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Is prayer valid behind an imam who says, "Sami'a Allahu liman yahmiduh" (Allah hears the one who praises Him) with an added yaa’ (ي) when rising from rukoo’ (bowing)?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is prescribed for the Muslim to pray as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, prayed, for he said: "Pray as you have seen me praying." The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to say when rising from bowing: "Allah hears those who praise Him," and he taught people that. The principle is to preserve the exact wording that has been transmitted without addition or subtraction, except that a slight, unintentional error that does not change the meaning is forgivable. The jurists have agreed that a slight error in recitation, if it does not alter the meaning, does not invalidate the prayer and the prayer remains valid. This applies to the supplications within the prayer that are not Qur'an. Therefore, the Imam's saying: "Allah hears those who praise Him" [using the imperfect form "yahmaduhu" instead of the perfect form "hamidahu"] does not change the meaning, and it is most likely due to ignorance, so it is forgiven and does not invalidate the prayer. The prayer behind him is valid, and he should be taught the correct wording after the prayer.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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