Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
What is prescribed for
the worshipper in a prayer in which Qur’aan is recited silently is to recite
al-Faatihah and whatever he can of Qur’aan, in the first two rak’ahs,
whether he is leading the prayer or praying behind an imam, because of the
report narrated by Ibn Maajah (843) from Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah (may Allaah
be pleased with him) who said: We used to recite the Opening of the Book and
a soorah behind the imam in the first two rak’ahs of Zuhr and ‘Asr, and in
the last two rak’ahs (we would recite) the Opening of the Book. This hadeeth
was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah.
The worshipper – whether he is leading the prayer or praying
behind an imam – can recite more than one soorah after al-Faatihah in the
first two rak’ahs, because of the report narrated by al-Bukhaari (775) and
Muslim (822) from Ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: I
know the pairs that the Messenger of Allaah (S) used to put together. And he
mentioned twenty soorahs of al-mufassal, two by two, in every
rak’ah.
For example, the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) recited al-Rahmaan and
al-Najm together in one rak’ah, and al-Qamar and al-Haaqqah together, and
al-Toor and al-Dhaariyaat together, and al-Waaqi’ah and al-Qalam together.
Sifat Salaat al-Nabi (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) by al-Albaani, p. 104.
The fact that it is permissible to recite two soorahs in
after al-Faatihah is also indicated by the report narrated by al-Bukhaari in
The Chapter on reciting two soorahs together. From Anas ibn Maalik (may
Allaah be pleased with him) who said: A man from among the Ansaar used to
lead them in prayer in the mosque of Quba’, and every time he started a
soorah to recite for them in prayer, he would start by reciting Qul Huwa
Allaahu Ahad, until he finished it, then he would recite another soorah
with it. He used to do that in every rak’ah. His companions spoke to him
about that and said: You start with the soorah then you do not think that it
is sufficient and you recite another. Either recite it or leave it and
recite something else. He said: I will not give it up. If you wish me to
lead you in prayer on this basis, I will do so, and if you do not like it I
will leave you. They thought that he was the best of them and they did not
want anyone else to lead them in prayer. When the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) came to them, they told him the story and
he said: “O So and so, what is keeping you from doing what your companions
told you to do? What is making you adhere to this soorah in every rak’ah? He
said: I love it.” He said: “Your love for it will earn you admittance to
Paradise.”
See: Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 6/403
Secondly:
With regard to the last two rak’ahs, the basic principle is
that only al-Faatihah should be recited in them, because of the report
narrated by Muslim (451) from Abu Qataadah (may Allaah be pleased with him),
that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to
recite the Opening of the Book and a soorah in the first two rak’ahs of Zuhr
and ‘Asr, and he would let us hear a verse sometimes, and in the last two
rak’ahs he would recite al-Faatihah (only).
This is the basic principle, but it is permissible for the
worshipper to recite a soorah after al-Faatihah in the last two rak'ahs
sometimes, because of the report narrated by Muslim (452) from Abu Sa’eed
al-Khudri (may Allaah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to recite in the first two rak’ahs of
Zuhr prayer approximately thirty verses in each rak’ah, and in the last two
rak’ahs approximately fifteen verses, or he said: half of that. In the first
two rak’ahs of ‘Asr he used to recite in each rak’ah approximately fifteen
verses, and in the last two rak’ahs approximately half of that.
Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: This
hadeeth indicates that reciting more than al-Faatihah in the last two
rak’ahs is Sunnah, and many of the Sahaabah held that view, including Abu
Bakr al-Siddeeq (may Allaah be pleased with him). This is the view of Imam
al-Shaafa’i, whether that is in Zuhr or any other prayer. Among our later
scholars, this view was followed by Abu’l-Hasanaat al-Laknawi… end quote.
Sifat al-Salaah, p. 113.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen was asked:
If the worshipper has
finished reciting al-Faatihah and another soorah in a prayer in which
Qur’aan is recited silently, and the imam has not bowed, should he remain
silent?
He replied:
The worshipper should not remain silent if he finishes
reciting al-Faatihah and another soorah before the imam bows, rather he
should recite until the imam bows, so if he is in the two rak’ahs after the
first tashahhud and he finishes reciting al-Faatihah but the imam does not
bow, he should recite another soorah until the imam bows, because there
should not be any silence in the prayer except when the worshipper is
listening to the recitation of his imam. End quote.
Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen,
15/108
And Allaah knows best.