“Successful indeed are the believers, those who offer their prayers with all solemnity and full submissiveness khāshiʿūna.” (Qur’an 23:1-2)
“Nay, seek (Allah’s) help with patient perseverance and prayer: It is indeed hard, except to those who (l-khāshiʿīna)bring a lowly spirit.” (Qur’an 2:45)
“Be guardians of your prayers, and of the midmost prayer, and stand up with (qānitīna)devotion to Allah.” (Qur’an 2:238)
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The status of the word ‘amin’.
Know dear readers and seekers of truth that *Āmīn* is by consensus (*ijmāʿ*) not part of the Qurʾān, due to its absence from the *Imām* Codex (the official Uthmanic manuscript) between the two covers of which the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) unanimously agreed to record everything that was Qurʾān and to exclude everything that was not.
Copies of this codex were distributed across major cities and shared throughout the Muslim nation without anyone raising an objection to any part of it. These copies have served as the authoritative basis for transmitting the Qurʾān generation after generation down to our present day.
Jurists, exegetes, and other scholars have explicitly stated its non-Qurʾānic status. Here is what the renowned exegete Abū Ḥayyān stated in his grand commentary, *Al-Baḥr al-Muḥīṭ*:
“Likewise, they meaning the exegetes discussed *Āmīn*, its linguistic variants, the differences regarding its meaning, and its ruling in prayer; however, it is not part of the Qurʾān, which is why we have disregarded discussing it altogether.”
Al-Ālūsī also stated in his commentary, *Rūḥ al-Maʿānī*:
“And it is not part of the Qurʾān by consensus… [up to his statement:] to the extent that several scholars mentioned that whoever claims *Āmīn* is part of the Qurʾān has committed disbelief.”
Since the word *Āmīn* is non-Qurʾānic, it falls under human speech, and human speech has been established as prohibited during prayer after having been initially permissible. We will give our evidence with the permission of Allah.
Our first and strongest evidence.
The consensus (ijmā’) of their scholars across the centuries, and the fact that prayer is a practical, mass-transmitted act of worship. This is the mass transmitted sunnah with us.
As for us, the consensus (ijmā’) of our companions may Allah the Exalted have mercy on them across the centuries is sufficient for us. Prayer is a practical, outwardly manifest act of worship that has been transmitted from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) generation after generation, down to our present day. We know of no disagreement among our scholars, whether of the earlier or later generations, regarding the issues of prayer among them, the impermissibility of saying “Amin” after al-Fatiha.
Supporting evidence.
The occasion of the revelation of the Qur’an.
“Be guardians of your prayers, and of the midmost prayer, and stand up with devotion to Allah.” (Qur’an 2:238)
Mu’awiya b. al-Hakam said:
Zaid b. Arqam reported:
We used to talk while engaged in prayer and a person talked with a companion on his side in prayer till (this verse) was revealed: “And stand before Allah in devout obedience” (ii, 238) and we were commanded to observe silence (in prayer) and were forbidden to speak.
Source: (https://sunnah.com/muslim:539a)
Zaid bin Arqam narrated:
“We used to talk behind Allah’s Messenger (Saw) during the Salat, a man among us would talk to his companions next to him until (the following) was revealed: “And stand before Allah with obedience”. (2:238) So we were ordered to be silent and prohibited from talking.”
Source: (https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:405)
The word they understood as a command to stop speaking is:
قَانِتِينَ (qānitīn)
It appears at the end of the verse:
وَقُومُوا لِلَّهِ قَانِتِينَ
(“…and stand before Allah as qānitīn.”)
قَانِتِينَ is the plural of قَانِت (qānit), which carries meanings including:
- Obedient / devoutly obedient
- Silent / keeping quiet
- Standing in humility and submission.
This means the companions used to talk during the prayer and even to each other. However, they understood from the occasion of this verse that they should no longer do so. Such practice was abrogated.
The explicit command of the Blessed Prophet (saw).
