Does a Mistake in the Recitation of the Fatiha Invalidate My Prayer?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam alaykum

In the Zuhr prayer I most likely recited ‘an’ in ‘an amta’ with an ‘Ain’ sound. I however did not stop and correct this and completed the Fatiha. Does this invalidate my prayer?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

No, the majority [if not all] unintentional recitation errors are excusable, and thus, your prayers remain unaffected. Practice your tajwid outside of the prayer, and refocus your energy within the prayer to its most central aspects.

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Truly a person leaves his prayer and he doesn’t receive the reward of except a tenth of it, or a ninth, or an eighth, or a seventh, or a sixth, or a fifth, or a quarter, or a third, or a half.” [Abu Dawud]

Namely, depending on the degree of one’s turning to Allah Most High within the prayer, and not according to the perfection of a person’s tajwid. This doesn’t negate its importance, however, but it is equally necessary to recognise priorities.

Please also see: The Sunna Method of Reciting the Qur’an and the Legal Status of Reciting With Tajwid and: Should I Repeat My Qur’an and Du’a Recitations Due to Errors in Pronunciation?
And Allah Most High alone knows best.

[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorised the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.