Salah: The Comparative Rules of Prayer

Ibn Rushd's comparative analysis of salah in Bidayat al-Mujtahid reveals how a set of shared foundational principles — five daily prayers, established times, specific bodily positions — can generate a remarkably large number of detailed scholarly disagreements when applied to the full range of practical situations. His method of identifying the source of each disagreement makes this chapter an exceptional guide to reading classical Islamic legal debate.

All four schools agree on the obligation of five daily prayers, their approximate times, the necessity of ritual purity, facing the qiblah, covering the awrah, and the basic structure of the prayer (standing, bowing, prostrating, sitting). The disagreements arise over details of form, the status of specific acts (obligatory versus Sunnah), and the rules governing particular categories of worshippers.

On the recitation of al-Fatiha: all schools agree that al-Fatiha is the most important recitation in prayer. The disagreement is over whether it is obligatory for every worshipper independently. The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools hold it obligatory in every rakat for every worshipper, including those following an imam in audible prayers, based on the hadith: 'There is no prayer for one who does not recite the Opening of the Book.' The Hanafi school holds that the follower's recitation is subsumed under the imam's — the follower should listen in audible prayers and may recite silently in silent ones. The Maliki school takes an intermediate position: the follower recites al-Fatiha silently in silent prayers but listens without reciting in audible prayers. Ibn Rushd identifies the root as a difference in whether the hadith 'no prayer without al-Fatiha' applies to followers behind an imam.

On raising the hands (raf' al-yadayn) at transitions during prayer: the Shafi'i and Hanbali schools recommend raising the hands at the opening takbir, when bowing, when rising from bowing, and when rising from the first tashahhud — based on the hadith of Ibn Umar in al-Bukhari. The Hanafi school recommends raising the hands only at the opening takbir. The Maliki school agrees with the Hanafi majority. Ibn Rushd notes that the hadith evidence for raising the hands at multiple points is strong (transmitted by multiple Companions), and the difference arises because the Hanafi and Maliki schools treated the later practice of some Companions as evidence of abrogation.

On whether saying Ameen is audible or silent: the Shafi'i and Hanbali schools recommend saying Ameen audibly in audible prayers, based on hadiths in the collections of Abu Dawud and others describing the Prophet saying Ameen audibly. The Hanafi and Maliki schools hold that Ameen is said silently. Ibn Rushd notes that this is a dispute over the authenticity and implication of specific hadith narrations.

The qunut supplication in Fajr prayer is a well-known point of disagreement: the Shafi'i school holds it a Sunnah in every Fajr; the Maliki school holds it Sunnah in Fajr; the Hanbali and Hanafi schools hold it is only performed during communal affliction (qunut al-nawazil) and not a regular practice in Fajr. Ibn Rushd traces this to differing evaluations of the hadiths on the matter, some of which describe the Prophet performing qunut in all prayers for a period and then stopping.

This chapter of Bidayat al-Mujtahid demonstrates that the diversity of Islamic prayer practice across schools is not confusion but the natural result of scholars reasoning carefully from shared sources with different interpretive tools.