Mu’awiyah b. al-Hakam al-Sulami said ; when I came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) I learnt many things about islam. One of the things that I was taught was that it was that it was pointed out me. When you sneeze, praise Allah (I,e, say “praise be to Allah”); and when someone sneezes and praises Allah, say “ May Allah have mercy on you. Meanwhile I was standing along with the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) during prayer, all of a sudden a man sneezed, and he praised Allah. So I said, “may Allah have mercy on you”, in a loud voice. The people gave me disapproving looks so much so that I took ill of it. So I said :
what do you mean by looking at me with furtive glances. Then they glorified Allah. When the prophet (ﷺ) finished his prayer, he asked; who was the speaker? The Prophet told him; this Bedouin. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) called me and said to me: Prayer is meant for the recitation of the Quran, and making mention of Allah. When you are in it (prayer), this should be your work therein. I never saw an instructor more lenient than the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)
Source: (https://sunnah.com/abudawud:931)
“He said: I prayed behind the Messenger of Allah, May Allah bless him and grant him peace, one day and a man from the people sneezed, so I said: May Allah have mercy on you, so the people looked at me with their eyes, so I said: May my mother be bereaved of me, what is the matter with you that you are looking at me? He said: So they struck their thighs with their hands. When I saw them silencing me, I kept quite until the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) finished praying. Then he called me. He said: By my father and mother, I have never seen a teacher before or after him who taught better than him. He neither struck me, nor rebuked me, nor insulted me. He said: “This prayer is not a place for such human speech. Rather, It is for glorification, magnification, and reading the Qur’an.”
Source: (https://al-hadees.com/musnad-ahmed/23765)
“This prayer is not suitable for any human speech; it is only for glorification, magnification, and recitation of the Quran.”
Source: (https://dorar.net/h/AD43asTu?utm)
How do we undertand this? We understand that the Blessed Prophet (saw) is telling us:
“Indeed, in this prayer of ours, nothing of people’s speech is valid; it is only tasbih (glorification), takbir (saying Allahu Akbar), tahmid (praising Allah), and the recitation of the Qur’an.”
There is no doubt that the word “Amin” is not among these. For it is neither part of the Qur’an nor any of the things mentioned. Nothing of people’s speech is valid in prayer. Only tasbih, takbir, tahmid, and the Qur’an recitation and “Amin” falls outside these categories.
Abdullah (b. Masu’d) reported:
We used to greet the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) while he was engaged in prayer and he would respond to our greeting. But when we returned from the Negus we greeted him and he did not respond to us; so we said: Messenger of Allah. we used to greet you when you were engaged in prayer and you would respond to us. He replied: Prayer demands whole attention.
Source: (https://sunnah.com/muslim:538a)
Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas’ud:
We used to salute during prayer and talk about our needs. I came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and found him praying. I saluted him, but he did not respond to me. I recalled what happened to me in the past and in the present.
When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) finished his prayer, he said to me: Allah, the Almighty, creates new command as He wishes, and Allah, the Exalted, has sent a fresh command that you must not talk during prayer. He then returned my salutation.
Source: (https://sunnah.com/abudawud:924)
Therefore, if it were [permitted], meaning reciting ‘amin’ it would fall under the abrogated matters that are prohibited; and it is not permissible to act upon the abrogated.
That is to say that the hadith on the matter that have reached us are ‘sahih’ or sound. However with us the living sunnah takes priority over documented sunnah that may or may not still be acted upon.
Let us give you an example. Think carefully about the evidence that you have read above.
Examples of abrogation of practice during the prayer.
Narrated Abu Hurairah:
That the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came out to Ubayy bin Ka’b, and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “O Ubayy!” And he was performing Salat, so Ubayy turned around but he did not respond to him, so Ubayy finished his Salat quickly. Then he turned to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said: ‘As-Salamu ‘Alaikum, O Messenger of Allah!’ The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Wa ‘Alaikum As-Salam – what prevented you from responding to me when I called you Ubayy?’ He said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! I was performing Salat.‘ So he said: ‘Do you not find among what Allah revealed to me: Respond to Allah and to the Messenger when they call you to what gives you life?’ He said: ‘Of course, I shall not repeat that, if Allah wills.’ He said: ‘Would you like for me to teach you a Surah the likes of which has neither been revealed in the Tawrah, nor the Injil, nor the Zabur, nor in the entire Qur’an?’ He said: “Yes, O Messenger of Allah!’ The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘What do you recite in your Salat?’ He said: ‘I recite Umm Al-Qur’an.’ So the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘By the One in Whose Hand is my soul! The like of it has neither been revealed in the Tawrah, nor the Injil nor the Zabur, nor in the Furqan. It is the seven oft-repeated, and the Magnificent Qur’an which I was given.'”
