Question

Salamo Aleykom Have recently found out that my mother does not perform Darood ( salawat Ibraheemiya ) in the last rakaa of salat. I have started to teach her this now. Is her salat valid without the Darood ? We went on hajj last year and I am concerned that her hajj will not be accepted for this reason ? Jazak Allah Kheyren for your help on this. Najim

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

First of all, it should be mentioned that the exaltations on the Prophet in the second Tashahhud is a Sunnah according to the view of the majority of the scholars whereas some scholars are of the opinion that it is a pillar of the prayer. An-Nawawi said: “You should know that there is a difference of opinion among the scholars about the obligation of saying the exaltations on the Prophet after the second Tashahhud in the prayer. Abu Haneefah and Maalik, and the majority of the scholars are of the view that it is a Sunnah and if it is left out, the prayer is valid. Whereas Ash-Shaafi’i and Ahmad are of the view that it is a Waajib (an obligation) and if it is left out, the prayer is not valid.”

According to the Shaafi’i and Hanbali Schools of jurisprudence, the Ibraaheemic prayer is not a pillar, rather it is the exaltation on the Prophet that is a pillar, even if it was in a form other than what is well-known "the Ibraaheemic prayer". So, if someone says "Allahumma salli ‘ala an-Nabiyy" [i.e. O Allah exalt the mention of the Prophet], then he has said the minimum of what is legislated to say of the exaltation on the Prophet and this is sufficient for him.

To conclude, the prayer of your mother is valid according to the view of the majority of the scholars and if she used to exalt the mention of the Prophet with an exaltation other than the Ibraaheemic prayer, then her prayer is valid according to all the scholars, but she just missed the reward of the complete form.

As regards her Hajj, it is valid if she had performed it in a correct manner because Hajj has no relation with the Ibraaheemic prayer and it has nothing to do with the validity or invalidity of the prayer.

Finally, you should be keen on teaching your mother the Ibraaheemic prayer so that she would do this act of Sunnah.

Allah Knows best.

Fatwa answered by: The Fatwa Center at Islamweb