How long should the chapters to be read in congregational prayers be? Is it permissible to read long chapters?

Dear Brother / Sister,

It is makruh to lengthen a prayer more than the amount that is sunnah in terms of qira’ah and dhikr in it. According to Hanafis, it is makruh tahrimi whether the congregation shows consent to it or not. 

Shafiis and Hanbalis regard lengthening the prayer permissible if the congregation shows consent. For, the reason for karahah (causing hatred in the congregation) is eliminated in that case.

The evidence for the karahah of lengthening the prayer more than the amount that is Sunnah is some hadiths. According to what is reported from Abu Hurayra, the Prophet (pbuh) said, 

"If anyone of you leads the people in the prayer, he should shorten it because amongst them are the weak, the sick and the old. If anyone among you prays alone, he may prolong the prayer as much as he wishes." (Bukhari, Adhan: 62; Muslim, Salah: 186 Abu Dawud, Salah: 127)

According to what is reported from Abu Mas'ud al-Ansari and Uqba b. Amir, they said, "Somebody came to the Prophet (pbuh) and said,

‘I keep away from the morning prayer on account of such and such a man because he keeps us so long.’ The narrator said, “I had never seen the Prophet getting so angry in any preaching.” The Prophet said,

‘O people! Some of you scare people away. So whoever of you leads the people in prayer must be brief because behind him are the weak, the aged, and the people who have needs.’" (Muslim, Salah, 37)

The meaning of being brief is to fulfill the minimum amounts of glorification and other parts of the prayer. 

The amount of qira’ah that is fard in prayer is three short verses or a long verse that is at least as long as three short verses. The amount of the qira’ah that is in accordance with the Sunnah to be read after al- Fatiha is as follows:

It is Sunnah for the imam or the individual who is performing a prayer alone when they are residents to read , after al-Fatiha, one of the chapters called "Tiwal al-Mufassal" in the morning and noon prayers, "Awsat al-Mufassal" in the afternoon and night prayers, and "Qisar al-Mufassal" after the evening prayer. Tiwal al-Mufassal are the chapters between the chapter of “al-Hujurat” and “al-Buruj”. Awsat al-Mufassal are the chapters between the chapter of “at-Tariq” and the chapter of “al-Bayyina”. Qisar al-Mufassal are the chapters after that. The reason why they are called "Mufassal" is that they follow each other and are separated from each other with Bismillah. (see Zuhayli, İslam Fıkhı, II/27)

It is necessary to keep the qira’ah short in Friday prayers and daytime prayers taking into consideration the old people and the people who work among the congregation. It is enough to read three verses. 

In fard prayers, the amount of tasbih that is sunnah is to say "Subhana Rabbiyal-Azim" three times in ruku’ and "Subhana Rabbiyal A’la" three times in sajdah. A person can say them as many times as he wishes in nafilah prayers. One can say the other prayers reported from the Prophet (pbuh) too.

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