If the imam is a Hanafi, should I follow him in omitting the takbirs of transition?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : But, my Shaykh, a problem arises here: suppose the imam is a Hanafi who holds that it is a recommended practice to raise the hands for the first takbir. Should I follow him in omitting the takbirs of transition?
The Shaykh : I will answer you regarding this with my previous statement, but have we finished with the previous example, or the one before that?
The questioner : Yes, I do.
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : Yes, I do.
The Shaykh : Do you have any observation or anything else so that we may benefit from it?
The questioner : Glory be to Allah!
The Shaykh : And praise be to Allah.
The questioner : Perhaps I am coming to benefit, I mean.
The Shaykh : And you came too, not knowing how to benefit others?
The questioner : If I have something, I mean.
The Shaykh : That is what we are asking about.
Yes, it is obligatory to follow the Hanafi imam who does not raise his hands, and extend this ruling to similar cases, except in the case of one who is ignorant, neither a mujtahid nor a follower nor one who follows a followed imam, especially if he contradicts his own school. For example, the clearest case in your previous example is: a Hanafi who does not raise his hands, a Shafi'i who does not raise his hands, but this one is negligent; he is not to be followed because he contradicts the Sunnah in his own school. As for the Hanafi, he believes that this is the Sunnah, and it does not concern us to scrutinize whether this Hanafi who does not raise his hands has contradicted the Sunnah or not, because we are commanded to follow the imam whether he is right or wrong. But in one case, as I gave the example of the Shafi'i imam who neglects the Sunnah and does not follow it, we do not follow him, unlike the Hanafi imam, because you can imagine that you are praying behind, for example, Ibn Mas'ud. He prays and does not raise his hands except with the takbir of intention. What do we say in this situation?
What is less than this is measured by it. So if this example is accepted, meaning: in the case of following Ibn Mas'ud, for example, if this is accepted, then what follows it is accepted, otherwise not. Therefore, the discussion should be directed toward such a case: if we prayed behind Ibn Mas'ud, what would we do?
The questioner : I mean, it appears that we should say, for example, we assume Abdullah ibn Mas'ud.
The Shaykh : These questions are at your expense, so give it your best, hehehe.
The questioner : No, my Shaykh, this is the last day, I mean, and the last meeting, so I hope you will forgive us, I mean.
The Shaykh : Excuse me.
The questioner : I mean, for example, if we assume that Abdullah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) is praying behind Ibn Mas'ud. Abdullah ibn Umar saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saying the takbirs of transition, and Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) raises his hands only for the takbir of intention.
The Shaykh : We assumed that you are Ibn Umar. What do you do?
The questioner : I mean, I do as I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) do.
The Shaykh : And what do you do with his saying?
The questioner : (peace and blessings be upon him)?
The Shaykh : Ah.
The questioner : I mean, here, I mean, a question arises.
The Shaykh : Of course, hehehe, yes.
The questioner : And it is the issue of attaching what is not mentioned in the text to the text. I mean,Sahih al-Bukhari 1236 for example, this is a general wording. Can I bring in what the Lawgiver did not mention in the text by way of analogical reasoning or such?
The Shaykh : No, it is not by way of analogical reasoning.
The questioner : Rather, it is by way of attachment?
The Shaykh : Nor is it by way of attachment, but rather by way of applying the general text to its generality.
The questioner : I mean, for example, if he let his hands hang down in prayer and did not place his right hand over his left?
The Shaykh : Give whatever example you wish, dozens of examples, stay in your place, what is the difference between this and that?
Either you assume affirmation or you assume negation, the result is the same.
The questioner : Can we assume affirmation or negation as long as it does not contradict the Sunnah?
The Shaykh : I told you just now, and you went back to citing the hadith as evidence. Have we finished with the hadith? That this hadith is: Did it restrict following to these specific issues, or is it permissible, in your expression, to attach, and in my expression, to apply the general text?
We have not reached anything, but you have returned to what you started with.
The questioner : You are dodging!
The Shaykh : In any case, reminding is beneficial, if Allah wills, for one who does not intend to dodge. What has become clear to you in his saying:Sunan Ibn Majah 1238Sahih (Darussalam)? Do you understand that these commands mentioned in this hadith after the generalization are a specification of the text, so that your previous question arises that we attach, we reason by analogy, and so on, or what do you understand from the hadith?
The questioner : It is understood from the hadith that there is complete following.
The Shaykh : Good. In that case, the examples that were raised, is it not part of complete following that we do as the imam does?
