Adhering to the times set by the Endowments Authority and considering the needs of the congregation
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. It is mentioned in the hadith that if he sees them gathering, he hastens, and if he sees them delaying, he delays, and that is out of consideration for the condition of the ma'mum (those praying behind the imam). His question is: If the time is currently set by the Endowments Authority, does the imam have to adhere to it, or does he consider the conditions of the ma'mum?
Answer:
Even the Ministry of Endowments orders that the conditions of the ma'mum be considered. The intended meaning of the time limit is this leniency toward the ma'mum: that one follows what is most lenient for the ma'mum. Yes.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. It is mentioned in the hadith that if he sees them gathering, he hastens, and if he sees them delaying, he delays, and that is out of consideration for the condition of the ma'mum (those praying behind the imam). His question is: If the time is currently set by the Endowments Authority, does the imam have to adhere to it, or does he consider the conditions of the ma'mum?
Answer:
Even the Ministry of Endowments orders that the conditions of the ma'mum be considered. The intended meaning of the time limit is this leniency toward the ma'mum: that one follows what is most lenient for the ma'mum. Yes.
Source
شرح كتاب المنتقى من أخبار المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم، بداية من باب بيان أنها الوسطى وما ورد في ذلك في غيرها — islamhouse.com (1:09:41)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.