On the matter of racing the imam by saying: (Ameen).

The Shaykh: Indeed, all praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our own selves and from the badness of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can mislead, and whomsoever He misleads, none can guide. And I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. , , . As for what follows:
The best of speech is the speech of Allah the Exalted, the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and the worst of matters are their innovations. Every innovation is a religious innovation, every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.
Allah the Exalted said: . And indeed, in this blessed night of yours, if Allah wills, I have come to draw your attention and remind you of two matters that I have seen in many of the countries I have traveled through, which are contrary to the Shari'ah. One of them contradicts the explicit text of an authentic hadith, and the other contradicts some of the Islamic etiquettes that some modern customs have treated with negligence and lack of concern.
As for the first matter, it is that the majority of the praying congregation following the imam in the loud prayer fall into the error of racing the imam in a matter as if the Wise Lawgiver had made it obligatory upon them in their state of error. I mean by this the racing of the majority of the praying congregation with their imam in the loud prayer by saying: before the imam begins by saying: . This is a matter I have seen, unfortunately, in most Islamic countries, without excluding or excepting some of the sacred countries like Makkah and al-Madinah. The people are unaware of this Sunnah, indeed of this Prophetic command. That is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . This hadith came as an application of a rule and principle that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) established in linking the imam with the follower and the follower with the imam, and the impermissibility of this follower racing that imam. That is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): . In one narration, it was added: . Just as he said (peace and blessings be upon him) in this hadith: to the end of the hadith, so he said in the first hadith: . Just as it is not permissible for the follower to race the imam in any of the things mentioned in the second hadith: , so it is not permissible for the followers to race the imam by saying: . The negligence in this matter is widespread in most of the countries I have seen. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the general praying congregation, first, to be mindful of their minds and intellects in prayer, and not to be among those who are unaware of the remembrance of Allah in it. For racing the imam in arises from two matters: ... for their worldly affairs in their prayers. And the other: their ignorance of this explicit legal ruling in this authentic hadith: .
The commentators of the hadith spoke about this phrase of the hadith and said: has two meanings:
The first meaning—and it is the stronger position, and Allah knows best—is: when the imam begins with , then you begin with: .
And the second meaning is: when the imam finishes with , then you begin by saying: .
So, in either of the two interpretations or explanations, the meaning is that the imam should delay =
-- Pardon me, if I lowered this to the bottom ... the weight is too much, yes --
= So, in either of the two interpretations of this hadith, they agree that the follower should delay behind the imam in beginning with . And on this basis, it is incumbent upon every worshipper to monitor the imam's recitation, and for his heart and mind to be with him. So when the imam reaches his saying: , the follower should not rush to say: , but rather he should hold himself back until he hears the imam begin with . Then he begins with . This hadith is very explicit in this ruling which the majority of followers have contradicted. Therefore, it is necessary to observe this so that we do not fall into two matters:
The first matter—and it is undoubtedly the most important regarding worshipping Allah by what He willed of the rulings of His Shari'ah for His slaves—is that we do not fall into contradicting his saying (peace be upon him): .
And the other matter is, in reality, what every Muslim seeks in this just, fleeting worldly life, to seize it as an opportunity to gain the pleasure of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). Where He said: . This is a great reward to which journeys are made—as they used to say—meaning: all hardships are endured in the path of reaching the rank of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). And you know the authentic hadiths that came from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), from the hadith of al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah and others of his Companions, that he stood in prayer until his feet swelled. They said: "O Messenger of Allah, has Allah not forgiven you what has passed of your sin and what is to come?" He said (peace and blessings be upon him): .
The point is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) stood in prayer until his feet swelled. Why this standing? Why this hardship? To attain the forgiveness of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). From the favor of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) upon this Muhammadan community is that He (Mighty and Majestic) favored His slaves with easy, smoothed-out means that are a cause for obtaining the forgiveness of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). Among these means is what came in the authentic hadith that the follower should not race his imam by saying: , but rather he should say the Ameen, as we mentioned earlier, after the imam begins by saying: . He said (peace and blessings be upon him): ; meaning: the angels who were described by His saying (the Exalted): , they are not like these people who race the imam with , but rather they delay behind him as we mentioned earlier. So whoever among the praying humans matches the Ameen of the angels; meaning: he did not race the imam with the Ameen, but rather delayed behind him as the angels delay; whoever his Ameen matches the Ameen of the angels, his past sin is forgiven. Do we not make journeys to obtain this virtue and this forgiveness, no matter what the difficulties and hardships are? There is no doubt that the matter ...; how so, when the matter is made easy and smoothed out, requiring only a bit of attention to the imam's recitation and holding oneself back when this imam finishes his recitation: . Every individual pronounces his phrase, and does not say: until the imam begins: . This is the first matter.
And with my personal experience, you feel that it is not easy after the masses have become accustomed to that contradiction and racing. So if you do not monitor this matter, you will fall into contradicting the command of the Messenger (peace be upon him) first, and you will lose the goal that the Messenger (peace be upon him) wanted for the Muslims by following this noble Prophetic command; which is obtaining the forgiveness of the Lord of the Worlds. So I hope that you will observe yourselves and be mindful of your mistakes, perhaps Allah (Mighty and Majestic) will forgive them for you. This is the first matter.