The Creed of Compassion-Islamic Teachings & Answering Doctrinal Misconceptions

Issue No. 1221- A man can be hired on behalf of a woman, and a woman can be hired on behalf of a man, and in the matter of offering prayer loudly or whisperingly, the hired person should act according to his/her own obligation, not the dead person’s. Moreover, observing order is not necessary for the qaḍā prayer of a dead person irrespective of whether the hired person knows the order of the missed prayer or not, except for ẓuhr and ‘aṣr prayer or maghrib and ‘ishā’ prayer of the same day.

Issue No. 1222- If it is agreed with the hired person that he will perform the qaḍā of prayer and fast in a particular manner, (for example, it is agreed that he should offer the prayer in the mosque or at a special time), the hired person should follow the agreement. However, if nothing has been agreed, then he can perform according to his own obligation and as usual. As for performing the mustaḥab acts, he should perform the mustaḥab acts that are usually performed and it is not necessary to offer more than that, unless it has been stipulated. It is also not necessary to offer āyāt Prayer either, unless it has been agreed and stipulated before.

Issue No. 1223- If a person hires several people for offering the qaḍā prayer of a dead person, it is not necessary that he should fix a time for each one of them. Rather, they can offer the prayer at any time they wish to. However, in order for the qaḍā prayer to be offered in proper order, the recommended precaution is to fix a time for each one of them. For example, he will agree with one of them to offer the qaḍā prayer between morning and noon while another person offers the prayer from noon to night. In addition, it would be better that the number of prayers offered by them be similar. For example, if one of them starts offering prayer from ẓuhr prayer and ends with fajr prayer, (irrespective of whether he offers the prayer of one day and night or more), the other person should also start from ẓuhr prayer and end with the fajr.

Issue No. 1224- If a hired person dies before accomplishing the prayer and the fast for which he had been hired, and if he had taken wages for all of the m, and if the hirer has stipulated that he has to offer all the prayers himself, the hirer can take back the proportionate amount of wages for the remaining prayer from his estate. However, if it had not been stipulated, then the heirs of the deceased should pay from his estate, and hire another person to complete the task. In case there is no estate, the heirs would be under no obligation, although it would be better to relieve the dead person of his debts.

Issue No. 1217- For the qaḍā to be fulfilled, the hired person should assume himself as the deceased and offer the prayers; therefore it will not be sufficient if he performs an act of worship and dedicates its reward to the dead person.

Issue No. 1227- It is haram to absent oneself from the congregational prayer out of heedlessness or on account of taking it lightly.

Issue No. 1228- It is mustaḥab to wait for congregational prayer because congregational prayer is better compared to the prayer offered individually in the early part of prayer time; similarly, a short congregational prayer is better than a prolonged individual prayer.

Issue No. 1229- When congregational prayer is being offered, it is mustaḥab for a person who has already offered his prayer individually, to repeat the prayer in congregation. If it turns out later that his first prayer was void, the second prayer will suffice.

Issue No. 1230- It is permissible for the imam (leader) of congregation who has offered his prayer in congregation once, to offer it again in a second congregation. However, the prayer would be void as an obligatory precaution if is offered more than twice. Therefore, an imam can lead congregational prayer in two mosques and offer his prayer again.

Issue No. 1232- No recommended prayer can be offered in congregation in any situation, except Istisqa prayer (which is offered requesting for rain), and Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha prayers which are mustaḥab during the occultation of Infallible Imam (as).

Issue No. 1285- It is recommended to observe the following in a congregation with the hope of gaining divine reward:1- If there is only one male follower, it is mustaḥab that he stands at the right hand side of the imam, a little behind him, and if there is only one female follower, she will stand at the right hand side of the imam, but slightly behind so that when she goes to sajdah, her head is in line with imam’s knees or where he stands. And if there is one male, and one female or more females in the congregation, the male will position himself to the right of the imam, and the females will all stand behind the imam. And if there are many men or many women, they will all stand behind the imam, but if there are many men and many women, the men will stand behind the imam and the women will stand behind the male followers.2- If the imam and the follower are both women, they should stand in one line, but the imam should stand a little ahead of the followers.3- The imam should stand in the middle of the row and the learned and pious persons should stand in the first row.4- The rows of the congregation should be properly arranged, and there should be no distance between the persons who are standing in one row; their shoulders should be adjacent to one another's.5- After the recitation of “قَدْ قامَتِ الصَّلاة”, the followers should stand up and be ready for congregation.6- The imam should take into account the condition of those followers who may be weaker than others, and should not make haste, so that those who are weak can reach him, and he should not prolong rukū‘, sajdah and qunūt, except when he knows that all those who are following him are ready for such.7- While reciting sūrah al-fātiḥa and the other sūrah loudly, the imam of the congregation should make his voice loud enough such that others may hear it. However, he should not make his voice extraordinarily loud.8- If imam realises in rukū‘, that a person has just arrived and wants to follow him it is mustaḥab that he should prolong the rukū‘ a little. However, he should not prolong it more than twice as usual, although he may know that another person has also arrived to follow him.

Issue No. 1286- It is befitting that one should avoid the following with the hope of gaining divine reward:1- If there is space in the rows of the congregation it is makrūh for a person to stand alone.2- It is makrūh that the follower recites the recitations of the prayer in such a way that the imam may hear them.3- It is makrūh for a traveller, who offers ẓuhr, ‘aṣr and ‘ishā’ prayers in qaṣr form (two rak‘ats), to be imam for the people who are not travellers. Similarly, it is makrūh for a traveller to follow a non-traveller in these prayers. (The congregational prayer has its reward in any case and makrūh here denotes less reward).