Deliberate or unintentional mistake
Question
Salams!When praying the fard of asr,i was about to recite suratul naba’i(‘amma yatasa aloon) which the very first verse start with ‘ayn.But while i was about to start,i doubt whether the very first verse constitutes of * ‘ayn *or *ha*.But i’m sure it is one of the two.Then,I chose ‘Ha’ instead of ‘ayn’.Then I continues with the rest of suratul nabai’.Is my prayer valid?Is this counted as ‘deliberate’ mistake or ‘unintentional’ mistake?
Answer
Wa ʿAlaykumus Salām Wa Raḥmatullāhi Wa Barakātuh
The Ṣalāh will be valid, though you should seek forgiveness from Allāh ﷻ because in the science of Tajwīd, to replace one letter of Qur’ān with another is forbidden and if one does so, then it will constitute a major error and, whether deliberately or mistakenly done, one will be sinful.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala knows best.