for example, one rakʿah, he should in that rakʿah recite al-Fātiḥah together with another sura if the prayer is quiet, or al-Fātiḥah alone if the prayer is audible, doing so during the imam’s pauses. After the imam makes salām and he rises to complete what he missed, he again recites— in the first rakʿah he performs on his own—what is normally recited when praying alone, for in his case that rakʿah counts as his second. In the rest of his prayer he recites only al-Fātiḥah.

If, however, he joins the imam for two rakʿahs of a four-rakʿah prayer, or two rakʿahs of Maghrib, then those two rakʿahs are, according to the sound position, the beginning of his own prayer, and what he stands to perform afterward constitutes the end of his prayer.

Question: What about reciting aloud?

Answer: A lone worshipper may choose to recite aloud or silently in an audible prayer, whereas the follower must not raise his voice along with the imam. Nevertheless, when the lone worshipper stands to make up what he previously missed, there is no harm in his reciting aloud at night; during the day he should recite softly.

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Reciting in prayer using multiple Qur’anic readings

Question: Is it permissible for someone versed in Qur’anic recitation to read a single sura using several different transmissions? Suppose he is reciting a sura and the various readings become mixed, so he moves from one to another—beginning, for instance, with the reading of Ḥafṣ from ʿĀṣim and then shifting to that of Warsh from Nāfiʿ. Is he blameworthy or not?

Answer: A recitation is valid in prayer so long as it conforms to the ʿUthmānic muṣḥaf, its chain of transmission is sound, and it does not go beyond the ten canonical readings. Whenever these conditions are met—agreement with the Imam Muṣḥaf, an authentic isnād, and remaining within the ten recognized readings—both the recitation and the prayer are sound. If it departs from the ten