The Prescribed Method for the Imam’s Takbir in Congregational Prayer
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His Eminence the Shaykh: Is it permissible for the imam to prolong the takbir in prayer?
In any case, we do not say: It is forbidden,Meaning: Some people, when they say the takbir for sitting, you find that the takbir differs from that for standing, for example.This is what we say: It is forbidden,But we say: The Sunnah is not to vary the takbir.And I have not known anyone from the scholars of knowledge to say: You are varying the takbir for prostration, sitting, and standing. We have not seen anyone do this.And the most that is there is that some scholars said: The takbir for prostration from standing is prolonged, and from prostration to standing is prolonged, because the distance is long. And yet, there is no evidence for this. Keeping the takbir uniform is the Sunnah, and it has a great benefit for the ma'mums who, when they enter the prayer, are moving on the ground. Why? Because if they know that there is no variation in the takbir, they focus themselves, and each one of them attends to himself and his heart so that he does not stand while the imam is sitting, or sit while the imam is standing. But if he is following the imam’s takbir, he becomes like a machine: if the imam prolongs it, he sits or stands. Therefore, we found a great benefit in this for the ma'mums.
Correct in one issue: If a person is masbuq and you say: Allahu Akbar for the final tashahhud, while he still has a rak'ah remaining and he does not know,But we say: Alhamdulillah, he follows the person next to him; he sees him sitting or standing and does the same. But if a verse of prostration passes by you, for example, if you are praying 'Isha' and a verse of prostration passes by and you prostrate, and there are people in another place, separated, who cannot see, then here we might say: if you say a takbir that implies you have prostrated, there is no harm in it. Sometimes a person is reciting, for example, and there are women in another place who recite a verse of prostration; if he says the takbir as usual, they might think he is bowing.So this, we might say: There is no harm in prolonging the takbir so that they know you are prostrating.
In any case, we do not say: It is forbidden,Meaning: Some people, when they say the takbir for sitting, you find that the takbir differs from that for standing, for example.This is what we say: It is forbidden,But we say: The Sunnah is not to vary the takbir.And I have not known anyone from the scholars of knowledge to say: You are varying the takbir for prostration, sitting, and standing. We have not seen anyone do this.And the most that is there is that some scholars said: The takbir for prostration from standing is prolonged, and from prostration to standing is prolonged, because the distance is long. And yet, there is no evidence for this. Keeping the takbir uniform is the Sunnah, and it has a great benefit for the ma'mums who, when they enter the prayer, are moving on the ground. Why? Because if they know that there is no variation in the takbir, they focus themselves, and each one of them attends to himself and his heart so that he does not stand while the imam is sitting, or sit while the imam is standing. But if he is following the imam’s takbir, he becomes like a machine: if the imam prolongs it, he sits or stands. Therefore, we found a great benefit in this for the ma'mums.
Correct in one issue: If a person is masbuq and you say: Allahu Akbar for the final tashahhud, while he still has a rak'ah remaining and he does not know,But we say: Alhamdulillah, he follows the person next to him; he sees him sitting or standing and does the same. But if a verse of prostration passes by you, for example, if you are praying 'Isha' and a verse of prostration passes by and you prostrate, and there are people in another place, separated, who cannot see, then here we might say: if you say a takbir that implies you have prostrated, there is no harm in it. Sometimes a person is reciting, for example, and there are women in another place who recite a verse of prostration; if he says the takbir as usual, they might think he is bowing.So this, we might say: There is no harm in prolonging the takbir so that they know you are prostrating.