Answered by Shaykh Omar Subedar

Question:

What does a new Muslim do in ṣalāh (ritual prayer) who does not know Sūrah Al Fātiḥa (opening Qur’ānic chapter)?

Answer:

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Jazāk Allāh Khayr/ Thank you for contacting Mathabah for your question.

He may recite the Sūrah in his own language until he learns how to recite it in Arabic.

Ibn Māza Al-Ḥanafī [d. 616 H.] has written in his book, Al Muḥīt Al Burhānī about reciting the Qur’ān in the Farsi (Persian) language during salāh, “Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad [ibn Hasan Al Shaybānī, the two distinguished students of Imam Abū Hanīfa] have said, “If the person can recite the [Qur’ān] well in Arabic, his recital [of the divine scripture] in another language is impermissible. If he cannot recite it well in Arabic, he is permitted [to recite it in Farsi].” [p.307 vol.1, Dār Al-Kotob Al-Ilmīyah, Beirut, Lebanon, 2004]

Bear in mind that the reason why they have specifically referred to the Farsi language is because it was their mother tongue in Iraq.

And Allāh Knows Best