What is the ruling on sitting behind a sitting imam?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: If the imam prays while sitting, does the ma'mum sit?
Answer:
If the imam is the regular imam of the mosque and he is afflicted with an illness such that he prays while sitting, and he begins the prayer while sitting, and he is the regular imam, they pray behind him while sitting, as the Companions did with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). As for if he is not the regular imam, no, they do not pray behind him while sitting. The discussion is about the regular imam, the living regular imam. If the regular imam is afflicted with an illness and sits in the prayer, they sit behind him if he begins the prayer while sitting. As for a person who is not the regular imam, he does not lead people in prayer if he is unable to stand; he prays, and they are sound people who are able to stand.
He says: If the imam prays while sitting, does the ma'mum sit?
Answer:
If the imam is the regular imam of the mosque and he is afflicted with an illness such that he prays while sitting, and he begins the prayer while sitting, and he is the regular imam, they pray behind him while sitting, as the Companions did with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). As for if he is not the regular imam, no, they do not pray behind him while sitting. The discussion is about the regular imam, the living regular imam. If the regular imam is afflicted with an illness and sits in the prayer, they sit behind him if he begins the prayer while sitting. As for a person who is not the regular imam, he does not lead people in prayer if he is unable to stand; he prays, and they are sound people who are able to stand.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم الجلوس خلف الإمام الجالس؟ للشيخ الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.