' in the final rak'ah of witr.

The Friday prayer (jumu'ah) in Al-Iqna requires forty men — free, resident, adult Muslim males — including the imam. The two khutbahs must be delivered standing, after the zenith, and must include praise of God, prayers upon the Prophet (peace be upon him), Quranic recitation, and exhortation to taqwa. Al-Hajjawi presents these requirements as the Hanbali school's conditions for valid jumu'ah.

Combining prayers (jam') is addressed in Al-Iqna. The Hanbali school permits combining Dhuhr and 'Asr, and Maghrib and 'Isha, for travelers, for the ill, and in cases of genuine hardship such as heavy rain (combining in the mosque on a rainy night). Al-Hajjawi presents these permissions with their conditions and notes that combining due to hardship is an established Hanbali concession.

The prayer sections of Al-Iqna conclude with supplementary prayers: the 'id prayers (which the Hanbali school holds to be wajib), the eclipse prayer (salah al-kusuf), the prayer for rain (salah al-istisqa'), and the funeral prayer (salah al-janazah). Al-Hajjawi's treatment of these prayers provides students with a comprehensive map of Hanbali salah practice across all its forms.