The questioner : I mean, for example, suppose the imam was wearing pants, I mean, do I follow him in this?
The Shaykh : Hehehe, this is not part of the prayer, may Allah forgive you!
The questioner : I mean, I read to you from Ibn Taymiyyah, the Shaykh al-Islam: "A man said: If the imam does not sit for the rest, does the ma'mum sit? He said: Yes, he sits for as long as he does not lag behind the imam". It appears here that the man, or it appears that he is not concerned with the Sunnah, so the issue of following the imam, is it a condition that I know that this man is one who reads and understands and the like, and has not neglected it?
The Shaykh : I mentioned to you: this imam is either a mujtahid, a follower, or one who follows a mujtahid. If he is a frivolous person, I told you just now about the Shafi'i who does not raise his hands and neglects the Sunnah, he is not to be followed. But if he is a mujtahid, and therefore I advise you and those like you to research the issue from its origin and root, because it becomes easier after that to understand what follows from it. You have taken, for example, the topic of praying behind Ibn Mas'ud. Ibn Mas'ud is a mujtahid imam, a noble Companion who saw the Messenger and Ibn Umar saw him, and so on. So if we pray behind Ibn Mas'ud, for example, or behind one who adopted the opinion of Ibn Mas'ud like Abu Hanifa, or behind one who followed Abu Hanifa, or behind one who followed Abu Hanifa, the examples are the same in terms of what concerns our research, but there is a difference, of course, between the mujtahid, the follower, and the one who follows. And therefore, as they say in our region in the Levant: "I hit it with an 'Alawiyyah", and I connected it to Ibn Mas'ud, the mujtahid imam, the... the last one. So what does a person imagine, does he contradict him or follow him within the limits of this hadith?
As for you, you keep coming back to say Ibn Umar, you say Ibn Taymiyyah. No, we are not researching individuals now. Ibn Taymiyyah may hold an opinion that you do not hold and that I hold, or Ibn Taymiyyah may hold an opinion that you hold and that I do not hold. That is not an argument for you against me or for me against you, because these opinions are widespread among everyone, and every person acts according to what appears to him. We are now in the process of understanding this hadith. What does this hadith give us?
The Shaykh : I will answer you regarding this with my previous statement, but have we finished with the previous example, or the one before that?
The questioner : Yes, I do.
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : Yes, I do.
The Shaykh : Do you have any observation or anything else so that we may benefit from it?
The questioner : Glory be to Allah!
The Shaykh : And praise be to Allah.
The questioner : Perhaps I am coming to benefit, I mean.
The Shaykh : And you came too, not knowing how to benefit others?
The questioner : If I have something, I mean.
The Shaykh : That is what we are asking about.
Yes, it is obligatory to follow the Hanafi imam who does not raise his hands, and extend this ruling to similar cases, except in the case of one who is ignorant, neither a mujtahid nor a follower nor one who follows a followed imam, especially if he contradicts his own school. For example, the clearest case in your previous example is: a Hanafi who does not raise his hands, a Shafi'i who does not raise his hands, but this one is negligent; he is not to be followed because he contradicts the Sunnah in his own school. As for the Hanafi, he believes that this is the Sunnah, and it does not concern us to scrutinize whether this Hanafi who does not raise his hands has contradicted the Sunnah or not, because we are commanded to follow the imam whether he is right or wrong. But in one case, as I gave the example of the Shafi'i imam who neglects the Sunnah and does not follow it, we do not follow him, unlike the Hanafi imam, because you can imagine that you are praying behind, for example, Ibn Mas'ud. He prays and does not raise his hands except with the takbir of intention. What do we say in this situation?
What is less than this is measured by it. So if this example is accepted, meaning: in the case of following Ibn Mas'ud, for example, if this is accepted, then what follows it is accepted, otherwise not. Therefore, the discussion should be directed toward such a case: if we prayed behind Ibn Mas'ud, what would we do?
The questioner : I mean, it appears that we should say, for example, we assume Abdullah ibn Mas'ud.
The Shaykh : These questions are at your expense, so give it your best, hehehe.
The questioner : No, my Shaykh, this is the last day, I mean, and the last meeting, so I hope you will forgive us, I mean.
The Shaykh : Excuse me.
The questioner : I mean, for example, if we assume that Abdullah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) is praying behind Ibn Mas'ud. Abdullah ibn Umar saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saying the takbirs of transition, and Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) raises his hands only for the takbir of intention.
