Question:

Answer:

[1] The Fard Salahs

[1] If the person is praying a prayer in its time or it is a missed Salah after its time, then if he is the Imam, he will only read the following 3 Salahs aloud (which means that recital is loud enough to enable others to hear him):

(1) Both Rakaas of Fajr

(2) The first two Rakaas of Maghrib

(3) The first two Rakaas of Ishaa.

If the person is praying these three prayers alone, then he/she has the choice to recite aloud or silently (which means it should only be loud enough for him to hear himself). And it is preferred that he recite them aloud (however if other worshippers are nearby he should be careful not to distract them).

All other prayers of the five prayers including the regular Witr Salah, whether as an Imam or by oneself, must be prayed silently. [Other prayers in which the Imam must (wajib) recite aloud are; the two Rakaas of Juma`h, the two Eid Salahs, Taravih Salah and the three Rakaas of the Witr of Ramadan.]

[2] Nafl/Sunna Salah

[2a] If the Nafl/Sunna prayer is in the night-time (that is after Maghrib till after Fajr) then he will have the choice to pray these Rakaas aloud or silently. However, he should be careful not to distract other worshippers if he is praying in the Masjid.

[2b] If the Nafl/Sunna prayer is during the daytime, then it can only be offered silently.

[Rad al-Muhtar,vol 2, page 249-251]

Mufti Mohammed Sajjad

Wallahu Aalam bis-sawab

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The answer to this question is the opinion of the scholar and does not reflect the opinion of other scholars of As-Suffa Institute and As-Suffa Institute as an organisation.