Ruling about Pausing after Al-Fatiha

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

What is the ruling about pausing after al-Fatiha and how long should one pause?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

As for the pause after Sura al-Fatiha, this is established in the Sacred law and is considered a Sunna in the Shafi’i school, in order for the followers to recite the Fatiha as well (which is an obligation in their school). [Ibid.]

The Hanafi school, on the other hand, holds that the follower does not recite Sura al-Fatiha behind the Imam and therefore, the Imam is in no need of a pause. [Ibid.]

Despite this, the matter is a matter of difference of opinion, and even if one does not follow the position of the Shafi’ school, there is no room to consider such an action an innovation (bid’a). [Ibid.]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then travelled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.