The Shaykh : We assumed that you are Ibn Umar. What do you do?
The questioner : I mean, I do as I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) do.
The Shaykh : And what do you do with his saying?
The questioner : (peace and blessings be upon him)
The imam was made
إنما جُعل الإمامThe Shaykh : Ah.
The questioner : I mean, here, I mean, a question arises.
The Shaykh : Of course, hehehe, yes.
The questioner : And it is the issue of attaching what is not mentioned in the text to the text. I mean,
The Imam is to be followed
إنما جُعل الإمام لِيُؤتمَّ بهThe Shaykh : No, it is not by way of analogical reasoning.
The questioner : Rather, it is by way of attachment?
The Shaykh : Nor is it by way of attachment, but rather by way of applying the general text to its generality.
The questioner : I mean, for example, if he let his hands hang down in prayer and did not place his right hand over his left?
The Shaykh : Give whatever example you wish, dozens of examples, stay in your place, what is the difference between this and that?
Either you assume affirmation or you assume negation, the result is the same.
The questioner : Can we assume affirmation or negation as long as it does not contradict the Sunnah?
The Shaykh : I told you just now, and you went back to citing the hadith as evidence. Have we finished with the hadith? That this hadith is:
The imam was made
إنما جُعلWe have not reached anything, but you have returned to what you started with.
The questioner : You are dodging!
The Shaykh : In any case, reminding is beneficial, if Allah wills, for one who does not intend to dodge. What has become clear to you in his saying:
The Imam is appointed to be followed. When he says Allahu Akbar, then say Allahu Akbar; when he bows, then bow; when he says Sami’ Allahu liman hamidah, then say Rabbana wa lakal-hamd; when he prostrates then prostrate; and if he prays sitting down then pray sitting down.
إنما جُعل الإمام لِيُؤتمَّ به ، فإذا كبر فكبروا ، وإذا ركع فاركعوا ، وإذا قال : سمع الله لمن حمده فقولوا : ربنا ولك الحمد ، وإذا سجد فاسجدوا ، وإذا صلى قائماً فصلوا قياماً ، وإذا صلى جالسًا فصلوا جلوسًا أجمعينThe questioner : It is understood from the hadith that there is complete following.
The Shaykh : Good. In that case, the examples that were raised, is it not part of complete following that we do as the imam does?
The questioner : I mean, for example, suppose the imam was wearing pants, I mean, do I follow him in this?
The Shaykh : Hehehe, this is not part of the prayer, may Allah forgive you!
The questioner : I mean, I read to you from Ibn Taymiyyah, the Shaykh al-Islam: "A man said: If the imam does not sit for the rest, does the ma'mum sit? He said: Yes, he sits for as long as he does not lag behind the imam". It appears here that the man, or it appears that he is not concerned with the Sunnah, so the issue of following the imam, is it a condition that I know that this man is one who reads and understands and the like, and has not neglected it?
The Shaykh : I mentioned to you: this imam is either a mujtahid, a follower, or one who follows a mujtahid. If he is a frivolous person, I told you just now about the Shafi'i who does not raise his hands and neglects the Sunnah, he is not to be followed. But if he is a mujtahid, and therefore I advise you and those like you to research the issue from its origin and root, because it becomes easier after that to understand what follows from it. You have taken, for example, the topic of praying behind Ibn Mas'ud. Ibn Mas'ud is a mujtahid imam, a noble Companion who saw the Messenger and Ibn Umar saw him, and so on. So if we pray behind Ibn Mas'ud, for example, or behind one who adopted the opinion of Ibn Mas'ud like Abu Hanifa, or behind one who followed Abu Hanifa, or behind one who followed Abu Hanifa, the examples are the same in terms of what concerns our research, but there is a difference, of course, between the mujtahid, the follower, and the one who follows. And therefore, as they say in our region in the Levant: "I hit it with an 'Alawiyyah", and I connected it to Ibn Mas'ud, the mujtahid imam, the... the last one. So what does a person imagine, does he contradict him or follow him within the limits of this hadith?
As for you, you keep coming back to say Ibn Umar, you say Ibn Taymiyyah. No, we are not researching individuals now. Ibn Taymiyyah may hold an opinion that you do not hold and that I hold, or Ibn Taymiyyah may hold an opinion that you hold and that I do not hold. That is not an argument for you against me or for me against you, because these opinions are widespread among everyone, and every person acts according to what appears to him. We are now in the process of understanding this hadith. What does this hadith give us?