What is the ruling on reading from the mushaf in the night prayer?

The questioner : What is the ruling on carrying the mushaf in the prayer for standing in the night?

The Shaykh : The question is incorrect, and the intended meaning is clear, because carrying the mushaf in the pocket is carrying it, but you mean reading from the mushaf.

The questioner : Reading from the mushaf, yes?

The Shaykh : And thus we should be precise in our questions, because the respondent does not always understand correctly. We see in this issue, as we have said more than once, that it is not prescribed. This is because, to our knowledge, and Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear, this was not the practice of the righteous Salaf. What is narrated about the Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that she used to lead a boy or a slave of hers, and he would read from the mushaf, I see that this matter should not be taken as a general custom and a practice in public mosques. This occurred between four walls, between the Lady and her slave, and the slave has many specific rulings in Islam that it is not permissible to analogize or attach free men to, especially if they are imams of mosques. This is the first point. Second, I believe that the prohibition of this phenomenon, which has begun to spread in the modern era more than before, to our knowledge, can adopt the principle of "blocking the means to harm" as an argument for prohibiting this custom. This is because one of its effects is that it leads the imams of mosques to neglect caring for the memorization of the Qur'an. In that case, it is a defiance of Allah and His Messenger, who said in the authentic hadith: . So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commands in this hadith the memorizers who are concerned with memorizing the Qur'an to review it, fearing that it may slip from their chests. If it is said to the imams of mosques that it is permissible, or even recommended, to lead the people by reading directly from the mushaf, this is a turning away from memorizing and caring for the Book of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And here it is said in that case: that the door of blocking the means to harm is applicable here. So the summary of the answer: We do not see the permissibility of the imam reading from the mushaf in the night prayer, let alone in other prayers, because it was not a general custom in the time of the righteous Salaf, and because the habit of this custom diverts the imams from caring for his saying (peace be upon him): and so on.