Step 5 of 14
Reciting al-Fatihah and Saying "Amin"
Now recite al-Fatihah, the Opening chapter of the Qur'an, in Arabic, calmly and verse by verse. It is recited in every rak'ah of every prayer. The Prophet ﷺ said, "There is no prayer for the one who does not recite the Opening of the Book."
When you finish it, say "Amin", meaning "O Allah, answer." The Prophet ﷺ said, "When the imam says amin, say amin, for whoever's amin coincides with the amin of the angels, his past sins are forgiven." Wa'il ibn Hujr heard the Prophet ﷺ say amin and draw it out with his voice.
If you have just accepted Islam and have not yet learned al-Fatihah, say what you can of the Qur'an or of the remembrance of Allah, and learn it as soon as you are able. Behind an imam, the schools differ over whether the follower recites al-Fatihah himself, as shown below.
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ﴿١﴾ ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ ﴿٢﴾ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ﴿٣﴾ مَـٰلِكِ يَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ ﴿٤﴾ إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ ﴿٥﴾ ٱهْدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ ﴿٦﴾ صِرَٰطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا ٱلضَّآلِّينَ ﴿٧﴾
Bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim. Al-hamdu lillahi rabbil-'alamin. Ar-rahmanir-rahim. Maliki yawmid-din. Iyyaka na'budu wa iyyaka nasta'in. Ihdinas-siratal-mustaqim. Siratal-ladhina an'amta 'alayhim, ghayril-maghdubi 'alayhim wa lad-dallin.
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Ever Merciful. All praise is for Allah, Lord of all the worlds, the Most Merciful, the Ever Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgement. You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help. Guide us to the straight path: the path of those You have blessed, not of those who have earned anger, nor of those who have gone astray.
The four schools differ on some details. Show them
Each school's ruling, with the schools that share it named together.
Must the one praying behind an imam recite al-Fatihah?
2 of 4 schools agree. Differing: Hanafi, Shafi'i.
Show each school
- Not recited; the imam's recitation sufficesHanafi
- Recommended in silent prayersMaliki · Hanbali
- Pillar (rukn)Shafi'i
- Hanafi
- The follower listens and stays silent in every prayer, loud or quiet, because the imam's recitation counts as his.
- Maliki
- Reciting behind the imam is recommended where he recites silently and disliked where he recites aloud.
- Shafi'i
- The follower must recite it in every rak'ah, whether the imam recites aloud or silently.
- Hanbali
- The imam's recitation suffices for the follower; reciting is recommended in silent prayers and in the imam's pauses, and disliked while listening to him recite aloud.
Is "amin" said aloud in the prayers recited aloud?
The schools are split two and two.
Show each school
- Said quietlyHanafi · Maliki
- Said aloudShafi'i · Hanbali
- Hanafi
- The imam and those behind him both say amin, quietly.
- Maliki
- Amin is said quietly by the follower and by one praying alone; in the well-known view the imam does not say it in the prayers recited aloud.
- Shafi'i
- The imam says it aloud, and so do those behind him, following the hadith of Wa'il ibn Hujr.
- Hanbali
- The imam and those behind him say it aloud together in the prayers recited aloud.
- Qur'an 1:1-7
- Sahih al-Bukhari 756 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 780 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sunan Abi Dawud 932 Graded by Al-Albani: Sahih · Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid: Sahih · Shuaib Al Arnaut: Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: SahihSahih
- Jami' al-Tirmidhi 248 Graded by Ahmad Muhammad Shakir: Sahih · Al-Albani: Shadh · Zubair Ali Zai: DaifDa'if
- Sunan Abi Dawud 832 Graded by Al-Albani: Hasan · Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid: Hasan · Zubair Ali Zai: HasanHasan
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
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