What is your opinion regarding an imam who leans significantly in his prayer, turns his head, and prolongs the takbirs?
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The questioner:
And what is your opinion? The questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, regarding an imam who leans to his right frequently, or turns his head so that his voice reaches the microphone, and another who prolongs the takbirs greatly, so that the people begin to move after him, but they overtake him before he finishes them. Do all these observations have an effect on the prayer? Especially if we advised the imam and he did not stop, are we required to continue praying with him?
The Shaykh:
These are correct and sound observations. Turning in the prayer is something the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade, and he informed that it is a snatching by Satan, and he forbade turning like the turning of a fox. So the one praying does not turn. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) informed, in what was narrated from Yahya ibn Zakariyya (peace be upon him), that he said to the Children of Israel: "Indeed, Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, sets His Face before the Face of the one praying. So when you pray, do not turn."
So turning the face in the prayer is disliked. As for turning the body by deviating from the qiblah without a valid legal excuse, this invalidates it. And among the disliked turning is turning toward the microphone. This is a phenomenon among some of the praying people, and it is out of ignorance. So he should not lean his head and turn toward the amplifier; rather, he should straighten himself toward the qiblah, and the microphone picks up the voice, even if it is relatively far from him. Or he can use a microphone that is placed in the pocket or in the clothes, one of the small clip-on microphones. This is done by some imams, and it is available, and this is a good thing. As for turning toward the amplifier in his face during the recitation, this is a bad phenomenon and a disliked act, a disliked act in the prayer. Yes.
The questioner:
And what is the situation of the ma'mums?
The Shaykh:
Their prayer is valid, and the imam's prayer is valid, but with the dislike. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah bless you.
And what is your opinion? The questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, regarding an imam who leans to his right frequently, or turns his head so that his voice reaches the microphone, and another who prolongs the takbirs greatly, so that the people begin to move after him, but they overtake him before he finishes them. Do all these observations have an effect on the prayer? Especially if we advised the imam and he did not stop, are we required to continue praying with him?
The Shaykh:
These are correct and sound observations. Turning in the prayer is something the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade, and he informed that it is a snatching by Satan, and he forbade turning like the turning of a fox. So the one praying does not turn. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) informed, in what was narrated from Yahya ibn Zakariyya (peace be upon him), that he said to the Children of Israel: "Indeed, Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, sets His Face before the Face of the one praying. So when you pray, do not turn."
So turning the face in the prayer is disliked. As for turning the body by deviating from the qiblah without a valid legal excuse, this invalidates it. And among the disliked turning is turning toward the microphone. This is a phenomenon among some of the praying people, and it is out of ignorance. So he should not lean his head and turn toward the amplifier; rather, he should straighten himself toward the qiblah, and the microphone picks up the voice, even if it is relatively far from him. Or he can use a microphone that is placed in the pocket or in the clothes, one of the small clip-on microphones. This is done by some imams, and it is available, and this is a good thing. As for turning toward the amplifier in his face during the recitation, this is a bad phenomenon and a disliked act, a disliked act in the prayer. Yes.
The questioner:
And what is the situation of the ma'mums?
The Shaykh:
Their prayer is valid, and the imam's prayer is valid, but with the dislike. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah bless you.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ماقولكم في إمام يميل في صلاته كثيراً ويحرف رأسه ويمد بالتكبيرات؟ الشيخ صالح بن فوزان الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.