Prayer: How is the āyāt prayer performed?

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Prayer: How is the āyāt prayer performed?

English:

Question #708:

How is an āyāt prayer performed?

Answer #708:

Āyāt prayer has several forms:

i. After making intention and saying the takbīrah al-iḥrām, one recites the Fātiḥah and another one, and then performs rukū‘. After rising from the rukū‘, one recites the Fātiḥah and a chapter, and again performs rukū‘. One keeps on doing so until he performs five rukū‘s, each preceded by the Fātiḥah and another one. After that, he rises up and performs two prostrations, then stands up and performs the second rak‘ah in the same manner as the first one, completing with two prostrations, followed by tashahhud and salām.

ii. Only one Fātiḥah and sūrah is to be recited in each rak`ah. it is said as follows: the other sūrah is divided into five parts and, after making intention and saying takbīrah al-iḥrām, one recites the Fātiḥah and one part of the other sūrah (be it one complete verse, a part of it or more than a verse), then performs rukū‘ (of course, it is an obligatoy caution not to count Bismillah as a part of the sūrah and bow to rukū‘ after it). Then rising from the rukū‘, one recites another part of that sūrah without the Fātiḥah, followed by the second rukū‘. Then raising his head, he continues this procedure so that he completes the other sūrah just before the fifth rukū‘. Then after the fifth rukū‘, he performs two prostrations, then stands up and performs the second rak‘ah in the same manner as in the first one, finishing with tashahhud and salām.

iii. One performs one of the two rak‘ahs in one of the above two forms and the other rak‘ah in the other form.

iv. One completes the sūrah, of which he recited a part in the first standing state, in the second, third, or the fourth standing state, for instance. Then it will be obligatory for him, after raising his head from the rukū‘, to repeat the Fātiḥah in the following standing state, and to recite with it a sūrah or a part of it, in case of which he must complete that sūrah before the fifth rukū‘.

-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of Prayer