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Is it permissible to suffice with Al-Fatiha in the last two Rak'ahs of prayer after reciting Al-Fatiha and a short Surah in the first two Rak'ahs?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali jurists agreed on the desirability (istihbab) of reciting something from the Qur'an after Al-Fatiha in prayer, and that the prayer is valid without it, citing the hadith of Abu Hurairah as evidence. Meanwhile, the Hanafis held that it is obligatory to recite the shortest surah or what takes its place after Al-Fatiha. The majority of scholars (jumhur) preferred their opinion due to the strength of their evidence. The four jurists agreed that the recitation takes place in the first two rak'ahs of the obligatory prayer, and the majority of scholars recommend prolonging the recitation in the first rak'ah over the second.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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