his prayer invalidated because he has violated the prescribed order of the words or verses, since this is forbidden to him? This is a matter requiring consideration.

His statement, “anyone other than a follower praying behind an imam must repeat it,” apparently means that he must repeat it from the beginning. Thus, if he omits the definite article from “not of those who have incurred Your wrath,” the apparent meaning of his words is that he must repeat all of al-Fātiḥah. Yet this is not sound, and perhaps this was not what he intended. Rather, he must repeat what he omitted and what follows it, because what preceded it was validly recited. The interval is not so long that, if he were to resume from where he erred, it could be said that this would entail an excessively long break between the first valid portion and the second valid portion; for al-Fātiḥah as a whole does not take a long time to recite. Accordingly, if he makes an error in something near its end, he need only repeat what he erred in and what follows it, in order to preserve the proper order. But if the error occurs at the beginning of a verse—for example, if he recites, “All praise is for Allah, Lord of all worlds,” with the bā’ ungeminated—then he must repeat it from the beginning.

Issue: How should this surah be recited?

We say: It should be recited with correct grammatical inflections, in its proper order, and without interruption. It is recommended that he separate its verses and stop at each verse, thus making seven pauses: “All praise is for Allah, Lord of all worlds”—then he pauses—“the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful”—then he pauses—“Master of the Day of Judgment”—then he pauses—“You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help”—then he pauses—“Guide us to the straight path”—then he pauses—“the path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor”—then he pauses—“not of those who have incurred Your wrath, nor of those who have gone astray”—then he pauses. For the Prophet, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, would divide his recitation, stopping at