Important !

“Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope.”

﷽

Whoever is unable to pronounce al-Fatihah properly because of some defect in his tongue or because he is not an Arabic-speaker or converted to Islam recently must learn to correct his pronunciation as much as he can.

If he cannot, then he is relieved of this obligation, because Allah does not burden people with more than they are able to bear. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope.”

[Al-Baqarah 2:286]

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If a person is unable to recite al-Fatihah at all or is unable to learn it, or he has just become Muslim and the time for prayer has come and there is not enough time for him to learn it, then he is given a way out in the following hadith:

It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allah ibn Abi Awfa said:

“A man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said:

“O Messenger of Allah, teach me something of the Quran that will suffice me, for I cannot read.” He said,

“Say:

سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَلاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَاللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ وَلاَ حَوْلَ وَلاَ قُوَّةَ إِلاَّ بِاللَّهِ

Subhan-Allah wa’l-hamdu Lillah wa la ilaha ill-Allah wa Allahu akbar wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa Billah

(Glory be to Allah, praise be to Allah, there is no god except Allah and Allah is Most great, there is no god except Allah and there is no power and no strength except with Allah).”

The man made a grabbing gesture with his hand (indicating that he had learned a lot) and said,

“This is for my Lord, what is there for me?” '

He said,

“Say:

اللَّهُمَّ ارْحَمْنِي وَارْزُقْنِي وَعَافِنِي وَاهْدِنِي

Allahum-marhamni warzuqni wa ‘afini wahdini

O Allah have mercy on me, and sustain me, and keep me well, and guide me.

He made another grabbing gesture with his other hand and stood up.”

(Narrated by al-Nasai, 924; Abu Dawud, 832. 
Its isnad was classed as jayyid by al-Mundhiri in al-Targhib wa’l-Tarhib, 2/430. 
al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar indicated that it is hasan in al-Talkhis al-Habir, 1/236) 

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But if a person is able to recite part of al-Fatihah only, he should recite that which he is able to recite. And he has to repeat what he can recite well (i.e., so that the total number of what he recites will be seven verses, equivalent to the number of verses in al-Fatihah).

Ibn Qudamah said:

“It may be sufficient for him to say alhamdu-Lillah (praise be to Allah), la ilaha ill-Allah (there is no god but Allah) and Allahu akbar (Allah is most great), because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“Whatever you know of Quran, recite it, otherwise praise Allah, proclaim His Oneness and magnify Him.”

(Narrated by Abu Dawud)” (Al-Mughni, 1/289, 290) 

As for those who are unable to do so, they should recite it as best as they can, and that does not affect them, because Allah does not burden a soul beyond its scope. One of the basic principles established by the scholars is that nothing is obligatory when a person is unable to do it.

(al-Mughni, 2/154)