The ruling on turning one's head to look at the imam
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
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:
In voluntary prayer, it is permissible to sit without being ill, and one receives half the reward of the one who stands. As for the obligatory prayer, standing is a pillar of the prayer, except in cases of inability, in which case it is excused. Yes.
The questioner:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what is the ruling on turning one’s head to see the imam, either to learn from him or to follow him, because the imam’s voice is low?
The Shaykh:
Looking at the imam with one's eyes to check on him is permissible out of necessity. Looking at the imam out of necessity is permissible. Yes.
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:
In voluntary prayer, it is permissible to sit without being ill, and one receives half the reward of the one who stands. As for the obligatory prayer, standing is a pillar of the prayer, except in cases of inability, in which case it is excused. Yes.
The questioner:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what is the ruling on turning one’s head to see the imam, either to learn from him or to follow him, because the imam’s voice is low?
The Shaykh:
Looking at the imam with one's eyes to check on him is permissible out of necessity. Looking at the imam out of necessity is permissible. Yes.
Source
شرح كتاب المنتقى من أخبار المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم، بداية من باب الإشارة في الصلاة لرد السلام أو حاجة تعرض — islamhouse.com (42:04)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.