Salaah

Reciting Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam instead of the durood in Salaah

Q: If we are short in time when praying salat, instead of reading the whole "Allahumma salli `ala muhammadin wa.." in Durood, can we suffice with just "Salla allahu alayhi wa sallam", will the sunna be fulfilled by this? Also, is it ok to just mention the Prophet as a pronoun or should he be mentioned by name i.e. "Salla allahu ala Muhammedin wa sallam"?

Salaatul Lail

Q: In a book I acquired in 1978 called kitaab-us salaah printed by the young men's Muslim association which has been my guide ever since. I have now recently discovered the performance of Salaatul lail which is not mentioned in this book nor have I performed it previously. Can Mufti please throw some light on this.

Esha time in Chicago

Q: What is the mas'alah regarding Isha Salaah in the city of Chicago U.S.A. According to the Salaah timings calendar there are 2 timings for Isha Salaah i.e. Isha 1 & Isha 2 (the time difference between them is about 30 mins). Isha 1 corresponds to the disappearance of shafaq-Ahmar (15 degrees) and Isha 2 corresponds to the disappearance of shafaq-abyadh (18 degrees). At the moment the masaajids mostly follow Isha 2 due to "ihtiyaat". But the place where I will be performing taraweeh, if we follow Isha 2 then we will be finishing our taraaweeh around midnight (due to Isha 2 starting around 10:40pm). It will be quite difficult for the musallees due to sehri ending around 3:15am. The person in charge left it up to me to decide whether to follow Isha 1 or  Isha 2, but they will be pleased  if I follow Isha 1. What is the best thing for me to do?

Taking a gift or remuneration for performing the taraaweeh

Q: I read a mas'alah on http://www.thejamiat.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id… below:

"It is not permissible for a Hafiz who recited Taraweeh to receive remuneration for his Taraweeh recital. His Salaat will not be accepted if he takes a fee or ‘gifts’ for his Taraweeh performance."

But In the Masjid of our village, people collect money for Imaam (he leads taraweeh), and give him at the last night when he completes recitation of Whole Quran. Is it correct to do what is being done in our village?

When should the muqtadi commence his Salaam?

Q: In a Shafie masjid, when the imam makes salams at the end of the prayer, the congregation waits until he has completed both salams, then they make their own salams. Sometimes the salams of the imam are lengthy, making the congregation wait for a long period (longer than 3 subhanallahs). If a Hanafi follower also delays his salam in this manner (waiting for the imam to complete), will his salat become invalid due to delaying a wajib (i.e. intentionally delaying the first salam)?