The ruling on the mu'adhdhin leading the witr prayer and the ma'mum carrying a mushaf

The questioner : Hello, yes. Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : Peace be upon you.

The questioner : How are you?

The Shaykh : Between where and the praise?

The questioner : I am the imam of a mosque, calling you from Jeddah, may Allah preserve you. For seven years I have been praying in the mosque and performing witr at the beginning of the night, while the mu'adhdhin performs witr at the end of the night.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : And the congregation of the mosque who perform witr with me at the beginning of the night, when the end of the night comes and they want to complete the prayer with the mu'adhdhin, they stand up and add a second rak'ah.

The Shaykh : When is this?

The questioner : This is in Ramadan.

The Shaykh : No, in Ramadan the mu'adhdhin has no right to lead the people.

The questioner : No, I pray in congregation at the beginning, at the beginning of the night.

The Shaykh : I mean, in the last ten nights.

The questioner : Yes, in the last ten nights.

The Shaykh : And yes.

The questioner : In my congregation in Ramadan, in the tarawih, when the last ten nights come, I perform witr with them at the beginning of the night, and I take two taslims at the end of the night, and I give the mu'adhdhin two taslims with the witr.

The Shaykh : No, no, no, do not perform witr with them at the beginning of the night.

The questioner : The majority of the congregation I have, I mean, they work.

The Shaykh : Do not perform witr with them at the beginning of the night; whoever wants to perform witr should perform it for himself.

The questioner : But Shaykh, for example, I have more than eleven rows.

The Shaykh : It is not possible, may Allah bless you, for one to perform witr twice in one mosque.

The questioner : Yes, what about the years that have passed, was there something in them?

The Shaykh : What has passed has passed, and if Allah wills, you were striving and nothing is upon you.

The questioner : If the witr is from before me, is that okay?

The Shaykh : Do not descend at the beginning of the night and the end of the night; that is it.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : And perform witr, as long as you are determined to establish the end of the night, make the witr at the end of the night, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : that he who attends the end of the night performs witr when the qiyam ends.

The questioner : I said this, Shaykh, but he said it was on the basis of collective supplication.

The Shaykh : Listen, say it from me.

The questioner : I am the servant of Allah, you are our Shaykh and our reference after Allah.

The Shaykh : The important thing is, tell them from me that if someone offers you [a position], say that I consulted so-and-so and he said this.

The questioner : Okay, in a second point, sometimes I am the closest in view in case I am unable, for example if I am busy or something.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : And there are people behind me with the mushaf; sometimes I read, of course, I look at it some times, meaning I do not read from memory, at some times, so I read by looking, and there are people behind me with mushafs, so I spoke on the basis of the issue of following the imam, and they argued with the issue of the Haram,

The Shaykh : This is a mistake on their part; the ma'mum does not carry the mushaf. Because this leads to matters: first, movements without need, he moves in prayer without need; second, it will prevent him from raising his hands at the ruku'; third, he might synchronize with the mushaf and not listen well to the imam's recitation.

The questioner : Okay, and in the case that my recitation is from memory, do I speak to the mu'adhdhin or any person behind me?

The Shaykh : There is no harm if you are not in control; say to one of them, "So-and-so, take the mushaf and follow me."

The questioner : May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : As for the whole congregation taking it, that is a mistake, a very great mistake.

The questioner : May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : This is from ijtihad that has no basis.

The questioner : May Allah reward you, may Allah bless you and your knowledge; I am always with you, Shaykh, may Allah preserve you in the unseen.