Rulings on Prayer, Collective Supplication, and the Time of 'Asr

The questioner:
He says: I went to one of the countries and saw a difference in the way they pray. Among these matters is straightening the rows before the imam or before the iqamah, and that the imam says the takbir immediately after the iqamah or before its end, and that the imam testifies quickly. What is your opinion on these matters? And did this come in the Hanafi school as they say?

The Shaykh:
As for straightening the rows before the imam arrives, there is nothing wrong with that. If the prayer is established and we mentioned previously that the imam is outside the mosque and the prayer is established by the imam's order, because the imam's order for the iqamah is necessary, he orders someone to establish it while he is on the way or in his house if the house is near the mosque, like the house of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), then he comes out and prays with the people, there is nothing wrong with straightening the rows, and this is a required matter. As for prostrating immediately after raising his head from the bowing, this is a mistake, even if this is the opinion of the Hanafis, it is a mistake, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the one who prayed incorrectly: "Until you are at rest, then raise your head until you are upright, or until you are at rest while standing." This indicates that being at rest in all the pillars, including standing after the bowing, is a pillar of the prayer. The proof is in what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said. As for the independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) of some jurists, this is a matter of scrutiny; we do not accept what contradicts the evidence, even if so-and-so or so-and-so said it.

The questioner:
He also says that the iqamah with them is the adhan plus an addition to the iqamah in the prayer, namely seventeen words.

The Shaykh:
The iqamah means they repeat the takbir four times. This is contrary to the Sunnah. We do not know. The iqamah is fifteen words, recited in a state of presence, not like the adhan. This is not what this is; he is talking about the iqamah now, not about this.

The questioner:
And the 'Asr.

The Shaykh:
No.

The questioner:
Hmm?

The Shaykh:
We do not know this in the iqamah. The iqamah, yes, in the adhan there is a difference of opinion that the takbir is twice at the beginning; some hold this view, and some hold the view, which is the view of the majority, that it is four takbirs. This is well known. Likewise, the two testimonies: some of them do the tarji' (repetition), saying them secretly and then saying them aloud, returning like Abu Mahdhura. The well-known adhan is what was with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in Madinah, the adhan of Bilal. This is the well-known one. As for the adhan of Abu Mahdhura in Makkah, this is one of the forms of the adhan, but the well-known one is the adhan of Bilal. So if someone calls the adhan like the adhan of Abu Mahdhura, there is nothing wrong with that. The imam saying the takbir before the iqamah ends is not permissible.

The questioner:
Or before its end sometimes.

The Shaykh:
Before its end, for him. Yes.

The questioner:
Likewise, the salam of the ma'mums after the imam's salam with the first salam. The speech of the ma'mums after the imam's salam, the first salam.

The Shaykh:
This is a matter of disagreement among the scholars. Some hold that the pillar is the first salam and the second is a recommended practice (sunnah), but the more cautious view is that one does not say the salam except after the second one. This is the more cautious, more complete, and better view. But whoever does this is following the opinion that holds that the first salam is the pillar and the second is a recommended practice.

The questioner:
Regarding the issue of collective supplication, does it always happen?

The Shaykh:
Collective supplication is a religious innovation (bid'ah). They supplicate to Allah with one voice, arranging it and putting it into melody until it becomes like hymns. This is a bid'ah. But every Muslim supplicates to Allah alone and remembers Allah alone; this is what has come. As for collective supplication, this is a bid'ah, and it also leads to hymns and melodies. Yes.

The questioner:
The prayer of 'Asr, my master.

The Shaykh:
Yes, what?

The questioner:
We come to the prayer of 'Asr, before the time of sunset.

The Shaykh:
I do not know this. 'Asr begins when the shadow of a thing becomes equal to it. And it continues until the shadow of a thing becomes equal to what? This is the time of choice. Then after that, the time of necessity begins. Perhaps they took the delay, which is the delay that does not go beyond the time of necessity to the time of choice, meaning the delay in the time of choice. The delay in the time of choice is a matter of disagreement. As for the delay to the time of necessity, this is not permissible except in a state of necessity. And generally, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged hastening the prayer in its first time, except in the issue of heat. If the time became hot, he would cool down in the Zuhr prayer, peace and blessings be upon him, and he would order the people to cool down in the Zuhr prayer for the sake of being gentle with the people. As for other than that, and likewise the 'Isha' prayer, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) loved for it to be delayed to a third of the night, but out of fear of hardship on his Companions, he would hasten it. If he saw them gathering, he would hasten it, and if he saw them delaying, he would delay it. This is in the 'Isha' prayer, even though he loved to delay it, but he feared hardship on his Companions, peace and blessings be upon him.

The questioner:
In the mention of collective supplication, that the imam and the ma'mums supplicate.

The Shaykh:
Likewise, the supplication of the imam and the congregation, that they supplicate. This is a bid'ah. This has not come from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Rather, each person supplicates for himself. Yes.