The sitting of rest: If the imam does not perform it and the follower does, is that a deviation from the imam or not?

The questioner : The hadiths, such as his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , and the hadith of Aisha, and also the imam: .

The Shaykh : The hadith of Aisha: Let me hear from the audience what you mean?

The questioner : The hadith of Aisha: "He did not exceed eleven rak'ahs in Ramadan or otherwise," and the hadith of Ibn 'Umar: . How is the reconciliation between these hadiths and a hadith like: ? And if the imam does not perform, for example, the sitting of rest; does the follower perform it, and is that a deviation?

The Shaykh : One question only.

The questioner : ... the reconciliation between these hadiths.

The Shaykh : ... so you are encroaching on others. One question out of two is enough for you... Yes.

The questioner : ... Hadith: , and if the imam does not perform the sitting of rest; does the person perform it?

The Shaykh : Perform what?

The questioner : The sitting of rest: If the imam does not perform it and the follower does, is that a deviation from the imam or not?

The Shaykh : Of course, it is a deviation from the imam, because the hadith you are referring to... , if he had heard it, would it be this one, but with the wording...: . The second wording is with this phrasing, but the wording at its beginning is: . So if the imam does not sit for the sitting of rest, which is a recommended practice without doubt; then the follower must prioritize the command over the recommended practice. His command is: . So deviating from the imam is far better than following the recommended practice; by another proof, this hadith: . Knowing that standing, as is known to everyone, is a pillar of the prayer in the obligatory prayer. In order to preserve the principle he established in the beginning of the hadith: , he dropped the pillar of standing for the healthy followers so that the formal agreement between the followers and the sitting imam would appear...; so it is even more necessary and more necessary that the Lawgiver commands not to deviate from the imam regarding what is less than standing; such as the sitting of rest; this is if the imam holds the view of not performing the sitting of rest, like some of the Hanafis, for example, and others who hold that the hadiths that came regarding the sitting of rest were only due to the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) weakness, and when he became frail in the last part of his life, and his body became heavy, so he would like to rest. This is a report, it does not mean... your minds that I adopt this, but I am reporting it from others. Otherwise, I said earlier that it is a recommended practice, and I answered that if the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded following the imam even if he left a pillar of the prayer for an excuse, then it is even more necessary and more necessary to follow him if he left a recommended practice of the prayer for an excuse as well. So this is the example I mentioned to you earlier regarding the Hanafis.
As for if the imam holds the view of the legitimacy of this recommended practice or this sitting, but he does not care about it out of indifference to his prayer; then in that case, he is not rewarded for it, and rather we preserve the recommended practice behind this one who deviates from it; because he does not do that out of a belief in which he was correct or wrong, but rather he does it out of negligence and indifference to the authentic recommended practice. And I see that the issue should be established in the following manner: If the praying person believes =
-- Another questioner: Peace be upon you.The Shaykh: And upon you be peace --
= that this sitting is a recommended practice, then he imagines himself that he prayed behind the imam Abu Hanifa, for example, or Abu Yusuf, or Abu al-Hasan, and others of the imams of the Hanafis, and these are imams who perform independent legal reasoning, and they do not leave the recommended practice except because the contrary was established with them; then in that case, we follow them in order to realize the command and prioritize it over the mere action of the recommended practice which involves deviation from the imam. This is the answer to what you asked. If you have a problem with this question without the second question, then bring it, otherwise let's go and see what... .