Some of the brothers have come up with contradictory issues based on what they heard from your words, with some believing that the Shari'ah, or saying that the Shaykh says,

The questioner: All right, O Shaykh, regarding saying "Ameen" behind the imam, some of the brothers have come up with contradictory issues based on what they heard from your words, with some believing that the Shari'ah, or saying thatThe Shaykh : says: that the follower says "Ameen" after the imam says: , while others said: No, ratherThe Shaykh : he means after he says: ?

The Shaykh: How is this, when I have narrated to them repeatedly and explained to them repeatedly his saying - peace and blessings be upon him - ? How can they say this which you have related?

The questioner: We said this, but we wanted to be sure, but what is your opinion of the narration found in "Sahih al-Bukhari" which is that the Prophet - peace and blessings be upon him - said: إذا قال الإمام : ولا الضَّالين فقولوا : آمين When the imam says: "And not the astray," then say: "Ameen".

The Shaykh: What does the hadith indicate?

The questioner: Does this not indicate that the follower says this after the imam says: ?

The Shaykh: And what does that one indicate?

The questioner: Also, a person said.

The Shaykh: ... I am asking you a question, what does that one indicate?

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: So how is the preference determined?

The questioner: It may be said that this ... .

The Shaykh: No, all right.

The questioner: We say, is it not correct to say in this that this hadith: إذا قال : ولا الضَّالين فقولوا : آمين When he says: "And not the astray," then say: "Ameen" that this is specific to saying "Ameen"? While that hadith is for following in general?

The Shaykh: How do you mean specific to saying "Ameen"?

The questioner: I mean that this ruling came in explaining the state of the follower with the imam in his saying "Ameen," while that hadith came regarding following in general?

The Shaykh: How do you mean in general, when it mentions: ?

The questioner: The important thing, I mean, with the beginning of the hadith: , is the original hadith about the follower following the imam?

The Shaykh: All right.

The questioner: And it is said that the other hadith contains a detail?

The Shaykh: Which other one?

The questioner: إذا قال : ولا الضالين فقولوا : آمين When he says: "wa la al-dallin," then say: "Ameen", I mean in a narration.

The Shaykh: , its beginning is: , this is the beginning of the hadith, , is this correct?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: Its indication ... is it explicit?

The questioner: It is explicit.

The Shaykh: It is explicit, all right, his saying - peace be upon him - : وإذا قال : ولا الضَّالين فقولوا : آمين And when he says: And not the astray, then say: Ameen., its indication is explicit that the imam does not say: ?

The questioner: No, it is not explicit.

The Shaykh: So what is given precedence in this case; is the explicit text given precedence over the non-explicit, or the reverse?

The questioner: The explicit text is given precedence.

The Shaykh: Yes, and especially since this hadith has a great resemblance to another hadith; which is: , some people assume in this hadith, as some assumed in your second hadith, that the imam does not say "Ameen"; because saying "Ameen" was not mentioned in the hadith, and I say: if the first hadith were not explicit, we would have stopped at the apparent meaning of the second hadith, but since the second hadith, which is not explicit, contradicts the first hadith, which is explicit, here the explicit is given precedence over the non-explicit, it is not correct to take from this second hadith the non-legitimacy of the imam saying: ; because it is not explicit; is this correct?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: The third hadith - let us say it this way - : , do you see whether the follower says: as the imam says, or not?

The questioner: According to the apparent meaning of this hadith, he does not say it.

The Shaykh: And I say: according to the apparent meaning of this hadith, he does not say it, but what is the correct ruling? The correct ruling is that the follower must follow the imam in his saying - also - : , and that is for two reasons: First: that the Companions - may Allah be pleased with them - when they transmitted to us the description of the prayer of the Prophet - peace and blessings be upon him and his family - it was the prayer that he established among them, and that was mostly the obligatory prayers, so if we keep in mind this reality first, then we keep in mind in our minds that he said to Malik ibn al-Huwayrith and his companions who came to the Prophet - peace and blessings be upon him - as a delegation, and they sat with him for about twenty days, then they said to the Prophet - peace and blessings be upon him - : We have missed our families, so he - peace and blessings be upon him - permitted them to return to their families; so he said to them, teaching them: , he said in this narration or in another narration: , so there is no doubt that this Malik ibn al-Huwayrith - or someone else - when he hears the words of the Messenger - peace and blessings be upon him - : , it does not mean the prayer that he used to pray at night while the people were sleeping, but rather it obviously means the prayer that these Malik ibn al-Huwayrith and other Companions used to pray behind him, so the Messenger without a doubt used to say: , so his saying in the general address: includes the followers as it includes those praying alone, that each of them should say as the Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings be upon him - used to say: , this is from one side.
From another side, if we take the apparent meaning of the third hadith that I mentioned: , we would invalidate a sunnah and a place for ... , for it is established from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah - may Allah be pleased with him - in "Sahih al-Bukhari": "That the Prophet - peace and blessings be upon him - when he raised his head from the bowing said: 'Allah hears the one who praises Him,' and when he stood up straight said: 'Our Lord, to You is the praise'." So we can take from this hadith and others that the recitation of is only when standing up straight, and the recitation of is at the second standing, so if we delve into the third hadith whose apparent meaning is that the follower does not say: , which will be what we see happening today, the imam hardly says: except that the followers say what? , so they moved the recitation of to the place of , and they suspended the place of making it stronger, this is a reversal of the Sunnah, so from the side of changing the place of this recitation and suspending the other place ... .
The point of this is that we say in the hadith: وإذا قال : غير المغضوب عليهم ولا الضالين And when he says: “Not those upon whom Your anger is, nor those who go astray” that its indication is like this hadith, and if he says: , then this addition, since it is not explicit, we say that the follower participates with the imam - also - in saying: in his standing up straight from the bowing, likewise the follower says with the imam: , but the first hadith is very explicit that the saying "Ameen" of the followers comes either shortly after he begins , or shortly after he finishes ; because , do you know that a person, if he begins saying "Ameen"; as He - the Exalted - said: , and it is possible that the meaning is if he finishes from then say: , in any case, from both interpretations, the meaning is that it is not permissible for the followers in any way ... .