If the imam leaves off a recommended practice while excused, do we oppose him or follow him?

The Shaykh : And I drew your attention to his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): : The pillar is dropped for the one who is able to stand, who is following behind that imam. The pillar is dropped, the pillar being standing, where the prayer is not valid for the one who is able to stand if he prays standing in the obligatory prayer, knowing that it is known to you, meaning, why was this pillar dropped?
Only to achieve the current, clear, and evident formal similarity between the sitting imam and the standing follower, especially if you recall with me the reason for which he (peace and blessings be upon him) said this hadith, which is: to the end of the hadith. So, this imam is excused and prays sitting, so what dropped this pillar for the followers?!
To achieve the following that he established in the beginning of the hadith: . Do you see, if he leaves off a recommended practice while excused, do we oppose him?!
Here is the question.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : If he leaves off a recommended practice while excused, do we oppose him or follow him?

The questioner : It appears we follow him, but al-Hafiz al-Hazimi, O our Shaykh, I read in *Al-I'tibar*, meaning, he says it is abrogated, sitting with the sitting imam.

The Shaykh : This is another issue we will study, if Allah wills, at your expense as well, but if the hadith is clear and decisive, what does it indicate?

The questioner : The hadith indicates following, the first hadith.

The Shaykh : Yes, it indicates following, and in that case, our first subsidiary discussion is that the follower does not sit if the imam sits on the ground, correct?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : So the issue, then, requires research to determine whether this hadith is clear and decisive or abrogated, correct?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : So, al-Hazimi says: He says that it is abrogated. So, what do we say or what do we do if we say that Ibn Taymiyyah says: The hadith is not abrogated?

The questioner : A disagreement in opinions?

The Shaykh : What do we do, what do we do in that case?

The questioner : We return, meaning, we look to see if this claim of abrogation is established or not?

The Shaykh : Good, you must have seen it, so what did you see?!
Is this claim established or not established?!
I do not burden you; either it is established or it is not established. If the claim is not established, we have found relief from it, and we return to what we agreed upon.
And the truth is that the claim is established. Our claim is established, and al-Hazimi's claim is not established. Then, to shorten the discussion, or otherwise the discussion is long in terms of proving that our claim is established and his is not established, but we approach the matter from another path:
If the end of the hadith is established, does it necessitate that its beginning or its premise is established?

The questioner : No.

The Shaykh : So, we continue to hold onto , even if we assume that that branch is abrogated, meaning: . If we concede for the sake of argument that it has been abrogated, we still hold onto an important principle: .
And the truth is that this issue is one of the important issues from which many branches have branched out. Many people mistakenly assume that the detail mentioned after the generalization is a specification, and this is an error, because specification in the science of principles is when the particular text is contrary to the general text, and therefore it is applied to the general text to specify it and exclude it from it. It is not so when the particular text is in accordance with the general text.
It is not said that this is so, but we say: If we attach to this other things mentioned, it is not attachment by way of analogy or reasoning, but rather attachment to the general text. So, this hadith in its generality is established in other specific applications. For example, we give an example: If the imam forgets the first tashahhud and stands up for the third rak'ah, what do we do? Do we follow him?

The questioner : We follow him.

The Shaykh : And he is mistaken?

The questioner : We follow him.

The Shaykh : And he is mistaken?

The questioner : It appears we follow him, even though there is a saying that we sit, and I said: Glory be to Allah!

The Shaykh : No, there is no such saying.

The questioner : There is no such saying.

The Shaykh : No.

The questioner : I read it, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : What you read is not this?

The questioner : Do we follow?

The Shaykh : No, it is the issue you are referring to that I narrated. I said: The imam made a mistake and stood up. After he stands up, he cannot return.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Do you see? So we are certain that he made a mistake. As for the situation you are referring to, where: Glory be to Allah, he stands up from the second prostration to the third rak'ah instead of doing the tashahhud, it is said to him: Glory be to Allah! But if all the people were heedless and did not realize until the imam had fully stood up, they should not say: Glory be to Allah, because that would mislead him at that time, especially if he is an imam of the imams of the last times, who does not know the rulings related to prayer. He might notice the mistake and return, and this is not permissible.

The questioner : Does the prayer become invalid, O our Shaykh?

The Shaykh : No, the prayer does not become invalid as some say. No, the important thing is that he does not return. And my intention with this example is that we are certain of his mistake, so what is our position toward him?!
We follow him despite our noses. Good, this is an example on which there is consensus that if the imam makes a mistake with certainty, we must follow him. So, this is an example not mentioned in the hadith: to its end. And if he forgets and forgets the tashahhud and stands up for the third rak'ah, stand up. He did not say anything of this. And as you know, it is not the function of the explainer, who is the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), to exhaust the branches, because the branches are not finite, as you know this. But he establishes a principle, either clarifying it sometimes with some examples, or it does not need clarification, so it remains an absolute principle, and people understand it.
From this standpoint, it is established that Ibn Mas'ud used to disapprove of Uthman's completion of the prayer in Mina, and yet he used to pray four rak'ahs. It was said to him: "How is this? You say this is contrary to the Sunnah and then you follow him?" He said: "Disagreement is evil." This phrase is the crux of the wisdom of this matter: . So, the imam is not opposed, even if we are certain of his mistake. The important thing is that he is not certain of his mistake or intentional in his mistake. If he is excused, we follow him.

The questioner : So, let us branch out an issue on this, and then!

The Shaykh : We close the door.

The questioner : And we begin the translation.

The Shaykh : A new chapter.