Question: Could you please give us information about the fiqh of salat according to Hanafi Madhhab and the other three madhhabs?
ANSWER
Uttering the niyyah (intention) of salat by mouth is bid’at in the Hanafi Madhhab, sunnat in the madhhabs of Shafi’i and Hanbali, and permissible in the Maliki Madhhab. According to the Hanafi Madhhab, if one’s heart is not satisfied with the niyyah of the heart alone, it is permissible for one to make niyyah by mouth as well.

In the Shafi’i Madhhab, one should keep one’s feet about a hand span apart in the standing position (qiyam). They should be kept a four-finger-width away from each other according to the other three madhhabs.

The takbirs of intiqal (takbirs that are uttered when one shifts from one position to another) are wajib in the Hanbali Madhhab and sunnat in the other three madhhabs.

Reciting Surat al-Fatiha in salat is wajib in the Hanafi Madhhab and fard in the other three madhhabs.

Reciting Surat al-Fatiha behind the imam is makruh tahrimi in the Hanafi Madhhab whereas it is fard in the Shafi’i Madhhab. In the madhhabs of Maliki and Hanbali, reciting it behind the imam is makruh tahrimi if the imam is reciting loudly and mustahab if the imam is reciting quietly.

Reciting salawat in the last sitting is fard according to the Shafi’i Madhhab whereas it is sunnat according to the other three madhhabs.

Salat al-Witr is wajib according to Imam-i A’zam whereas it is sunnat according to the Imamayn (Imam-i Muhammad and Imam-i Abu Yusuf) and the other three madhhabs.

To perform the five fard salats in jama’at is sunnat according to the madhhabs of Hanafi, Shafi’i, and Maliki whereas it is wajib according to the Hanbali Madhhab.

For Salat al-Jumu’ah to be valid, there should be at least three men besides the imam according to the Hanafi Madhhab, 40 men according to the madhhabs of Shafi’i and Hanbali, and 12 men according to the Maliki Madhhab.

According to the majority of Hanafi scholars, ta’dil-i arkan is wajib. It is fard according to Imam-i Abu Yusuf and the other three madhhabs.

According to the Hanafi Madhhab, it is not permissible to combine (jam’) salats during a journey (safar). According to the Maliki Madhhab, it is permissible to combine Salat az-Zuhr with Salat al-‘Asr and Salat al-Maghrib with Salat al-Isha in case of a journey, illness, rain and mud together with darkness. According to the Shafi’i Madhhab, it is permissible during a journey to combine these salats by jamu-t taqdim (performing two salats at the time of the earlier) or by jamu-t ta’khir (performing two salats at the time of the later). In case of rain, it is permissible to combine salats only by jamu-t taqdim. In the Hanbali Madhhab, it is permissible to combine salats during a journey, in case of illness, non-menstrual vaginal bleeding (istihada), excuses (‘udhr) that break wudu’ like urinary incontinence or continuous emission of wind, and for a person whose life, property, livelihood, or chastity is in danger.

In the madhhabs of Shafi’i and Hanbali, it is permissible for a woman to lead another woman in salat. It is makruh in the Hanafi Madhhab and invalid in the Maliki Madhhab.

Performing Salat at-Tarawih with a salam after every ten rak’ats is not valid in the Shafi’i Madhhab whereas it is makruh in the other three madhhabs.

Salat al-Eid is fard-i kifaya according to the Hanbali Madhhab, wajib according to the Hanafi Madhhab, and sunnat according to the madhhabs of Shafi’i and Maliki.

A person who abandons a fard salat without a valid excuse is killed in the madhhabs of Hanbali, Shafi’i, and Maliki. He is killed in the Hanbali Madhhab because he has become a disbeliever (kafir). He is killed in the other three madhhabs as he has committed a grave sin. In the Hanafi Madhhab, he is put in prison and beaten until he starts to perform the five daily salats. If one has missed one or a few salats due to a valid excuse, the ruling is as follows: According to the madhhabs of Shafi’i, Hanbali, and Maliki, it is haram such a person to perform sunnat salats. The sunnat salat of Salat al-Fajr, Salat al-Witr, and Salat al-Eid are excluded in the madhhabs of Hanbali and Maliki. In the Hanafi Madhhab, performing such voluntary salats as sunnat salats, Salat ad-Duha, Salat al-Awwabin, Salat at-Tasbih, Tahiyyat al-Masjid is better than performing one’s make-up salats because one missed these salats due to a valid excuse. As it is not a sin to miss a salat because of a valid excuse, it is not sinful in the Hanafi Madhhab to delay making them up for as long as one performs the above-mentioned voluntary salats. But this ruling does not apply to a person who left out fard salats deliberately without an excuse. Such a person cannot perform sunnat or voluntary salats.

In the madhhabs of Shafi’i and Hanbali, Salat al-Janaza can be offered on an absentee (gha’ib) who has died in a distant country. It is not permissible in the madhhabs of Hanafi and Maliki. Salat al-Janaza is offered on a martyr in the Hanafi Madhhab, but it is not offered in the other three madhhabs. In all of the four madhhabs, Salat al-Janaza is offered on a person who has committed suicide. In the madhhabs of Maliki and Hanbali, the head of state does not offer Salat al-Janaza on a person who has committed suicide. (Mizan al-kubra)

The minimum distance of traveling (safar) at which one is considered a traveler (safari) is 104 km in the Hanafi Madhhab and 80 km in the other three madhhabs. One is considered a traveler on the way as well. If one intends to stay less than 15 days in the Hanafi Madhhab and less than 4 days in the other three madhhabs excluding the days when one enters and goes out of the city, one is considered a safari (traveler). In the Hanafi Madhhab, it is wajib to perform four-rak’at-fard salats as two rak’ats during safar. In the Maliki Madhhab, it is sunnat to perform these salats as two rak’ats on a legitimate journey, that is, the one not undertaken for a sinful reason. In the madhhabs of Shafi’i and Hanbali, one can perform them two or four rak’ats. Either is permissible.

If a Shafi’i or Maliki Muslim or anyone who follows the ruling of either of these madhhabs out of necessity performs, when he is muqim (settled), four-rak’at fard salats as two rak’ats behind a safari Hanafi imam during hajj, he must make these salats up as they are not valid.