Issue No.698- If, while offering the ‘aṣr prayer, a person doubts whether or not he has offered the ẓuhr prayer, he should follow the ruling explained in the previous issue, i.e., he should change the intention to the ẓuhr prayer and thereafter offer his ‘aṣr prayer. Likewise, if, while offering ‘ishā’ prayer, one doubts whether he has offered the maghrib prayer or not, he should act according to the previous rule.
J) Each sermon should include the following: 1. Praise of Allah (swt).2. Sending peace and blessings upon the Holy Prophet and his Household.3. Exhorting the people to observe piety. 4. Reciting a short sūrah from the Holy Qur’an in each sermon, like, “al-Ikhlāṣ”, “al-Kāfirūn” or “al-‘Aṣr”, as an obligatory precaution. 5. Seeking forgiveness for the believers as well as for himself as obligatory precaution. In the second sermon, while sending peace and blessings upon the holy Prophet and the Infallible Imams (as), the names of infallible Imams (as) should be mentioned one by one. Therefore, the first sermon consists of five parts and the second one consists of six parts. The prayer leader should recite the sermons while standing and he should sit down for a little while in between the two sermons. His voice should be loud enough to reach the audience. Furthermore, exhortation and guidance should be in a language understandable to the audience.
Issue No.704- All nawāfil can be offered in sitting posture, but the recommended precaution in this case is that two rak‘ats of nawāfil offered in the sitting posture are counted to be equal to one rak‘at. For example, if a person wishes to offer ẓuhr nāfilah, which consists of eight rak‘ats, in a sitting posture, he should offer sixteen rak‘ats.
Issue No.705- Ẓuhr and ‘aṣr nawāfil should not be offered when one is on a journey, and the obligatory precaution is not to offer ‘ishā’ nāfilah either. However, other daily nawāfil such as the fajr and maghrib nāfilahs and Night prayer still hold when one is on a journey.
Issue No.706- As was said earlier, the nawāfil should be offered in two rak‘ats, except for Witr which is one rak‘at. And in case one wishes to perform Witr prayer while sitting, he should offer two prayers of one rak‘at each in the sitting posture.
Issue No.707- The ẓuhr nāfilah is offered before ẓuhr prayer. Its time is from the commencement of ẓuhr, up to the time when the shadow of the indicator equals 2⁄(7 )of its length. For example, if an indicator is seven spans long, and the shadow which appears after midday becomes more than 2 spans long, the time for ẓuhr nāfilah ends.
Issue No.711- The time for fajr nāfilah is before fajr prayer, from fajr adhān until the appearance of redness in the east. It can be offered immediately after the night prayer.
Issue No.716- It is not necessary that, while standing for prayer, one’s toes be facing the qiblah nor is it necessary for the knees to be facing the qiblah in the sitting posture. Insofar as one is said to be standing or sitting towards the qiblah, it would be sufficient.
Issue No.717- If a person cannot offer prayer in the sitting posture, he should lie on the right hand side in such a manner that the front part of the body would face the qiblah. And if that is not possible either, he should lie on the left hand side in such a manner that the front part of his body would face the qiblah. And if even that is not possible, he should lie on his back in such a manner, that the soles of his feet face the qiblah.
Issue No.718- Precautionary prayer, forgotten sajdah and forgotten tashahhud should be offered facing the qiblah, and on the basis of obligatory precaution, sajdah al-sahw should also be offered facing the qiblah.
Issue No.719- A recommended prayer can be offered while one is walking or riding, and if a person offers recommended prayer in such conditions, it is not necessary that he should be facing the qiblah.
Issue No.721- Ordinary compasses are among the good devices for determining the direction of the qiblah, if they work properly. The possibility that a qiblah compass causes is not less than the possibility gained by other means but rather, it is often more accurate.
