What Is The Judgment On Reciting Surahs In Prayer According To Their Order In The Qur’an?
What is the judgment on reciting surahs in prayer according to their order in the Qur’an?
It complies with sunnah to recite the surahs and verses in prayer according to their order in the Qur’an, both within the same rakat and in the next rakats. After reciting a surah or some verses, reciting other surahs or verses which comes before in the order of the Qur’an is makruh. But this is not a practice that invalidates one’s prayer. The mentioned order is a wajib of tilawat rather than a wajib related to the prayer (Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar, II, 148, 269). The opinion that it is wajib to abide by the tartib (order) is based on the accepted opinion that the order of surahs and verses were not decided by humans but by the Prophet Muhammad (saw) (i.e. it is tawqifi). However, although Islamic scholars agree that the places of the verses within the surahs are tawqifi, there is not a consensus that the tartib between surahs are tawqifi too. For this reason, different views have been put forward on recitation of surahs in the same order in the prayer. Hanafi school considers it necessary to recite by following the order and abiding by the tartib between both surahs and verses. It is stated that the incident where the Prophet Muhammad (saw) recited Surah al-Nisa first and then Al-i ‘Imran in a night prayer without abiding by the order occurred in a time when the order between surahs had not been decided yet (Nawawi, Sharhu Muslim, VI, 62).
It is also accepted as makruh to skip one surah or verse while moving on to following parts during recitation. However, this is a less-degree makruh than the previous issue. If a person will recite from the following parts in the next rakat, reciting by skipping at least two verses or surahs is more appropriate.
Some of the scholars said that not observing the order is not makruh in nafl prayers but only in fardh prayers (Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar, II, 148, 269). Those who do not agree with this opinion show the following as evidence: When the Prophet Muhammad (saw) heard that Bilal Habashi (ra) skipped from a surah to another while establishing tahajjud prayer, which was a nafl prayer, he (saw) said to him, “Recite surahs as they are.” (Ibn Abi Shaybah, al-Musannaf, III, 629)
Consequently, it is makruh not to observe the order of surahs or verses in the prayer. But it is not a deficiency that will invalidate prayer or require the re-establishment of the prayer.
Source: Presidency Of Religious Affairs The Turkey, High Board of Religious Affairs FATWAS
