The Shaykh’s remarks on the hadith (If the imam prays standing, pray standing, and if he prays sitting, pray sitting, all of you) and his preference that this hadith is decisive and not

The Shaykh : I mentioned earlier, may Allah bless you, the hadith of Anas ibn Malik from the two Sahihs, and at its end he says, regarding the imam: . This hadith is one of the decisive hadiths, contrary to the view of some scholars that it is abrogated and that if the imam prays sitting, naturally while excused, the followers pray standing, contrary to the explicit text of this hadith. The discussion of this is lengthy, and my aim is that the proof which obligates the Muslim to follow it has not been established that this noble Prophetic command is abrogated, especially since it is established from about five or six of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), most of them, if not all, narrated this hadith, and yet they applied it after the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). This type of jurisprudential issue makes us increase in enthusiasm and strength in adhering to this issue, namely the practice of the Companions mentioned earlier. I mention among them Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with them both), and among them the narrator of this hadith himself, Anas ibn Malik. They applied this hadith and did as they received from the Messenger (peace be upon him), both his saying and its application. So it came in "Sahih Muslim" from the hadith of Jabir himself: "That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was one day on his mount, so it stumbled and he fell on his shoulder, and the time for prayer came; so he prayed sitting, and the people prayed behind him standing , and this appears to be the first time legislation for such an issue , he said to them: .

The questioner: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : I do not know, by Allah, whether it was in this hadith or another, because the hadiths are many as I indicated, and what concerns me now is his saying (peace be upon him): , and he quoted the hadith where such an incident occurred after the death of the Messenger (peace be upon him) between Jabir and those praying behind him, so he also ordered them to sit, as he heard from the Messenger (peace be upon him). My aim is to say, on this occasion, and I hope I do not go far from what we were discussing, that such hadiths, narrated by some of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and then applied by them, make us increase in faith, confidence, and certainty in the necessity of returning to the path of the believers, and not being content, especially in the present age, with restricting the evidence to the understanding of people. I do not say only the Qur'an and the hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), but the understanding of people of the Qur'an and the hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), without returning to the understanding of the righteous Salaf and their application of these two principles mentioned earlier, the Book and the Sunnah; because the witness sees what the absent one does not see. They heard from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and witnessed the application by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) of his sayings, so they know better than those who come after and try to reconcile some texts that appear to them to have some contradiction between them. So I say: Based on the fact that the stronger of the two opinions of the scholars on this hadith is the saying that it is decisive, and this is what we stated to be correct, and the other saying that it is abrogated, based on this correct saying, I say: If the healthy, strong follower followed an imam who is sitting due to illness, he is commanded to sit and not stand behind him. And here there are two causes: one is mentioned in the hadith of Anas at its beginning: to its end, and the other cause is mentioned in the hadith of Jabir: , . If the pillar, or a pillar of the pillars of prayer which is not valid except with this pillar, from the able and capable, and our discussion of the capable ones is that they are commanded to leave this pillar for nothing except following the imam, then it is more so, then more so, then more so that the traveler follows the resident imam. This is because the scholars differed on whether shortening is better or completing; they are two opinions. Then those who said that shortening is better, and this is beyond doubt, differed on whether it is within the limits of recommendation or within the limits of obligation. We see that it is within the limits of obligation, because of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) when he was asked: Why do we shorten when we are safe? He said (peace and blessings be upon him): . So which Muslim would be arrogant and proud to refuse the charity of the Lord of the Worlds (Glorified and Exalted is He)? I, although I prefer this for clear evidence, and this is one of them, but I give weight to the disagreement among the scholars, and this disagreement lightens something of the value of what I or one like me may have established. So then I continue to say: It is more so, then more so, then more so that the traveler follows the resident in the prayer of the resident, even if he catches him at the end of the prayer before the salam, because merely entering the prayer changes his prayer to the prayer of the resident imam. I think with this the answer to the question raised earlier is complete, if Allah wills. It ends, if Allah wills.