Discussion of the time for the ma'mum to say: (Ameen).

The Shaykh : ... and we seek His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our own souls and from the badness of our deeds. Whoever Allah guides, no one can mislead, and whoever He leaves to mislead, no one can guide. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger, , , . As for what follows:
Indeed, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and the worst of matters are their innovations, and every innovation is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire. And after that:
Imam al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated in their "Sahih"s from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . In this hadith, there is a command regarding a legal ruling, and an explanation of the reward for one who obeys this noble Prophetic command; namely, his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . The commentators of this hadith have differed in explaining the intended meaning of this noble Prophetic command . Some held that the meaning is: when the imam begins to say Ameen, you should begin with him to say Ameen; that is, they understood that the purpose of the hadith is for the follower to synchronize his Ameen with the imam's Ameen, saying with the imam: at the same time. Others held that the purpose is for the follower's Ameen to come after the imam has finished his Ameen. And some make a distinction that has no basis, saying: whoever is close to the imam should synchronize with him, and whoever is far from him should delay and follow up with his Ameen after the imam's Ameen.
What has become clear to me after reflecting on these differing opinions regarding this authentic hadith over a long period of years is that the second opinion is stronger; that is, that the follower's Ameen should come after the imam's Ameen. First, because the apparent meaning of the hadith does not indicate anything other than this; where he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . Because the reality of this phrase means: he said: . So, interpreting it according to the opinion of those who hold the first view, "when he begins," is figurative. It is known linguistically and legally that it is not permissible to resort to the figurative meaning unless the literal meaning is impossible and cannot be interpreted or understood; only then is the figurative meaning adopted and the literal meaning left aside. This condition is absent here; because it is clear that this is an easy matter; when the imam says: ; the follower says: ; so it is not appropriate to interpret the text contrary to the literal meaning into the figurative; because the default is the literal meaning. This is one point.
And a second point is that his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): is on the same pattern as his saying: , and on the same pattern as his saying: , . All these texts indicate that what the follower is commanded to say is only after the imam has finished what he was commanded to say. So, based on this hadith, the follower should not say with the imam: , but rather he should wait for the imam to finish his takbir, then he should immediately begin his takbir. Likewise, he does not bow until the imam has entered into bowing, and indeed, the follower does not prostrate until he sees that the imam has entered into prostration, despite the long distance between the imam's prostration and the follower's following of the imam in prostration, as came in "Sahih Muslim" from the hadith of al-Bara' ibn 'Azib (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: "When we prayed behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), none of us would raise his head from bowing until he felt that the imam—or the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)—had placed his head on the ground in prostration."
So this hadith in particular, and the previous commands in general, confirm that the Sunnah and the course that the follower should follow with the imam in his dhikr and his recitations is not to synchronize with him in them, but rather to follow him. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) confirmed this by his saying: ; that is, he is to be followed. So your saying with him: is not following him, but rather synchronizing with him. And so it is with all the pillars.
And likewise, finally, your saying with the imam: is not following him, but rather synchronizing with him. So his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): This is the second point.
The third point is that if there are two opinions in interpreting this hadith, as we mentioned, then there is no one who says that it is permissible for the follower to race ahead of the imam in saying Ameen. And this racing ahead is occurring; I do not say in Syria only; but perhaps in the entire Islamic world, if the analogy of the absent with the present is valid. I have gone to many countries; in Jordan, for example, in the Hijaz, in Saudi Arabia generally, in Egypt, in Morocco, and finally in Britain, all the Muslims there race ahead of the imam in their saying: ; even the supporters of the Sunnah in the heartland of the Sunnah in Egypt in Cairo fall into this deviation. And even in this place, the imam hardly finishes his saying: before the followers race ahead to say: before he finishes the elongation due to a pause, and before he breathes so that he can complete his saying: . No one says this racing ahead at all. So I take this real witness as a third proof for preferring the opinion we are in the process of preferring...
...it cannot be achieved except by tearing one's soul, and except for a very, very small number of the worshippers, and they are those who follow the imam verse by verse. And this is, of course, not a characteristic of the masses of worshippers. So, when there is among the legal rules what is called the rule of sadd al-dhara'i' (blocking the means to harm), then the wisdom of legislation requires preferring the second opinion over the first opinion; because adopting the first opinion, that is, synchronizing the follower's Ameen with the imam, exposes the follower to racing ahead of the imam. Advancing in one direction is this racing ahead, and advancing in the beginning, and advancing in the end; because the imam says: on the pattern of what he was reciting. So if he is reciting quickly, he does not elongate his self and his voice with . And if he is reciting as Allah (Mighty and Majestic) commanded in His saying: , then when he says, for example: , he elongates it for six counts; so he will say: , while he begins and ends, and the followers will have ended, so they have raced ahead of the imam in a way that hardly any knowledgeable Muslim would say. So if the worshippers are taught this saying which the apparent meaning of his saying (peace be upon him) indicates: , then at that time, the racing ahead of the imam, which many texts prohibit the follower from deviating from the imam and racing ahead of him, is prevented between them and it. How so, when he says explicitly: ? This is the first point I wanted to point out from this hadith.
And the other thing is that this...