The Imam Lengthening the Prayer and Considering the Congregation
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
The questioner from al-Qasim says: Honorable Shaykh, I am the imam of my father’s mosque, and praise be to Allah. Sometimes my cousins and some young men who know me come to pray with us. When I stand to lead them in prayer, words come out of their mouths saying, “Do not lengthen the prayer,” meaning the recitation of the Qur’an. Some of them even say, “You have slaughtered us with the prayer.” So I oppose them and recite a complete long surah. When I finish the prayer and look at them, I see what I see in their faces: looks and tears. Is my action correct?
The Shaykh:
This is not correct. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Whoever leads the people, let him shorten the prayer”Sahih al-Bukhari 7159. The imam must consider the conditions of the congregation; he should not lengthen the prayer to the point of driving them away, nor should he shorten it in a way that invalidates the prayer, but rather he should take the middle path. When some of the Companions lengthened the prayer for their companions and they complained to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), he rebuked that Companion and said, “Are you a trial for people?” and he said, “We are driven away by you. Whoever leads the people, let him shorten the prayer” . Yes.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you and bless you. Also, the phrases that come from my cousins, saying “Do not lengthen the prayer for us,” are what caused this; they are warning him against lengthening it. Yes, may Allah reward you, Shaykh.
The questioner from al-Qasim says: Honorable Shaykh, I am the imam of my father’s mosque, and praise be to Allah. Sometimes my cousins and some young men who know me come to pray with us. When I stand to lead them in prayer, words come out of their mouths saying, “Do not lengthen the prayer,” meaning the recitation of the Qur’an. Some of them even say, “You have slaughtered us with the prayer.” So I oppose them and recite a complete long surah. When I finish the prayer and look at them, I see what I see in their faces: looks and tears. Is my action correct?
The Shaykh:
This is not correct. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Whoever leads the people, let him shorten the prayer”
because among them there are the old, the weak
فإن فيهم الكبير والضعيفAre you a trial for people?
أفتان أنت؟We are driven away by you. Whoever leads the people, let him shorten the prayer
إنا منكم منفرين أيكم أم الناس فليخففThe questioner:
May Allah reward you and bless you. Also, the phrases that come from my cousins, saying “Do not lengthen the prayer for us,” are what caused this; they are warning him against lengthening it. Yes, may Allah reward you, Shaykh.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 13/4 شرح الأصول الثلاثة / صالح الفوزان — youtube.com (1:24:29)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.