Source: (https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:2875)
So is more than one way to understand the implications of the above hadith.
Notice that the reason Ubayy bin K’ab (ra) gave for not responding to the Messenger of Allah (saw):
He said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! I was performing Salat.‘
This means that Ubayy bin K’ab (ra) could have been aware of the ruling that prohibits talking during the prayer.
However, the Messenger of Allah (swt) introduces an exception by quoting the verse of the Qur’an:
“O believers! Respond to Allah and His Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life.” (Qur’an 8:24)
Or this hadith can be understood by another way.
That is that this verse: “O believers! Respond to Allah and His Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life.” (Qur’an 8:24) was later restricted. In otherwords it was not abrogated but it was restricted to answer the Blessed Messenger (saw) after the prayer.
This is why Hadith < Fiqh. You can have a hadith but the understanding is what is important.
Likewise: Docummented Sunnah < Living Sunnah.
There is grounds to believe that ‘Amin’ is not actually Arabic. However, this article is not the time or place to wade into the weeds-so to speak.
The Qur’an indicates the phrase “Our Lord, accept this from us” (رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا) after prayer. This phrase appears in (Qur’an 2:127), where Prophet Ibrahim and Prophet Ismail (peace be upon them) supplicate while raising the foundations of the Kaaba:
رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ
“Our Lord, accept [this] from us. Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing.”
This verse demonstrates that the Qur’an itself provides a specific supplication for acceptance after an act of worship, distinct from the Hebrew-origin “Amen.”
What about the Tashahhud?
Don’t worry dear readers we are one step ahead insh’Allah.
One cannot object against us by citing the continued legitimacy of *Taḥmīd* (praising Allah) and *Tashahhud* in prayer; for *Taḥmīd* falls under the category of *Tasbīḥ* (glorification), while *Tashahhud*though not Qurʾān consists entirely of glorifying Allah Almighty and Majestic, and holds a special status. The Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him) gave it meticulous care, as evidenced by Ibn Masʿūd’s statement:
Narrated Ibn Mas`ud:
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) taught me the Tashah-hud as he taught me a Sura from the Qur’an, while my hand was between his hands. (Tashah-hud was) all the best compliments and the prayers and the good things are for Allah. Peace and Allah’s Mercy and Blessings be on you, O Prophet! Peace be on us and on the pious slaves of Allah, I testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and I also testify that Muhammad is Allah’s slave and His Apostle. (We used to recite this in the prayer) during the lifetime of the Prophet (ﷺ) , but when he had died, we used to say, “Peace be on the Prophet.”
Source: (https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6265)
For those who want to see the Tashahhud from the Sunnah of the Blessed Messenger (saw) as understood by our school you may see the following:
This clearly indicates that it carries the ruling of Qurʾānic recitation during prayer. Moreover, the consensus of the Muslim community (*ijmāʿ*) regarding the non-abrogation of *Taḥmīd* and *Tashahhud* in prayer serves as sufficient proof that they are excluded from abrogated speech and that which is agreed upon is not comparable to that which is disputed.
Furthermore, know that the methodology of our scholars concerning prayer is that of legal precaution (*Iḥtiyāṭ*). That is adopting only those narrations surrounding which there is no shadow of doubt in disputed matters. This is because prayer is the second pillar of Islam, coming directly after creed (*ʿAqīdah*). Verifying scholars across various schools of thought do not accept solitary reports (*Aḥād* traditions) as binding proof in creedal matters because they do not yield absolute certainty (*qaṭʿ*); thus, prayer being adjacent to creed in rank is all the more worthy of such caution.
Furthermore, some scholars have stated that the prayer practiced by our companions is established by consensus, because the actions they omit are themselves subject to disagreement among others, and those who advocate those actions do not view their omission as invalidating the prayer. This alone suffices as proof for the validity of the prayer of one who does not pronounce *Āmīn*.
Do recall this was our first and strongest evidence.
If anyone should denounce us for omitting the *aʾmīn*, the response to him is that it would be more fitting for him to denounce those who omit the *Basmalah* which IS a verse from the Book of Allah, recorded in all codices by consensus than to denounce those who omit *aʾmīn*, which is consensus-proven to be non-Qurʾānic. And Allah knows best.
Insh’Allah this article in the near future will be found here:
You may also wish to see the following:
May Allah Guide the Ummah.
May Allah Forgive the Ummah.
Prima Quran 