The Meaning of the Statement That Voluntary Prayer Is More Lenient Than Obligatory Prayer
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The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: It was mentioned to us that voluntary prayer is more lenient than obligatory prayer. He asks: What is meant by that?
The Shaykh:
It means that what is permissible in it is not permissible in obligatory prayer. It is not permissible to drink water in obligatory prayer, but it may be permissible to drink water in voluntary prayer, as Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) did, because night prayer is long, and a person may need a sip of water or a drink of water, and there is no harm in that. As for obligatory prayer, it is not long, and a person does not need water in it. Yes.
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: What is the ruling on turning one's head to look at the imam?
The Shaykh:
Also, in voluntary prayer, it is permissible to sit without being ill, and he gets half the reward of the one who stands. As for obligatory prayer, standing is necessary; it is one of the pillars of prayer, except in the case of inability, in which case it is dropped from him. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: It was mentioned to us that voluntary prayer is more lenient than obligatory prayer. He asks: What is meant by that?
The Shaykh:
It means that what is permissible in it is not permissible in obligatory prayer. It is not permissible to drink water in obligatory prayer, but it may be permissible to drink water in voluntary prayer, as Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) did, because night prayer is long, and a person may need a sip of water or a drink of water, and there is no harm in that. As for obligatory prayer, it is not long, and a person does not need water in it. Yes.
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: What is the ruling on turning one's head to look at the imam?
The Shaykh:
Also, in voluntary prayer, it is permissible to sit without being ill, and he gets half the reward of the one who stands. As for obligatory prayer, standing is necessary; it is one of the pillars of prayer, except in the case of inability, in which case it is dropped from him. Yes.
Source
المنتقى من أخبار سيد المرسلين 13-04-1434هـ — alfawzan.live (42:12)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.