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(F 291) A man led a congregation in prayer and sneezed while reciting Al-Fātiḥah. Due to this, he made a mistake, pronouncing “Ar-Raḥman ar-Raḥīm” with a ‘t’ instead of ‘n’. He did not notice this mistake, and even after it was pointed out to him after the prayer, he did not recall it. Some tried to correct him, but he did not hear them and continued his prayer. After the prayer, one of the congregation members claimed that their prayer was invalid because, according to him, a mistake in a letter of Al-Fātiḥah invalidates the prayer. What is the validity of this claim and what is the ruling on the prayer of the Imam and the congregation?

In a previous fatwa (F 248), we discussed the ruling on mistakes in the recitation of the Qur᾽ān during prayer and the differing opinions among the schools of Islamic thought regarding its validity.

In the case mentioned in the question, the reciter did not make the mistake intentionally and was not aware of it at the time. It happened due to an involuntary cause, and the alteration did not change the meaning to something contrary or invalid. Therefore, his prayer and the prayer of those behind him are valid according to the late Ḥanafī scholars and the sound opinion of the Mālikī school. There is no need for him or the congregation to repeat the prayer.

Fatwā issued by Dr. Khālid Naṣr