Prayer of caution

Priority: b, Quality: b
From wikishia

Prayer of caution or Ṣalāt al-Iḥtiyāṭ (Arabic: صلاة الاحتياط) is a one or two-rak'a prayer which becomes obligatory in case of doubting in the number of the rak'as of four-rak'a prayers. In seven cases of doubt regarding the number of the rak'as of prayers, the prayer will be correct after performing the prayer of caution.

Method

  • In this prayer, Sura al-Fatiha is recited in ikhfat manner (whispering voiceless manner); even though the original prayer has been Isha' prayer the suras of al-Fatiha and the other sura of which have to be recited by men in an audible voiced manner.[3]
  • It is obligatory to perform this prayer with the intention of the prayer of caution immediately after the end of the original prayer, before doing anything which harms the form of prayer.[4]
  • Observing all the conditions of obligatory prayers is also obligatory in the prayer of caution.[5]

Conditions in Which the Prayer of Caution is Obligatory

In seven cases, if there is a doubt about the number of the rak'as of four-rak'a prayers, it is necessary to perform prayer of caution and then the prayer will be correct:[6]

Time of Doubt Type of Doubt Duty of the Praying Person Manner of the Prayer of Caution
1 After the second prostration Between rak'as 2 and 3 consider it rak'a 3 one rak'a in standing posture or two rak'as in sitting posture
2 At any time in the prayer Between rak'as 3 and 4 consider it rak'a 4 one or two rak'as in sitting posture
3 After the second prostration Between rak'as 2 and 4 consider it rak'a 4 two rak'as in standing posture
4 After the second prostration Between rak'as 2, 3 and 4 consider it rak'a 4 two rak'as in standing posture and two rak'as in sitting posture
5 Standing Between rak'as 4 and 5 need to sit and finish the prayer two rak'as in either standing or sitting posture
6 Standing Between rak'as 3 and 5 need to sit and finish the prayer two rak'as in standing posture
7 Standing Between rak'as 3, 4 and 5 need to sit and finish the prayer two rak'as in standing posture and then two rak'as in sitting posture

Here, doubt refers to considering equal 50-50 probabilities for the two possibilities given in one condition. But, if the praying person gives more probability to one of the two possibilities, that possibility should be considered true and definite and the prayer will be correct without the need to perform the prayer of caution[7]

Note

  1. Ṭabāṭabāʾī Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā", vol. 3, p. 271.
  2. Ṭabāṭabāʾī Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā", vol. 3, p. 271.
  3. Ṭabāṭabāʾī Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā", vol. 3, p. 271.
  4. Sīstānī, al-Masāʾil al-muntakhaba, vol. 1, p. 157.
  5. ʿĀmilī, Miftāḥ al-karāma", vol. 9, p. 541; Mudarrisī, "Fiqh al-khilal", vol. 1, p. 63; Najafī, "Risāla-yi sharīfa-yi majmaʿ al-rasāʾil", p. 329.
  6. Ṣadr, "al-fatāwā al-wāḍiḥa", vol. 1, p. 559 and 560.
  7. Sīstānī, "al-fatāwī, vol. 1, p. 160-164.

References

  • ʿĀmilī, Sayyid Jawād. Miftāḥ al-karāma fī sharḥ qawāʿid al-ʿallāma. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī affiliated to Jāmiʿa-yi Mudarrisīn-i Ḥawza-yi ʿIlmīyya, 1419 AH.
  • Mudarrisī, Sayyid Muḥammad Taqī. "Fiqh al-khilal wa aḥkām sāʿir al-ṣalawāt". Tehran: Dār Muḥibbī al-Ḥusayn (a), 1420 AH.
  • Najafī, Muḥammad Ḥasan and others. "Risāla-yi sharīfa-yi majmaʿ al-rasāʾil (al-muḥashā). Mashhad: Muʾassisa-yi Haḍrat-i Ṣāhib al-Zamān, 1373 Sh.
  • Ṣadr, Sayyid Muḥammad Bāqir al-. "Al-Fatāwā al-wāḍiḥa wifqan li-madhhab Ahl al-Bayt (a). Beirut: Dār al-Taʿāruf li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1403 AH.
  • Sīstānī, Sayyid ʿAlī al-. "Al-fatāwī. Najaf: Maktabat Āyat Allāh Sīstānī, 1422 AH.
  • Sīstānī, Sayyid ʿAlī al-. Al-Masāʾil al-muntakhaba. Najaf: Maktabat Āyat Allāh Sīstānī, 1422 AH.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī Yazdī, Muḥammad Kāẓim al-. Al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā fīmā taʿummu bih al-balwā. Qom: Maktabat al-Maṭbūʿāt al-Islāmiyya, 1419 AH.