Ruling on the wording of the opening takbir and what may replace it

F45Chapter of the Description of the Prayer

Ruling on the wording of the opening takbir and what may replace it

What wording suffices for the opening takbir, and does anything other than the takbir suffice?

Hanafi

The prayer is entered with any wording of pure magnification, such as «Allāhu akbar», «Allāhu al-aʿẓam», or «al-ḥamdu lillāh»; the takbir wording is not required.

Reference: Al-Hidāyah — Radd al-Muḥtār — Marāqī al-Falāḥ

Maliki

The opening takbir is restricted to the wording «Allāhu akbar» alone, and the prayer is not entered with any other wording.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr — Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī — Minaḥ al-Jalīl

Shāfiʿī

The wording is restricted to «Allāhu akbar» or «Allāhu al-akbar»; no other remembrance and no translation suffices for one able to say it.

Reference: Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn — Al-Majmūʿ — Mughnī al-Muḥtāj

Hanbali

The wording «Allāhu akbar» alone suffices; no other remembrance and no translation takes its place for one able to say it.

Reference: Zād al-Mustaqniʿ — Kashshāf al-Qināʿ — Al-Inṣāf