and similar surahs. This indicates that this is preferable.

Here a question arises: Is it permissible for a person to recite the same surah in both rak'ahs—that is, to repeat it twice?

The answer is: Yes, there is nothing wrong with that. The evidence is the Prophet’s practice: he recited Surah al-Zalzalah in both rak'ahs, repeating it. (1)

But someone may say: Perhaps the Prophet ﷺ forgot, since it was not his usual practice to repeat a surah.

The answer to this is that, although the possibility of forgetfulness exists, the possibility that this was legislative—that is, that the Prophet ﷺ repeated it as a teaching for the Ummah in order to show that it is permissible—is more likely than the possibility of forgetfulness. This is because the basic assumption concerning the acts of the Messenger ﷺ is that they are legislative; moreover, had he forgotten, he would have been alerted to it. The latter view—namely, that it was done by way of legislation—is more cautious and closer to what is correct.

Supplement: On reversing the order of surahs, verses, words, and letters.

As for reversing letters—meaning that a word consists, for example, of three letters and a person begins with its last letter—there is no doubt that this is forbidden and that it invalidates the prayer, because it alters the Quran from the manner in which Allah spoke it. Furthermore, in most cases the meaning changes considerably.

As for reversing words—that is, placing one word before another, such as saying, “Praise belongs to the Lord of the worlds, Allah, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful”—then this too