Is it permissible for a sick person to pray while sitting on a chair?
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds It is permissible for a sick person, who is unable to stand up, to offer prayer while sitting on a chair. If he/she was unable to prostrate while on the chair, the he/she should pray while sitting on the ground, but if he/she was neither able to bow (Roku),nor to prostrate, then he can do them while sitting on the chair. And Allah Knows Best.
What is the ruling on reciting the Noble Qur’an during menstruation?
All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
It is impermissible for a woman in menses, a woman in postnatal bleeding, or a person in a state of major ritual impurity to recite any part of the Noble Qur’an with the intention of recitation, even from a mobile phone or a computer, and even if the recitation is from memory. It is narrated on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) “was not prevented, or he said kept back, from the Qur’an by anything except janābah (major ritual impurity).” It was narrated by Abū Dāwūd and al-Tirmidhī, who said: “Ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ.”
Janābah and menstruation are one and the same in that both constitute a major ritual impurity. Just as a woman is commanded by Allah Almighty to pray, fast, and recite the Noble Qur’an during her period of purity, she is likewise commanded to refrain from these during the period of her excuse.
For further reference, see the fatwas: (Fatwas of Shaykh Nūḥ, Fatwa no. 27) and (
248). And Allah Almighty knows best.
What is the ruling on reciting aloud (*jahr*) in a silent (*sirriyyah*) prayer?
All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
Reciting aloud (jahr) in the Fajr prayer, in the first two rakʿahs of Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ, and reciting silently (isrār) in the Dhuhr and ʿAṣr prayers is a sunnah. If the worshipper recites aloud where silence is prescribed, or the reverse, his prayer is valid, although it is better to follow the sunnah, in imitation of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “In every prayer there is recitation. What the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) let us hear, we let you hear, and what he concealed from us, we conceal from you. If you add nothing to Umm al-Qurʾān (al-Fātiḥah), it suffices, and if you add to it, it is better.” Narrated by al-Bukhārī.
Shaykh al-Islām Imam al-Nawawī (may Allah have mercy on him) said in al-Majmūʿ (Vol.3/389): “The sunnah is to recite aloud in the two rakʿahs of Ṣubḥ (Fajr), Maghrib, and ʿIshāʾ, and in the Friday prayer, and to recite silently in Dhuhr, ʿAṣr, the third rakʿah of Maghrib, and the third and fourth of ʿIshāʾ. All of this is by the consensus of the Muslims, together with the mutually reinforcing authentic ḥadīths on the matter. This is the ruling for the imam. As for the individual worshipper (munfarid), it is sunnah for him to recite aloud according to us and according to the majority… If he recites aloud where silence is prescribed, or the reverse, his prayer is not invalidated, nor is there a prostration of forgetfulness (sujūd al-sahw) for it, but he has committed something disliked (makrūh).” And Allah Almighty knows best.
Which is better in night prayer: long standing (Qiyam) or long prostration (Sujood)?
Long standing (Qiyam) is better in prayer. However, a Muslim should also observe tranquility and composure in their prayer.