A hadith: Whoever wishes to be loved by Allah and His Messenger, let him read from the mushaf

Question : The questioner says, may Allah keep you safe, O Shaykh. There is a hadith from 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever wishes to be loved by Allah and His Messenger, let him read from the mushaf." He says: Al-Bayhaqi and Abu Nu'aym narrated it, and some of the scholars of knowledge deemed it authentic. Does this hadith apply to the imam in the tarawih prayer, such that he reads from the mushaf even if he has the Qur'an memorized?

Answer : The first hadith. It says: "Whoever wishes to be loved by Allah and His Messenger, let him read from the mushaf."
This hadith, even if some of the scholars of knowledge who deemed it authentic did so, it does not appear to be traced back to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). This is because merely reading from the mushaf is not a cause for the love of Allah and His Messenger, unless the person reads from the mushaf so as not to alter the words of Allah and His Messenger. For example, if his memorization is weak, he reads from the mushaf so as not to make a mistake in the Qur'an. However, if he is a memorizer, we tell him: read from memory, or read from the mushaf—whichever is better for his memorization. Some people, if they read from the mushaf, may not master it because there is something written in front of them that they are reading. But if he reads from memory, he will be able to master what he has memorized, because he will be reading from memory. If he pauses at a verse, he goes back to review it, and it remains in his heart. As for the imam, it is better for the imam to read from memory. This is because if he reads from memory, he is safe from abandoning the sunnah, which is placing the right hand on the left forearm in prayer. He is also safe from abandoning looking at his place of prostration. He is also safe from movement, because if he reads from the mushaf while being a memorizer, the movement now has no justification. Therefore, we say that what some people do of taking the mushaf to follow the imam falls under this ruling, and that it is better not to do this action. Because it causes the doer to miss looking at the place of prostration, and it causes him to miss placing his right hand on his left forearm, and it necessitates for him a movement that has no justification. There is also a fourth thing: that if he starts following, he may forget that he is supposed to be following the imam, and it becomes as if he is following a person who is reading in a Qur'an memorization circle.